Stocks Rally To End The Week (SPY, QQQQ, GLD, USO, TLT, UUP)

Appetite for stocks was running high on Wall Street at the end of the trading week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed on Friday 198 points higher at 10,860. The widely watched blue-chip average traded in a range between 10,664 and 10,866. A number of different catalysts are being cited for the rally, including an early morning with hedge fund manager David Tepper that took place on CNBC and better than expected durable goods orders which, ex-transportation, came in at +2% compared to estimates of +0.6%. On CNBC's morning show Squawk Box, Tepper said that he thinks the Federal Reserve's willingness to do whatever it takes to spark growth and some inflation is tantamount to placing a put option under the market. He said that either the economy is going to get better on its own, or the Fed will engage in more QE and both of these scenarios are good for stocks. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF SPY jumped 2.06% to $114.82, a new four month high. Volume was not too bad today, but remained under the 3-month daily average. Around 210.5 million SPY shares traded hands during the session. The next resistance level to watch in the S&P is 1,150, which is directly above today's close. This may represent the bears last stand, and if it breaks to the upside, it might trigger more technical buying next week. The PowerShares QQQ Trust ETF QQQQ, which tracks the performance of the Nasdaq 100, gained 2.03% to close the week at $49.66. Volume exceeded the three month daily average with around 79 million QQQQ shares trading hands compared to an average of 76.5 million. Continue to monitor volume closely. This up move has not been accompanied by heavy volume, but if the level of participation increases, it could be a bullish indicator for the coming months. Gold continues to hit new all-time highs on pretty much a daily basis. I have no idea where this train stops. COMEX gold futures closed the trading week at $1,297.90. The massive SPDR Gold Trust ETF GLD 0.31% to $126.69 in New York Stock Exchange trading. Sloppy trade continued in the oil market, as crude can't seem to find a direction. After displaying some weakness earlier in the week, NYMEX crude futures gained 1.76% to $76.50 on Friday. The United States Oil Fund ETF USO jumped 2.23% to $33.40. Treasuries were hit hard during the session as risk appetite clearly was "on" today. The iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT fell 1.35% to $103.50. The yield on the 10-Year Note rose 5.4 basis points to 2.60%. Look for sustained weakness in the Treasury market if stocks continue to rise. The U.S. Dollar was slammed again on Friday as currency traders continue to express concern over the Fed's inflationary policies. The PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF UUP, which tracks the performance of the dollar versus a basket of foreign currencies, tumbled 1.03% to $22.97. The closely watched EUR/USD pair is currently trading at $1.3487 after jumping 1.31% today.