1. Nasdaq at new all-time highs!  After 15 years of playing catch-up to the S&P, the Nasdaq finally hit new all-time highs ahead of its more staid colleague.  15 years ago, the tech-heavy index was fueled by "dot.com" startups with no earnings, or if they had earnings, with 3-digit P/E ratios.  Today the index is lead by giant blue chips like Apple, Google, Facebook, Intel and Microsoft.  

2. Strong earnings from key big caps.  Pre-market futures are happy and getting happier by the hour following nice beats by key Nasdaq players, including:

Amazon (AMZN) stock is surging -- up about 7% premarket -- after the company reported a big jump in quarterly sales. 

Microsoft (MSFT) is up 3% premarket after the company released earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations.

Google (GOOGL) shares are rising in extending trading, despite falling short of analysts' expectations.

Starbucks shares (SBUX) are up 3.5% on its report showing record sales and increased store traffic.

And Juniper Networks (JNPR) shares are jumping -- up nearly 7% -- after the firm's latest earnings surpassed market expectations.

3.  Keep an eye on AAPL today.  It's worth watching trading in Apple (AAPL) Friday. The company is beginning to deliver its new Apple Watches today. Despite reports of customers having to wait weeks to get their preordered watches, demand remains strong.  AAPL reports earnings after the bell on 4/27.

4. More earnings on tap today: Biogen (BIIB), AstraZeneca (AZN), American Airlines (AAL), Xerox (XRX) and Steve Madden (SHOO) are reporting ahead of the open.

5. International markets are also happy: European markets are all posting solid gains in early trading. Germany is leading the way with a gain of 0.5% thus far.  The Hang ...

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We have had some rather volatile market action in recent trading.  Last Friday the major indexes printed its strongest 1-day selloff in nearly a month, followed by an uptrend day of equal strength.  Today, ...

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MACD stands for “Moving Average Convergence Divergence,” a popular technical indicator used by traders and investors alike.  The MACD is so named because it uses moving averages (two of them) to render a ...

Here are four things you need to know before the opening bell rings in New York:

1. Stocks gunning for new all-time highs: Monday's negation of Friday's massive selloff, and on decent volume, is a very bullish sign. So was ...

Today U.S. stocks are in the strongest selling mode for over three weeks with the Dow Jones Industrials down over 300 points at one point today and the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a -1.6% loss into the close of trading. At these levels, the S&P 500 has now seen its ...

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Computer chip giant Intel Corporation just kicked off the Q1 earnings season for tech stocks when it reported its results a few moments ago. Judging ...

Disclaimer: in addition to publishing the Dr. Stoxx Options Letter, I also am Chief Investment Strategist for The Trader's Edge, published by Street Authority.  BLDR was one of my picks for that letter's April 6th edition.

Before the ...

Bio: Dr. Carr, aka "Dr. Stoxx", is founder and CEO of Befriend the Trend Trading, which hosts the popular investing site, DrStoxx.com. Established in 2002, DrStoxx.com publishes daily stock pick advisories and offers a variety of trader training services for ...

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Here are the stocks making headlines this morning and moving in the market today because of this news (information supplied by CNBC.com)

United Healthcare – The stock was upgraded to "buy" from "hold" at Jefferies, ...

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We have a number of key events that will be impacting the flow of share trade today in the US Markets.  I make ...

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Just minutes ago, the Federal Open Market Committee released the minutes of last month's meeting.  That meeting was closed watched by investors as Fed Chair Janet Yellen testified before Congress.  All ears were listening ...