"Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) absolutely surprised Wall Street, which had downbeat expectations for lower earnings," reports Richard Rhodes, trading expert and editor of The Rhodes Report.

"WFC earned $1.75 billion or $0.53/share for the April to June period, which is down just a bit from $2.28 billion or $0.67 per share for the same period last year. Provisions for credit losses were $3 billion, which included increase in reserves for future losses of $1.5 billion.

"But what really surprised the market was that fact that WFE raised their quarterly dividend to $0.34/share per quarter from $0.31, a near +10% increase. In a world where most, if not all, banks are raising capital and slashing dividends - WFC sees fit to stand on the Left Coast and shout that 'all is fine in the water, come on in!'

"This should support the banking community today, which given yesterday's better-than-expected earnings out of First Horizon (NYSE: FHN), has tended to cause a bit of short covering in the banks.

"In our view, this will be a large test for the banking sector. We are interested in how it trades today given the good WFC news - WFC is higher by nearly +10% as we finish up writing, for if they can rally and hold their gains, we are apt to put on an aggressive long position to capture a sharper short covering rally that may cause value managers to 'dip their toe' into the water and become buyers.

"Expectations have been inordinately low; the regional banks are showing there are managing their businesses relatively well."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers the latest market commentary and favorite investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

Wells Fargo (WFC): Beating expectations originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With many market commentators becoming increasing bullish as the market continues its move higher, trading expert Richard Rhodes cautions, "The tectonic plates beneath the market are shaking."

Th editor of The Rhodes Report explains, "Each day, we watch the current rally powering higher; and, each day we find our indicators becoming more and more overbought. While we are concerned about the overbought conditions, we are most concerned by the 'mini-mania' that has gripped stocks and the fact that this sharp rally is as narrow a rally as we have seen in many years."

He notes that the percentage of stocks above their 10-day and 200-day moving averages are now less than what they were at the February peak. He explains, "When the broader market rallies - then we want all the generals and troops moving together on a united front - and clearly this isn't the case.

And while noting that this is "worrisome," he also recognizes that it is foolhardy to attempt and call a short term top. He says, "We continue to believe that from a fundamental perspective that the probability of a bear market is higher than many anticipate at this time - however, the technicals don't yet support this." He quips, "It will end when it ends and not a day sooner."

Continue reading Technical outlook and trading trio

Technical outlook and trading trio originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 May 2007 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.