Winning streak ends, but stocks still manage gains for the week. The Dow (DJI) ended the session with a loss of 37.19 points to 10,741.98. The S&P 500 (SPX) was down 5.93 points to 1,159.90 with the Nasdaq (COMP) declining 16.87 points to 2,374.41. Volume was much heavier on the session thanks to quadruple witching with the NYSE trading 1.98 billion shares and the Naz turning over 2.91 billion. Market breadth was negative by a 9-to-21 and 10-to-16 margin on the Big Board and Naz respectively.

Concerns about debt issues in Greece picked up Friday, leading to a gain for the dollar and resulting loss in stocks. Traders are also concerned about the government's heal and financial reform bills. The fact is that stocks have seen strong gains of late led to some mild profit taking. Nonetheless, the Dow gained more than one percent this week with the SPX and Naz up 0.86 percent and 0.29 percent respectively.

The biggest story Friday has to be Palm (PALM), which lost 29.03 percent to $4.01 on the session. The maker of the popular BlackBerry smart-phone was hit hard following a disappointing earnings report. PALM warned last month that results would suffer, but the company's latest smart-phone sales data has analysts questioning their viability. This led to several downgrades of the stocks, including a couple "Sell" ratings. Palm shares hit a new low and are down from a 52-week high at $18.09.

Google (GOOG) shares continued to decline, down 1.13 percent to $560.00. The stock lost more than 3 percent this week on rumors the company will shut down its Chinese portal. This could happen as soon as Monday, but we could see a rally on the news, which often happens after a stock falls in anticipation of an event.

The energy sector suffered Friday as oil prices fall to the $80 level. A stronger dollar pushed the commodity lower, which is a normal occurrence for dollar denominated commodities. A Reuters poll forecasting over-supply in oil this year also took a toll on crude prices.

The fear indices remain near support, which is a concern, but the bulls are refusing to let go of control of stocks. We will have to see how traders react to votes on healthcare and finance reform next week. Economic data on durable goods orders, existing and new homes sales and GDP could play a part, but it seems unlikely that volume figures will return. Friday's huge volume was solely due to quadruple witching.

Jody Osborne
Senior Writer & Options Strategist
Optionetics.com ~ Your Options Education Site