Bullish on J.P. Morgan, Bearish on MasterCard

Usually I start this column off with a quick look at the market.  But, honestly, I looked at a chart of the Dow and couldn’t figure out what the heck was going on!

Instead, I decided to look at few high-profile stocks to see what they were up to.

The first was MasterCard (NYSE:MA) and there the situation isn’t that bright.  It cracked earlier in the week, only to bounce a bit by week’s end.  That bounce looks like the proverbial “dead-cat” variety and I expect more downside for the stock.

On the other hand, I figured a few weeks ago J.P. Morgan Chase’s (NYSE:JPM) trading loss wouldn’t amount to much, and the market voted on Friday: folks keyed in on the earnings, not the loss.  I think the stock moves up nicely from here.

Finally, I haven’t been a fan of General Motors (NYSE:GM) ever since it went on the Federal dole.  The stock hasn’t let me down, again testing a bottom. This is the fourth test in the past 10 months though and that’s not normally a good thing.  I think you’ll see this stock in the mid-teens before too long.