Wednesday’s Top Stocks
Is it a mad cow or just an unsettled
bull doing his thing? Canadians are
saying a cow, but US equity bulls are probably getting increasingly mad at themselves. The ETFs spent the better part of the trading day in a narrow
trading range on top of their first line of technical supports before breaking
through prior day lows as the “afternoon session” began in earnest at
around 2:00 EST. A potential color change in our government’s terrorist alert
indicator added to the changing of color in the major ETFs, as the index proxies
pushed into the red after early attempts at hunter green.
At session lows, the ETFs were down approximately
1% before making a last-hour reversal that sent both the SPYs and the DIAs back
to near the unchanged level, and the QQQs were able to finish off with a slight gain.
Volume on the day was slightly higher and above average on the NYSE. Over on
the Nasdaq, volume was approximately on pace with yesterday’s levels and also
above average. Market breadth was mixed on both exchanges, with neither
advancing or declining issues showing a definitive indication on the part of
traders in Tuesday’s session, although the late-day rally by the so-called
“smart money” suggests a bullish bias as of the close of trade.
The 38% Fibonacci retracement level from the late
March pivot lows was tested in all three of the market ETFs. The Diamonds
(
DIA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
penetrated this level before reversing to close back at its 200-Day EMA. The S&P 500 ETF
(
SPY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) approached both of these benchmarks (within .30)
before reversing to close well on the day. The QQQs also tested the 38% level,
before finishing in the green on sector strength out of select technology groups
such as the Internet
(
HHH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), software
(
SWH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and the semis
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating). A
three-day simple pullback that closed well, off of some key technical supports,
should lend some support to the bullish camp out there. I guess the position
traders out there will find out what this all means tomorrow morning.
For the rest us daytraders, we’ll continue to
thrive during the daytime hours by leaving the night time to doing our research
and not worrying about which animal might show up at Wall Street’s door in
tomorrow’s session. We’ll continue to prepare for the here and now of tomorrow’s
trade by selecting our list of High and Low RS issues tonight, but only
executing those high-probability stocks that continue to strut their stuff in
the next day’s trade.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index |
Close | Net Change |
Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
| VIX | 23.37 | Up .33 |
None | 4% Above |
Not At Extreme |
| VXN | 32.22 | Up 1.12 |
None | 0%, at M.A. |
Not At Extreme |
Hottest Sectors: Health Medical
(
$HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and Retail
(
RTH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Weakest Sectors: Pharmaceuticals
(
PPH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Oil
Services
(
OIH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Wednesday’s HELVETICA>stocks to watch:
High
RS issues
closing in Top of Range.
Stocks are scanned from 3 Month RS of 80 or higher
and TM’s Proprietary and Technology 10 Momentum lists on the Indicators page.
size=2 Helvetica face=”Arial”>Name | class=890430920-15102001>Symbol | class=890430920-15102001>Relative Strength | class=890430920-15102001> size=2 Helvetica face=”Arial”>Price | class=890430920-15102001>Average Volume | class=890430920-15102001>Today’s Volume |
Mid-Atlantic Medical | ( MME | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 84 | 47.80 | 502K | 852K |
American Pharmaceuticals | ( APPX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 89 | 30.95 | 1,079M | 2,072 |
class=890430920-15102001> eResearch | class=890430920-15102001> ( ERES | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | class=890430920-15102001> 86 | class=890430920-15102001> 35.84 | class=890430920-15102001> 392K | class=890430920-15102001> 729K |
Weak RS issues closing in
Bottom of Range.
Stocks
are scanned from 3 Month RS of 35 or lower and TM’s Implosion and Technology
Implosion Lists on the Indicators page.
class=890430920-15102001>
None Today.
High RS issues with Volume
Surge in last hour.
Stocks are scanned from 3 Month
RS of 80 or higher and TM’s Proprietary and Technology 10 Momentum lists on the
Indicators page.
None Today.
Weak RS issues with
Volume Surge in last hour.
Stocks are scanned
from 3 Month RS of 35 or lower and TM’s Implosion and Technology Implosion Lists
on the Indicators page.
None Today.
Stocks in Slim
Jims
High RS Slim Jims.
class=890430920-15102001>Stocks are
scanned from 3 Month RS of 80 or higher and TM’s Proprietary and Technology 10
Momentum lists on the Indicators page.
None Today.
Weak RS
Slim Jimsclass=890430920-15102001>.
class=890430920-15102001>Stocks
are scanned from 3 Month RS of 35 or lower and TM’s Implosion and Technology
Implosion Lists on the Indicators page.
class=890430920-15102001>
size=2 Helvetica face=”Arial”>Name | class=890430920-15102001>Symbol | class=890430920-15102001>Relative Strength | class=890430920-15102001> size=2 Helvetica face=”Arial”>Price | Type | class=890430920-15102001>Average Volume | class=890430920-15102001>Today’s Volume |
L-3 Communications | ( LLL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 35 | 41.94 | SJ at lows | 1,492M | 1,653 |
class=890430920-15102001> Abercrombie & Fitch | class=890430920-15102001> ( ANF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | class=890430920-15102001> 8 | class=890430920-15102001> 26.29 | class=890430920-15102001> SJ at lows | class=890430920-15102001> 2,084M | class=890430920-15102001> 2,933M |
class=890430920-15102001>Long
Reversal Setups Closing Basis.
Stocks that are setting up on a closing basis as potential long reversal pattern
candidates. Candidates listed may have triggered on a closing basis, or close to
triggering ( my general rule is to list the pattern setup if it is within +/-.15
of trigger price). Patterns include 1,2,3s
,Slim Jim (SJ)
consolidations, and Triangles. Background
supports in the form of Fibonacci levels, EMAs (DEMA=daily EMA), and former price supports are
used in the decision making process.
size=2 Helvetica face=”Arial”>Name | class=890430920-15102001>Symbol | class=890430920-15102001>Relative Strength | class=890430920-15102001> size=2 Helvetica face=”Arial”>Price | Pattern Type | class=890430920-15102001>Average Volume | class=890430920-15102001>Today’s Volume |
| Eli Lilly | ( LLY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 25 | 58.35 | Slanted SJ off daily price supports | 3,089M | 8,252M |
class=890430920-15102001>Short
Reversal Setups Closing Basis.
Stocks that are setting up (within .15 of trigger) on a closing basis as potential
short reversal pattern
candidates. Patterns include 1,2,3s and Slim Jim (SJ.) consolidations. Whenever
possible background evidence of resistance in the form of Fibonacci levels, EMAs, and former price supports are
used in the decision making process.
class=890430920-15102001>
None Today.
class=890430920-15102001>
Institutional
Favorites
and Institutional
Laggards.
The following stocks are selected from
the Nasdaq, S&P 500 & 600 Indices, and HOLDRs. These are normally heavily traded,
liquid issues that
are exhibiting relative strength or weakness, pattern (Slim
Jims), or last hour volume surges, indicative of follow through in the very near term. Due to the
institutional participation, which can provide additional follow through not
always found in less active issues, the 3 Month RS criteria is more subjective, and quite often less stringent in
evaluating an issues near term prospects. Program trading (which affects many of these
issues) can also be viewed as a potential beneficial factor when stocks listed
below are exhibiting price pattern setups on an intraday and / or daily chart
basis.
Institutional
Favorites
size=2 Helvetica face=”Arial”>Name | class=890430920-15102001>Symbol | class=890430920-15102001>Relative Strength | class=890430920-15102001> size=2 Helvetica face=”Arial”>Price | class=890430920-15102001>Average Volume | class=890430920-15102001>Today’s Volume |
National Semiconductor | ( NSM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 87 | 22.98 | 2,878M | 3,439M |
eBay | ( EBAY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 66 | 97.75 | 7,201M | 6,313M |
Altria | ( MO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 16 | 34.91 | 13,319M | 13,783M |
Wellpoint Health | ( WLP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 69 | 84.22 | 1,583M | 3,222M |
Nextel | ( NXTL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 30 | 14.17 | 24,107M | 30,036M |
Institutional
Laggards.
size=2 Helvetica face=”Arial”>Name | class=890430920-15102001>Symbol | class=890430920-15102001>Relative Strength | class=890430920-15102001> size=2 Helvetica face=”Arial”>Price | class=890430920-15102001>Average Volume | class=890430920-15102001>Today’s Volume |
Staples | ( SPLS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 59 | 18.90 | 4,150M | 9,424M |
Metlife | ( MET | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 23 | 26.62 | 2,114M | 4,789M |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use
protective stops on class=890430920-15102001> all trades.
P.S. I’ve
just released a new trading module on Intraday Breakouts. If
you’d like more information, click
here.