Thursday’s Top Stocks
The ‘mooove’ turned decidedly sheepish today, as buyers kept their horns in
check, and the grazing to a minimum, as the indices gapped lower off company-related
news such as less-than-enthusiastic guidance going forward, classic pump and
dump, buy the rumor/sell the news style trading, and various other earnings
parade maneuvers. With that said, our bovine ETF friends had a ‘baaahhhd’ day,
closing off between 1.25% and 1.92% on the session. Volume was also decidedly
heavy in the S&P cash, as increased trade also trumped the highest figures
for the last several weeks. The Nasdaq was able to retreat on slightly less,
and below-average volume, so the bulls have something to hang on their horns
for the evening. Throw in a decided bearish advance/decline ratio (combined)
of .40, and I think at this juncture it’s still best to ‘steer’ the portfolio
clear, and continue to watch for greener pastures.
With today’s action, the indices did a nice retreat out of their respective
doji formations and volatility picked up off historic lows as our ETF friends
finished below their respective 20-Day EMAs. What’s next, you ask? Well, even
if you didn’t, I’m personally watching for better price action off an absolute
slew of earnings reports coming due in the following days. Key price supports
at lower levels also need to be tested before I start ‘mooving’ aggressively
into the playing fields of the market.
So, for the moment, my plan of action is to watch and see what the indices
can do. Should they approach the 50% retracements off our recent pivot lows
and/or the 50-Day EMA and hold, while our leading issues are saying technically
‘that it’s gonna be alright’, then I’ll probably find myself doing some grazing
off some recently ‘mowed’ stocks. Just in case I’m too wishful though and that
day never comes, tomorrow you can bet the ranch that I’ll be watching for intraday
trades that continue to ‘moove’ us through disciplined, consistent daytrading
tactics.
Stick to the plan–some days by definition will prove more difficult than others,
but if you apply the same consistency to your trading each and every day, the
long run should continue to come up smelling like roses. It might be the Fall,
but for those who are patient enough to wait for the classic setups out of their
list of High and Low RS issues, the word spring is the only thing you should
be concerned with, as the account continues to produce the classic green stuff
all year round.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VXO ( $VXO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
19.06 | up 1.24 | NA | 3% below | Not At Extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
25.68 | up 1.33 | cvr 2 sell | 4% below | Not At Extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Gold/Silver (XAU)
Weakest Sectors : Semiconductors
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Thursday’s stocks to watch:
Technical Strength Top of Range.
Stocks are scanned from TM’s Proprietary and Technology 10 Momentum lists on
the Indicators page, as well as being hand selected, based on the most recent
technical action. This may include some or all of the following: abnormal
volume, price patterns, as well as bullish action off of technical price
supports or clearance of technical resistance in that day’s session.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| NVE Corp | ( NVEC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
38.16 | Daily b/o of angular resistance on volume, closing top of range |
551 | 1,461 |
| Eon Labs | ( ELAB | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
40.25 | Top of range close on engulfing bar w/ volume, off 50-Day EMA reversal |
245 | 346 |
| Nortel | ( NT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
4.65 | 2-month ascending triangle pattern, nearing b/o levels on volume increase |
26,263 | 35,667 |
Technical Weakness Bottom of Range.
Stocks are scanned from TM’s Implosion and Technology Implosion Lists on the
Indicators page, as well as being hand selected, based on the most recent
technical action. This may include some or all of the following: abnormal
volume, price patterns, as well as bearish technical action at key support,
or resistance levels based on closing prices.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
Stock Reversal Setups Closing Basis.
Stocks that are setting up on a closing basis as potential long or short 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 basing patterns (Slim Jims, 1,2,3s,
Double bottoms) consolidations, and triangle reversals. Background technical
supports in the form of Fibonacci levels, EMAs (DEMA=daily ema), RS, and former
price action are used in the decision making process.
Long Reversals Closing Basis.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
Short Reversals Closing Basis.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
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, patterns (consolidations or Slim Jims) , or
last hour volume surges, indicative of follow through in the very near term.
Institutional Favorites
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Internet Security | ( ISSX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
17.01 | 1,421 | 11,245 |
| PeopleSoft | ( PSFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
20.81 | 6,000 | 7,057 |
| Nextel | ( NXTL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
22.89 | 17,631 | 15,049 |
Institutional Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Amazon | ( AMZN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
54.03 | 10,115 | 32,686 |
| Symantec | ( SYMC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
64.49 | 3,606 | 5,869 |
| CDW Corp | ( CDWC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
59.25 | 1,188 | 2,719 |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use protective stops on all trades.
Chris Tyler