Friday’s Top Stocks
More ‘profit-taking’ by raging bulls well into the lunchtime lull–pierced
key support technical supports intraday, and more likely than not, left much
less from which to take those bovine-sized profits. The show must go on as it
always does, so today’s entertainment value was based on something called The
Minutes, from yesterday’s hush-hush, wink-wink Fed meeting. Somewhere around
13:30 P.M. EST, investors realized they had yesterday all wrong based on today’s
brand-new information, and began in earnest to scoop up much of the mess that
they had just made while ‘profit-taking.’ This resulted in the process known
as ‘bargain-hunting.’
Hmmm, sounds like a comedy of errors if you dare to play the raging bull game
day in and day out. In summary, and not looking at all the intraday profit-taking
that went on–our ETF friends were once again feeling a tad more bullish as
they finished off the day between the unchanged mark and a fractional gain of
.37%. Lighter, below-average volume on the S&P 500 showed that investors
dared to care, by not giving up quite yet on their weighted portfolios. On the
Nasdaq however–volume swelled, as apparently those gains just had to be locked
in before more stocks like Foundry Networks (FDRY) and Veritas (VRTS) made the
profits oh so much harder to really, really realize, in the world of cautious
bull.
Real profits for real people–not if you play the game by tuning in to your
favorite folks on the television. If you trade or invest in growth issues and
you wait around for the technical test, such as in today’s session–you end
up missing the boat completely. Most of these issues have been doing their own
version of profit-taking well before their bovine compadres, the indices, finally
decide to stab themselves with their own bullish horns. It’s usually around
the same time that the media starts to show concern and start reckoning the
sustainability of ‘the bull’ with great phrases like, ‘have we gone too far,
too fast?’ That’s usually the time when once again, cautious bulls start planting
their own hoofs and raising the horns a notch. Just say ‘moove’, or better yet
just say yes to disciplined, consistent daytrading–regardless of whose turn
it is to wear the horns.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VXO ( $VXO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
17.53 | up .43 | cvr 3,5 buy | 13% above | at extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
25.91 | up .75 | cvn 3,5 buy | 15% above | at extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Biotech
(
BBH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Retail
(
RTH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Weakest Sectors : Gold/Silver (XAU) and Internet
(
HHH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Friday’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 |
| Nanogen | ( NGEN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
13.01 | Inside bar hammer pattern on daily on above-average volume | 3,610 | 8,322 |
| Ceradyne | ( CRDN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
40.73 | Doji test of daily supports | 619 |
610 |
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 |
| Regeneration Technologies | ( RTIX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
10.05 | Increased volume hammer test of prior lows | 274 | 219 |
Short Reversals Closing Basis.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| NTL Corp. | ( NTLI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
64.67 | Bottom of range consolidation on technical break of price and MA supports on increased, above-average volume |
1,059 | 1,538 |
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 |
| Oracle | ( ORCL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
14.19 | 41,770 | 50,186 |
| Verizon | ( VZ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
37.09 | 7,645 | 8,448 |
Institutional Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Dell | ( DELL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
33.72 | 16,155 | 24,501 |
| Lowes | ( LOW | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
53.30 | 3,683 | 6,149 |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use protective stops on all trades.