Wednesday’s Stock Watch


The major indexes have been
pulling back for the past two days,
though volume has been on the
light side, indicating less conviction for the move. At this stage in the game,
volume is key to watch, as it will hint what the institutions are up to. From
the bullish perspective, we want to see the downside volume dry up to give way to
the bulls. But as always, we will trade what is, and not what should be.



Breadth-wise, things appear to have turned up some. Mark Boucher‘s
Top
RS and ER List
posted 46 for Monday, with the

Bottom RS and ER List
producing nothing. New 52-week highs continue to hold
a slight edge over the lows.



Stocks on our watch list are hanging in there,
though our most recent breakout, Garmin Ltd.

(
GRMN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
, ran into some heavy selling Tuesday. It
is important for us to see breakouts succeed in this market until we can really
feel confident about buying into it. Unfortunately, there have been no new
selections to add to our watch lists.



From Tuesday’s action:



Market breadth was negative, with NYSE
declining issues over advancing issues by a ratio of 1.59, and down volume over
up volume by a 3.50 ratio. Nasdaq declining issues over advancing issues came in
at 2.11, and down volume beat up volume by a 5.08 ratio.





Dow Jones Industrial Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

closed
-1.34%
at 8,742.93. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

closed
-1.47% at
920.75.
The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
closed

-2.41%% at
1,448.96.








cellPadding=0 width=”70%” border=1 height=”176″>

































NYSE size=2>NASDAQ
Advancing Issues
1,145

1,081

Declining Issues

1,923

2,250
Advancing Volume
319,782,000

281,008,000
Declining Volume

1,083,919,000

1,338,506,000

Total
Volume

1,414,850,000

1,633,970,000
New 52-week
Highs

7

12
New 52-week Lows
5

3

Top sectors:

Gold, Defense, Leisure, Consumer.

Watch List Action:


One of our recent breakouts, Mentor Corp.
(
MNTR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
, was able to buck the
overall market trend with a slight gain for Tuesday. The stock is holding above
its pivot buy, though posted distribution on Monday. We’d rather see up days
occur on higher volume, though we’ll see how this one hangs in here.





Our newest breakout, Garmin Ltd.
(
GRMN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
, gave up a big chunk of gains for
Tuesday as it made an ominous inside day on the daily chart. The stock has been
on a tear lately, and has provided little in the way of entry opportunities.
We’re watching to see how this one holds above its most recent consolidation.





Recent Breakouts

size=2>

We monitor the action of Recent Breakouts as an indicator of
the market health for IT traders. When breakouts are acting well, this is a good
sign for the likelihood of further sustainable breakouts. When breakouts are
failing, IT traders should be even more cautious.




































































color=#ffffff size=2>Company Name color=#ffffff size=2>Symbol color=#ffffff size=2>12 Month RS color=#ffffff size=2>Price color=#ffffff size=2>Price Change color=#ffffff size=2>Average Volume
Pivot

52-Week High

Apollo Group


(
APOL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

84

40.50

-0.80

2,555,100

39.60

46.15

Coach Inc.


(
COH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

96

33.91

-0.56

936,500

29.80

34.56

Garmin Ltd.


(
GRMN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

91

24.65

-0.85

183,600

23.46

24.25

Hovnanian Enterprises


(
HOV |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

93

31.40

-1.58

771,100

33.56

40.56

International Game Technology


(
IGT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

88

75.59

-1.10

1,099,000

75.47

79.51

Mentor Corp.


(
MNTR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

92

42.93

+0.36

255,900

41.50

45.01

Stocks Forming a Handle




































color=#ffffff size=2>Company Name color=#ffffff size=2>Symbol color=#ffffff size=2>12 Month RS color=#ffffff size=2>Price color=#ffffff size=2>Price Change color=#ffffff size=2>Average Volume
Pivot

Commerce Bancorp.


(
CBH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

75

45.44

-0.84

748,700

47.90

Expedia


(
EXPE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

96

74.37

+0.85

2,671,400

78.72

Ross Stores Inc.


(
ROST |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

93

45.61

-0.56

1,075,200

47.34

EXPE hit its pivot though didn’t produce the
volume needed for a buy signal.


We have reset the pivot on ROST to 47.34.


Stocks Building A Base





















color=#ffffff size=2>Company Name

color=#ffffff size=2>Symbol

color=#ffffff size=2>12 Month RS

color=#ffffff size=2>Price

color=#ffffff size=2>Price Change

color=#ffffff size=2>Average Volume


Pivot

None







href=”mailto:danielb@tradingmarkets.com”>danielb@tradingmarkets.com


If you are new to the “IT” strategy, be sure to
take a look at our

intermediate-term online trading course
.


Intermediate-Term Traders

Report is posted on
Tuesdays and Fridays. For other intermediate-term commentary, be sure to read

Mark Boucher
(Fridays),

Tim Truebenbach
(Tuesdays and Thursdays), and

Gary Kaltbaum
(Mondays and Thursdays).