The Aftermath
This was a
day in which, at the surface, things looked decent, what with the Naz
pulling back on receding volume and a reduced range.
Beneath the surface, though, a bunch
of stocks that had been setting up — not go-go names, mind you — were
distributed.
Not good.
One was BJ Services
(
BJS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)…some
others are listed near the bottom of this space.
In the bells, Cisco
(
CSCO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), after
showing good poise for the a.m. session, came unglued in the afternoon to close
just a fraction richer on elevated flow.
Oracle
(
ORCL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), which has showed
some of the best relative strength among the benchmarks over the past month or
so, was a bright spot, up a fraction as volume eased.
Elsewhere, AMR
(
AMR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) followed
through nicely on expanding volume in the wake of Wednesday’s breakout.
American Standard
(
ASD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), mentioned
here recently, cleared a four-month base on big turnover.
The ASD chart, one of a very
constructive, multimonth base, is something that didn’t exist a year ago due to
the extended nature of most growth issues.
Americredit
(
ACF |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) showed good tone
for the second day in a row as it nears the top of its three-month base.
Kohl’s
(
KSS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), mentioned here
recently, gapped up and out of a five-month base on over three times average
volume.
Merrill Lynch
(
MER |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was a
disappointment, churning on heavy volume just a day after it romped to the top
of a four-month base.
Ditto for Providian
(
PVN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), which
also churned, after showing some very nice base-building characteristics lately.
A number of stocks that had appeared
to be setting up for base completion broke down.
They include Trigon
(
TGH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Triad
(
TRIH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
Newfield Exploration
(
NFX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Invitrogen
(
IVGN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Impath
(
IMPH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
Beckman
(
BEC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Baxter
(
BAX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and Dynegy
(
DYN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
Cytyc
(
CYTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), one of the best
lookers in growthland, saw volume dwindle as price pulled back, a plus.
Beyond the distributive nature of a
number of setups, the semis came off, with some distributed and some not.
In all, a very mixed day; some pluses
and a few more minuses.
But not atypical for a market of bear
proportions after the first cut.