All That Naz

Posted 3:12 p.m. ET Thursday, Aug. 17.

Five wins
in five days for the Naz.

A good session overall, and in light
of the tentative volume.

Some rays of light in the glamour
complex.

Among the names, Avocent
(
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is an intriguing pullback for swing traders.

BEA
(
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did what it had to do
to digest Wednesday’s beefy rise.

Ciena was a standout among the vogue
names, hurdling to levels not seen in five months…it was the fourth day of
accumulation in its past five outings.

Recent new issue Handspring
(
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eased on fairly light trade, something it will have to do more of if it is to
digest its abrupt, v-shaped recovery begun Aug. 3.

Another recent IPO, Avici
(
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,
appears to be getting serious about a run back to its "old" high.

i2
(
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continues to show good
tone, if a bit tentative.

Power One
(
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is pulling back
in positive fashion, and on waning activity.

Sycamore
(
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decisively sliced
through the top of its five-week v-shaped base.

Juniper
(
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came out of a
two-day pullback on rising volume.

PMC-Sierra
(
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tightened up a
bit for the third day as volume dimmed for the fourth session.

Intel
(
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was accumulated for
the fifth time in seven sessions…volume during this stretch has been flat to
below-average, like nearly everything else in tech.

Sun
(
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continued to hold its
head high.

Since the beginning of the week, the
picture has brightened slightly for swinger stocks that are the target of the
aggressive intermediate-term trader.

But though the posture of names such
as Brocade
(
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, Broadcom
(
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, Juniper
(
JNPR |
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, PMC
(
PMCS |
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,
Power One
(
PWER |
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, Sycamore
(
SCMR |
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, Ariba
(
ARBA |
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, etc. has
improved on the tape, there are relatively few of these glamours showing the
right kind of stuff.

The bigger problem remains the slack
volume in the Nasdaq market, which is just the way August is supposed to be.

Thus, the follow-through on most
stocks as they break out is still lacking, making for choppy conditions.

This is an important barometer of
market health, and the sort of gauge that’s hugely more important than anyone’s
opinion.

Until things really resolve
themselves, our best course is to watch each day’s tape, and see how it affects
the key names listed in this space day after day.