Friday’s Top Stocks
All eyes might be on Oracle’s
(ORCL) Mid Quarter Update, but that didn’t stop
investors hands from using the hammer for profit-taking purposes on some of our
relative strength performers. The well-constructed homebuilders’ most recent
"additions" were partially "pulled down." Some doubt about the how the view from
up there would really work out in the short run, translated into losses in the
sector of nearly 3% intraday, before the doubt turned into a reason to build
again, and well off today’s foundation.
Elsewhere, after an early attempt to
"tack on" gains off of a price gap, and trying to follow through on yesterday’s
solid numbers, our ETF friends, the SPYs
(
SPY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), The Q’s
(
QQQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and the
Diamonds
(
DIA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) all dropped in a light volume bout of profit taking. Can you
really blame them? Does a "builder" make strong homes with gaps in the
foundation? After the initial reversal from higher levels, trade for most of the
session was dictated by contracting volatility with what could best be described
as a lethargic pressure, as buyers and sellers kept the index proxies yoyo-ing
around the unchanged level. In the closing hour of trade the bias shifted
towards the buy side establishing fractional gains slightly above the unchanged
mark. This action has the ETFs up for the third day in a row after a two-session
pullback. Price action was tempered by market breadth figures that were mixed at
best, and decreasing volume figures that fell below average in today’s
trade.
The markets are continuing to put on their best game face, by showing investors left out on the sidelines the errors of their ways. By
making pullbacks feel more like blips that only those using intraday charts can
take advantage of, you can’t help but feel a little bit of anxiety for the
position traders out there. You can almost hear them saying, “It’s just not
supposed to work like that,” and that begets another reason why, regardless
of whether the market is designated a bear, or just full of bull, it’s always good
to be a daytrader.
We leave the difficult decision of having to decide if today is a key
reversal day, or a continuation of trade to the other guy, the position trader.
For us daytraders, we have the luxury of focusing on that which we know is
working in the here and now. Our decisions based on technical setups in the
"present," continue to be a gift for the daytrader. And this of course, happens without the worry of
"hoping" that there might something good
waiting for us the next trading day.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VIX ( $VIX.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
22.33 |
up .21 | None | 0% above | Not At Extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
34.01 | up .27 | None | 0% Above | Not At Extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Internet
(
HHH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and
Telecomm
(
TTH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Weakest Sectors : Semiconductors
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Oil
Services
(
OIH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Friday’s HELVETICA>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 | Today’s Volume |
| Manhattan Associates | ( MANH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
30.45 | 52-Week high with intraday ascending triangle close on volume |
645k | 1,154m |
| Taro Pharmaceuticals |
( TARO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
56.10 | Pull back consolidation close, daily gap higher to establish 52-Week highs on volume |
446k | 1,025m |
| Forest Labs | ( FRX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
56.58 | Volume surge last hour, top of range close, within 1% of 52-week highs |
2,922m | 1,695m |
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 | Today’s Volume |
| Cigna | ( CI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
48.10 | Bottom of range close on ‘outside day’ with confirming volume |
1,221m | 2,021m |
| Laboratory Corp | ( LH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
28.80 | Consolidation at bottom of range, ‘outside day’ reversal on daily below the 50 and 200-Day EMAs |
1,565m | 1,899m |
class=890430920-15102001>
class=890430920-15102001>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.
class=890430920-15102001>Long Reversals class=890430920-15102001>Closing Basis.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume | Today’s Volume |
| Power Integrations | ( POWI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
24.90 | 15-Minute extended Cup & Handle pattern on daily chart follow thru day off technical reversal |
601k | 913k |
class=890430920-15102001>
Short
Reversals
Closing Basis.
None Today.
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 | Today’s Volume |
| eBay | ( EBAY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
100.81 | 6,909m | 7,785m |
| Amazon | ( AMZN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
35.20 | 9,762m | 7,019m |
| Electronic Arts | ( ERTS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
73.75 | 3,524m | 2,520m |
Institutional
Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume | Today’s Volume |
| IBM | ( IBM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
83.95 | 8,495m | 7,048m |
| Texas Instruments | ( TXN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
18.49 | 12,645m | 26,581m |
| Johnson & Johnson | ( JNJ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
53.27 | 8,214m | 10,437m |
| Fannie Mae | ( FNM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
67.07 | 4,189m | 15,490m |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use
protective stops on class=890430920-15102001> all trades.