Friday’s Top Stocks
With investors holding
their collective breath before the “next two big numbers” due out
from Intel (INTC), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics
(Unemployment), the ETFs not too coincidentally also took a breather for most of
Thursday’s trade. Early morning action had our ETF friends gapping lower on
unraveling guidance from semiconductor titan Maxim Integrated
(
MXIM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
But, just to complicate the “profit-taking” picture, the markets also had a
better-than-expected number out of the Retail sector
(
RTH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) this morning.
Combine the conflicting evidence, and you had a day marked by consolidation and
indecision going into the final hour of trade. Indecision doesn’t always mean
“hands off” though, as trade was still above average as investors tidied up
their portfolios. All said and done the ETFs finished between
the unchanged mark, for the lagging Diamonds
(
DIA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
to about .75% for the NASDAQ
100
(
QQQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), with the Spyders
(
SPY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) somewhere
in between. Volume was especially heavy on the Nasdaq, while the NYSE figure was
above average, on market breadth statistics that fell shy of the 2:1 mark, but
still clearly favored the bull.
Overbought? Sure, but I’m not
going to rock the “Big Red Boat”…maybe it should be called “green” for now.
The ETFs once again did the unthinkable by extending their gains within our
established “confirmed rally.” I guess all you really need to ask yourself is
this question, “Who can the market upset the most?” (and that’s a nice
PC way of putting it), and that’s where it will go. The shorts are screaming and
the money managers waiting on the sidelines for “the pullback,” are most likely
kicking themselves by now, so my bet goes on the chips marked, “the fear of
missing ou.” Of course, eventually, maybe tomorrow the market will pull back,
or correct, or whatever euphemism you prefer. So just sit back and relax,
because you always have your daytrading to keep you consistently in the market,
up or down.
Until the game plan
changes, and why should it, we’ll continue to prosper if we do our homework ahead of time,
keeping our list of High and Low RS issues. While
others are waiting for Mr. Market to pullback, we’ll continue to take
the 1,2,3s, the Slim Jim reversals, and a host of other trades as they setup
each and every day, making our decision to trade in the here and now, an easy one indeed.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index |
Close |
Net Change |
Signals/Direction |
% Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
| VIX ( $VIX.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
23.12 |
up .64 | CVR 1 Buy | 3.5% above | Not At Extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
34.53 | up 1.49 | None | 9% above | Not At Extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Gold & Silver
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and Biotech
(
BBH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Weakest Sectors : Internet
(
HHH |
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 |
| Rambus | ( RMBS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
19.30 | High volume range B/O to new 52-week high | 1,803m | 3,397m |
| Stratasys |
( SSYS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
32.05 |
Volume surge final hour, with wide range reversal bar to close well |
430k |
409k |
| International
Game Technology |
( IGT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
93 |
Consolidation close intraday, at 52-week high on volume |
1,189m |
1,921m |
| Sandisk |
( SNDK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
38.05 |
Closing at top of multiday consolidation near 52- week highs |
4,070m |
3,879m |
| Marvel Technology |
( MRVL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
33.41 |
Volume expansion B/O of trading range to establish new 52-week high |
3,356m |
4,275m |
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 |
| HCA Inc. | ( HCA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
31.45 | Bottom of range close, at daily price supports on volume |
6,098m | 11,653m |
| Whole Foods Markets | ( WFMI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
50.75 | Break of daily technical supports on volume, with pullback consolidation off lows |
1,206m | 2,471m |
| Lockheed Martin | ( LMT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
45.45 | Consolidation close near lows on Outside day with volume in Low RS issue |
2,431m | 2,371m |
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.
None Today.
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 |
| Adobe | ( ADBE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
37.61 | 3,404m | 4,007m |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals | ( TEVA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
51.95 | 2,486m | 2,789m |
| ICOS | ( ICOS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
38.90 | 2,116m | 7,412m |
| QLogic | ( QLGC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
51 | 6,405m | 5,021m |
Institutional
Laggards.
| Name |
Symbol |
Price |
Average Volume |
Today’s Volume |
| IBM | ( IBM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
81.90 | 8,188m | 15,000m |
| Johnson & Johnson | ( JNJ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
52.20 | 7,641m | 20,975m |
| Microsoft | ( MSFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
24.09 | 60,937m | 115,053m |
| 3M Company | ( MMM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
125.66 | 2,588m | 1,976m |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use
protective stops on all trades.