Friday’s Top Stocks
The ETFs managed to hold ground and rise to the occasion, in a somber session
that paid tribute to 9/11. Volume was light as expected, and below-average,
as our index proxy friends forged a ceremonial close with gains of .30% to
1.10% as some investors were intent on picking up the pieces from yesterday’s
‘fear’ driven sell-off, as they also honored their fallen bovine friend, the
bull.
The first technical support zone of any merit, the 20-Day EMA, seems to have
invoked some patriotic fervor as investors bid up prices off of the highest
noteworthy line of technical significance-that’s the good news. The bad news
is that the 2.5% to 5% pullback now has two-day resistance highs with which
to contend, after prices dropped off of their best levels in the final hour
of trade. In the Spyders
(
SPY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) this level is approximately centered around
the 102.75 area, which had been a pretty sturdy level of support during our
recent consolidation action in that index. The market also has an uncanny way
of not making it too easy. So while most people are probably very smitten with
today’s action, coupled with the albatross of fear associated with the
9/11 anniversary being removed from investors’ necks, the coast should be clear,
right? Well,
maybe the albatross is gone, but in my opinion it seems like the Mighty Ducks
(quack) have dethroned both the bear and the bull far too quickly for things
to be over just yet. I like the levels of support thus far, but something
a tad sturdier might come in handy if the ducks are really going to have
a fighting chance of flying free of the same arena as a feeding
bull and angry bear.
Today might not have been ‘it’, but looking ahead, our consistent, disciplined
brand of daytrading will surely come in handy once more. In today’s trade,
many folk paid their respects to the fallen victims of 9/11, making for some
high-probability chop. Tomorrow though, is just another high-probability trading
day, if we stick to the game plan. By trading our list of High and Low RS issues
out of classic continuation and reversal patterns, Thursday’s tears of sorrow
will hopefully be replaced by tears of joy as we go back to paying our own
special tribute to the NYSE.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VIX ( $VIX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
20.56 | down .76 | CVR 1,2 Buy | 3% above | Not At Extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
32.97 | down .19 | CVR 1,2,6 Buy | 7% above | Not At Extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Biotech
(
BBH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Networking
(NWX)
Weakest Sectors : Health/Medical and Telecom
(
TTH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Friday’s 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 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Dicks Sporting Goods | ( DKS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
35.34 | Broadening formation triangle & 1,2,3 daily pivot low confirmed by today’s continuation bar higher with a top of range finish |
438 | 366 |
| Brightpoint | ( CELL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
27.45 | Top of range consolidation within 2-week trading range, on strong volume |
293 | 871 |
| Biovail | ( BVF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
42.78 | Bullish gap confirmed by strong volume to close at highs of session, clearing daily ‘double pivot highs’ |
2,095 | 3,555 |
| Gtech Holdings | ( GTK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
43.20 | Wide range reversal bar testing 52-week consolidation highs on strong volume |
620 | 837 |
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 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Merck | ( MRK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
53.30 | Bottom of range close, inside day on Low RS issue after technical failure of the 50-Day EMA |
6,590 | 4,506 |
| Varian | ( VAR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
54.88 | Pullback from lows intraday on volume increase test of daily price pivots |
622 | 642 |
| CheckFree | ( CKFR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
22.55 | Recross of the 200-Day EMA on relative ‘strong’ volume, closing below intraday consolidation supports |
1,596 | 1,472 |
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.
Long Reversals Closing Basis.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
Short Reversals Closing Basis.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Adobe | ( ADBE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
39.46 | Climatic volume on bullish gap, to close poorly below daily technical pattern b/o levels, and below midpoint of intraday range |
3,446 | 15,733 |
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 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Chiron | ( CHIR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
56.45 | 1,932 | 3,722 |
| General Electric | ( GE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
31.48 | 9,155 | 18,567 |
Institutional Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| QLogic | ( QLGC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
49.10 | 5,008 | 4,285 |
| Novellus | ( NVLS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
37.25 | 7,721 | 12,602 |
| Eli Lilly | ( LLY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
60.98 | 3,906 | 2,965 |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use protective stops on all trades.
Chris Tyler