Friday’s Top Stocks
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If Triumph the Insult Dog from the Conan O’Brien show was able to comment on today’s market action it might go something like this: ‘Yes folks, very good economic numbers in Thursday’s show. The Advance Chain Deflator, Chicago PMI, Initial Claims, etc…was just the right mix of economic excuses to boost the market to strong intraday gains…so that I may poop on it.’ Our ETF friends all ended the day in the green, but well off of their best levels on stronger, but still moderate trade. Advancing versus declining issues didn’t help the bull case either as that statistic ended mixed on the session, making us wonder if anyone is saying ‘yahoo’ just yet.
Another contraction in today’s trade, but at least this one wasn’t so painful. The Diamonds and Spyders both tested pivot resistance on the daily charts, consolidating slightly below these levels before the eventual late afternoon breakdown. ‘Oh, gimme a break’, and today they did to some extent–almost an upside break, the breakout variety that bulls so love. Unfortunately for them the playable break was to the short side. This probably made a lot of daytraders very happy campers as their careful planning once again paid off as the market proxies retreated safely back to their ‘home on the range.’Â
Today the playing conditions were more suitable to ‘play ball.’ By staying prepared with our list of High and Low RS stocks, we knew it was only a matter of time before they would once again come in handy. It’s a matter of standing at the plate, waiting for the right pitch to set up before us, and then swinging. Being well rested and ready for action after we’re given a period of rest keeps us primed for maintaining our MVP status within the daytrading elite, at the best show on the planet.Â
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VIX ( $VIX.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
21.24 | up .52 | none | 2% above | Not At Extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
31.22 | up .36 | none | 0% | Not At Extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Oil Services
(
OIH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Semiconductors
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Weakest Sectors : Health/Medical
(
$HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and
Telecomm
(
TTH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)Â
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 |
| United Online | ( UNTD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
31.38 | 52-week highs on volume, to close in an ascending triangle pattern |
1,249m | 3,143m |
| F5 Networks | ( FFIV | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
18.75 | Testing weekly consolidation b/o levels in today’s trade on strong volume |
549k | 801k |
| Microstrategy | ( MSTR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
43.62 | closing near high of day on late day range b/o, on daily reversal follow-thru |
568k | 672k |
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 |
| American Home Mortgage | ( AHMH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
16.38 | Volume surge, daily b/d of 50-Day EMA and neckline to close at lows of session |
436k | 1,024m |
| Centex | ( CTX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
72.57 | bottom of range close on late day volume surge below recent price supports |
1,653m | 1,686m |
| Advance PCS | ( ADVP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
37.89 | Lower range close on heavy volume, breaking recent daily price supports to close at 50-Day EMA |
1,468m | 3,174m |
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 |
| Weatherford | ( WFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
36.27 | closed upper part of range to confirm technical pivot low off of daily supports |
1,638m | 1,413m |
class=890430920-15102001>
Short
Reversals
Closing Basis.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume | Today’s Volume |
class=890430920-15102001>
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 |
| Cintas | ( CTAS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
41.21 | 1,193m | 2,294m |
| Merrill Lynch | ( MER | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
54.37 | 6,027m | 8,833m |
| Bank One | ( ONE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
39.56 | 4,211m | 3,319m |
Institutional
Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume | Today’s Volume |
| IBM | ( IBM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
81.25 | 7,619m | 7,607m |
| QLogic | ( QLGC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
42.10 | 5,424m | 8,504m |
| Verizon | ( VZ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
35 | 7,048m | 8,141m |
| eBay | ( EBAY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
107.30 | 6,759m | 6,950m |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use
protective stops on class=890430920-15102001> all trades.
Chris Tyler