Of Gift Horses And Semis
The Naz’s
move was welcome, but doesn’t alter the intermediate trend, which remains south.
For that to change, the Index would
have to take out its Jan. 24 high, which would then give it a higher low and
higher high.
But gift horses, even as trivial as
this one, shouldn’t be looked in the mouth, especially when they involve the
semis.
Feature of the day: Applied
(
AMAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)…it
beat expectations and warned — then proceeded to run up 14%.
I recently mentioned that, for
purposes of tech sentiment, I am paying more attention to the semi equips such
as AMAT than the actual chip producers themselves.
The equips were the bigger winners
Wednesday.
For sentiment purposes only,
watch AMAT, KLA
(
KLAC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) (+16% Wednesday), Novellus
(
NVLS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) (+13%), and
Teradyne
(
TER |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)…ASM Lithography
(
ASML |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is another possible.
These are the heavies in the group and
provide the best window into the group’s fundamental health.
The smaller ones, being bit players,
tell you little about the fortunes of the group.
Cabot Micro
(
CCMP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), in a world of
its own, also says little about the group…its business of polishing and
cleaning silicon wafers prospers in recession or recovery.
Among the names, Alliance Fiber
(
AFOP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is a lower-priced stock with as classic a pattern as you will find.
Priority Healthcare
(
PHCC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is
testing the upper reaches of its base.
Dupont Photomasks
(
DPMI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), a semi
equip, is rallying out of a deep, v-shaped handle.
Phototronics, in the same group, and
under extreme accumulation, is also coming out of a pullback.
Weatherford
(
WFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), leader among
the oils, moved out of a weeklong triangle on volume.
Away from the growth sector, some of
the oils show the best-looking bases, and by factors.
Etcetera: I will be
speaking at the International Online Trading Expo on Tuesday, Feb. 20 from
1:30-3:00 at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel.