Soggy, Not Stout
The Nasdaq’s
buy-the-rumor, sell-the-news reaction to late-Tuesday’s Supreme Court
ruling was not surprising.
Even so, subsurface there was much
more bad than good, unlike Tuesday’s action.
Specifically, one in two leading
issues were distributed versus Tuesday’s one in six.
That’s a meaningful difference.
As always, the rubber-meets-the-road
test — how a stock behaves on, and immediately subsequent to, its breakout —
will yield valuable information as to the durability of the speculative
sentiment in the days and weeks to come.
Hardly any growth stocks have cleared
their bases just yet, so this measure continues to collect dust.
One, Intranet
(
INRS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), was
distributed Wednesday on big volume just three days after busting out of a
nine-month base…not good.
Another, Netiq
(
NTIQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Tuesday
moved out of a sloppy, five-week base on good turnover before failing Wednesday
on elevated trade.
Though its decline came on lower
volume, Powerwave’s
(
PWAV |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) second day of handle construction was a
disappointment, too wide to be considered sound.
Even Check Point
(
CHKP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), one of
the top actors within the glamour complex over the past fortnight, showed more
volume than desirable Wednesday as it idled.
Cerner
(
CERN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was one bright
spot, as it works on a six-week base.
The choppy Aeroflex
(
ARXX |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was
another, pulling back on lighter volume.
Another was Aremissoft
(
AREM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
pulling back for the second day on thinning trade.
In the bells, Tellabs
(
TLAB |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
continues to shape up nicely.
EMC
(
EMC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), however, was
distributed for the second day running…unlike Tuesday, other bells were unable
to pick up the slack…this is a prominent concern.
Another minus was nontech benchmark
Merrill
(
MER |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), which had shaped up beautifully until Wednesday, when it was
distributed on big volume.
In all, an as-expected day for the Naz,
and not abnormal for this stage of its two-week rally — but not without a raft
of negatives beneath the surface.