Stocks go quietly
Wednesday’s
trade was nondescript and firmer,
closely fitting the stereotype of a post-Xmas session.
At 3 to 2, Big Board breadth was solid
and miles better than a Dow up 8 points. Nasdaq volume was the lightest since
Thanksgiving, as was NYSE turnover, with the latter fading for the fifth day in
a row.
Among top-tier
techs, Applied Materials [AMAT>AMAT] is working on a tight,
three-day ascending triangle pattern on a bullish dryup in volume…Dell
[DELL>DELL] continues to act very well and is setting up nicely. The flagging
volume over the past three days tells you there’s scant profit-taking following
the stock’s seven-day winning streak…Ericsson [ERICY>ERICY] moved to a
two-week high, with turnover picking up as the stock looks poised to test its
record high of three weeks ago…H-P [HWP>HWP] continued its upward creep
toward a breakout of its five-month base…Intel [INTC>INTC] gained trivially
as it sets up for a breakout of its all-time high of 89 1/2. Some have been
disappointed with the semi titan’s showing since early September, a period in
which it’s basically traded flat. What they don’t realize is that INTC ran up
80% during the three summer months, quite an achievement for a stock with
such a mammoth capitalization. Stocks need time to digest such a major
climb…Oracle [ORCL>ORCL], Motorola [MOT>MOT], and Sun [SUNW>SUNW] all
remained on track Wednesday.
In the color=#008000>speculative glamours, Audiocodes [AUDC>AUDC]
followed through on Tuesday’s breakout from a five-week cup-with-handle base.
Volume on both days was sub-par, however…Be Free [BFRE>BFRE] looks
interesting as it traces a three-week base on light volume…Brocade
[BRCD>BRCD] continues to simmer right at its all-time highs…Onyx
[ONXS>ONXS] struggled to convincingly break out of a nine-month
cup-with-handle base…Aspect Development [ASDV>ASDV] barely broke out of a
five-week base, with activity leaving much to be desired…
Yesterday, I’d referred to the blatant
distribution in Commerce One [CMRC>CMRC]. This continued Wednesday, with
turnover increasing 35% and the stock closing off 40 1/8 points, or 16%.
Normally, stocks that experience this type of distribution following a climactic
blowoff need to put in at least a few months of backing and filling before
another advance can be attempted.
Once again, the color=#008000>genomics brightened, with winners outpacing losers
by 3 to 2…there was little urgency to sell the losers, however, with volume
receding on most…One exception was Genome Therapeutics [GENE>GENE], which
came under distribution as volume swelled 29%.