Thursday’s Top Stocks
If you didn’t catch the initial thrust up in Wednesday’s trade, it just might have felt like Waiting for Godot.
Surely the all consuming, low volatility intraday trading range got you all ‘fed up’, having to wait patiently in vain for our friendly ally at the FOMC. With the Fed cutting interest rates by .25 of a basis point, were all of Wall Street’s prayers answered? I don’t know, I only play an economist on TV (bad joke, I know). But, as a market analyst of sorts, I can tell you with great conviction that the markets, after spending the better part of the day in a very narrow trading range, bolted out of the consolidation pattern in the usual pre-announcement ‘Games that traders play’, about 15-Minutes ahead of our regularly scheduled program.Â
Off the actual announcement, volatility picked up as traders ‘released the hounds.’ Our ETF friends furthered their dogged performance by dropping approximately a percentage point, only to find a ‘dead cat bounce’, before ultimately finishing the day under water down between .50% and 1.20%. With traders awaiting Greenspan’s testimony, volume was not so coincidentally lighter than average, and the lowest of the past 5 sessions (not too shabby, shaggy). Not so coincidentally, and actually a stronger sign of underlying market health might be the market breadth statistics, as the advance/decline ratio showed a favorable bias at the close of trade…roar.
Some ol’ dogs playing the same ol’ tricks, and of course it’s because they always find ‘someone to play with.’ Sorry, Mr. ‘Pit-Bull’, I’d rather keep today’s antics at arm’s length, instead of having it bit off in the process. Honestly, if I were to stick out my hand, or neck for that matter, I think today’s action is a classic shaking of the proverbial trading tree before a resumption of our little ol’ uptrend. But, to be even more honest with you, I like to remind myself once again that it’s better to be a daytrader, and leave the opinion at the door. In the immortal words of Dirty Harry, ‘A man has got to know his limitations.’
What me worry? Heck no, I’ve got tonight to prepare, and tomorrow is a fresh day with a new list of High and Low RS ideas from which to trade. All markets are not created equal in my humble opinion, but give me tomorrow, and we just might find ourselves once more, in the land of opportunity.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VIX ( $VIX.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
23.19 | up .43 | CVR 1 Buy | 5% above | Not At Extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
31.75 | down .68 | none | 4% below | Not At Extreme |
Hottest Sectors :Â Gold & Silver
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)and
Networking
(
$NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Weakest Sectors : Telecomm
(
TTH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Homebuilders
(
$HGX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Wednesday’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 |
| j2 Global | ( JCOM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
46.65 | 52-Week high and top of intraday range out of ‘micro’ triangle daily |
1,031m | 1,213m |
| Microstrategy | ( MSTR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
36.60 | Top of range consolidation out of ‘spinning top’ reversal. Tested 50-Day EMA and prior pivot highs in yesterday’s trade |
690k | 770k |
| Aeropostale | ( ARO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
22.22 | Top of range close on strong volume, testing daily range pivot resistance |
502k | 572k |
| Avid Technology |
( AVID | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
36.68 | Consolidation close near top of range, with daily action testing price pivots on wide range bar with volume increase |
785k | 730k |
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 |
| Universal Health | ( UHS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
38.98 | Low RS bottom of range close, thru daily price supports |
778k | 825k |
| Eaton | ( ETN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
77.45 | Bottom of range technical breakdown below 50-Day EMA on volume |
665k | 1,362m |
| Wellpoint Health | ( WLP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
84.13 | Bottom of range on volume, near price pivot support levels on daily |
1,677m | 1,170m |
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 |
| Marvel | ( MVL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
18.51 | ‘Kings and Queens’ – type of reversal action on daily. Lows tested 62% Fibonacci support from the Feb. lows |
1,904m | 3,726m |
class=890430920-15102001>
Short
Reversals
Closing Basis.
None Today.
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 |
| Foundry | ( FDRY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
14.94 | 3,900m | 3,745m |
| Morgan Stanley | ( MWD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
43.80 | 5,769m | 7,943m |
| Electronic Arts | ( ERTS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
74.72 | 3,680m | 4,716m |
| Microchip | ( MCHP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
23.83 | 4,284m | 3,161m |
Institutional
Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume | Today’s Volume |
| United Parcels | ( UPS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
62.87 | 2,764m | 2,482m |
| Cintas | ( CTAS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
36.46 | 1,034m | 2,159m |
| Fannie Mae | ( FNM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
67.88 | 5,118m | 6,834m |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use
protective stops on class=890430920-15102001> all trades.
Chris Tyler