Thursday’s Top Stocks
Another mixed bag in our index friends. In today’s trade, raging bulls took
yesterday’s influx of monies into the Nasdaq, and opted for some good ol’ fashioned
profit-taking instead. But, don’t worry folks–it’s still not contagious, or
pervasive, as it seems those funds were quickly put back to good use, into laggards
from yesterday’s trade, namely the Dow and S&P 500. All said and done, our
bovine friends finished between down .25% to a gain of .80% for the S&P
500. Oh yeah, two fresh highs and a double top round out the technical take,
as we wrap up Wednesday’s session. Hmmm, the only thing ‘cautious bull’ wants
to ‘take’ is a couple extra Tylenol, as the daily show gets a little bit sillier
each and every day, it seems.
I’m taking back what I said yesterday, if today’s action is any indication.
It really isn’t a place for ‘cautious bull’, even on the intraday time frame.
The implied volatility levels might not say it–but the intraday volatility
has become increasingly vicious–to put it quite mildly. With the stocks that
I focus on, the current market environment has made it a ‘danged if you do,
danged if you don’t’ type of playing field. More and more classic high-probability
trades are not working, and even when they do, most are requiring well-beyond
what I consider appropriate risk for the intraday time frame.
Personally speaking, I think the market is telling us that there’s way too
much greed and fear percolating in the equity markets, and that somebody’s gonna
get hurt if they ain’t careful. Yeah, I might miss out on some of the good stuff–but,
when I see bouts of supposed profit-taking in quality stocks like TRCI, SCUR,
CMTL, and HTCH (well, that one disappointed)…I seriously don’t miss the ‘bull’
that much.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VXO ( $VXO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
14.43 | down .48 | cvr 3,6 sell | 8% below | not at extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
20.71 | up .22 | cvn 2,6 sell | 6% below | not at extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Biotech
(
BBH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Weakest Sectors :Â Semiconductor
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Thursday’s 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 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Metrologic | ( MTLG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
31.66 | Daily chart triangle b/o on increased volume | 339 | 251 |
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 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Power Integrations | ( POWI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
30.84 | Low of day close below price supports on above average volume, testing 200-Day MA supports |
573 | 830 |
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.
Long Reversals Closing Basis.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
Short Reversals Closing Basis.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
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 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Citigroup | ( C | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
50.36 | 10,537 | 19,120 |
Institutional Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| QLogic | ( QLGC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
46.74 | 4,192 | 6,065 |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use protective stops on all trades.