Thursday’s Top Stocks
I’m not sure if saying that our ETF friends finished ‘flat’ to up .25% could
do justice to today’s lethargic, churn-‘n-burn style trade. Until the last 25
minutes of trade, the S&P 500 ETF
(
SPY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was caught in a daily doji
formation, and all set to go on record as the tightest session of price volatility
seen this year, or last year for that matter. For the record, though, the last
few minutes of trade, for those still sitting at their desks, (god bless ’em)
did in fact produce a massive .25% rally that squashed any adjustments to technicians’
ledgers–although in the end, with decreased and below-average trade–there
simply wasn’t a heck of a lot to ‘yahoo’ about within the market’s confirmed
rally.
Leadership still seems to be best represented by a handful of stocks–ahhemm,
the Dow Jones Industrials
(
DIA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), as this Blue Chip proxy led the charge
into the green once again…still no ‘yahoo’ here, folks. Volume was lighter
and below average, and technology, represented by the Naz and the semiconductors
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), is still acting quite sluggish, to say the least. Actually for the
Naz, you could call it an ‘inside day’ because that’s exactly what it was. A
move thru the 1935 level would get the ball rolling in the right direction,
but within the market’s nine-month ‘confirmed rally’, the latest pullback has
not been without casualty in many individual growth-stock names–and that’s
a small problem as far as getting too excited about anything in the short-term.
As Charles Schwab says in that recent commercial, ‘Relax, folks.’ Most growth
names have actually kept their high-level bases intact, but most are seriously
away from proper breakout levels, and as far as the majority of issues that
are making new highs right now??–‘not with my money you don’t.’ This ‘Cautious
Bull’ would rather ‘steer clear’ for the time being. Well that’s not entirely
true, ’cause I can still get excited about one thing in the short-term, namely
disciplined, consistent daytrading.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VXO ( $VXO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
15.35 | down .35 | none | 7% below | not at extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
25.13 | down 1.02 | none | 6% below | not at extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Biotech
(
BBH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Weakest Sectors : Semiconductors
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)and Internet
(
HHH |
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 |
| Genentech | ( DNA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
91.20 | High level consolidation, 52-week high on increased, above average volume |
2,473 | 3,719 |
| Applied Signal Tech | ( APSG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
23.90 | Top of range consolidation on gap thrust higher to fresh 52-week highs on volume surge |
66 | 760 |
| Tech Data | ( TECD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
39 | Top of range consolidation on pattern b/o and 52-week highs on above average volume |
492 | 1,384 |
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 |
| Maxim Integrated Products | ( MXIM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
47.10 | Bottom of range consolidation on retest of former highs with above average volume |
6,103 | 7,044 |
| Comtech Telecommunications | ( CMTL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
28.47 | inside bearish bar on failure to reverse above both 50-day MA resistance levels, closing bottom of range in consolidation |
439 | 358 |
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 |
| Amgen | ( AMGN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
62.15 | 10,316 | 12,638 |
| General Dynamics | ( GD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
87.35 | 916 | 999 |
| PeopleSoft | ( PSFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
21.60 | 6,094 | 4,464 |
Institutional Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Amazon | ( AMZN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
47.58 | 10,683 | 13,839 |
| Yahoo | ( YHOO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
40.73 | 12,873 | 10,763 |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use protective stops on all trades.
Chris Tyler