Thursday’s Top Stocks
Sometimes, it’s the little things that make all the difference. With a mixed
fractional performance for our index friends, spread between a small loss of
.10% for the S&P 500 (SPY) to a modest .40% gain for the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ),
one might be tempted to say they want more out the indices. But, had they watched
the technical tests in today’s trade, they might be saying that things are ‘mooving’
along just fine within the market’s ‘confirmed rally.’ With stronger and above-average
volume in my favorite proxy for the market, the Nasdaq Composite, and a hammer
finish, the time just feels right to start saying ‘yahoo’ once again.
Technical holds in the lagging semiconductor sector (SMH) as well as the Naz,
gave reversal players something to hang their hats on today. I know the levels
that I personally look for were reached in today’s trade–and with reversal
patterns setting up on the intraday charts, it was time to sharpen the horns
for ol’ Cautious Bull. It will be noted that I don’t fully expect fresh highs
in many issues as the recent drubbing has dismantled many strong bases, and
of those that remain–either they continue to extend a bit too far past prior
breakout levels to be suitable longs, or they are entrenched enough within their
weekly patterns, to more likely than not, give the intermediate term traders
some time to recover. But, ‘hay’, a bounce is a bounce is a bounce–and off
strong technical levels, I know what I like to do for myself as well as others
that enjoy the tea leaves. More importantly though, I know what I like to do
each and every day, and that’s sticking to the classic intraday setups within
our realm of 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) |
17.33 | up .25 | none | 4% above | not at extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
27.84 | down .48 | cvn 1 buy | 4% above | not at extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Semiconductors
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Telecomm
(
TTH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Weakest Sectors :Â Housing (HGX) and Gold/Silver (XAU)
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 |
| Navigant Consulting | ( NCI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
17.35 | inside hammer bar on above average volume, closing in top of range consolidation within weekly high level base |
353 | 339 |
| Brightpoint | ( CELL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
17.73 | Top of range close on above average trade, after technical zone test of daily supports |
882 | 1,729 |
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 |
| Helen of Troy | ( HELE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
22.24 | Low of day closing price thru MA and daily price supports | 425 | 162 |
| Jos A. Banks | ( JOSB | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
32.07 | Continuation bar lower after failure at the 200 day MA off hammer bar, closing bottom of range |
390 | 281 |
| Multimedia Games | ( MGAM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
36.63 | Daily inside bar within consolidation below the 50-day ma’s, breaching angular supports on the 30min time frame |
661 | 310 |
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 |
| Silicon Labs | ( SLAB | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
43.79 | Technical reversal within 2point daily support zone, to close thru 30-min extended trendline and price resistance on strong, above average volume |
1,263 | 1,535 |
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 |
| Maxim Integrated | ( MXIM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
49.60 | 6,155 | 6,661 |
| Verizon | ( VZ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
33.37 | 8,038 | 8,203 |
Institutional Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Teva Pharmaceutical | ( TEVA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
57.77 | 2,303 | 5,399 |
| Target | ( TGT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
39.10 | 3,714 | 5,111 |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use protective stops on all trades.
Chris Tyler