Thursday’s Top Stocks
‘Mooove’…well the ETFs failed to charge higher one day after a ‘follow-thru’
day in the Nasdaq Composite. Actually, the Naz did manage to flash a fresh
52-week high before succumbing to the Japanese. Oh, don’t worry, it was in
good company as all three of our ETF friends closed in ‘doji’ candlestick fashion,
on an ever-so-slight increase in volume and down an even slighter .05%
– .21%. Well gosh, I wouldn’t call it misbehaving or anything too serious.
Remember that
most
of
yesterday’s
push
higher came
wrapped up in a very small package after ‘the Fed’. I’d rather just call
the ‘present’ action, a nice little gift, as nothing was ‘unwrapped and tossed
away’ in today’s trade…’Yahoo.’
Personally speaking, I think the overall action was quite constructive. Some
might see a potential top as we have ‘failed’ at prior highs, but I tend to
view it differently. As a day of consolidation in the averages took place,
it is what lies beneath the surface that strikes a positive chord with this
cautious bull…hmm, is that why Guitar Center made tonight’s list?
Today produced not only a slew of strong, quality issues following through
on yesterday’s
action,
but
also some very strong breakouts. So while the ETFs say one thing, and
the media spins their story on the day’s events, for position breakout players
it was a pretty darned good showing within our ‘confirmed rally’, and for us
daytraders out there, the story remains the same. We’ll be plenty happy as
long as we continue to get our RDA of consistent, disciplined daytrading.
Today wasn’t perfect, but with discipline and our list of stocks by our side,
it was more of the same ol’ stuff that keeps the daytrader coming back for
more. Remember in the world of daytrading, perfection will always have its
intraday blemishes, but if at the end of the day, the trading account glitters,
then we know we’re heading in the right direction, towards mastery of a difficult
endeavor. Sure, we might never get that $5 million bonus for a good
day’s work, but we’ll still have to take our hats off to the ever-wonderful
NYSE.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VIX ( $VIX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
19.62 | up .31 | none | 1% below | Not At Extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
31.75 | up .09 | none | 0% | Not At Extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Disc Drives (DDX) and Biotech
(
BBH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Weakest Sectors : Oil Services
(
OIH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Homebuilders (HGX)
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 |
| Hutchinson Technology | ( HTCH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
36.55 | follow-thru of handle b/o on daily, on relative volume increase within 2-Month Cup & Handle pattern |
509 | 596 |
| Microchip | ( MCHP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
27.15 | Daily hammer w/in one-month trading range, on significant volume, closing top of range in consolidation |
2,959 | 5,336 |
| Raindance Communications | ( RNDC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
3.09 | High volume b/o of daily ‘handle’ pivots w/in 2-month consolidation |
332 | 1,295 |
| USNA Health Science | ( USNA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
46.95 | High level intraday consolidation on strong volume, clearing ‘right side’ of base pivots on the daily chart |
249 | 495 |
| Invitrogen | ( IVGN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
59.78 | Intraday triangle pattern near highs on volume increase, after weekly b/o attempt, to close within .50% of highs |
1,220 | 1,121 |
| Guitar Center | ( GTRC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
33.54 | NR7 day w/ hammer close, within seven day ascending triangle | 191 | 435 |
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 |
| Quest Diagnostics | ( DGX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
59.97 | ‘Inside Day’ daily, with intraday consolidation pattern below the 20,50, and 200-Day EMAs |
891 | 511 |
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 |
| Biovail | ( BVF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
42.39 | 4-Day triangle pattern closing at 30-minute extended supports | 2,097 | 783 |
| Royal Gold | ( RGLD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
20.70 | Daily hammer off the 200-Day EMA with consolidation entries above resistance, thru the 21 level |
620 | 1,148 |
Short Reversals Closing Basis.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
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 |
| Nextel | ( NXTL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
19.99 | 19,687 | 23,873 |
| Amgen | ( AMGN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
69.63 | 8,118 | 7,893 |
| IDEC | ( IDPH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
36.80 | 4,522 | 3,639 |
| Western Digital | ( WDC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
12.50 | 4,735 | 8,176 |
Institutional Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Johnson & Johnson | ( JNJ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
50.22 | 8,575 | 8,494 |
| Bank One | ( ONE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
38.31 | 3,509 | 2,953 |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use protective stops on all trades.
Chris Tyler