Thursday’s Top Stocks
What happened to the ‘bull’ you ask? Well, to be quite truthful, it was a little
difficult to see anything other than the big, bad double top that formed at Nasdaq 2000. Personally speaking, it was difficult to see beyond that, because
my FRIGGIN’ QCHARTS went down intraday. But, that’s OK, because even though
the market proxies ended the day mixed–with a fractional gain for the Diamonds
to an approximate 1% loss in the growth stock-heavy Nasdaq–it was to my eyes,
‘one of heaviest-looking tops in a long while.’
Volume came in heavier, and above-average on both the Naz and S&P cash,
but we didn’t need to wait until the end of the day to figure out the real story.
Cautious Bulls came in well prepared with the realization that bear tracks had
been recently sighted on the terra firma up here–today was just icing on the
cake. Wednesday actually started off kind enough for our bovine friends, as
some of yesterday’s alarming laggards were actually up on the session as the
Naz tested the 2000 benchmark in double top fashion–but in the end, only those
watching the charts walked away with a large portion of the ante. I don’t know
about you, but I can’t think of anything else to say but ‘Yahoo!!’–for sticking
to the charts and keeping to the Cautious Bull mantra.
Personally speaking, with the gap higher and retest, I was in no mood whatsoever
to try any breakouts today. Cautious Bull quickly relinquished the horns in
today’s trade–actually it was more like a toss, as I saw quite a few stocks
that I’ll call transitional shorts setting up in last night’s charts. Personally,
I don’t mind going from very bullish to cautious to aggressively short, all
in the course of several business days. With today’s intraday activity, it was
all about ‘the shorts’ setting up before the slaughter–a very public forum
can attest to that fact. Maybe tomorrow or the next day, after ‘the numbuh’
is released ‘cautious bull’ will put the horns back on within the market’s ‘confirmed
rally.’ Maybe not, but I can assure you that I’ll continue to look for those
set ups that are working in the here and now through the continued use of consistent,
disciplined daytrading.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VXO ( $VXO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
16.30 | down .12 | none | 7% below | not at extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
27.34 | up .62 | none | 0% | not at extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Software
(
SWH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Pharmaceuticals
(
PPH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Weakest Sectors : Retail
(
RTH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and 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 |
| NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
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 |
| Thor Industries | ( THO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
54.95 | Bottom of range close on heavy volume below recent price pivot supports |
NA | 466 |
| Marvell Technologies | ( MRVL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
37.81 | Closing near lows of session on continuation bar off technical reversal on increased, above average, relative volume |
3,785 | 3,416 |
| Sandisk | ( SNDK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
71.90 | Heavy volume breakdown of H & S neckline and key EMA supports |
3,000 | 8,875 |
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 |
| Nii Holdings | ( NIHD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
78.11 | Above-average, increased volume 123 or double top pattern with lagging/confirm stoch./ macd |
300 | 657 |
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 |
| NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
Institutional Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| PMC Sierra | ( PMCS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
19.71 | 4,000 | 5,315 |
| Microsoft | ( MSFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
25.67 | 65,000 | 92,228 |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use protective stops on all trades.
Chris Tyler