Thursday’s Top Stocks
Another consolidation day in the Nasdaq on below-average trade added to the
multi-session coiled spring setting up on the daily chart. The S&P 500,
which has been a much kinder bovine friend with its fresh highs scored yesterday,
also did the tightening-volatility thing–and yes, this time you probably could
say that its performance was attributable to ‘profit-taking.’ On the day, the
two major averages finished off between .19% to .45% on mixed but below-average
trade. To add to this tumultuous mix, at least for daytraders, was the excruciatingly
tight intraday consolidation in the S&P cash for the better part of the
day. At 14:00 EST, the unofficial ‘second half’ clocked the market, like clockwork,
as the major players decided to digest something other than their power lunches—judging
by the action, it looks like somebody had too many bad eggs in one day.
Well, maybe they didn’t have bad eggs for lunch–but, there was definitely
one cracked egg out there today in the form of Cal-Maine Foods (CALM). Hopefully,
if you were involved, and trust me when I say that many players that swing big
bats were–hopefully, you remained anything but calm during today’s storm, and
kept using money-management to preserve what you could, or at least have kept
the yoke to a minimum. No fun indeed, but it happens to the best of us. As Gordon
Gecko once remarked, ‘Never fall in love with a stock’–but if you do have a
tryst, at least use stops to steer clear of horns that might not look so pretty
if they start to turn around and look you directly in the face. For those that
don’t mind turning their backs to the stock price of the latest fad, continue
to stick with something that might not be on the tips of investors’ tongues,
but continues make ‘cents’ on a daily basis–namely disciplined, consistent
daytrading tactics.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VXO ( $VXO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
15.74 | up .18 | na | 1% below | not at extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
23.81 | down .06 | na | 3% below | not at extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Biotech
(
BBH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Weakest Sectors : Gold/Silver (XAU) and Oil Services
(
OIH |
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 |
| PETsMart | ( PETM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
24.86 | relative volume on inside bar nearing 3-month consolidation b/o levels |
1,613 | 1,229 |
| Sonic Solutions | ( SNIC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
21.50 | Increased, above-average volume thrust bar after hammer low in weekly basing pattern |
552 | 809 |
| Central Euro.Distributors | ( CEDC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
36.13 | inside bar on increased, above-average volume in right side of weekly basing pattern |
220 | 270 |
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 |
| Avid Technology | ( AVID | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
41.89 | Bottom of range consolidation on IAA volume in Low RS issue | 647 | 887 |
| Dycom | ( DY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
23.48 | Inside bar within low level consolidation on daily | 350 | 209 |
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 |
| Qualcomm | ( QCOM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
59.06 | 8,861 | 6,875 |
| Adobe | ( ADBE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
39.77 | 3,519 | 3,344 |
| Marvell Technology | ( MRVL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
45.35 | 2,906 | 4,378 |
| Mercury Interactive | ( MERQ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
50.10 | 2,759 | 3,971 |
Institutional Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Amazon | ( AMZN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
44.87 | 10,135 | 7,953 |
| Microsoft | ( MSFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
26.77 | 65,828 | 50,332 |
| Hewlett Packard | ( HPQ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
23.51 | 12,167 | 10,545 |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use protective stops on all trades.
Chris Tyler