Tuesday’s Top Stocks
I came in today thinking that there were a whole bunch of attractive-looking
technical setups on the daily and weekly charts–unfortunately, the media and
market confirmed my thoughts by gapping our ETF friends and brethren growth
stocks higher out the gate. By the end of the session, with the ‘boob tube’
still saying cute little things like, ‘The markets are higher, folks, due to
Merger Monday,’ our three amigos weren’t looking nearly as chipper, in spite
of all the merger activity surrounding Bank of America (BAC), Wellpoint Health
(WLP), and Mid Atlantic Medical (MME).
For more in depth analysis regarding the importance of these ‘murders and executions’
(American Psycho), you’ll have to look elsewhere, because that kind of pony
show is above this lil’ guy’s head. One thing I can elaborate on, is that the
closing figures sure make today a funny-looking ‘up market’ folks, cuz’ the
way I see it, our index proxies closed mixed between down .10% to a more enthusiastic
.14% on lighter and below-average trade. The one ‘real’ highlight to speak of,
that confirmed a little bit of all the media’s hoopla, was the market’s first
strong reading of advancers over decliners in several sessions, as that ratio
came in at a very respectable 2:1.
Well, Base Camp 1, our technical lows off daily supports held–it’s just unfortunate
that some non-technical events were supposed to be the key to ‘our guys’ trying
to climb higher in Monday’s trade. There are still clouds up above, but with
some solid-looking reversal candidates and breakouts occurring after a nice
pullback within the confirmed rally, it’s time to attempt some summit attempts
of our own. Maybe we’ll get a further retest of index supports and maybe we
won’t. One thing I do know though, is that I’ll continue to stick to the consistent,
disciplined daytrading tactics that continue to work through both the proverbial
eye of the storm and those rare times when conditions are perfectly clear and
your financial advisor is telling you it’s a perfect time to tackle the market.
Chop, chop–or was it whack, whack in today’s trade. If you look at the intraday
charts, there was a whole bunch of diggin’ in, as the ETFs formed lateral consolidations.
Who knows, maybe these technical consolidations are the making of Base Camp
2 as we try to move higher in the coming sessions. The investor in me would
like to think that’s exactly what’s happening–but for intraday climbing, there’s
no room for this excess baggage of thought. In order to continue to use our
edge advantageously, we have to be focused on both ‘scaling in’ and ‘scaling
out’, and back down to safe levels of trade. It doesn’t matter if we’re using
the best equipment (High and Low RS issues) to get the job done–conditions
up here can change very abruptly, so if you’re going climb aboard and survive
the challenge, you have to always be willing to accept the climate of the day,
and adjust your own climbing schedule accordingly.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VIX ( $VIX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
18.08 | up .37 | none | 4% above | Not At Extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
26.13 | up .68 | none | 2% above | Not At Extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Regional Banks
(
RKH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Health/Medical (HMO)
Weakest Sectors : Gold/Silver (XAU) and Biotech
(
BBH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Tuesday’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 |
| Kyphon | ( KYPH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
24.01 | Above-average relative volume on breakout of mid-level consolidation within right side of weekly high level basing pattern |
470 | 376 |
| eCollege.com | ( ECLG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
21.79 | Top of range close on strong volume thrust thru pivot resistance, within weekly high level base |
339 | 591 |
| China Yuchai | ( CYD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
31.21 | High volume wide range bar out of daily pullback to set fresh 52-week highs |
1,229 | 3,898 |
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 |
| NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
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 |
| Interpole | ( BONZ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
11.37 | 30-Min. extended symmetrical triangle bottom off daily support zone |
587 | 171 |
| Gen-Probe | ( GPRO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
24.18 | 123 Bottom confirmed pivot low, w/ increased volume and positive stochs. divergence off technical support zone |
611 | 782 |
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 |
| Verisign | ( VRSN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
15.28 | 3,259 | 3,934 |
| Home Depot | ( HD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
36 | 9,288 | 5,192 |
Institutional Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Citigroup | ( C | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
46.70 | 12,240 | 16,265 |
| Merck | ( MRK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
44.88 | 7,039 | 7,201 |
| General Electric | ( GE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
28.22 | 19,125 | 15,627 |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use protective stops on all trades.
Chris Tyler