Tuesday’s Top Stocks
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Lexmark (LXK) ‘missed the mark’, and the last I checked, Check Point Software
(CHKP) was pointed lower, as both companies set the tone, and the tape printing red in Monday’s session. Maybe tomorrow they can ‘check the printer’ and set it on green. In today’s trade though, the bears feasted on the bull as our ETF friends showed some very real claw marks as the market proxies closed down between .75% and 1.60% as decliners beat advancing issues by approximately 2.5:1 averaging the ‘two floors’ together. Volume was well below average, and much lower than Friday’s trade, so just maybe, the bulls have something to ‘yahoo’ about…mooo.
…and today was best summed up as another ‘not their best’ type of day, although admittedly, Friday’s was a bit more fun. The Spyders
(
SPY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) seem to be the new whipping boy, as Wall Street has taken a liking to Diamonds
(
DIA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) the past couple of sessions, well at least in relation to the other proxies. All three are maintaining early July pivots, and their respective 50-Day EMAs, which compared to the flogging in indivdual issues is quite remarkable. Unfortunately, growth stocks are the real drivers of market performance, and with our most recent declines, it looks like the bulls of Pamplona and Wall Street are done running for a while. Let ’em graze, it’s only natural. In the meantime, we can always dodge the claws and horns, by daytrading with discipline each and every day.
One of the keys to daytrading is knowing when it’s time to sit back and watch. It takes patience to see ‘ambiguous’ price action, don’t let ‘them’ fool you. I’m asked all the time to look at the price action of various intraday patterns, and it’s with confidence that quite often I respond back with a, ‘I don’t see anything yet.’ If I started to see something special at all times during the trading day, then I’d be worried. By sticking to the High and Low RS issues our job is to monitor the action, but not take action and until price and volume are confirming a solid entry out of a classic continuation or reversal pattern. In some sessions the trade opportunities will be bountiful, while in others, the only thing that can get us through is the knowledge that the next little gem is right around the corner.Â
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VIX ( $VIX.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
22.12 | up .76 | none | 2% above | Not At Extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
33.07 | down .34 | none | 2% below | Not At Extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Gold & Silver (XAU) and
Health/Medical (HMO)
Weakest Sectors : Software
(
SWH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and
Semiconductors
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Tuesday’s HELVETICA>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 | Today’s Volume |
| American Pharmaceutical | ( APPX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
39.44 | Top of range consolidation after a simple 4-day pullback from highs |
1,315m | 672k |
| UTStarcom | ( UTSI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
41.83 | 52-week closing high, in top of intraday range on strong volume |
3,356m | 5,911m |
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 | Today’s Volume |
| Hovnanian | ( HOV | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
50.62 | Continuation day lower to ‘fill and break’ below daily bullish price gap |
1,161m | 917k |
| Laboratory Holdings | ( LH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
30 | Outside bearish bar below 50-Day EMA on increase in volume |
1,338m | 935k |
class=890430920-15102001>
class=890430920-15102001>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.
class=890430920-15102001>Long Reversals class=890430920-15102001>Closing Basis.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume | Today’s Volume |
| MGIC Investments | ( MTG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
54.47 | Bottom of range consolidation in a cup and handle pattern on daily |
1,251m | 897k |
| OmniVision | ( OVTI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
41.83 | Top of range close, daily hammer pattern after test of prior lows |
1,559m | 985k |
class=890430920-15102001>
Short
Reversals
Closing Basis.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume | Today’s Volume |
class=890430920-15102001>
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 | Today’s Volume |
| Chiron | ( CHIR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
46.14 | 1,849m | 2,056m |
| eBay | ( EBAY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
111.02 | 6,582m | 4,122m |
Institutional
Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume | Today’s Volume |
| Johnson & Johnson | ( JNJ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
51.38 | 9,189m | 7,229m |
| IBM | ( IBM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
82.50 | 7,738m | 6,944m |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use
protective stops on class=890430920-15102001> all trades.
Chris Tyler