Waiting For Al, Not Gore

It sounds like the entire world is
waiting for the Fed meeting. I expect to see choppy trading and erratic volume
until then. For now, focus only on the strong names with volume-backed moves.
You would think that we always only focus on those names, but things are
different in a market with a clearly defined trend. In a strong trend, the
market is much more forgiving. Right now, we are stuck between a rock and a hard
place, waiting for something to set us free. 

Personally, I’m not taking home any new
positions overnight until the Fed meeting is over.

Today’s Watchlist:  
(
ALTR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
,
(
NEWP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
,
(
CMTN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

The green line on the charts is the 200-day MA and the blue line is the
50-day MA.

Altera
(
ALTR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
broke out of a cup
pattern on Thursday. On Friday it retraced in the morning, but the buyers came
to the rescue. With the market getting weaker, it seems likely that there will
be another chance for an entry in the future. Being a summer Friday, we can
expect to see ALTR trade a bit erratically. At this point, look for it to close
above the breakout level and ideally above Thursday’s intraday high.

Newport Corporation
(
NEWP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

hit a new high on Thursday as it finished tracing out its cup formation. Friday
it gapped a little higher and headed straight up. Wow. Of course, along with the
broader market, it has pulled back significantly. What do we look for at this
point? Look for the stock to finish the day strong, ideally in the top 10% of
its range. The volume is on track to be quite strong. Again, I urge you to use
caution when opening any positions before the Fed announcement this Tuesday.

Out newest addition to the Shortlist is
Copper Mountain
(
CMTN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
. Set your alerts near 60 1/2 and watch for CMTN to
take out its near-term lows. CMTN has been in a strong downtrend since it topped
out in July. After an amazing run up, everything has been given back.


Until later, 

Dave Baker

Check back at 2:00PM ET
for Trading the Techs PM.