Watch These Two Sectors
A government report showing retail sales rose
less than expected in February broke the stride of the recent confidence for an
economic rebound. U.S. retailers’ sales lagged the 1.0% gain expected
by economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, instead advancing only 0.3%. That report
came as Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. cut ratings on semiconductor equipment
companies, and J.P. Morgan said spending for wireless communications will fall
more than earlier forecast.
Wal-Mart stores
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WMT |
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Depot
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HD |
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$INDU |
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to move lower for the first day in four. The Dow is currently trading lower at 10500.
Intel
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INTC |
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J.P. Morgan analyst reduced his earnings forecast for the biggest chipmaker. The
PHLX Semiconductor Index
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$SOX.X |
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the Nasdaq
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COMPX |
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The S&P 500
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$SPX |
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1157.1, with computer-related and telecommunications companies accounting for
about half the drop.
Two sectors that have been performing well are
the AMEX Oil Index
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$XOI.X |
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of day. Some of the stocks pushing the XOI are: Kerr-McGee
(
KMG |
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Sunoco
(
SUN |
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PowerRating). One technical note, many of the stocks in this sector look
to be poised to
pull back from their high before moving higher. The XOI is trading at
561.45, up 1.44.
Also, the AMEX Biotechnology Index
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$BTK.X |
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is trading higher today. Many of the stocks in the index are in positive
territory. Some of the stocks that are pushing the BTK are Chiron
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CHIR |
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Genzyme
(
GENZ |
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(
DNA |
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IDPH |
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Medimmune
(
MEDI |
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VRTX |
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Quest Diagnostics
(
DGX |
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unusually high volume for this time of the day.
Laboratory Corp
(
LH |
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around 87.50.
Brunswick
(
BC |
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20-day moving average. BC is carrying a
3-month relative strength rank of 87 with an uptrending ADX of 47 from
TradingMarkets.com.
Alliant Techsystems
(
ATK |
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PowerRating) is trading in a
small triangle at the level of its recent high. ATK carries a
3-month relative strength rank of 81 along with an uptrending ADX of 45 from
TradingMarkets.com.
Norfolk Southern
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NSC |
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is pulling back from its high and support is at 24.00. NSC has a
TradingMarkets.com RS3 rating of 90 and an up trending
ADX of 40.