Wednesday’s Top Stocks
Investors kicked off the sand from between their
toes, but they decided to bring their shovels with them. ‘Steering’
clear from their summer retreats, Wall Street was all bulled up to scoop stocks
into their portfolios, on this, the
first day of the typically, notorious summer doldrums…a nice
inauspicious start this time around. The morning session started out on a bit of
a sour note as European Bourses were off around 1.5% on continual weakening of
the US Dollar against the Euro, and firming crude prices. The opening selloff,
and investor concerns were replaced by a quick reversal off of the prior session
technical support lows. AÂ 7a.m. reporting of Home sales and Consumer
Confidence, only helped ‘tack on’ gains, to the already firming Spyder
(
SPY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
Diamond
(
DIA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and NASDAQ 100
(
QQQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) index proxies. The ETFs all finished
the session out on ‘strong trend days’ higher, by 2% to 3%, with strong
confirming volume. Coupled with a solid ratio of over 2:1 for advancers over
decliners (on both exchanges), the close of trade lends itself to bullish follow
through as we head into tomorrow’s session.
Today’s technical action
appears to have our ETF friends breaking out of Cup & Handle patterns on the
daily chart, with the QQQs being the strongest of the three. Tuesday’s trade has
the NASDAQ 100 closing above November / December highs, thanks to the heavily
weighted semiconductor and biotech sectors. A rising tide lifts all boats, even
our friend Mr. Softy
(
MSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) has reversed off of price supports to close
well out of a 1,2,3 reversal formation. Now let’s see if it can continue to flex
some muscle as it tries to clear some of the heavy technical resistance
overhead.Â
Either way though, regardless if Microsoft can move
forward or not, as daytraders we can always keep one step ahead by
maintaining our nightly list of High and Low RS stocks. Then tomorrow, as the
next wave sweeps over the market, we’ll be prepared as always, to catch the best
rides, both long and short, by waiting to jump on board, but only when the right
setup presents itself in the here and now.Â
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VIX ( $VIX.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
21.77 |
Up .39 | None |
2% Below | Not At Extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
29.28 | Down .45 |
CVR 6 Sell |
7% Below |
Not At Extreme |
Hottest Sectors :Â Biotech
(
BBH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and
Semiconductors
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Weakest Sectors : Telecom
(
TTH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and
Pharmaceuticals
(
PPH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Wednesday’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 |
| Avid Technologies |
( AVID | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
31.19 | 52-Week High, Close Top of Range, strong volume |
719k | 1,256m |
| Citrix | ( CTXS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
21.12 | Ascending Triangle breakout with strong volume |
4,354m | 3,798m |
| j2 Global | ( JCOM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
36.35 | Closed strong, within 2% of Cup & Handle breakout |
806k | 1,019m |
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 |
| Weight Watchers |
( WTW | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
41.31 | Inside day near recent lows, Low 3 Month RS ranking |
584k | 869k |
| Chico’s | ( CHS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
21.01 | Closed poorly near technical resistance after 5-Day pullback from lows |
1,409m | 1,197m |
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.
class=890430920-15102001>
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume | Today’s Volume |
| Microsoft | ( MSFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
24.79 | 1,2,3 reversal of daily price supports to break downtrend |
61,500m | 66,708m |
| Activision | ( ATVI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
16.47 | Reversal bar off 50-Day EMA and 5-day consolidation, with good relative volume |
1,639m | 1,390m |
class=890430920-15102001>Short
Reversals
Closing Basis.
None Today.
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
FavoritesÂ
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume | Today’s Volume |
| Yahoo |
( YHOO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
29.97 | 14,121m | 21,983m |
| Gilead Sciences | ( GILD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
51.64 | 3,666m | 6,396m |
| Analog Devices | ( ADI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
36.70 | 3,816m | 4,121m |
Institutional
Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume | Today’s Volume |
| Altria | ( MO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
42.09 | 14,890m | 24,349m |
| Metlife | ( MET | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
27.01 | 2,171m | 2,288m |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use
protective stops on class=890430920-15102001> all trades.