Wednesday’s Top Stocks
Â
With the ETFs delivering so
much of the green stuff lately, maybe the writing on the ‘Wall’ , was
really telling us to go out and play ‘on the greens’. With International
Business Machines
(
IBM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) coming out after last night’s closing bell and
disclosing an SEC accounting investigation, it looked to be a continuation day
on the profit taking that took place late yesterday afternoon. So, why not take
a well deserved break and give back some ‘green fees’ to your other favorite
hobby, after taking in so much of it yourself, during the last couple of months?
With CNBC pointing out the impending doom and
gloom early on, with their use of some pretty candlestick charts, you just might
have been able to get that 10:00 a.m. tee time in. Mr. Market very rarely
cooperates with the ‘talking heads’, and today was to be no different. By the
opening bell, the initial weight was quickly turned into the market finding an
opening bid, not too far removed from the prior session’s closing prices. Mix in
some bargain hunting in some of Monday’s big reversal shorts, and possibly other
players looking to get in on the first pullback, and the ingredients were in
place for a long, lateral technical condition known as the ‘Slim Jim’.
Translated, Tuesday was marked by contracting
volatility as the bulls and bears tried to reposition themselves on our newly
appointed ‘greens’, with neither one really gaining a strong upper hand,
although the closing numbers do have our ETF friends going out on top of
the playing surface. The Spyder
(
SPY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Diamond
(
DIA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and NASDAQ
100
(
QQQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) all closed between .25 and .75% on the day, but with lower volume
figures attached, as well as some very neutral advance / decline numbers
suggesting that it was indeed time to be working on our own putting game.Â
The technical condition remains unchanged on the
daily charts. Today marked some consolidation work, but most issues that do
offer the best prospects in our ‘confirmed rally’, have, through their early
leadership, become extended during the past few sessions. In my opinion, one day
doesn’t make a consolidation, nor two for that matter. But, just in case I’m
wrong, all I can say is thank goodness for daytrading.
In my opinion, all of the above also lends itself
to one of the real benefits of daytrading, and that’s the right to trade when
you’re ready to trade, and not because some dummy rings the bell. With our list
of High and Low RS issues, we come in each and every day prepared as best as we
possibly can be, but if the quality setups are ‘slim’, we must always remind
ourselves that part of maintaining our edge is knowing when to hold them, and
when it’s time to fold them. Don’t worry, stay ready, as our trading edge has a
funny way of showing back up when the market is ready to move once more.Â
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VIX ( $VIX.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
22.45 |
up .22 | CVR 1 Buy | 1% Above | Not At Extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
33.51 | down .12 | CVR 1,2 Buy | 7% above | Not At Extreme |
Hottest Sectors :Â
Semiconductors
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Software
(
SWH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Weakest Sectors : Oil Services
(
OIH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and
Networking
(
$NWX.X |
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 |
| Network Associates | ( NET | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
13.57 | Daily B/O with volume to close in top of range | 2,848m | 4,232m |
| Hutchinson | ( HTCH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
31.28 | 52-Week High on bullish outside day w/ volume |
547k | 1,007m |
| Computer Associates |
( CA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
21.92 | Closed near top of intraday range at daily chart B/O levels |
3,698m | 2,005m |
| ADTRAN | ( ADTN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
49.96 | 52-Week High, closing top of range on volume |
954k | 1,260m |
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 |
| Barr Labs | ( BRL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
52.20 | Closed within 2% of daily supports w/in consolidation pattern |
1,055m | 1,116m |
| California Pizza
Kitchen |
( CPKI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
18.88 | Wide Range bearish bar with volume to close below daily price supports |
378k | 1,831m |
| Affiliated Computer
Service |
( ACS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
45.94 | Bottom of range close, on bearish reversal bar, below 50 and 200-Day EMAs |
2,223m | 2,804m |
| Lockheed Martin | ( LMT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
46 | Low RS stock closing at daily price supports | 2,560m | 2,263m |
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 |
| Quest Diagnostics | ( DGX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
63.75 | Closed above intraday triangle resistance, after daily test of price supports |
980k | 682k |
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
Favorites.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume | Today’s Volume |
| Novellus | ( NVLS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
35.58 | 9,123m | 10,962m |
| Altria | ( MO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
42.72 | 14,526m | 8,107m |
| Mercury Interactive | ( MERQ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
39.73 | 4,467m | 3,374m |
| Qualcomm | ( QCOM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
34.68 | 15,048m | 24,011m |
Institutional
Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume | Today’s Volume |
| IBM | ( IBM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
83.82 | 7,984m | 20,855m |
| Microsoft | ( MSFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
24.88 | 61,132m | 60,486m |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use
protective stops on class=890430920-15102001> all trades.