Wednesday’s Top Stocks
A mixed bag in our index friends to start the fifth or sixth week of the market’s
latest leg up within the new and improved bull market. There was something stronger
than momentum and cyclical forces in the Dow, as it finished off a nasty .50%
(just kiddin’), but apparently the proceeds went to good use as raging bull
transferred the funds right back into the Naz, which finished the day up .35%.
As for the S&P 500, it was a day of consolidation, and possibly consolation
for those looking to book some profits, as the session-long grind resulted in
a very negligible loss of .01%. Elsewhere, the rumor mill was alive and kicking,
as some lil’ company named JDS ‘Who’ was supposedly catching the attention of
the French company Alcatel (ALA)–but apparently they said the same thing when
asked about JDS Uniphase (JDSU)….’J’ai di who??
What was I thinking when I said the current market was no place for ‘cautious
bull?’ There’s always a place in the market to keep up good trade habits. It
might not be an ideal market environment for those that enjoy the occasional
ebb within the ongoing rally–but nonetheless, there’s still the intraday thing
to concentrate on, if nothing else. Truth be told, even that is becoming more
difficult as the intraday shakes become a bit shakier as we climb further up
the ol’ trading tree–but, considering that it still seems to make ‘cents’ in
a market well beyond my comfort zone, you won’t catch me trying to hang around
for too long anyhow.
The time will come for the higher-probability pullback to appear, and guess
what, that doesn’t mean an intraday blip–it might mean we get to test some
of those long-forgotten moving averages that have cleared themselves out of
the way into the lower right-hand corner of your charting package. Until then,
and always–I’ll just continue to preach the same ol’ disciplined, consistent
daytrading–and who knows, maybe sometime far, far down the road, we can find
a nice technical support from which to hang our bovine horns once again.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VXO ( $VXO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
14.91 | down .36 | cvr 2,6 sell | 5% below | not at extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
20.49 | up .25 | cvn 2,6 sell | 8% below | not at extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Oil Services
(
OIH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Gold/Silver (XAU)
Weakest Sectors : Retail
(
RTH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Wednesday’s 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 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Gilead Sciences | ( GILD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
63.55 | Top of range consolidation near daily chart ‘right side of base’ consolidation triggers |
3,898 | 2,757 |
| USANA | ( USNA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
31.75 | high of day close on engulfing bullish bar w/ increased above-average volume |
395 | 445 |
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 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Cognizant Technology | ( CTSH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
51.56 | bottom of range consolidation on above-average, increased volume–out of daily doji topping pattern w/ negative daily stochastics divergence confirming |
1,083 | 1,595 |
| SC Pool | ( POOL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
32.64 | Break of recent technical supports w/in weekly trading range, on increased, above-average volume |
231 | 333 |
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.
Long Reversals Closing Basis.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
Short Reversals Closing Basis.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
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 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Amazon | ( AMZN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
56.61 | 10,003 | 7,745 |
| Mercury Interactive | ( MERQ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
54 | 2,985 | 5,603 |
Institutional Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| 3M Co. | ( MMM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
80.41 | 2,622 | 9,730 |
| Sina.com | ( SINA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
46.80 | 8,109 | 6,785 |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use protective stops on all trades.