Wednesday’s Top Stocks
I always seem to get ‘all FED up’ when Alan & Co. decide to infringe upon
my time as well as yours. Fortunately for us, this time around our ETF friends
felt exactly the same way off the breaking Fed news–up, up, and away. The ETFs
and their cash compadres finished the day up between a strong 1.36% and a whooping
2.62% for the Naz. The price action was confirmed by above-average and increased
trade in both the S&P and Nasdaq Composite. More significantly to many technicians,
was the fact that today was a confirmed ‘Follow-Thru Day’ or FTD in the latter
cash index. It probably goes without saying, but with leadership centered on
the tech sector, on the heels of more–you guessed it–earnings reports, advancing
issues dominated decliners by a greater than 2.25 to 1 margin–‘oh, Yahoo!!!’
I guess you could call yesterday’s trade Base Camp 2 after all, as today’s
action was a nice climb to higher levels. Intraday, ‘ahead of the Fed’, the
indices actually notched another consolidation before actually climbing to our
best levels since last mid-week. No real guesswork needed there, as that’s typical
light-volatility trade before the announcement–but more importantly, there’s
absolutely no guesswork as to how we’ll continue to apply our craft each and
every day–through the same ol’ tried and true consistency and discipline that
got us here in the first place, and will continue to get us through the next
‘big’ number.
There’s always a number that investors are waiting on, it seems–but for the
consistent, disciplined daytrader, it’s all about taking the high-probability
trade in the here and now. Some conditions might dictate less-than-ideal undercurrents,
but in order to apply your craft so that you end up with boat loads of cash,
and not the other way around, you have to take it when it’s there, regardless
of who’s waiting on what–all I know is that I’m not waiting for anyone when
the high-probability feast is just sitting there in front of me, because if
it’s really good, there probably won’t be room for seconds.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VIX ( $VIX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
16.79 | down 1.26 | none | 8% below | Not At Extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
25.03 | down 1.09 | none | 7% below | Not At Extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Semiconductors
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Internet
(
HHH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Weakest Sectors : Gold/Silver (XAU) and Telecom
(
TTH |
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 |
| Magma Design | ( LAVA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
21.44 | Top of range consolidation on wide range bar w/ above average volume increase thru key EMA resistance |
817 | 1,350 |
| Packateer | ( PKTR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
19.15 | Wide range thrust bar on heavy volume, closing top of range consolidation 1% thru daily pattern pivots |
473 | 3,747 |
| Advance PCS | ( ADVP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
50.30 | Above average volume increase, closing in a 30-min ascending triangle consolidation, 2% thru 52-week pattern highs |
2,060 | 2,832 |
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 |
| j2 Global | ( JCOM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
29.39 | Bottom of range consolidation on above average trade, at one level of daily chart technical supports within established downtrend |
1,413 | 3,611 |
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 |
| Thoratec | ( THOR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
15.82 | High of day close on increased trade, slightly thru daily triple pivots and 50-day ema, within weekly high level base |
966 | 465 |
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 |
| Yahoo | ( YHOO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
43.02 | 12,543 | 12,623 |
| Home Depot | ( HD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
37.50 | 9,288 | 11,652 |
| Linear Technologies | ( LLTC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
43.31 | 5,272 | 5,377 |
Institutional Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Dell | ( DELL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
35.98 | 15,613 | 21,888 |
| Merck | ( MRK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
44.92 | 7,072 | 8,754 |
| Microsoft | ( MSFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
27.19 | 54,421 | 69,744 |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use protective stops on all trades.
Chris Tyler