Wednesday’s Top Stocks
To the delight of market bulls, another kind of storm hit the financial markets
today…the much-coveted ‘follow-thru’ day. With the leading Nasdaq Composite
scoring gains in excess of 2.5% on heavier, above-average volume, you can almost
hear
the captain calling out, ‘attention, all hands on deck and full steam ahead.’
I won’t try to explain why the ETFs did what they did. You can leave that to
the spin doctors of Wall Street as they search for the appropriate catch phrases
and logical explanations, so that folks on Main Street feel more confident
after the fact. For us technicians, and cautious bulls out there, it was just
a plain ol’ ‘most excellent’ session as the ETFs finished up between 1.25%
to 2.75% with stronger, above-average trade in the forementioned Nasdaq. While
the same could not be said for the NYSE, you can ask ‘Tricky Dick’ what that’s
all about, because, with confirming market breadth to the tune of over 2:1
we’re gonna say, ‘Yahoo!!!’ anyway.
I hate to say it, actually no I don’t…103.75 was da’ nut to clear. After
nine sessions of consolidation/pullback work into technical supports, the market
gave us the
proverbial
‘green thumb’ in today’s
trade as the 103.75 area in the Spyders was cleared. Intraday, the Spyders
consolidated in a very narrow range right above this prior resistance area
until ‘the news.’ Just in case you don’t have an official news source, I’ll
say it once…’Greenspan.’ The token ‘fleecing’ after the news, and then it
was ‘off to the races.’ It was a very good day for bulls, no matter the reason.
Shorts covering, money managers jumping in, all that really matters is that
price and volume are confirming a strong market at this point, and momentum
should follow in the near term. But ‘hay’, for all the bulls out there…all
that really matters is our consistent, disciplined brand of daytrading.
Now today was perfect. Not that trading was perfect, but it did yield consistent
results, and that, my friend, is what we strive for, each and every day. Even
when the market does pretty things, the stocks you trade aren’t necessarily
going to follow every single ebb and flow of the broader market. All that we
can do is stick with our list of high-quality stocks setting up intraday,
and then make the best of it by continuing to exercise the consistency and
discipline
of our entire trading plan. Money management on longs, when the market is clearly
going higher, you ask? Well, unless you want another kind of storm to take
hold of your trading, sailing the waves of the markets continues to require
battening down the hatches and an occasional inventory check, regardless of
the current environment.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VIX ( $VIX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
19.31 | down .94 | none | 3% below | Not At Extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
31.66 | down 1.27 | CVR 2 Buy | 0% | Not At Extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Networking (NWX) and Semiconductors
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Weakest Sectors : Oil Services
(
OIH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Biotech
(
BBH |
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 |
| Hutchinson Technology | ( HTCH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
35.21 | Top of range close 1% above daily handle triggers on ‘relative’ volume increase |
514 | 551 |
| Apollo | ( APOL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
68.45 | Multiweek consolidation b/o to close in intraday congestion pattern on above average volume |
1,994 | 2,325 |
| Interactive Japan | ( IIJI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
8.82 | 2-Week consolidation b/o, closing highs of day on daily volume surge |
3,503 | 10,984 |
| PetsMart | ( PETM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
24.47 | strong volume b/o of 2-week trading range, closing above triggers by 1% |
1,666 | 3,358 |
| Emulex | ( ELX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
26.85 | High of day close near top of 30-min. extended chart trading range, on increased daily volume |
2,273 | 1,620 |
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 |
| Gen-Probe | ( GPRO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
57.02 | Bottom of range close on relative volume increase, w/ recent daily stochastics demonstrating negative divergence to price |
550 | 528 |
| Laboratory Holdings | ( LH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
30.08 | Relative volume increase on technical ‘closing ‘ break of the 200-Day EMA |
1043 | 1,154 |
| First Tenn Natl | ( FTN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
40.30 | Bottom of range consolidation on daily ‘shooting star’ top off 200-Day EMA resistance |
788 | 787 |
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 |
| Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
Short Reversals Closing Basis.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
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) |
35.82 | 12,194 | 12,270 |
| Qualcomm | ( QCOM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
44.89 | 10,900 | 21,092 |
| Electronic Arts | ( ERTS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
93.14 | 2,960 | 4,169 |
| Morgan Stanley | ( MWD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
51.36 | 5,124 | 6,989 |
Institutional Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume 000’s | Today’s Volume |
| Johnson & Johnson | ( JNJ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
50.85 | 8,551 | 11,059 |
| Altria | ( MO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
40.46 | 7,500 | 7,373 |
| Costco | ( COST | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
30.98 | 5,650 | 6,998 |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use protective stops on all trades.
Chris Tyler