Wednesday’s Top Stocks
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They might not be E.F. Hutton, but investors definitely ‘bought’ what Lehman had to say about semiconductor equipment stocks
(SMH) in Tuesday’s trade. The company upgraded the sub-sector, sending the broader sector up more than 3%, and lending a helping hand in the ETFs across-the-board gains. On the session, the ‘Three Amigos’ finished up between .90% and 1.50% on heavier volume and positive market breadth. Admittedly, neither of these two latter numbers were ‘compelling’ statistics for the bulls, but with earnings reports that were generally ‘in-line’ on the session, it was nice to see bids in the market after some of the more recent ‘pullbacks on better-than-expected’ numbers. But, with more numbers on the way, and the technical picture still a bit unclear, Godot can continue to sit this one out.
It was in technical terms, a better day, but still not ‘their best.’ Volume picking up on some upside action off technical lows is always nice to see, but trade was well below average. What’s more, it felt like a whole lot of issues weren’t participating, and that’s on top of the recent slaughter of quite a few high growth names, and the real fuel behind sustainable market rallies. With pivot lows in place, a technical resumption to the upside could trigger quite easily on a swing basis. For those willing to play reversals to the upside, if the market can get through its most recent highs, this could be the area to look for entries. But for now, this is only conjecture. The only thing that we really know for sure is that whether we continue to rally, or the market decides to back off once more, we’ll be there to participate the only way we know how, and that’s to do it through consistent, disciplined daytrading.
Lots of chop, but with our trusty list of High and Low RS issues it’s still possible to ‘wade out it’, and catch the occasional big ride. Sometimes we’re required to just sit it out and watch, and then watch some more, until that time when once again, we are able to spot a market wave worthy of paddling for, allowing us to hop on board its mighty momentum as it sets up out of a classic intraday continuation or reversal pattern.
Volatility Readings:
| Volatility Index | Close | Net Change | Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average | Significance |
| VIX ( $VIX.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
21.03 | down 1.15 | none | 3% below | Not At Extreme |
| VXN ( $VXN.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
32.45 | down .62 | none | 3% below | Not At Extreme |
Hottest Sectors : Semiconductors
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and
Networking (NWX)
Weakest Sectors : Oil Services
(
OIH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and
Pharmaceuticals
(
PPH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)Â
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 |
| Thoratec | ( THOR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
17.95 | Top of range close on Wide Range Bar and volume increase |
749k | 1,168m |
| Monster | ( MNST | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
22.10 | Near cup and handle daily pivots, on a bullish volume gap higher |
1,793m | 2,658m |
| Able Labs | ( ABRX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
23.40 | Near cup and handle triggers on daily chart, top of range consolidation close |
450k | 391k |
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 |
| Check Point | ( CHKP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
16.90 | Bottom of range close on Low RS stock | 4,959m | 8,273m |
| Patterson | ( PTEN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
28.70 | Bottom of range close to resume daily downtrend | 1,699m | 1,092m |
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 |
| Power Integrations | ( POWI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
24.90 | Top of range consolidation on an inside day with volume surge, off technical reversal on daily |
534k | 859k |
| Synopsys | ( SNPS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
61.04 | Daily follow-thru day after technical daily chart hammer reversal |
1,699m | 1,075m |
class=890430920-15102001>
Short
Reversals
Closing Basis.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Technical Strength | Average Volume | Today’s Volume |
class=890430920-15102001>
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 |
| Chiron | ( CHIR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
47.52 | 1,845m | 2,510m |
| KLA-Tencor | ( KLAC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
52.30 | 10,152m | 13,840m |
| Cisco | ( CSCO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
18.67 | 59,788m | 69,805m |
| 3 M Company | ( MMM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
137.55 | 2,090m | 3,276m |
Institutional
Laggards.
| Name | Symbol | Price | Average Volume | Today’s Volume |
| QLogic | ( QLGC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
45.36 | 5,183m | 10,296m |
| IBM | ( IBM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
81.85 | 7,734m | 8,743m |
Best of luck to everyone. Please use
protective stops on class=890430920-15102001> all trades.
Chris Tyler