Just Trade Selectively

• December 24, 2001
• Dave Floyd

For
those die-hard traders who are braving the markets today instead of
the local mall, I commend your commitment. Just
trade selectively; I can’t imagine that the liquidity will be particularly
good today. Also, be aware that the
market, in terms of the S&P and Nasdaq futures may trade quite technically,
given the lack of news and participation. These
levels will be the only thing traders will have to rely on.

An update on a
couple of stocks I highlighted in the past:

Wal-Mart

(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating):  I’ll admit my
opinion (that dreaded seven-letter word) got the best of me on this short
position. I was pretty sure the consumer
would be hunkered down, but that just has not been the case.
However, the economy is still in limbo, and further developments may
allow me to re-establish this position in the future.

Clayton
Homes
(
CMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating):
back on Dec. 19, that big bar on the daily chart set off my stop loss on
my short. Again, if the housing market
begins to show signs of weakness, I am willing to re-establish the position.

Fresh
Del Monte
(
FDP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating): I have
sold half of my position in this one. This
has been a nice steady climber, but the underlying technicals are showing some
weakness, so I locked in some gains and will wait to see what happens going
forward. The 20-day average will be my
decision point. 

Key
Technical Numbers

As always, feel free
to send me your comments and questions.  I
won’t be back in the office until the New Year, so be patient in terms of a
response.  Again, have a great
holiday.

Dave