Monday’s Stock Watch
The
broader markets turned in nice gains on this abbreviated
trading session, with technology once again exhibiting the best
performance. Nasdaq up volume to down volume came in at over 8 to 1,
giving us an indication of strength, though the light holiday volume
handicapped any sign of accumulation. There were few breakouts, as
many institutional players were out for the day. All of the stocks on
our watch list closed in the green.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU)
closed up 1.27%
to 9,959.71.
The S&P 500 ($SPX)
closed up 1.12%
to 1,149.76.
The Nasdaq (
COMPQ) closed up 1.50%
to 1,903.20.
| Â | NYSE | NASDAQ |
| Advancing Issues |
2,085 | 2,067 |
| Declining Issues |
762 | 1,049 |
| Advancing Volume |
262,284,000 | 423,092,000 |
| Declining Volume |
66,723,000 | 51,322,000 |
| Total Volume |
333,387,000 | 484,345,000 |
| New 52-week Highs |
11 | 11 |
| New 52-week Lows |
2 | 0 |
| New 52-week Highs for Week |
65 | 63 |
| New 52-week Lows for Week |
21 | 4 |
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Weekly Perspective
This week may as well have
not existed for price action, as the major indexes hardly moved. The Dow
Jones Industrials finished the week down 32 points or – 0.003%;
the S&P 500 finished up 11.6 points or + 0.01%, and the Nasdaq
finished up 4.43 points or + 0.002%. It was encouraging to see
breakouts to new highs from new sectors, including restaurants,
medical equipment companies, and scientific and technology
instruments. We are still looking for clear signs of strength in the
form of high-volume and high-percentage gains across the indexes. The
Wall Street Journal reported that last month’s short interest hit
another record for the ninth month in a row. One can imagine that a
good number of short positions were covered this month, explaining
what might be behind some of the rally. Monday we had the first
distribution day in two weeks with only three clear days of
accumulation for that time-frame. Another indication of weakness is
the lack of stocks with exceptional earnings and technical qualities.
The stocks that do meet our criteria have so far been unable to lead.
Our watch list is still holding out for a candidate to firmly
establish itself as a runner. PEC Solutions (PECS)
is a recent breakout doing well, though it is too early to tell if it
will be a real winner.
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Top sector gainers:
Airline Index ($XAL.X)
up 3.97%
to 89.61.
Biotechnology Index ($BTK.X)
up 2.52%
to 599.92.
Securities Broker Dealer
Index (XBD.X)
up 2.22% to 496.72.
Morgan Stanley Internet
Idx ($MOX.X)
up 2.29% to 13.84.
Losing sectors:
Gold and silver ($XAU.X)
and pharmaceuticals ($DRG.X)
PEC Solutions (PECS)
had a good show, up 2.27% today, though the holiday volume was less
than half of its average. The Internet sector as a whole did well,
with the major tracking indexes all up over 2%.
Our biggest gainer of the day was EPIQ Systems (EPIQ),
up 5.68%, in an attempt to recover Tuesday’s losses. This company,
which
specializes
in facilitating bankruptcies, has seen very little in the way of
accumulation days during the forming of its base. From looking at
the
chart below we can only see one clear dominant day for the buyers in
early November. In order for this stock to make it, institutional
sponsorship will have to step in.
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Recent Breakouts
We monitor the action of Recent Breakouts as an
indicator of the market health for IT traders. When breakouts are
acting well, this is a good sign for the likelihood of further
sustainable breakouts. When breakouts are failing, IT traders should
be even more cautious.
American Healthways Inc. (AMHC)
was up 1.62% on low volume.
Copart Inc. (CPRT)
was up 1.23% on low volume.
Genesis Microchip (GNSS)
was up 3.27% on low volume.
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD)
was up .10% on low volume.
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)
was up 1.40% on low volume.
Panera Bread Co. (PNRA)
was up 2.51% on low volume.
| Company Name |
Symbol | 12 Month RS |
Price | Price Change |
Average Volume |
| American Healthways Inc. |
(AMHC) | 99 | 43.05 | + 0.69 |
143,000 |
| Copart Inc. |
(CPRT) | 96 | 30.39 | + 0.37 |
795,100 |
| EPIQ Systems |
(EPIQ) | 98 | 33.50 | + 1.80 |
185,800 |
| Genesis Microchip |
(GNSS) | 98 | 47.28 | + 1.50 |
2,426,800 |
| Nvidia Corp. |
(NVDA) | 94 | 49.95 | + 0.69 |
9,846,100 |
| Panera Bread Co. |
(PNRA) | 96 | 47.68 | + 0.17 |
317,100 |
| Krispy Kreme Doughnuts |
(KKD) | 95 | 39.95 | + 0.04 |
846,800 |
| PEC Solutions |
(PECS) | 98 | 31.95 | + 0.62 |
402,700 |
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Stocks Forming a Handle
THQ Inc. (THQI)
was up 0.01% on low volume.
| Company Name |
Symbol | 12 Month RS |
Price | Price Change |
Average Volume |
| THQ Inc. |
(THQI} | 96 | 52.01 | + 0.01 |
1,572,500 |
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Stocks Building A Base
Metro One Telecomm Inc (MTON)
was up 0.60% on low volume.
MTR Gaming Group (MNTG)
was up 1.49% on low volume.
| Company Name |
Symbol | 12 Month RS |
Price | Price Change |
Average Volume |
| Metro One Telecomm Inc |
(MTON) | 96 | 37.95 | + 0.23 |
783,100 |
| MTR Gaming Group |
(MNTG) | 95 | 12.89 | + 0.19 |
306,900 |
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