Monday’s Stock Watch
It was a spectacular week
for the bulls, with the major indexes breaking out of over two month bases on
heavy volume. This past week the NYSE and Nasdaq exchanges made two
accumulation days apiece. This move makes it hard to argue the bears cause.
Market breadth still leaves much to be desired. New
52-week highs are holding an edge over the lows, though the numbers are
relatively small. Mark Boucher‘s
Top
RS and ER List and
Bottom RS and ER List also remain sluggish. Watch for readings of over
20 on each list to show strength for their respective biases.
We had two breakouts from our watch lists in MNTR,
and GRMN. So far so good with these, but it would be more encouraging if we saw
breakouts across the market succeed. If this recent move sticks, we’ll get
excited about buying new setups, but until then, conditions remain highly
questionable. The search goes on for quality stocks meeting our top fundamental
and technical criteria.
From Friday’s action:
Market breadth was slightly positive, with NYSE
advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 1.24, and up volume over
down volume by a 1.00 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining issues came
in at 1.19, and up volume beat down volume by a 1.05 ratio.
Dow Jones Industrial Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
closed -0.45%
at 8,804.84. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
closed -0.34% at
930.55.
The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed
+0.08% at
1,468.73.
1,604
1,819
Declining Issues
1,448
1,497
797,479,000
973,826,000
770,246,000
969,283,000
Total
Volume
1,577,909,000
1,960,984,000
Highs
13
29
5
2
Top sectors:
Broker/dealer, Software, Internet, Telecoms,
Semiconductors.
Long-term: Gold, Defense, Leisure, Consumer.
Watch List Action:
New to our “breakout” list, Mentor Corp.
(
MNTR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) broke out Thursday on over
four times its daily average volume. This manufacturer of specialty medical
products for plastic and reconstructive surgery meets all of our top fundamental
requirements, and is a member of the top performing medical products group.
Accumulation is evident along the right side of the base, and so far this one is
looking good with a new 52-week high Friday.
Also breaking out, Garmin Ltd
(
GRMN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) came out of a two-day old handle (if
we can call it a handle) and blew through its pivot point of 23.46. The stock
has made over twice it average volume for two days in a row, and is within 15
cents of a new 52-week high. Of course we’d like to have seen a traditional
handle of a week or two form, and it’s possible for one to form now, but we’re
going to call this a breakout.
Recent Breakouts
size=2>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.
| color=#ffffff size=2>Company Name | color=#ffffff size=2>Symbol | color=#ffffff size=2>12 Month RS | color=#ffffff size=2>Price | color=#ffffff size=2>Price Change | color=#ffffff size=2>Average Volume | Pivot | 52-Week High |
Apollo Group | ( APOL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 93 | 43.80 | +0.27 | 2,555,100 | 39.60 | 46.15 |
Coach Inc. | ( COH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 96 | 32.66 | -1.09 | 936,500 | 29.80 | 34.23 |
Garmin Ltd. | ( GRMN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 88 | 24.00 | +0.10 | 173,100 | 23.46 | 24.25 |
Hovnanian Enterprises | ( HOV | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 97 | 33.25 | -0.45 | 771,100 | 33.56 | 40.56 |
International Game Technology | ( IGT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 91 | 79.20 | +0.26 | 1,099,000 | 75.47 | 79.51 |
Mentor Corp. | ( MNTR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 93 | 44.04 | +1.26 | 239,700 | 41.50 | 45.01 |
Stocks Forming a Handle
| color=#ffffff size=2>Company Name | color=#ffffff size=2>Symbol | color=#ffffff size=2>12 Month RS | color=#ffffff size=2>Price | color=#ffffff size=2>Price Change | color=#ffffff size=2>Average Volume | Pivot |
Commerce Bancorp. | ( CBH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 73 | 45.12 | -0.06 | 770,500 | 47.80 |
Expedia | ( EXPE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 97 | 75.02 | +0.08 | 2,671,400 | 84.65 |
Ross Stores Inc. | ( ROST | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 93 | 45.70 | +0.75 | 1,075,200 | 45.80 |
ROST hit its pivot buy, though failed to produce
the volume need to qualify a breakout.
Stocks Building A Base
color=#ffffff size=2>Company Name | color=#ffffff size=2>Symbol | color=#ffffff size=2>12 Month RS | color=#ffffff size=2>Price | color=#ffffff size=2>Price Change | color=#ffffff size=2>Average Volume | Pivot |
None |
href=”mailto:danielb@tradingmarkets.com”>danielb@tradingmarkets.com
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