Monday’s Stock Watch
The markets
countered five straight days of losses by staging an afternoon rally
that pushed the indexes to positive closes. With the week’s lightest volume,
traders bought up biotechnology, Internet, and broker/dealers to the biggest
gains of the day, with only utilities and healthcare sectors left in the red.
Stocks on our watch lists were mixed, with a couple of impressive gains made.
Market breadth was positive, with NYSE
advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 1.99, and up-volume over
down-volume by a 3.18 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining issues came in
at 1.95, and down-volume beat up-volume by a 2.58 ratio.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
(
$INDU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up
1.23% to
9,744.24. The S&P 500
(
$SPX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
closed up
1.37% to
1,094.96.
The Nasdaq [$COMPQ |$COMPQ] closed up
2.06% to
1,818.87.
2,074
2,328
Issues
1,042
1,194
1,021,482,000
520,336,000
318,338,000
1,344,289,000
Volume
1,356,206,000
1,786,442,000
Highs
30
11
8
5
Weekly Perspective:
This past week marked the worst since the Sept. 11 attacks,
with the Dow down 163.02 points for a 1.6% loss, the S&P 500 fell 25.98 points
for a 2.3% loss, and the Nasdaq was down 92.30 points for a 4.8% loss. From a
technical perspective, the S&P 500 broke through long-term support around the
1,125 level and its key reversal day made last week. This does not bode well in
the big picture. On a positive note, the Dow was able to hold its 9,600 support
level, and the Nasdaq its 1,775 area.
Now that earnings season has tapered off, we head into next week
with key economic reports to be released. Retail sales, inventories, PPI and a
preliminary U of Michigan sentiment number will all help to shed light on our
economic situation. What little there was of positive news this past week was
for the most part rejected by the markets. There is no telling what might turn
things around. As mentioned by other contributors to this site, the Dow
attempted six sharp rallies during its 1929 bear market before finally bottoming
out, and we may have just seen our fifth. Our watch lists continuing to lose
candidates that meet our top fundamental and technical criteria is another
indication of a weak market, though the search goes on.
Leading sectors with new 52-week highs this past week were in
gold, apparel stores, healthcare and utilities.
Top sectors:
Biotechnology Index
(
$BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
was up 7.25%
at 4.90.40.
GSTI Internet Index
(
$GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
was up 6.43% to 90.13.
Losing sectors:
Morgan Stanley Healthcare Index
(
$HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
was down
0.38% to 494.51.
Dow Jones
Utilities Index
(
$UTIL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was down
0.13% to 278.33.
Sectors With New
Highs:
Gold — 6 —
(
GOLD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
HGMCY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
AU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
AEM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
GG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
MDG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
Healthcare — 5 —
(
UNH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
OHP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
ATH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
MME |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
TGH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
Diversified Utilities — 4 —
(
WPS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
ALE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
PCG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
(
VVS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
WPS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
Apparel Stores — 3 —
(
CHS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
ANN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
FINL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
Watch List Action
Genesis Microchip
(
GNSS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) turned around from yesterday’s heavy
distribution with a gain of 11.73% on over two times average volume. Yesterday’s
thrashing has left a scar that may take time to heal, and this stock is just
over 20% from its pivot point, though a far cry from hitting new 52-week highs.
Those who set up in this trade did so in a risky market and should have had an
idea of what they wanted before entering. Profits in bad markets should be taken
quicker than good markets, though selling is easily the hardest decision to make
in trading.
Our biggest gainer of the day was Multimedia Games
(
MGAM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 12.69% on
almost twice average volume. This one is on our “Building a Base” list and is
coming off some heavy losses made the past few days. A decent base should be at
least seven weeks long, and we will monitor this gaming stock to see how it
develops. This has been one of the few stocks meeting our top fundamental
criteria.
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.
size=2>Copart Inc.
(
CPRT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 2.19% on almost half average volume.
MTR Gaming Group
(
MNTG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up .33% on
below-average volume for an accumulation day.
size=2>Nvidia Corp.
(
NVDA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 3.81% on almost twice average volume
for a distribution day.
Panera Bread Co.
(
PNRA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 0.03% on almost twice
average volume.
| 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 |
| size=2>Copart Inc. | size=2> ( CPRT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 88 | 23.30 | + 0.50 | 1,045,200 | 8.60 | 25.82 |
| size=2>Genesis Microchip | size=2> ( GNSS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 94 | 49.24 | + 5.17 | 3,363,900 | 38 | 74.90 |
| size=2>MTR Gaming Group | size=2> ( MNTG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 95 | 14.85 | + 0.05 | 574,100 | 14.30 | 17.16 |
| size=2>Nvidia Corp. | size=2> ( NVDA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 94 | 57.72 | – 2.29 | 8,464,900 | 52.67 | 72.66 |
| size=2>Panera Bread Co. | size=2> ( PNRA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 96 | 57.67 | + 0.02 | 347,700 | 14.55 | 64.94 |
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 |
None |
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 |
| size=2>Multimedia Games Inc. | size=2> ( MGAM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | size=2>99 | 39.15 | + 4.41 | 210,800 |
href=”mailto:danielb@tradingmarkets.com”>danielb@tradingmarkets.com
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