Thursday’s Stock Watch
The broader markets
stumped the bears once again,
with a gap up and positive closes for all the
indexes. Blue Chips were the strength, while technology cooled with only slight
gains. Overall volume was good, with advancing volume dominating declining
volume, though the price moves of the indexes fell short of the percentages we would like to see to certify the bull. Two of our stocks from the
Handles list broke-out today, and we will watch to see how they hold up in
this market environment. Once the leaders can truly lead, we will then have
another sign of strength in this market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up
0.75% to
9,823.61. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up
0.14% to
1,140.74.
The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up
0.59% to
1903.19.
| NYSE | NASDAQ | |
| Advancing Issues | 1,880 |
2,061 |
| Declining Issues | 1,238 |
1,550 |
| Advancing Volume | 886,482,000 |
1,385,175,000 |
| Declining Volume | 515,660,000 |
729,134,000 |
| Total Volume | 1,414,634,000 |
2,152,605,000 |
| New 52-week Highs | 27 | 20 |
| New 52-week Lows | 2 | 2 |
Top sector gainers
Airline Index
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) up
4.66% to
71.6.
Morgan Stanley Internet Idx
(
$MOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) up
3.14%
to
13.46.
Losing sectors
Oil Index
(
$XOI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) down
5.39% to
490.85.
Natural Gas Index
(
$XNG.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) down
3.43% to
187.65.
Leading Sectors
with new highs
Business Services – 6
Business Software and Services
– 3
Moving off our Handles list and onto our recent breakout watch is
PEC
Solutions
(
PECS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 9.35% on six-times average volume, marking its pivot
point. So now is where we wait to see if the stock will become a leader, or will
join the list of other
recent breakouts that couldn’t cut it. The gap up made today
is a sign of strength that won’t easily be challenged. This company provides
technology services enabling government entities to harness the power of the
Internet and other technologies. With an EPS ranking of 99 and a RS rank of 98,
it easily meets our quality requirements.
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
(
KKD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) also comes off our Handles list
and on to our Recent Breakouts list. With a volume spike of over 250% its average, this
doughnut retailer will challenge previous highs made this
past spring. Of interest in the chart pattern is the lack of selling pressure to
buying pressure as it carved out its base. Shareholders remain content despite
the extreme valuation levels that have been publicly scrutinized. We will wait
and see if this stock also can conquer the difficult market environment.
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 will be be even more cautious.
American Healthways Inc.
(
AMHC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell 3.64% on below-average volume.
EPIQ Systems
(
EPIQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gained 3.18% on above-average volume.
Genesis Microchip
(
GNSS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) continues recovering from its big distribution day last Thursday,
with another gain of 2.53%.
Nvidia Corp.
(
NVDA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) carried over yesterday’s selling, down 2.78%..
Panera Bread Co.
(
PNRA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
made rallied up another 1.61% today on slightly less than average volume.
Company Name |
Symbol |
12 Month RS |
Price |
Price Change |
Average Volume |
| American Healthways Inc. | ( AMHC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
99 | 41.00 | – 1.55 | 143,800 |
| Copart Inc. | ( CPRT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
96 | 29.87 | – 0.73 | 711,500 |
| EPIQ Systems | ( EPIQ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
98 | 37.85 | + 1.17 | 244,700 |
| Genesis Microchip | ( GNSS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
98 | 47.80 | + 0.94 | 2,334,400 |
| Nvidia Corp. | ( NVDA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
94 | 54.18 | – 0.45 | 12,030,900 |
| Panera Bread Co. | ( PNRA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
96 | 45.68 | + 0.96 | 310,100 |
| Krispy Kreme Doughnuts | ( KKD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
95 | 37.92 | + 1.72 | 681,600 |
| PEC Solutions | ( PECS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
98 | 25.89 | + 1.19 | 299,300 |
Stocks Forming a Handle
THQ Inc.
(
THQI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) made a distribution day by falling
1.46% on twice normal volume.
Company Name |
Symbol |
12 Month RS |
Price |
Price Change |
Average Volume |
| THQ Inc. | [THQI|THQI} | 96 | 54.76 | + 0.96 | 1,400,400 |
Stocks Building A Base
MTR Gaming Group
(
MNTG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gaped up today,
strengthening the right side of its base, with a gain of 4.73% today.
Company Name |
Symbol |
12 Month RS |
Price |
Price Change |
Average Volume |
| MTR Gaming Group | ( MNTG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
95 | 12.60 | + 0.57 | 669,300 |
Remember that all securities are
risky. In any trade, you should always reduce your risk by adjusting position
size and placing open protective stops where you will sell your long or
cover your short in case the market turns against you. For an introduction to
combining price stops with position sizing, see our lesson,
Risky
Business.