Wednesday’s Stock Watch
The major indexes have been
behaving very shakily of late,
as the NYSE has now made four days of
distribution in the past week, while the Nasdaq has made three. New 52-week lows
are still dominant over the highs, and this report has had to remove two
stocks from the “recent breakout” list. These are not conditions to buy into.
The market may very well pull back from recent highs, and in the process we
would like to see volume drop off for an indication of selling pressure dying
out.
From Tuesday’s action:
Market breadth was negative, with NYSE
declining issues over advancing issues by a ratio of 1.30, and down volume over
up volume by a 2.29 ratio. Nasdaq declining issues over advancing issues came in
at 1.21, and down volume beat up volume by a 3.22 ratio.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
closed +0.01%
at 8,368.94. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
closed -0.90% at
882.15.
The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed
-1.15% at
1,300.62.

1,285
1,450
Declining Issues
1,750
1,761
363,560,000
378,750,000
999,870,000
1,183,804,000
Total
Volume
1,372,003,000
1,576,517,000
Highs
3
10
17
6
Top sectors:
Health Services and Medical Appliances & Equipment.
Watch List Action:
Hitting a new 52-week high Monday, International Gaming Technology
(
IGT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) has
been one of our strongest performers since breaking out. The stock has made
three days of distribution and three days of accumulation over the past three
weeks.

Now coming off our recent breakout list, Mid Atlantic Medical Services
(
MME |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell over
8% below its pivot buy point. The stock had a short run on our list, and
began showing weakness with distribution days just after breaking out.

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) | 91 | 41.86 | +0.74 | 2,530,000 | 39.60 | 46.15 |
Brown & Brown | ( BRO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 74 | 29.79 | -1.71 | 235,500 | 32.16 | 37.00 |
Coach Inc. | ( COH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 96 | 30.67 | -0.03 | 995,700 | 29.80 | 33.09 |
Education Mgt. Co. | ( EDMC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 80 | 41.51 | +0.61 | 379,100 | 41.87 | 46.65 |
Hovnanian Enterprises | ( HOV | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 98 | 37.25 | +0.97 | 798,700 | 32.90 | 40.56 |
International Game Technology | ( IGT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 93 | 75.47 | +0.45 | 1,022,800 | 75.47 | 76.41 |
Mid Atlantic Medical Services | ( MME | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 96 | 37.50 | -0.45 | 537,500 | 38.83 | 43.20 |
Wellpoint Health Network | ( WLP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 91 | 78.31 | -1.04 | 1,431,500 | 79.05 | 85.63 |
Also coming off the list is BRO as it traded over 8%
below its pivot
point.
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) | 75 | 44.38 | -0.62 | 715,300 | 47.80 |
Ross Stores Inc. | ( ROST | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 89 | 43.10 | -0.50 | 1,058,700 | 43.10 |
CBH is not the prettiest of handles, but it’s all
we have now.
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 |
Chicos FAS | ( CHS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) | 95 | 19.30 | -0.50 | 1,289,300 | 21.19 |
We’d like to see CHS and ROST give us a handle in
here, as pegging an ideal breakout point has been warped by recent breakouts to
new highs without volume.
href=”mailto:danielb@tradingmarkets.com”>danielb@tradingmarkets.com
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Report is posted on
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Tim Truebenbach (Tuesdays and Thursdays), and
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