What It All Means

The rally
continues, but what does it all mean?
Yesterday we had the closest
thing we could to a follow-through day on the S&P 500
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and Dow
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without
actually having a follow-through day. Both the indices were up at least 1% on
higher volume than the day before, yet that still does not qualify as a
follow-through. It is nice to see a day of accumulation after quite a dry spell
since Jan. 30.

After taking a glance at the major
indices, I noticed a few of the sentiment gauges looking a little more bullish.
Bullish advisors downticked to 47.4%, and bearish advisors upticked to 29.5%.
There were 215 stocks making new highs vs. 41 making new lows. It would still be
nice to see some extremes on these indicators that would help indicate a
sustainable rally. For now, the market still remains in question, and staying on
the sidelines or trading remain the best alternatives to investing in stocks for
the long haul.

Applied
Materials

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reported and the stock acted well following the
guidance the company laid out going forward.

We are really in a dry spell right now
in terms of growth. There are very few prospects to name that are worth
watching. DRS Tech
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is an example
of how choppy it is out there right now.

MDC Holdings
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has set up a nice multi-month base, but it lacks the earnings
“punch” that I would normally like to see. Its last two quarters’
growth was only 13% and 16%, respectively, from the year-before quarters’.

Gymboree Corp
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has set up a nice base, but appears to have decelerating sales over
the past four quarters and choppy earnings.

Have a great Valentine’s Day and
good weekend,

Tim