Anytime I see a well-written article by another college student, I pay extra attention. Such is the case with Naufal Sanaullah’s piece on why he thinks this recent rally is unsustainable. It’s quite a comprehensive bearish argument, with good points about the technical aspects of trading and a number of shots at the accuracy of last quarter’s bank earnings – and it will also serve as a good starting point for me to assess my own view of where the market is going. Still, I couldn’t help but be struck by the conspiracy-heavy undertones (most of which were backed by links to Zero Hedge – which provides a lot of thought-provoking pieces, none of them ever being positive). I’m not going to argue on points about CDS trades with AIG, because there are[More...]

This weekend we ran the Alert HQ process and generated the list of Trend Leaders. These stocks and ETFs are distinguished by strong recent performance. Using daily data, we look for stocks that are over their 50-day moving average. We then use three different technical indicators to determine trend: Aroon, DMI and MACD. All three indicators must be registering strong readings in order for a stock or ETF to make the list of Trend Leaders. Below we present those stocks from the Tech sector that made this week's list. Data is as of the close on Friday, 3/20/09. SymbolName Last Price Market Cap PE Ratio Price to Sales Price to Book PEG Ratio[More...]

Late on Tuesday, Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR) announced fourth quarter net income rose to $83.0 million 28 cents a share, from $65.5 million 20 cents a share in the same quarter of 2007.[More...]

The Obama honeymoon did not last as long as it too him and Chief Justice Roberts to stumble through the Oath of Office, requiring them to take a "mulligan."  There is a lot of hope among average citizens and high approval ratings for the new President, but plenty of skepticism from the Wall Street pundits. Trading Obama The market is waiting for specifics on TARP, housing, and the stimulus package.  A large portion of the punditry is prepared to criticize any plan as one or more of the following: Too large or too small; Adding excessively to debt or crushing revenues; Laden with pork or not aimed at real projects; Emphasizing tax cuts (where people[More...]

Over the last few years, dramatic moves in commodity prices have attracted both traders and investors.  In our sector trading program we do not make direct investments in commodities, but several of the ETF's we follow are closely tied to these prices.  Sometimes the link is exaggerated, providing a great opportunity for investors. We spot these opportunities in two ways-- our fundamental analysis of sectors, and the ratings from our sector model.  The model tracks Trends, Cycles, and incorporates a bit of Anticipation as applied to ETF's.   (Thus the TCA-ETF model.  For new readers, there is a more complete description of our methods and ratings at the end of the article.) Spotlight on Oil Service Stocks The most dramatic move in our ratings last week was in the <a[More...]