TUES. FEB. 17- One Good Thing...

One of the more notable aspects of the stock market this year which has garnered ostensibly no discussion overall is the relative performance of the broader averages. Through Friday, the Dow is down about 9% this year, the S&P 500 has declined just under 8% yet the NASDAQ was actually higher for the year early last week although hit is weaker by a much more tolerable 2% through Friday. It is no secret if one uses basic common sense why this relationship exists. There is massive worry about the banking sector and financials, energies prices continue to decline, and the retail environment remains bleak as well. Thus, one cannot question tech’s relatively strong sector position in this difficult equities investment atmosphere. What is important for us day traders to note is two things. First, it is highly likely that overtime the NASDAQ and the broader S&P 500 will align more in-line particularly if the S&P 500 has a violent move either way in the next few months. Second, it is not for us to try to figure out! What is much more important is to note the stocks that you trade. It is certainly worth noting on a darn near daily basis this year that stocks like GOOG or AAPL have acted much differently than a BAC. Indeed, when the Dow was down over 200 points on Thursday, AAPL hovered near unchanged and when the market turned (with the Dow finishing just shy of unchanged), AAPL rallied several points. So, all we can do is be aware of this intra-market nuances and cognizant more than ever of the fact that what works for one sector of the market might not work for another sector- particularly for day trading purposes.

Markets overseas have been sharply lower the last couple of days- 2% to 3% across the board. Oil continues weak with gold and bonds strong. It is just not a good situation.
Look for a terrible open and some small bounce, but basically a choppy session to the downside the entire day.

Watch list:

2172009Eriklist.zip

Reiterating-
Please understand that if the ideas do not get to the hoped for set-ups cited below, more often than not, one should not blindly trade the symbol next to said idea.
If the whole story is not there -
If something is good, assume either a short thru unchanged or an A-B-A2 based on direction of the market unless specifiedIf something is bad, assume either a buy thru unchanged or an A-B-A2 (preferably to the downside in a downside market and the upside in an upside market) based on direction of the market unless specified-


Good- The following stocks have good news and/or a strong technical pattern

ASIA- closed near a high; up 50% in three days

CSTR- closed near a high after posting great earnings Thurs night

GY- closed near a high after posting great earnings Thurs night

MELA- closed near a high after receiving positive top-line results forms it MelaFind trial; on the verge of filing its pre-market approval application to file with the FDA

CMG- closed near a high on continued momentum from its Wed afternoon earnings report

SIGM- closed near a high

BSX, AXYS- mentioned on “Mad Money” on Friday night

WMT- beat earnings estimates with guidance lukewarmly OK



Bad-The following stocks have bad news and/or a weak technical pattern

MFE- major intra-day reversal; closed near a low

WYN- closed near a low amid terrible outlook in earnings guidance

GERN- closed near a low after announcing a share offering

PLD- closed near a low

USB, JPM, PNC- all closed near their lows

IBOC- closed at a new trend low on Friday

KIM- closed at a new trend low on Friday

PL- closed at a new trend low on Friday

SPG, WRI- among the REIT’s which were weak on Friday in closing near their lows

RIG- poor earnings


Earnings:

TUES FEB 17 BEFORE

AMED BRO ETP

FOSL FTI GPC

HOC HSP MDT

RIG RNT TEVA

UTHR WLT WMT

ZBRA

TUES FEB 17 AFTER

A ACC AMMD

CHK CRA GPRO

IPCR JACK MRH

PAG SGY SKT

SOA UPL VMI




Good luck today.

www.epiphanytrading.com

Erik R. Kolodny- Chief Markets Strategist of Epiphany Trading, LLC