The Equities Room Blog

A recap of how today’s trading action went in relation to the 3 Trading Ideas on  our Early Bird Report this morning.

3 Ideas Recap:

1) VFC/NKE longs

These two did a nice job of filling their gaps and outperforming the market this morning, just what we were looking for.  VFC bounced from 139 up to 142.50 in the first hour and NKE bounced from 95.75 up to 97.75.  Unfortunately, the bounces didn’t hold up as the market lost its bid in the afternoon and both of these sank back down toward their opening ranges (NKE held up a little bit better than VFC).

2) SINA short

This one didn’t get up candle we were hoping for on the open in order to get a “safer” short,  but it was certainly weak from the get go, and wound up rewarding aggressive short sellers today.   It opened up around 85.25 and started sliding right away.  Wound up closing around 81.73.

3) ZAGG long

Well we got the steep red candle on the open that we were looking for, down to the 13.50 area.  It did bounce a bit here, briefly touching 13.70, but then consolidated around the 13.60 mark.  The broad market refused to rally, and as the name couldn’t push back up toward the 14.00 mark, it became clear that the “squeeze” rally wasn’t going to occur.  Once it lost 13.60, it dropped to new lows, and was off our radar.

The Early Bird Report

The Early Bird Report 10-31-11

NEWS/EARNINGS  STOCKS

Earnings:

Gapping Up–  CKSW  HUM   SAPX

Gapping Down — SOHU  CYOU  L  IART  AWI  CTB

No indication — UDRL  TGE  IDSY

Corporate news/rumors: MNTA  PCRX  NBR   BGS  CP

Under $10  long  looks with strong closes/actionable charts: TAOM  GURE  REE  AVL  QRM  MWW  ALJ  GEVO  DANG  BORN  GMXR  CNTF

Over $10 long  looks w/ strong closes/actionable charts: VFC  TSLA  VPHM  WMS  HLF  LNKD  ZAGG  NKE WPRT

Weak closes/short looks:  SINA  AM  NUVA  LOW  OPEN  EXPE  AGCO  WHR

3  ideas for today’s trading day: A big gap down Monday today, into what has been an historic month long run in equities markets…will make for a tricky trading day.

1) VFC/NKE longs

VFC and NKE are retailers with similar looking charts here, pushing up to 52 week highs.  Neither are obnoxiously extended at these levels, and VFC has already digested a recent earnings report (NKE to report Dec.20).  With the market gapping down today,  I am looking at these two for longs today, but not necessarily out of the gate.  For these trades to trigger, I’ll need to see some stabilization in the market (ideally gap fill action) and/or the retail sector in general.  If this can happen, I can see these two relative strength names go from red to green and push toward new 52 week highs.

2)  SINA short

A few things to like about a SINA short today.  First, peer SOHU is selling off hard after its earnings report overnight.  Second, SINA absolutely did NOT participate w/ some of its other Chinese online/social peers in last weeks rally, and appears to be breaking down out of a bear flag this morning .  Third, ongoing concerns about government regulation of Weibo.  The hardest part of this trade today will be getting in w/out chasing to the downside, and avoiding the (seemingly inevitable) short squeeze in the shares.  As it is currently gapping lower, we’d ideally like to see a bounce up TOWARD unchanged, but w/out going green.  IF we can get this bounce, it would seem like good risk/reward to take a shot short.  Should be a volatile stock today.  I would avoid chasing this short on the open, just because of the potential for a nasty early bounce.

3)  ZAGG long

ZAGG Finally showed its hand a bit on Friday, pushing up out of consolidation on the daily chart.  Follow through today is not a given however, especially with the gap lower in the broad market.  Assuming it gaps lower w/ the market, I’d like to see it hold Friday pivot lows around 13.40.  If it can do this on the open and the market firms, it could be a nice pullback area to get in.  If it never tests this level we will be forced to make a decision whether to chase through the 14 resistance area.  There is alot of supply here,  and if it can get past there, it has a chance to really squeeze as short interest is VERY high in this name.

The Early Bird Report

A recap of how today’s trading action went in relation to the 3 Trading Ideas on  our Early Bird Report this morning.

3 Ideas Recap

1) OPEN/ACOM shorts

These two never got triggered today.  Was looking to short these if key support levels from yesterday were broken while the market was selling off.  Neither happened.  As it was, ACOM and OPEN both squeezed higher in the first hour (OPEN really in the first 5 minutes) before coming back to earth.  Both stock remain on my short radar going forward.

2.) CVX short

Got the steep red bar on the open like I was expecting, as it dropped from 109 to 107.  Quickly bounced, however, so you had to be very quick w/ ins and outs to make any money.  The bounce from lows paused and consolidated between 108.40 and 108.75 for awhile before finally pushing higher out of that range as the market showed no signs of selling off.    110 remains a big level in the name and one that I’ll watch closely next week, though I no longer have a short bias.

3.) GLUU long

This was a frustrating one today, but not so uncommon when trading small cap momentum stocks.  Saw an early jump from 3.10 up to 3.24 in the first few minutes of trading on heavy volume and it looked like this one was good to go.  Unfortunately, small cap $$$ went flowing into China names and this one slowly slid back toward unchanged on light volume.

2)  ATHN

3)  ZIP

The Early Bird Report

A recap of how today’s trading action went in relation to our Early Bird Report this morning.

3 Ideas Recap

1) V

Visa traded pretty close to how we had hoped today.  It held its ground nicely as the market was selling into this morning’s large gap, then pushed higher as it went from red to green.  There were some pullbacks along the way, as to be expected, but it was a nice 2+ point move today if you played it through92-92.50 area.

2)  ATHN

Athena was not as kind today, and did not go as we had hoped.  After gapping up with the market, it pulled back and tried to hold the 56 level as the market started to turn higher.  Once this level failed (especially as the market was holding and turning higher), it was time to respect the weakness of this stock and let it go.  It wound up really puking with some others in its sector, as low ast 52.22…another reason to always respect your stops.

3)  ZIP

Zipcar traded okay today…sort of what we were hoping for, but didn’t quite get the push past the early morning range we expected given the market action.  The gap this morning (as noted in the premkt report) was pretty severe, up to 19.50 or so from a 18.70 close.  If you were patient, you  were able  to wait out the pullback (mirroring the broad market) and get some decent entries around 19 or below.  From here it did bounce nicely up to 19.50, but really we expected more as it stalled out here at this level throughout the afternoon.

Bonus stocks: CIGX  SPPI

Spectrum pharmaceuticals was the better of the two,  rising almost 5% today, but it is worth noting that it gapped up to 9.55 from 9.25, making it a bit tougher of a trade than we had hoped.

Star Scientific never really got the volume that we were hoping for, and stayed in a tight trading range today after gapping up past 3.00 this morning.

The Early Bird Report

The Early Bird Report 10-27-11

NEWS/EARNINGS  STOCKS

Earnings:

Gapping Up–  AKAM  OTEX  SKX  NSC  BYI  NVLS  KEX  COG  IDCC  KMT   ORLY  EQT  TEX  VDSI  CRR  TCK  SAVE  GGG  AET  POT  HOT  EVR  SNV  PTEN  CLI  DOW  ACAT  BG  WBC  PHM  CTXS  LM    LAZ  JCI  IP  MSI  UTHR  YNDX  BMY  BDC  DAN  OXY  WIRE  SWI  XOM  ASPS

Gapping Down — CELG  AXTI  TQNT  SFLY  EQIX  ACOM  V  MDR  MGLN  RTN  IMAX  ESIO  CAH  PFCB  OSTK  LHCG  DDD

No indication — TER  ARII  TWI  QSII  RGS  IRM  GTLS  HEP  CRI  WRLD  AEM  LL  CL  NIHD  PG  LLL  VPHM  MCO  FVE  HSY  KBW  UAL  TDY  MTH  FDML  CAB  GGG

Corporate news/rumors: WWWW

Under $10  long momentum looks with strong closes/actionable charts: CIGX  LNG  SPPI  FTK  GTIV  PRMW  ANAD  SPNC  DMAN  HHS  UEC  AFOP  FUEL

Over $10 long momentum looks w/ strong closes/actionable charts: ZIP  WPRT  LPS  TEX  RHT  MHS  CRR  ULTI

Weak closes/short looks:  RIMM  AMZN  MAKO  SODA  IOC  OPEN  APKT

3  ideas for today’s trading day:

1) V Playing earnings plays as they move from red to green can be a nice strategy if the stars align.  Today, V seems like a good candidate.  The gap lower isn’t too bad (less than 1% as I’m writing this), and with such a huge gap in the broad markets, a high quality name like Visa is even more likely to get pulled higher.  Throw in the fact that it is within a shot of 52 week highs and I like the risk/reward here.  I will use  caution and lighter size on the open, expecting high volatility and whippy trading.   Likely won’t trade it if it doesn’t go green, but will watcht 89.50 as a support level (held there yesterday afterhours).

2)  ATHN. Closed just above pivot support from early October.  Clearly been relatively weak recently, dropping almost 12 points since last week.   Today seems like a make or break day for the stock, with the market gapping up so much.  Not sure where it will open, but will look try and buy some if it appears that the broad market is going to hold gains today.  Any break of 54.75 will turn me away however… and any  gap too big to the upside and I will try and wait for some sort of pullback

3)  ZIP Beware here, as this is a thinly traded name, and can have some very volatile moves and wide spreads.  I liked the action yesterday afternoon, rising higher on heavy volume after an upgrade at $25 target was initiated.   Decent amount of shorts in the name (about 15% according to Finviz), could push the name higher today as it comes off lows in what appears to be a “risk on” market.  Would (as always) be vary wary of chasing this one, as it appears to be gapping higher already.  Try and wait for pullbacks if possible.

BONUS small caps: Will be watching CIGX and SPPI today.  Both look to be poking out past recent consolidation.  Will watch volume levels in both to see if they can gain “in play” status today and break out to the upside.

The Early Bird Report

A recap of how today’s trading action went in relation to our Early Bird Report this morning.

3   Ideas Recap:

1)  FTK turned out very well today.    We were hoping for a pull back to 6.25 area, but considering it was trading above 6.90 in the premkt, the red candle push below 6.50 on the open turned out to be the spot.    A nice move followed, with the stock running up to 7.20 before pulling back.  It wound up moving sideways through mid day as the market dropped, but was able to push to highs during the afternoon rebound.    A great stock to be involved in today.

2)  CMI gapped higher with the market, but it just couldn’t hold the 95.75 level during the first half hour, and broke down with the rest of the market.  Once the opening range broke here, it was not worth watching, as the broad  market was under too much pressure.    Not a great call here, but luckily was easy to avoid trouble.

3)  WPRT was another great trading vehicle today, though it certainly wasn’t easy.  It gapped to the 28.50 area and found some nice opening action up past 29 (as LNG was rallying hard).  It did pullback with the rest of the market and wound up touching yesterday’s closing range low below 28.  It caught here and rebounded all the way back to open range highs, then pushed higher in the afternoon as the broad market rallied.   A nice  stock to be involved in today, though the action wash choppy for the first half of the day.

News/Earnings stocks (notable moves)

Gap n go’s — Up FFIV  MTW  PNRA  QCOR  WLP  FTK  ESRX  SLAB  //  Down AMZN  DV  HGSI  TMO  RSH  AGN    F  LMT

Reversals — ITRI  RRC  OC  LIFE  BEAV  GLW  EAT  FSLR  BRCM  HES

The Early Bird Report

The Early Bird Report 10-26-11

NEWS/EARNINGS  STOCKS

Earnings:

Gapping Up–  BA  IRBT  FFIV  RFMD  MTW  PNRA  QCOR  MCK  LIFE  RPT  BEAV  WLP  AEP  GLW  FTK  ATI  EAT  COP  ARW   FSLR  SSYS

Gapping Down — AMZN  BRCM  DV  HGSI  TJX  TMO  PX  FTI  RSH  F  S  TUP  JNY  AGN  ITRI  HES  LMT  VCI

No indication — ESRX  RRC  CBT  OCLR  BKI  MDP  WYN  VSI  GD  FSYS  ADP  MSM  OC  LAD  SLAB  PLD  SPAR  SLGN

Corporate news/rumors: BIIB  CLWR  DVAX  IBM  ONXX  VLO  LNG  ANX  ZOOM

Under $10  long momentum looks with strong closes/actionable charts: NG  XG  GPL  CAAS  CDXS

Over $10 long looks w/ strong closes/actionable charts: FTNT  UIS  LPS  EGO  DG  GOLD

Weak closes/short looks:  HANS  P  CVI  NDAQ  DMND  CEG  RAI CHKP  SODA  SLM  KFT

3  ideas for today’s trading day:

1)  Watching FTK  to buy on any pullback today after a seemingly nice earnings report.  Indicating to open  above recent consolidation levels, would ideally would get a pullback into 6.25 area on the open, as it is already gapping up 9.6%

2)  With the market gapping higher, will look to buy some CMI early if I don’t have to chase.  It did a nice job of grinding higher after a steep gap down post-earnings yesterday morning.

3)  With the big pop in LNG this morning, I will be watching WPRT today for some sympathy momentum.  Stock has been consolidating arround 28-29 for a couple weeks now and could be ready for a pop out of the range.

The Early Bird Report

The Early Bird Report 10-19-11

NEWS/EARNINGS  STOCKS

Earnings:

Gapping Up–  WFT  SQNS  FTNT  XRS  BP  DD  UIS  DGX  NOV  X  NUS  PCAR  COLM  LII

Gapping Down — VECO  TXN  NFLX  VLTR  IIVI  COH  UA  MMM  CMI  MLI  BTU  AKS  HWAY

No indication — OCN  CSL  SAH  GPI  GRA  CE  TFX  CPLA  SPG  PVTB  AGCO  MOLX  R  RYN  CRS  ITW   TNC   ECL

Corporate news/rumors: SLTM  SPEX  MNTA  AEZS  ARAY

Under $10  long momentum looks with strong closes/actionable charts: ODP  ANX  ONTY  BPAX  ALNY  MOBI  CNTF  QPSA  RENN  MOTR  DANG  SVM  NCT  FTK  HDY  GLUU  JRCC

Over $10 long looks w/ strong closes/actionable charts: OCN  WFM  ETN  NOV  ZAGG  MAN  ANR  LPS  NUVA  LEA  LAMR  CRI  SKS  PSS  FLS  NLY  SU  BRKR  PCX

Weak closes/short looks:  GIS  VRUS  CVI  CAG  WNR  CL  LOW

3  ideas for today’s trading day:

1)  Watching some coal names today.  $BTU had earnings out this morning, and may use that stock as a tell.  If it can bounce back to positive territory, I may look  $JRCC and $PCX to follow through after they pushed out past consolidation yesterday.

2)  Watch $PSS for any pullback to the $15-15.20 area on the open.  Nice break out yesterday from consolidation on better than average volume.

3)  Watching $FTNT for a possible earnings gap fade play at the open.  Will keep things tight in this one, but didn’t like seeing a downgrade in the name this morning after what looked like a decent report.  Will likely only look to short an opening drive up near  yesterday’s afterhours highs of 21.50, or a failure of 20.50 if there is no pop on the open.

The Early Bird Report

The Early Bird Report 10-19-11

Listen to the audio webcast for this report LIVE from 8:30-9:00 EST! Email tom@theequitiesroom.com  or steve@todaytrader.com,  in order to receive a link.

NEWS STOCKS

Earnings:

Gapping Up–   ISRG  INTC  YHOO  URI  HA  APOL  UTX  ABT  FCX  TKLC7

Gapping Down — AAPL  JNPR  CREE  LLTC  PWAV  CKP   ROC  MS  CMA  TRV   ST  APH

No indication —  BK  BLK  PNC  USB  NTRS  SVU  PJC  MTB

Corporate news/rumors: ACTG  DSCO  IPAS  BMTI

Under $10  long momentum looks with strong closes/actionable charts: NCT  FIG  ACAS  SFI  CEDC  AKS  MTG  PHM  HOV  BZH  CNTF  FXEN  MBLX  GLCH  GNW  ENTR  COOl

Strong close/actionable chart filtered by position in year range:

Top 25%: SCSS NSR  CHKP  SIMO  GWW  WCN  RHT  ULTA  SBUX  V  MA  COST  DG  FBHS  NI ROST

Middle 50%:  AFL  ECL  ADP  HON  DOW  HD  ALL  VMW  TOL  NXTM  APD  MDC  BEAM  C  FIO

Bottom 25% RIG  NTAP  XEC  GS  GHL  MCP

Weak close: LO  CROX  IMAX  NFLX  NUS  COO  HSP

The Early Bird Report

The Early Bird Report 10-18-11

Listen to the audio webcast for this report LIVE from 8:30-9:00 EST! Email tom@theequitiesroom.com  or steve@todaytrader.com,  in order to receive a link.

NEWS STOCKS

Earnings:

Gapping Up–  VMW    SFSF  STLD   DVA  CHKP   PH  KO  BAC  GS

Gapping Down — CROX  IBM   STRI  AGL  UNH  JAKK  IM  HOG  FRX  HSP

No indication —  ICUI  WDFC  EDU  PII  EMC  STT    DPZ  JNJ  GWW  GPC

Corporate news/rumors: KOG  HGSI  REGN  TSON  HALO

Under $10  long momentum looks with strong closes/actionable charts: SQNS  INHX  FUEL  GA  DPTR  KIPS  OXGN

Over $10 stocks that held up: KMP  QIHU  FBHS  PENN  HAS  SO  ED  BIG  ETP  RRC  COST

Weak close/actionable chart  filtered by position in year range:

Top 25%: NUAN  ORLY  PRGO  TDC  STR  DECK

Middle 50%: LMT  DOW  PVH  DKS  TECD  CMI  LULU

Bottom 25%:  HAL  VECO  ESI  DV  EW  PTEN  SKX  DO  NFX

The Early Bird Report