This will look at stocks from various scans--some of which aren't on the site. Don't take any of this as a recommendation to buy or sell. It is just my meanderings to discuss charts and the underlying strength and weakness as I see them at that moment in time. This won't get a guarantee of everyday posting. I'll post when I've too much free time...

I use Worden for my data provider and follow two of their proprietary indicators: TSV and BOP. See their site for the explanation and examples of those indicators.
 

9/15 If you are conservative and like cup & handle plays, SCHL looks ready to complete. It has a very long, tight handle; is around 65; the depth forcast a move to 85. Wouldn't surprise me for it to start the move after announcing earnings. Not a bad stock to mention to conservative relatives and collegues. If you are more momentum oriented, wait for the breakout.

8/27 Sent Don Worden at Worden.Com (my data provider who comments on stocks and techniques the following message:

Just browsing on a Sunday morning and sort of thinking about AGE as a trading long here. Although the short trendline seems too steep to really follow through and I'm going to pass. It is on the lower bollanger with attractive RSI and Stochastics. Couple of more weeks of consolidation could make it attractive for the longer term as would a breakout... :)

Saw your 5/26 note remarking it was generating a RSMA exit signal. Ok, I have 20-20 hindsight going for me to remark that was a horrid call. And, I'll be quick to note that I've been a lot more stupid on some of my own trades than that one.

But, when I look at a weekly chart, that was a fairly decent consolidation. The stock touched the bottom of a 40 day 2x channel and the Bollanger Band to show a double bottom (and you can also read an M top) with a very attractive RSI saying buy. And all the 3 stochastics that I follow also screamed buy--totally oversold. And that's a stochastic set I almost never see/find. (It is there again, today.)

In all honesty, I probably wouldn't have had the guts to buy the stock there. But, all the indicators were right for a rebound. I couldn't really call it a weak stock any more than a strong one. But, overall, it hadn't seriously violated support or the long trend. It opened under the trend and only traded very slightly below it while closing well above. It was a consolidator that one could play for a trip up to the higher channel/band. If there was a play, that was it, IMO.

RSMA lied big time. I know it is just one tool. But, mechanical tools are just too darn mechanical.

A tight, trendline stop could have also taken someone out that used mechanical stops. A stop based on the close would have remained intact.

8/24/00 This is a general look at a number of biotech charts for this date. They are all breaking out of pennants. Most are at the ragged edge of those pennants. Such charts here are CEGE, GENE, HGSI. All are at the very end of the pennant. Good charting tells us that these should have broken out earlier and we should have suspected a downside move after they pass 2/3rds to 3/4s of the pennant. But, we need to remember that pennants are consolidation moves and need to also be looked at as consolidations that give some bullish bias for many of these patterns. Some don't have this feature but it is something to watch and use the volume bars to try to gather more information.

Look for more pennants! There is often more than one. A failing short term may mean little against a longer term one and vice versa. Look and look again.

We can think we see one thing when we look at pennants etc. If our "guess" is wrong, the pattern turns into a feature that we didn't recognize properly. That's the art part of TA.

7/3 RNWK was bought last week at 47 3/8 and is showing a profit. I have a Worden tab (they let you have 12 different charts with different indicators showing) The one uses 3 stochastics: 7,3,3; 14,3,3; 21,4,4. This gives me a spread and my main view has a 30,15,10 to give the longest view. They don't agree here. The two shorest term ones have lower highs. The latter two are bullish in look. It is a real mixed bag and an iffy trade. However, all the stochastics have the "blue" short term line above the "red" long term one and that is bullish. I bought it so I'm playing the longer term stochastics based on they're being able to take out the 200 day--which it seems to want to bounce back down from--and the earlier attempt at recovery being taken out too. If this doesn't happen, I sell.

6/21 PRCM is one of those pullback breakout that I'd pass on. It is at the 20:20 envelope and closing on its March high--has to be an easier chart around. CYBE looks attractive. It did a 3-day pullback from its trend and is resuming. Based on a measured move the hope would be 15+ from yesterday's low. Wouldn't chase DEX here but it was a buy the day before--but it looks like it will challange the April-May high. TNE is a solid breakout play, if you'd like some foreign exposure. FGH is a good oil patch chart. ECIL is a buy on a pullback. MSN seems to have ended its pullback with strength although I wonder how far it can go on its longer term stochastic which barely corrected . You can play it on a short term stochastic though. All these mentions are from the top of today's Pullback List.

6/14 A review of some of the stocks I hold. LCOS looks buyable here at 64. Stochastic oversold with it looping up above previous low. Could easily make a $10 move from this point. Worth $90+ at the merger. Would take 74 to 80--which is the upper Bollanger band. LSI has a cup and handle formation that made it a great pickup during yesterday's pullback. Still very buyable here with the cup/goal of a $20 increase. HHGP is like LCOS in stochastic with a nice consolidation pointing to a measured move of about $4. GENE & CELE need to rally here and overcome the lower tops on their Stochastic. They also have weak money flow. They are consolidating and questionable.

6/8 I get my data from Worden. Each day they also provide "Worden Notes" which has a commentary on a number of charts. I just thought I provide their list for today. They are all longs for various reasons. RAD QCOM RHAT TFSM APAC EXDS NSOL SNTKY SMRT VVUS YHOO BBX IBM JNPR DELL I thought I'd mention some of the nice features you get with their service. It includes their charting program for free. A new version is just out. You can get it on the free CD with data up until a month or 6 weeks ago for all stocks. It is a great off-line learning too as that alone.

6/5 LTD has a nice cup and handle right? Just climb on board, right? WRONG! Look at the distribution days (down volume where it exceeds previous up volume); they abound. This one sits on very shaky turf here... NEM could be played here. It is a play on the weakening dollar. A weaker dollar is an automatic price of gold increase. Money flow is good; stochastic is good; BOP is ramping. SMRA is breaking out here but the stochastic says it could do a pullback. JLG does have a nice stochastic and has held at this resistance level. seems a safe play with a tight stop at the 50 day. Look at the reason for the gap down before playing; but, the 5 month consolidation looks about right.

5/26 A lot of yesterday's charts were weak. Today I see more shorts (GNTX H&S Top) or the oils on or making their 4th moves and ready to decline. The chip stocks seem like the play. Pick a winner. AMAT is one.

5/25 CVG has a double bottom here and was up nice on volume. Wasn't a part of the selloff. CNB is a bank stock that may do $1.50. Not a big banks fan here but it looks good for those with a conservative bent. PAYX is on a double bottom and looks ready to finish building the cup. OK for a 10% play here. Don't want to be around during the handle building. Good stochastic so it could run beyond the high without the handle. ADAC is one to watch for the breakout. Good but not great volume yesterday. Today could be it's day. Would hope for a quick 3 bucks or so. That's 20%! APC DYN XTO POG could move here; watch for up on volume which I'm doubting; still like natural gas plays but a bit later; near identical charts. Their problem is they are all overbought so I'll take a pass and look for the oversolds! AXPH looks like a great gamble. Real selloff yesterday looks to be climax selling. A cheap stock that could easily double at this point. Now to get serious; feel I gotta try to own some QCOM and AOL here. They are the gorillas that could take out overhead resistance and run.

5/21 These stocks are from my Top Sales Growth List. SHFL is looking interesting here. It is breaking from one base. But, when you look at a longer chart you see it may be part of a much wider one that it is well below. It has some problems. BTR is interesting for the money stream divergence on a chart of weekly data. It shows a steady increase since before the recent decline. But, I just can't find the right entry point; my best guess would be 18 3/8. NEXL is an interesting charger that could be a pullback buy. Looking at a monthly chart is interesting. It appears to be at step two (Base Building and learning to count to 4) in the short term cycle and the move from there could make a continuation move rather than the expected pullback. It is completing a cup going back into 1996. It could make 6.25 and consolidate there based on the cup formation. The cup is $5+. I think I'd sell at that level and reenter if it can confirm.

5/20 Wanted to look at the Pullbacks with IBD Style Filtering List. Of course, it is a lousy market. The findings are mixed here but they always are on a pullback list--you have to figure out if the stall is a top. GW is an oil that looks toppy and is near the bottom--BOP wise. Right now you couldn't give me shares of it. But the top of the list does have some interesting stocks as longs. FHCC looks ready but I wonder. UPR is another one of those gas stocks--they all seem to look good right now. It is at an early 99 congestion point so there might be better. MXC is one of those stocks that wouldn't hit the other pullback list. Not sure IBD criteria is all it is cracked up to be here. I think it might be ok if we put the volume limits back in.

5/19 Both the N100 and Composite are at the completion point of two neutral pennants. The Comp one is more complete and very tight. This is the indicator to follow. So far today, both have stayed within those trendlines. Monday should be the tell. I would expect an oversold rally to occur then under "normal" circumstances. I don't expect it to be anything like a major rally, but it should give a couple of days where one can reduce their weaker positions.

5/18 SGR did a 3 day pullback and may have enough volume show up today to resume.NSI has broken above a 2 1/2 month consolidation on weak volume. The Nasdaq Composite move above a pennant two days ago and seems to be pulling back. We need to see it move back up by Monday; otherwise we will portend a correction. Not a bad thing overall but a sell signal none-the-less. Meanwhile, I'd like to see it stay above 3600 between now and then.

5/17 DUSA represents the market--although it is a bit of a hermorphradite. It is a development drug w. approved products going into production. It made a true head and shoulders top. It has multiple left shoulders but it shows the classic descending volume across the pattern that confirms a true H&S. Ok, if we believe in them we see the down move has not completed. True symmetry would want us to now draw a H&S bottom--unlikely but it points to the incomplete nature inherant in our charts and market. We've built overhead patterns of resistance and support that are now all resistance levels. We a decent stock coming up against those levels. You can't really buy these stocks. It would almost better if they were doing flat consolidations. That would give them the strength to breakout. Moves like DUSA just confuse things. EXDS looks to have started building a base here just above it's April low. Seems a good sign. It be nice if it held here for a month or so. HD is sitting on pretty decent support here. If it doesn't break down further, a recovery looks to be in the offing. All the negatives seem in the stock here. GENE continues to build a very nice base and maintains it money flow. GTHR seems set on building the right side of a cup. Making and consolidating around 17 would be quite bullish. MLNM continues to build a lose handle that could lead it higher soon. LSI may be heading for a double bottom here that would make a base to do a nice recovery. ADRX is looking weak here--small pullback or did it poop out? Not ready to sell but maybe soon. KIDE is trying to break above a cup and handle. Weak volume makes it questionable. INTC looks pretty iffy here because of weak volume. VRTS seems a possibility today--good ascending volume showing some potential.

5/16 Look at a two month chart for NXLK. Looks fairly nice, doesn't it? I could say that it looks to have climax selling into a double bottom formation. You'd say, "Show me a decent green bar and I'm in. Now look at a longer chart that goes back to at least Dec. 99. Perfect Head & shoulders formation. Perfect! Then look at resistance it is about $10 overhead. That'd be a nice pop. Now look at support. It is almost $30 down. That's the quandry with so many stock. It is as good a short as it is a long, depending on the move that would suck us in. The real name of the game is traps--bear and bull. And, look at yesterday's volitility--around 4.50. So, the smart move is to do nothing--which includes not getting clobbered. Look at the last good shorting opportunity--it was the gap down on volume, right? And what did it do next? Takes out the shorts! So you say, play the up on the good up volume entry that followed, and it takes out the longs. One bear trap followed by a bull trap. These weren't great plays but you could have substantiated either for a partial vest.

5/13 I'm pulling these from a new scan. Lots of stock in it. Looks for daily reversal patterns of a bullish bent. List was sorted on BOP and I'm reviewing the strongest of those. Prices are close.

TLM (34.94) might be a nice buy on any pullback. Stochastic remains in overbought range and has been there for too long for any comfort as a buy.

CNH (13.19) failed at the Jan high and pulled back sharply; nice Friday move but on very weak volume; is a cup & handle that could resume but needs good volume--and that has been seriously lacking for quite a while; moneyflow however has a bullish divergence. Stochastic is coming off oversold and is supportive.

FS (54.75) Made new high and has pulled back on weak volume. The thing that is of interest is not the daily chart but a longer term one. I looked at a weekly going back to original issue in 1997. The chart shows a cup and handle that runs from July99 to Dec99--big cup indicating it could move well here having just taken out the handle consolidation on strong volume with a solid money stream here. Strong upside volume would make me sit up a bit. The cup runs roughly 34 to 53--about 19 bucks worth. That seems to indicate quite a bit left in the move. IF ONLY THE MARKET SAID GO LONG!

ASF (53.94) May 1st was the day to buy this one. Could be a buy on a pullback. Stochastic is saying hold off as it is moving slight down from a very overbought condition. It is a strong stock--time will tell. A serious pullback could drop it to the 46.25 area and under it's 10 day which would be a nicer entry, if it held. RHB, just below it on the list is the same story.

BED (18.00) A huge, year-long cup. REIT are on the comeback trail. Could do 2 quick buck if it gets some volume. The congestion is a nice on tight and fairly declining volume after the pop. Moneyflow is ok but the stochastic has a bearish divergence that scares me. That makes me go back and look closer at those two down but above average selloff bars.

HSSI (43.25) I usually look at a 6-month chart as my default. On that, this stock is a total mess. Nothing to recommend it. Yet this stock had a run from 13.00 as last summer's price. This long congestion, ugly as it is on a daily chart, is totally different when you look at a weekly chart. And now the TSV says it just might be the real thing soon.