Stockscom Report for Sunday Feb 4 2007
Publisher: Colin Alexander      Editor: Ken Wilson (450-691-4617)
Subscriptions and Administration: Pierre Fichaud (toll-free: 866-487-9711)

 
· Tech stocks remain in limbo
 
Technically Speaking

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq twins putter along well below their heights reached at the beginning of January, the other markets have touched new high-level markers. In particular, we note that the DJ-Industrials, the Russell small cap index and the S&P-400 Midcap index have all closed and continue to mark new all-time highs. Meanwhile the S&P-500 has extended its winning streak but lies more than 100 points below its all-time high reached at the pinnacle of 2000.

This week though provided more fodder for those with a technical bent. The DJ-20 Transports finally carried through with a new high of its own and therefore according to Dow Theory, this move confirms the new high reached on the DJ-30 Industrials despite being four months late. Dow Theory indicates that whenever a new high on the Industrials average is confirmed by a new high on the Transports, the “up” direction is the dominant force and there is a strong likelihood of stock appreciation amongst their constituents.

Nonetheless, the length of this rally, starting as it did in July, leaves us concerned that it needs to be re-energized and this could only occur if some retracement shook out the weak longs. Presently, the long upward moving channels which had contained prices on both the DJ-30 and the SP-500 have been struck by fatigue as prices continue to rise but below the bottom boundary of the channel. Interestingly however, is that their respective 40-day moving averages have taken up duties as the ultimate support lines for both of these index averages.


New Buy Recommendations (in order of preference):

None.   

New Short Sales  

None.

Stock Positions to Sell/Exit:

None.

Portfolio Comments:

New stops have been added to the list while others have been modified. Those that have blanks are being carried unstopped for now. Please see our complete list of stops in the table below.

List of Current Stock Recommendations:

Action Ratings. The following is the legend for designating immediate action
for our stock recommendations. The first is B, meaning the stock is timely
to buy but the case for doing so right here is not overwhelming. Either the
stock may have gotten ahead of itself and may be vulnerable to a retracement or
else the stock has been performing disappointingly but may simply be
regrouping. B+ and B++ indicate stocks for which there is a technical case
to buy now, with plusses adding weight according to how many there are, up
to a maximum of two. Stocks rated H are ones to hold, awaiting confirmation
to buy more or to sell. SELL, of course, means what it says. It seldom pays
to override this designation. In the case of stocks held short, the rating is S where positions should be retained. S+ and S++ indicate stocks for which there is a technical case to add to the positions with plusses adding weight similar to long positions. The maximum number of plus signs is 2.

N.B. There are no longer restrictions on foreign stocks held in Canadian retirement savings accounts.


 
Date of Entry Name Symbol Entry Price Current Price Stop Action Rating
01/08/06 Barr Laboratories BRL 52.57 53.97 49.90 B
12/26/06 Cheniere Energy LNG 29.15 27.80 25.80 H
10/23/06 Coca-Cola Co. KO 46.75 48.24 47.00 B
09/25/06 Cognos Inc COGN 35.20 42.56 40.00 B
12/11/06 Credence Systems CMOS 5.02 4.85 4.50 H
01/22/07 Crown Castle Int’l CCI 36.21 35.14 33.00 H
01/16/07 Echostar Comm DISH 40.36 40.38 37.00 B
01/03/07 Fronteer Dev’t Grp FRG 9.53 10.74 8.00 B
11/13/06 Goodyear Tire GT 18.00 24.89 20.00 B+
10/23/06 I-Flow Corp IFLO 15.02 15.85 15.00 B
12/11/06 Isis Pharma. ISIS 12.53 10.51 10.00 H
01/29/07 MEMC Elec Mats WFR 51.90 52.64 43.00 B
10/30/06 Millennium Pharm MLNM 11.58 11.14 10.50 H
11/13/06 NYSE Group NYX 96.50 99.50 90.00 B
12/26/06 Qiao Xing U Tele XING 13.67 15.81 13.00 B
01/22/07 Videsh Sanchar N. VSL 22.04 22.95 19.50 B
11/06/06 Watts Industries WTS 41.25 44.54 37.75 B+


New stops in BOLD
* Stop on a closing basis
** Buy if above entry price
*** Split-adjusted price