Amazon.com - AMZN - close: 81.59 change: -1.05 stop: 79.75 The morning bounce in AMZN faded into negative territory by the close. Shares still have support near $80 and its 50-dma but I would not be surprised to see AMZN drift closer to $80.00 for the June option expiration. Hopefully they don't tag our stop loss at $79.75 in the process. At this point wait for a bounce from $80 before buying calls. Our first target is $89.00. Our second target is $97.50. The P&F chart has produced a new buy signal with a $101 target.
Apollo Group - APOL - close: 66.94 change: +0.54 stop: 62.24 The rally higher on Wednesday may have caught some investors off guard. Traders bought the dip at $65.42 this morning, which is positive. I remain bullish here. The question is, does APOL drift toward $65.00 for tomorrow's option expiration? Our first target to take profits is $69.95. Our second target is $74.00. I consider this somewhat aggressive because APOL has technical resistance at its 200-dma and 100-dma. The Point & Figure chart is forecasting an $82 target. We do not want to hold over the late June earnings report. We will plan to exit on Friday, June 26th or Monday, June 29th.
Intl.Bus.Mach. - IBM - close: 106.33 change: -0.67 stop: 104.90 Some of the short-term technicals are starting to turn bearish on IBM. The MACD went bearish three days ago. The stock is now listing toward potential support at $106.00 and 105.50. Wait for signs of a bounce before considering new call positions. I'm not suggesting new bullish positions at this time. Our first target is $113.50. Our second target is $118.50.
Mastercard - MA - close: 163.39 change: -0.87 stop: 158.90 MA is hovering near technical support at its 100-dma. This is also near the bottom edge of its wide, bullish channel. More aggressive traders may want to consider buying calls now or waiting for a bounce. I remain very cautious here and I'm not suggesting new positions at this time. We have two targets. We want to take some money off the table at $198.50 since the $200.00 mark could be round-number resistance. Our second target is $218.50. FYI: If MA hits our stop loss readers may want to consider bearish strategies.
Teva Pharma. - TEVA - close: 47.59 change: -0.18 stop: 45.40 TEVA is slowly seeing some profit taking. I am suggesting readers look for dips near $46.50 or $46.00 as new bullish entry points. Just remember that shares of TEVA don't normally move very fast. Our exit target is $49.85. My time frame is very late July. FYI: This afternoon TEVA put out a press release regarding a court case. Here's an excerpt from their release:
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has granted summary judgment in Teva's favor on the issue of non-infringement with regard to Debiopharm's U.S. Patent No. 5,338,874. The patent is listed in the Orange Book for Sanofi-Aventis chemotherapy medication EloxatinŽ, which had annual sales of approximately $1.3 billion in the United States for the twelve months that ended December 31, 2008, based on IMS sales data. Teva intends to inform the FDA of the court's decision and expects that its 505(b)(2) New Drug Application will receive final approval shortly.
L-3 Comm. - LLL - close: 72.09 change: +0.67 stop: 75.55 Defense stocks were inching higher on Thursday. I don't see any changes from my previous comments. I'm suggesting bearish positions now or on a bounce toward $74.00. More conservative traders might be able to get away with a stop near $74.50 instead of ours at $75.55. We should expect some sort of bounce at $70.00. Our first target is $66.00. Our second target is $61.00.
MDC Holdings - MDC - close: 28.64 change: -1.02 stop: 31.05 Homebuilders were weak. On Thursday the DJUSHB index lost 3.5%. Shares of MDC almost kept pace and lost 3.4%. More conservative traders may want to lower their stop toward $30.50 or just start taking profits now. I'm not suggesting new positions. Our first target is $27.75. Our second target is $25.15.
Symantec - SYMC - close: 15.69 change: -0.25 stop: 16.85 The intraday action on SYMC continues to look bearish. I see this as a new entry point for puts. Our first exit target is $14.10.
Toll Brothers - TOL - close: 16.44 change: -0.64 stop: 18.26 *new* TOL broke down to new lows and closed with a 3.7% loss. The intraday low was $16.32. Our target is $16.25. More conservative traders may want to take profits now. I'm lowering our stop loss to $18.26.
United Parcel Serv. - UPS - close: 48.30 change: +0.18 stop: 52.51 The current plan on UPS is to buy puts on a bounce into the $49.50-50.00 zone. The high today was $48.69. The $50.00 level and $52.00 region are overhead resistance. Our first target to take profits is $45.50. We do not want to hold over the late July earnings report.
(What is a strangle? It's when a trader buys an out-of-the-money (OTM) call and an OTM put on the same stock. The strategy is neutral. You do not care what direction the stock moves as long as the move is big enough to make your investment profitable.) Gold ETF - GLD - close: 91.61 change: -0.74 stop: n/a The U.S. dollar delivered another bounce and gold prices edged lower. Tomorrow is the last day for June options. It looks like our strangle will expire worthless. I am not suggesting new positions at this time. The options we suggested were the June $95 calls (GLD-FQ) and the June $80.00 puts (GLD-RB). Our estimated cost was $1.95. We want to sell if either option hits $1.95 (breakeven) or higher.
 |
