Member-only content. Please Login or get a free trial of Rick's Picks to view.
COMMENTARY for Saturday
TODAY'S ACTION for Friday
Rick's Picks for Friday
After Thursday’s close, on word of punk earnings from Microsoft and American Express, DaBoyz took the futures down 4 points and leveled off. This implies they think the Dow will open down by about 30 points Friday morning, although expectations could easily darken as the evening wears on. If so, I’ll recommend bottom-fishing at 955.75, stop 955.00, provided 966.00 has not been exceeded to the upside first. _______ UPDATE (11:22 a.m.): The futures went no lower than 962.50 on the opening, negating our bottom-fishing strategy but also hinting that, before too long, bears could once again be on the ropes. I’m somewhat surprised the 955.75 bid didn’t fill. On the other hand, the fact that AXP shorts are getting hung out to dry — the stock is off a mere 20 cents at the moment after opening a dollar lower on a gap — is no surprise at all. Microsoft is having a bit more trouble, however, and has not yet rallied into the $2 gap on which it opened.
Yesterday’s bounce came from a too-obvious place — just 0.09 points above the key low at 78.33 recorded in early June — suggesting that traders were not exactly tripping over each other to make sure they got a piece of a potentially important low. We’ll monitor the dollar’s vital signs closely in any case, since a thrust today or Monday exceeding 79.78 (see chart) could significantly improve the outlook for the near term.
TLT breached a midpoint support at 90.80 by 0.23 points yesterday, hinting of more weakness to come. If so, we can use the support’s ‘D’ sibling at 87.90 as a minimum downside target next week. That would imply the long bond is headed for a nasty spill.
The Gold Bugs Index is stealing up on an important midpoint resistance at 368.43 that is tied to a 433.64 target. The so-far high has been 366.91, but let’s stipulate that HUI close for two consecutive weekly bars above the midpoint before we look for ways to step up the buying in this vehicle.
Member-only content. Please Login or get a free trial of Rick's Picks to view.
SIDE BETS for Friday
A ‘hidden” support at 1566.00 can serve as a minimum downside objective for Thursday night, but if it’s breached, brace for additional weakness to as low as 1554.00. That number can be bottom-fished with a stop-loss as tight as 1.00 point.
Minimum upside expectation for the next 4-7 days: 2.6075. That’s a Hidden Pivot resistance that comes off the weekly chart, so it could prove to be a rally-stopper.
A Hidden Pivot target at 9168 offers an enticing opportunity to get short today with a stop-loss as tight as 5-7 points.
Hidden Pivot Webinar & Tutorials
The next Hidden Pivot Webinar will be held on 6/30 - 7/1. This two-day event is designed to teach you the risk-averse trading strategies Rick has taken to his seminars around the world. Once you have learned his proprietary secrets, you will approach trading and investing with enough confidence to make your own decisions without having to rely on the advice of others. For more information, or to register, click here.
Rick’s Picks Weekend Edition
by Stephanie DeMaria on July 25, 2009 12:01 am GMT
Bureaucracy, Taxpayers Headed for a Collision
The headline atop the front page of this morning’s Boulder Camera suggests a city struggling diligently to balance its budget: “Work-Week Options Eyed”. Reading this, one might infer that the city is contemplating unpaid furloughs or some other means of reducing payroll outlays, right? That would be entirely appropriate, given that Boulder faces a $5 million budget shortfall next year. But that is not what the story is about. In the first place, it is not the city that is “eying” changes in the work week, but the workers themselves. And what they have in mind is nothing so onerous as unpaid work days…
Read the Rest of the Article | Comments
***
Why Gold Should Anchor a Portfolio
(Following is the fourth in a series of articles on gold by Chuck Cohen, a financial consultant and lifelong resident of New York City.)
Recently I discussed some of the reasons investors often fall short. Today I want to help bring clarity to your investment goals and also explain why gold should hold a central place in your portfolio. If you succeed in these two areas, you’ll not only prosper, you will also be prepared for the incredible changes and shocks that I believe are coming.
As Richard Russell always stresses, succeeding in the stock market is a lifetime learning process. At age 84 or so, he is still working diligently at it. As we have all learned, making money in the stock market is not as easy as the hucksters would have us believe. Success comes not just from market knowledge but from learning from our mistakes. And it is…
Read the Rest of the Article | Comments
***
Fed Throttles Back, Having Achieved Little
The stock market carved out yet another bowl-shaped formation on the intraday charts yesterday, making everyone who bought the dip a lucky winner. Stocks have swooned in four of the last five sessions and closed higher for six consecutive days, but yesterday’s swoon was a little more dramatic than the others. Some attributed the selloff portion of the day to mounting concerns that President Obama’s tax proposals will soak not only the “rich,” but the middle class. Whatever misgivings investors may have had about this were…
Read the Rest of the Article | Comments
***
Even in Boulder, the News Is Lurid
With the dog days of summer fast approaching, we wondered whether every small-town newspaper in America is entertaining readers these days with the same sort of lurid stories that fill the Boulder (Colorado) Camera. Boulder is not exactly the kind of place where you’d expect to find luridness in newsworthy quantities. Half the people who live here are trust-fund babies who, one would surmise, spend their days hiking the local trails, writing…
Read the Rest of the Article | Comments
***
News Unlikely to Deter Bulls
Although two big companies, Microsoft and American Express, reported atrocious earnings yesterday after the close, we shouldn’t expect the news to slow the relentless rise of stocks for long. Investors were obviously blithely unconcerned about earnings on Thursday, showing their eagerness to buy stocks by pushing the broad averages to their most impressive gains in nearly two weeks. The S&Ps settled at 976, up 2.3% on the day, and looked like an even-money bet to achieve their biggest back-to-back weekly gain since…
Read the Rest of the Article | Comments
***