Friday, October 19, 2012

GOOG – Google (Last:694.63)

– Posted in: Current Touts Rick's Picks

A good time to step aside and let Google fall -- to as low as 627.24 if the pattern shown (see inset) fails to retrace above 705.50. If not, its 666.37 midpoint support would logically become our minimum downside objective for the near term. Alternatively, the downdraft was so sharp that there are no good handholds for camouflageurs to leverage for buying purposes.  A jerry-rigged 'external' peak at 706.18 might serve, but this would be expert play for even the nimblest of traders.  _______ UPDATE (November 5, 12:24 a.m. EST):  I've updated the chart to show not only that Google has not exactly come roaring back from mid-October's devastating, one-day plunge, but that it would take an unpaused thrust exceeding the 706.70 'external' peak shown to hint of a resurgence by bulls.  Broadly speaking, this is not how stocks in bull markets are supposed to act.

ECZ12 – December Euro (Last:1.3075)

– Posted in: Current Touts Free Rick's Picks

What I've been calling a dead-cat bounce is looking less so by the day as buyers clamor for the "ultrasafe" paper of a supposedly resurgent Europe.  This is the stupidest trend we've seen in the financial sector in a while, but we'll have to let it run its course rather than gawk in disbelief that it could happen at all.  From a technical standpoint, the 1.3145 midpoint pivot of the pattern shown can serve as a minimum upside target for now.  Anything above it, however, would portend more upside to the 'D' sibling at 1.3476. Camouflageurs shouldn't let the perfect little impulse leg at the right-hand edge of this chart go to waste, since it promises a low-risk, picture-perfect entry opportunity on a chart of lesser degree.  Want to learn how to use the Hidden Pivot Method to reduce trading risks? Click here for information concerning the upcoming webinar on November 6-7 and a $50 discount.

Ignore the Smell of Blood at Your Peril

– Posted in: Commentary for the Week of March 8 Free

What kind of batter crowds the plate after a pitcher has aimed a fastball at his head?  “Batters” have been doing it routinely on Wall Street lately -- most recently yesterday, when they held the broad averages buoyant while Google shares were getting pasted for 80 points.  During this single-stock onslaught, the Dow Industrials were never down more than 50 points and closed off only slightly with GOOG still $53 in the hole. This wasn’t the first time bulls have leaned into the plate while “dusters” whizzed past their ears.  A day earlier, they pushed the blue chip average to a small gain while IBM was getting savaged on earnings that only somewhat exceeded analysts’ expectations.  Big Blue got schmeissed again yesterday along with Google, but the body blows that sent two corporate giants to the mat evidently weren't enough to unsettle investors. Invincible Buyers? If bulls have been acting lately like they’re invincible, perhaps it’s because they appear to have shrugged off Apple’s nasty plunge in the last month. At its recent lows near $624, the stock had shed 11% of its value – a very big hit for portfolio managers, since the company is the world’s largest by capitalization.  But so what? That seems to be the attitude on The Street, where the lotus-sniffing stewards of Other People’s Money have been curiously calm through it all.  With three absolutely crucial bellwethers falling from the sky, the Dow currently sits a mere hundred points from new recovery highs. It’s tempting to think DaBoyz are trying to fool widows and pensioners into believing things are hunky-dory while they distribute shares to the unwary by the trainload.  As we know, however, individual investors deserted the stock market years ago, leaving only sharks to feed on chum limitlessly supplied by the Federal