IBM Corp

IBM – IBM Corp. (Last:153.50)

– Posted in: Current Touts Free

Big Blue's impressive leap on Wednesday recalls the scene in The Natural where Roy Hobbs, putting a spectacular end to deep and prolonged batting slump, literally knocks the cover off the ball to give the Knights a walk-off victory. In IBM's case, the stock jumped $15, to an intraday high at 161.23, on news that it had beaten estimates by a whopping two cents per share. More important was that the company foresees earnings growth following a five-year slog of declining sales. From a technical standpoint, the gap above the green line (click on inset) all but guarantees more upside to at least 172.08, the midpoint Hidden Pivot of a large, bullish pattern with the potential to get the stock to 205.02. First things first, though.  The stock should be traded with a bullish bias until such time as it hits 172.08. If it pulls back to the green line in a way that meets our criteria for a 'mechanical' trade, I'll signal it in the chat room and via an intraday alert.  Be sure to check "Email Notifications" on your account page if you want to receive these timely guidances. ________ UPDATE (Oct 25, 8:38 p.m. EDT): DaBoyz are doing their best to shake down the stock, but that hasn't made the 172.08 rally target noted above look any less compelling as a minimum upside objective.

IDAH – Idaho North Resources (Last:0.1600)

– Posted in: Current Touts Free Rick's Picks

Idaho North [OTC symbol: IDAH] offers investors a potentially lucrative synergy between two very successful entrepreneurs.  CEO Mark Fralich started out as a reporter with the Associated Press News Service but went on to co-found Spoval Fiber Optics before moving into the exploration business with Mines Management, Consolidated Goldfields Corp. and some other natural resource companies. Like most executives in the exploration business, he is an aggressive risk-taker. But he is also an astute bettor, perhaps never moreso than in his choice of Thomas Callicrate to head up his technical team. Callicrate is bottled lightning, a geologist who may know more about ore deposits in Nevada than anyone else in the world. I counted no fewer than 250 file cabinets in the barn-size work buildings that surround Callicrate's spectacular home in Carson City. He seems to have committed every geological map in those cabinets to memory, and he can tell you exactly where each and every rock came from in the massive stone fireplace that dominates his living room and in his beautifully landscaped gardens.  The fact that he chose to affiliate with IDAH attests to his confidence in Fralich's ability to exploit to-the-max whatever ore deposits the company is able to find. From a technical standpoint, the company's shares have not traded for long enough to offer a sound basis for prediction. The stock has fluctuated between 0.08 and 0.24 since being OTC-listed in November 2013. That said, it would be no worse than an even bet to hit 0.3000 a share, nearly double its current price, if it can push past the red line at 0.2150. That's a Hidden Pivot midpoint resistance, and it will remain valid as a minimum upside target for the near term unless the stock falls below 0.1300 first. For news concerning two separate

IBM – IBM Corp. (Last:195.03)

– Posted in: Current Touts Rick's Picks

The nearest Hidden Pivot support, a midpoint pivot at 192.10, is a logical place to try bottom-fishing, especially since other traders will have only vague expectations of an upturn from somewhere above the structural support (see inset) at 191.59.  Accordingly, on the 5-minute chart, camouflageurs should start looking for an attractive boarding if and when the downtrend has reached 192.28. If you fill, please let me know in the chat room so that I can furnish a tracking position for you further guidance Please note that an easy breach of the pivot would imply more slippage to as low as 183.26, its d sibling. _______ UPDATE (July 23, 5:25 p.m. EDT): The last feint lower bottomed at 193.24, denying us a boarding opportunity. For now, we'll put this stock aside.  The fact that Big Blue is having such difficulty correcting to a midpoint pivot is bullish going forward.

IBM – IBM Corp. (Last:198.00)

– Posted in: Current Touts Free Rick's Picks

With Big Blue's bad earnings news out of the way, DaBoyz are wasting no time getting back to business-as-usual. The bull trap they sprang on yesterday's gap-up opening may seem counterintuitive, but it'll set the stage for more accumulation in the weeks ahead as dismal earnings headlines run their course. Meanwhile, the stock ended the day on a buy signal, but Hidden Pivots may prove less useful than the trendline (see inset) in determining how much more mileage is left for this short-squeeze spurt.

IBM – IBM Corp. (Last:206.16)

– Posted in: Current Touts Free Rick's Picks

If IBM heads south over the next week, the 196.54 midpoint pivot shown could prove to be not only a good place for us to bottom-fish aggressively, but to gauge whether the bull-market high at 215.90 record in mid-March is likely to be an important one.  There is much to like about the corrective pattern, and that is why we should trust price action at 'p' to tell us something of value.

IBM – IBM Corp. (Last:207.52)

– Posted in: Current Touts Free Rick's Picks

Will the fifth time be the charm?  IBM has been lunging for the 196.75 'external' peak shown in the chart since Thanksgiving, so far without success.  Yesterday's hysterical buying fell shy by 73 cents as well, but perhaps bulls are determined to remedy that today?  If so, a pullback from just above the peak would be a camouflageur's dream -- not to mention, bullish for the broad averages because of Big Blue's bellwether status. ______ UPDATE (9:59 a.m. EST):  No subtle camouflage opportunities today, folks, since this morning's memorably vicious short squeeze has goosed the Beemer $12 to a so far high of 208.58. The move is bullishly impulsive on the daily chart, but suspiciously, it has failed as yet to vault October 16's 211.00 high.

IBM – IBM Corp. (Last:193.50)

– Posted in: Current Touts Free Rick's Picks

Big Blue has gotten a new lease on life, what with seasonality ratcheted up to the max just as oversold indicators were screaming for mercy. Now the stock is an odds-on bet to hit a minimum 192.38 once it has dispatched the 190.60 midpoint pivot of the pattern shown. The rally would have to vault the November 13 high at  190.88 to refresh the impulsiveness of the intraday charts, but you can use the 190.60 midpoint as a 'synthetic external' to create a usable camo entry price.  ______ UPDATE (November 25, 11:23 p.m. EST):  The stock blasted past 192.38 on Friday, headed for an eventual test of supply near 196 that was deposited earlier this month.

IBM – IBM Corp. (Last:185.51)

– Posted in: Current Touts Rick's Picks

What I didn't mention about IBM in today's commentary is that if the stock does fall to the 176.77 target or perhaps even slightly lower, it will do some very heavy technical damage to the weekly chart. Pivoteers may have noticed that that would refresh the chart's bearish impulsiveness by taking out at least two important 'external' lows.  At that point, evidence in this bellwether stock of the gestation of a larger bear market would be overwhelming -- not to mention, a dark cloud over the holiday shopping season.  Camouflageurs should look to short the move on a rally back up to 187.38, the p of the pattern.

IBM – IBM Corp. (Last:200.63)

– Posted in: Current Touts Rick's Picks

It's time to give up on getting short at 215.19, a once-promising Hidden Pivot target that will now be a long time in coming, if ever it does come, following yesterdays savaging of Big Blue in particular among the tech stocks. The move was impulsively bearish on the daily chart, meaning bulls will have to wait for a 'p' midpoint to form on the C-D follow-through leg down if they are going to try and save the day/week/month/year.

IBM – IBM Corp. (Last:210.56)

– Posted in: Current Touts Rick's Picks

Big Blue is closing on a long-term target at 215.19 that is clear and compelling (see inset). Let's try to leverage this Hidden Pivot target by buying four January 190 puts if and when the stock gets within 20 cents of 215.19. (I estimate that the options will be trading for around 1.55-1.65, but the price could rise if a strong rally forces put volatility higher.)  This order is good for the remainder of the week.  _______ UPDATE (8:37 p.m. EDT ):  An inside day has left my strategy unchanged.  _______ UPDATE (October 11, 2:59 a.m. EDT): It'll be quite bearish if IBM generates a downtrending impulse leg on the daily chart after having fallen $3.40 shy of our 215.19 target.  A print beneath the September 26 external low at 203.90 low (see inset) would do it.