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.