Hardly a surprise to see the markets get hit after weeks of mini-gains. The degree of losses were a little startling but given this was the first day after the holiday it is a little early to say if today's actions sets the tone for the rest of the year. The NASDAQ was hit with a 'sell' trigger in the MACD; confirming a new bearish divergence in this indicator, but is still able to hold the June-July bullish divergence (at least for now). In addition, the 2.2% loss on the day failed to break the bullish rising channel or the 20-day MA. There is a good chance of seeing support buying over the next few days. The NASDAQ 100 was a little stronger in that there was no MACD 'sell' trigger and at least for now no bearish divergence in this indicator. The semiconductor index fared the best (but was by far the weakest of the tech indices) as it maintained its break of the 200-day MA while holding reasonable technical strength. The Dow and S&P were less fortunate as

No guess as to who won today's battle. Greater damage was done to the large cap indices with downside breaks of 5-month rising channels; tech averages held their rising channels as did small caps (Russell 2000) - the latter index closing right on channel support in a manner similar to what it did at the start of November (and led to a 3-week rally). Unfortunately, the sting in the tail came in the level of buying; unlike previous Trade Ideas scans during down days when the degree of buying usually fell inside 30 minutes , today's buying covered a time span of 6 hours - a considerable time shift (but potentially contrarian bullish). The 20 year treasury bond ( TLT ) was the only pick featuring over the last 3 hours of trading; it pushed 38 appearances . The remaining picks all ran under 20 appearances . Six picks all pushed recent bullish crosses of their 20-day and 50-day MAs: Laboratory America ( LH ), Plains Exploration ( PXP ), Range ( RRC ), Cooper Cameron ( CAM ), Noble

Next post will be next week. Just to pass the time. Dumbness at its dumbest (You have been warned). Thanksgiving

The day before Thanksgiving was never going to throw up a big surprise. The Trade Ideas scan was similarly listless; 8 picks covered a time span of 6 minutes - not bad considering. In terms of frequency, only one stock made the cut at 20 appearances or more: CIT Group ( CIT ). CIT Group is pushing out of a small bull flag/handle; part of a 5-month base. I have dervied a projected target based on the depth of this base. The point-n-figure chart target of $40.00 is looking unlikely given the nature of the July reversal. The current pattern has a strong resemblance to the reversal made in the first part of 2005; particularly at the time of the absolute bottom. Watch for an upcoming "Golden Cross" between the 50-day and 200-day MAs. The stock pays a 1.5% yield. CIT Group, Inc. operates as a global commercial and consumer finance company. The company provides financing solutions, leasing products, and advisory services to clients across approximately 30 industries worldwide. It

Another good week all round for the various stock picks; top performance was from my newsletter picks with an average return on the week of +3.03% per trade. Tied were my Trade Ideas scan picks and Jim Cramer's picks at +1.35% a piece, slightly below the market returns of +1.62% . The best individual performance was from Jim's pick NYX, up +10.40% on the week; but the worst performer was also one of his: SBUX, down -5.06% . If you would like to try a full version of the Trade-Ideas software, follow this link for a free 7-day trial. If you would like to subscribe to my newsletter you can do so by ordering monthly, 6-month, or annual membership from the 'Quantity' box in the right-hand-margin. If you would like to see Jim's picks you can tune into his TV show, or get them from Madd Money or Mad Money Recap . SPONSORED BY:-

A good week all round for the various stock picks. Top of the pile was my Trade Ideas scan with a +3.19% return on the week. The worst performance went to Jim Cramer's Lightning round picks, but even his picks returned a positive +0.52% . The strongest pick was from my newsletter, ARRY , it closed the week up +9.72% . Weakest was Jims, QGEN , ending the week down -7.72% . As long as the rally continues expect the strong performance of individual stocks to continue. If you would like to try a full version of the Trade-Ideas software, follow this link for a free 7-day trial. If you would like to subscribe to my newsletter you can do so by ordering monthly, 6-month, or annual membership from the 'Quantity' box in the right-hand-margin. If you would like to see Jim's picks you can tune into his TV show, or get them from Madd Money or Mad Money Recap . SPONSORED BY:-

This position was exited on what looks to have been an upcoming dividend adjustment. The new chart for the ex-dividend price does not show a "stop hit" as support wasn't violated. However, the position was exited by Collective2. Today's action was not unduly bearish - even though a 'sell' trigger was given in slow stochatics. Disappointed to see this one gone. The 600 share lot closed for a +$456 profit. Collective2