The Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) reported better than expected earnings which peaked the interest of the The Kirk Report and Trader Mike - which then peaked my interest. I took a look at its daily chart, which didn't look too great and so broadened it out to a monthly chart. 2006 was not a great year for the stock and it may yet still be a little early to get busy with it. The 50-month MA proved to be a step too far on the resistance front and should it stumble again at this average I would look for further weakness. I don't think it would make it back to $11-12 (the measured move target - although the chart has cut off the tail end of that projection), but the congestion band between $15.50 and $20.00 would be an interesting accumulation zone. Buyer beware. CAKE

My December forays have resulted in a net loss following the exit of TWW and BMI . The former play closed for a -$179 loss on a 1,000 share lot. BMI exited for a -$563 loss on a 300 share lot. Combined this results in a net -$262 loss for my December forays. This is an all cash portfolio once more. To rub salt in my wounds, BMI is up almost 8% today and TWW by nearly 4%. Shucks.... Collective2

Modest gains in the markets disguised some breezy buying in the market. The Trade Ideas scan took less than 1 minute to come up with 8 stocks, well ahead of anything last week, or throughout December. A broad swathe of stocks were featured. Although only one, Big Lots ( BIG ), was able to break the 20 appearance barrier at 33 hits . Amvescap ( AVZ ) made a bullish cross of its 50-day MA by the 20-day MA inside the last 2-months. This same stock also pushed a bearish cross of these averages over the same time period - so will the most recent cross signal a return to the up trend? The remaining stocks all traded their 20-day MAs above their 50-day MAs. Trend traders will find the most love with Big Lots ( BIG ) as it shows a perfectly 45 degree angled advance. Cup-and-handle buyers should look to Knoll ( KNL ) and Amvescap ( AVZ ). Knoll ( KNL ) has some solid support at $21 with resistance around $22.50. A break of the latter price should see a move to $27.50. Stops can go on a loss of

Well, if Thursday belonged to the Bulls and Friday to the Bears, it was Wednesday which took the plaudits for the week. Wednesday’s huge intraday range failed to break by the weeks close, bar in the Russell 2000 , so it is hard to draw any conclusions. The Russell 2000 is in trouble, losing the 50-day MA and near term support, to kick off a new downtrend. In terms of relative strength, Small caps now lag Tech and Large caps - a more bearish alignment { Tech Indices > Large caps > Small caps }. It is looking more likely we will see a test of the 200-day MA for the Russell 2000 . The NASDAQ 100 , the other struggling index, was able to hold the 20-day and 50-day MAs. The NASDAQ also holds these averages. The Dow closed on the 20-day MA and even though the S&P gave up support at this average and confirmed a break of its rising channel it still has the 50-day MA to look forward too. Supporting tech market internals [ $NASI , $NAA50 and $BPCOMPQ ] haven't i

For a shortened week it was certainly an active one. What has been shaken up since the new year rolled in? Joe Reed included a new chart showing the Energy Sector Bullish percents; a clear sell signal is indicated. Although his Oil Services weekly chart has reason for a bounce: Of the indices he lead with the breakdown in the S&P, noting the strong bearish divergence in slow stochastics: His monthly chart of the S&P is also showing a bearish ('sell') crossover in Full stochastics: Mitchell Meana is still looking for a wave 4 bottom in the Nasdaq 100 - although the wide range spinning top from Wednesday looks to mark the wave 4 lows based on the upcoming MACD trigger 'buy' signal: His Qs chart does show a wave 4 in place and he has maintained his wave 5 target of $46.29: His Dow chart shows an A-B-C correction with a target for the 'C' leg of 12,325: And he is calling a truncated 5th wave for the Russell 2000 iShares: Ted Burge continues to call it as

Markets are taking a spill on the jobs data, hitting small cap stocks the hardest. The Trade Ideas scan was also slow to pull up stock ideas; 8 picks covered a time span of 1 hour . At least on the frequency front there was a clear leader in Tim Horton's Inc ( THI ) at 41 appearances over the day. The stock is recovering from an earlier break from a rising wedge. Expect some weakness at $30.89 resistance (it sits 4 cents shy of that target at this time), but it should be good for a move to $36. Note new MACD trigger 'buy' signal. The stock was up following earnings . Tim Hortons, Inc. engages in the operation, development, and franchising of quick-service restaurants. As of October 2, 2005, it operated 2,801 restaurants in Canada and the United States. If you would like to try a full version of the Trade-Ideas software, follow this link for a free 7-day trial. Trade Ideas

The wide range bars from yesterday disguised the true extent of Thursday's buying. It was another day of heavy volume (but below that of yesterday). The Trade Ideas scan was a little slow for the day that it was with 8 picks covering a time span of 16 minutes . Clearing the 20 appearance barrier were Mastercard ( MA ) and Kroger ( KR ) at 27 and 24 appearances a piece. Mastercard ( MA ) has experienced a lovely uptrend since its IPO. The stock looks to be in the process of shaping a bullish ascending triangle with an upcoming 'buy' trigger in the MACD. Volume could have been a little better - but this should increase on a push above $105.61. Sell loss of triangle support. Thursday ranked as a triple top breakout on the point-n-figure chart with a price target of $109. MasterCard Incorporated operates as a payment solutions company. It provides transaction processing and related services to customers principally in support of their credit, deposit access, electronic cash a