|
The contents on this page are a small sample of StockTradersHQ's member resources (FREE Trial!)
1.
Our staff of professional technical traders analyze 1,000's of potential stocks every day to provide you with a list of stock picks with the greatest potential for explosive gains.
2. These stockpicks are traded with our real-time portfolio. Email alerts are sent for every entry and exit. Through the member-only website, you will have our support every step of the way.
3. Our subscription service provides all the resources, stock picks and tools an investor needs to make very profitable, consistent trades while maximizing gains and minimizing losses.
SEE OUR TOP PICKS FOR 2006...
|
|
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Market Recap
Ho, Ho, …No! The market says “bah, hum bug” to any rally in the closing days of 2005. The Dow was crushed with a triple digit loss to lead off the week, crippling the thought of an end of year rally in the last few trading days of the year. The Dow lost 107 points, the Nasdaq also took a beating today with a loss of 22 points, and the S&P was down 12 points. We thought volume would be light this week and if today is any indication, it will be a very, very light volume week for sure. Today's volume was anemic, so if you are disappointed in today's selling, the bright side is that there was no heavy volume to the downside. We do not mind down days on light volume. The real test will come next week when volume returns.
Tax Loss Selling
We are in the last week of the year, and it is the last opportunity to sell stocks that have posted losses for the year. The rest of the week will be the last opportunity to offload those losses for the tax write off. If you have stocks in your portfolio that you would rather not hold into 2006, this week would be a good time to sell them and move on. Just be sure you do not purchase those same stocks within the next 31 days. Otherwise, you will be caught in the wash sale rule and you will not get your tax benefit.
Everyone should be positioning themselves for the New Year. If you are holding some dogs in your portfolio, this is the time to consider selling them and taking the tax loss. Tax loss selling is not a bad strategy; it helps offset your winners so that you will not have to pay as much capital gains tax while at the same time, cleans out those underperforming stocks that are slowing down the performance of your portfolio. The STHQ portfolio has a couple of dogs that we have to sell by the end of the week, but if you are like us and only have a couple of these losers out of a whole year's worth of trading, it should not hinder your overall performance much at all. We will end the year out performing the market by at least 25% even when those losers are gone.
Window Dressing
As we mentioned this morning, fund managers will also be selling this week, but the volume will be light. Most traders are on vacation or simply taking it easy for the rest of the week. Window dressing in the leading stocks may also play a part in this week's trading. Fund managers will want to send out end of year statements showing they held some of the biggest winners in 2005. It is called “window dressing” because the funds did not actually benefit from buying the stocks at lower prices and these stocks did not help in the performance of the fund. This window dressing is just to give illusion that they were in the leading stocks this year. By dressing up the fund to show all sorts of winning stocks, they hope to draw in new investors. Oh the games they play never end.
Inverted Yield Curve
The yield curve inverted today. This does not bode well for stocks in 2006 if it stays inverted or flat. We have talked about the possibility of this happening before. Historically, it has resulted in an economic recession the majority of the time. A recession will no doubt turn into another bear market and that will hurt a lot of investors, but it is not all bad news. For our purposes, it makes no difference which way the market goes because if a recession does occur and the market collapses, we will ride it down on the short side. We are not hoping for a recession or a bear market but as far as profiting in the market in 2006, it would be much easier to trade if there is a trend whether up or down as opposed to a market that is full of indecision like 2005. We have seen the results of a flat, trendless market in 2005 and we know first hand how difficult to profit in that type of market environment. We do not want another flat market in 2006, so as far as our trading is concerned, we would rather have a trend and if it is down because of a recession, so be it. We have to take what the market gives.
The CNBC Factor
All we heard today on CNBC was the fact that the yield curve inverted. Normally, the small investor would never hear about this fact. It used to be something that only professionals would watch for, and when the yield flattened it was their signal to short stocks leaving the average investor hanging with their long positions. The fact the CNBC is now blurting this long held secret out for everyone to know, it may not even matter anymore. In other words, the Bull still may run even though the yield curve is flat. It shouldn't but when everyone knows something, that something rarely works again. That is the good news, it probably will not work the way it should anymore because the average investor now knows about it.
Stockcharts Listing
Please vote for us once a day at Stockcharts.com.
http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/Favorites.CServ...
Thank-you for voting!
STHQ Chart Index
If you go to the chart index in the left side menu, you can review and study charts we have annotated for each stock listed in the past.
Earnings Calendar
We have added the earnings link for each stock on the bulletin. To access the link for earnings you can either use this link below or click the link on the bulletin for the corresponding ticker. Click the online bulletin in the left side menu for access to the earning calendar for each stock listed. It is not recommended to hold a position through earnings. You can always buy the stock back after the dust settles.
http://www.earnings.com
For New Members:
Please take a moment to read the "How To Use The Bulletin" link at the bottom of the Bulletin page on the website. It is critical you understand how to use this trading tool before trying to trade the stocks mentioned. The effectiveness of your trades will diminish if you do not completely understand how the information is presented.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
