Market holding support = positive sign
Another sideways week as the market retested key support levels (~1260 on the S&P 500 and ~11,300 on the DJIA), keeping intact the intermediate-term uptrend that’s been in place since mid July. Last week’s retest appeared to rattle the nerves of market participants (a positive sign from a contrarian perspective), so a move higher from here remains a likely possibility. This picture would change if the market were to drop below these support levels.
New positions
No new positions, but I did close out my long position (and covered calls) in Whole Foods Market (WFMI) at a loss. The company recently announced poor third-quarter results, lowered its guidance, and suspended its dividend. As a result it is of no further interest to me.
Watchlists
The following stocks showed up on this week’s “upside strength” scans of stocks of interest, suggesting that they may be headed higher and may represent good buying opportunities on weakness: Energy East Corp. (EAS), Limited Brands (LTD), Northwest Natural Gas (NWN), OGE Energy (OGE), and Southern Co. (SO).
The following stocks showed up on this week’s “oversold” scans of beaten-down stocks of interest, suggesting that likely further near-term weakness may represent a buying opportunity: Aegon (AEG), CRH Plc (CRH), Great Plains Energy (GXP), ING Groep (ING), ProLogis (PLD), Royal Philips Electronics (PHG), and Tesoro (TSO).
