The more things change…
If you thought the market seemed choppy lately, you’re right. During the last nine days the major indices have alternated between up and down days, leaving the S&P 500 within five points of where it began. To me this continues to suggest a consolidation of the current intermediate trend – which, according to my weekly trend analysis, remains down.
There are individual exceptions though. For example, among the blue chips that I track, Abbott Labs (ABT), Boeing (BA), Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY), General Electric (GE), Hershey Foods (HSY), and United Technologies (UTX) are currently solidly green. Among tech stocks, Intel (INTC) and Texas Instruments (TXN) are showing more strength than most.
Stocks I’ve recently added to my watchlist include Baxter International (BAX), Chubb Corp (CB), Shell Transport & Trading (SC), and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). The latter declined sharply this past week after an earnings disappointment, but remains solidly in a long-term uptrend. I’ll probably look to sell puts on it on any further decline.
In the meantime, I’m continuing to keep some powder dry in the event of a further market decline.
