1/26 Watchlist

The blue chip stocks (SPY) have risen to the top of Monday's trading range, and then pulled back. Today's high so far: $110.47. Monday's high: $110.41.

This is not progress.

The Treasury long bonds (TLT) are within the 5 cent difference between the high and low on Monday. Also, barely moving, despite a higher opening this morning from which the price dropped. . . .

The fear index (VIX) is trading down nearly 11 percent from today's opening price. The other indicators are all more or less within their ranges of the last few days, as is the euro/dollar (EUR/USD) currency pair. Only the dollar/yen (USD/JPY) pair is on the move, with a slight decline of 1/10 of a percent. Among my holdings, my PALM covered call position is down a bit and still unprofitable. My CVS and ERTS iron condors remain in the range of profitability. No new pps signals in any of those.

Here is is what's interesting among high-volume . . .

. . . exchange-traded funds:

•  EEM, which tracks emerging markets abroad, has gapped down for the second time in three days and is trading well below the 20-day and 50-day moving averages. It has been in pps bear mode since Jan. 12.
  
• Otherwise, no signals except for UNG, which has switched into bear mode. However, it's the seventh pps reversal since Christmas Eve, so I don't give it much credence.

. . . corporate shares:

• AAPL gapped up a bit on earnings, but interestingly there was no new pps signal, it remains in bear mode for the third day, the macd is trading well below the zero line, the stochastic has just bounced off the 20-line, and the price remains below the 20-day moving average (although it has moved above the 50-day moving average). I'm sort of underwhelmed.
• BJS rose to resistance with a pps bull signal. The signals wasn't confirmed by the macd or stochastic. The chart is a bit ambiguous as to the current trend. All three moving averages (20-day, 50-day, 200-day) that I follow are moving upward, but the larger price trend since October last can be called sideways. It all depends upon the timeframe (as does so much in trend analysis).
• JCI showed a pps bull signal on Monday after earnings and then pulled back again today. The trend is up since last March, the macd is above zero line and the stochastic is heading toward the 80-line (although it has a ways to go). A possible directional trade, although the price is near an area of resistance set in 2008. I'm a bit nervous these days about pure directional plays (bull put spreads, bear call spreads) and am tending more toward iron condors and covered calls. The price of nearly $30 a share is a bit too rich for my covered call trade sizing rules, but that certainly doesn't apply universally.

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Topics:
S&P 500, SPDR, Spiders, Treasury bonds, high-yield corporate junk bonds, gold, precious metals, oil, petroleum, CVS, pharmacies, drugs, Electronic Arts games, Palm smartphone Pixi Pri, Apple iPod Macintosh iPhone iPad tablet, BJ Services petroleum oil, emerging markets, Johnson Controls automotive auto cars trucks, natural gas.