2/8 Watchlist

SPY, which tracks the S&P 500 index of large companies, has barely budged all day. The macd technical indicator remains in bear territory, and has spent the last three days without a clear direction.

The 20-day moving average has moved below the 50-day, a bearish sign, and both are trending downward. The money flow index (mfi) has dived below the 20-line, indicating an oversold condition. The slow stochastic, having pushed above it's 20-line, has reversed course and is heading down again.

All in all, not a happy time for stocks, if you're bullish at least. Neutral to bearish, let the good times roll!

No new macd signals on any of the indicators I follow, and little movement during the day. Here are the scans of high-volume . . . . . . exchange traded funds: No new macd signals, and nothing of interest here. . . . corporate shares: CSCO, macd bull signal as the stock trades at the high end of Friday's range, at around $23.75. Support at 22.35. Resistance at around $25, in congestion ranging down to $24.

The stock has been trending sideways since October. It would be a good direction-agnostic play, say an iron condor or even a covered call. Earnings happened on Feb. 3, so no shocks are likely through the March options expiration.

• HAS gaps on earnings up to a resistance level set in August 2008. Not a trade for me, but I note that neither the macd, nor the money flow index, nor the moving averages, nor Person's Proprietary Signal gave the slightest hint of the surprise ahead. The limits of technical indicators.
• ALTR whipsawing madly. This sideways wanderer could be a neutral play, say an iron condor, with the limits of maximum profit at expiration ranging from $20 or $21 up to $23. Earnings were released in late January.
• GILD, macd bear signal. Shares are trading around $46.30, which is already at near-term support. If the price breaks down, then the next support levels are $45 and $44. The trend has been sideways with wide swings for nearly a year.

A paucity of signals today. A famine, an insufficiency, a paltriness, poverty, meagerness. I mean, there ain't none to speak of.



 New to Private Trader? Check out the Reader's Guide.  New to private trading? Take a look at How to Become a Private Trader. 
Topics: S&P 500, SPDR, Spiders, Cisco Systems networking, Hasbro games toys, Altera semiconductors, Gilead Sciences pharmaceuticals drugs health.