::: Today’s Market Action :::
Today, the market withstood another test – political uncertainty.. and it passed with flying colors, ultimately closing near the highs of the day with volume significantly above average. Just the kind of action bull markets are made of. Without gettting into a political discussion here, suffice it to say the market appears almost relieved that the D’s and R’s will work together and that there will be more "checks and balances" in our government.. sort of. Sounds good on paper doesn’t it? With the Virgina vote outcome hanging overhead as well as the direction of this new government, I’d expect some volatility within the upward channel of the major indices from here. Perhaps once the uncertainty is lifted, this market can stage a big holiday run.
Update: Dems get the Senate, lifting uncertainty there & CSCO reports big numbers after the bell. Should be enough to run up in the morning, but as always it’s all about the close. We’ll see.
::: Major Indices Performance – The Numbers :::
(Note: volume averages are based on the average over the past 50 days)
Data as of 4:00EST – End of Day Nov 8th 2006
* Accumulation (institutional buying) today in the S&P and Dow
Nasdaq: UP .38% today with volume 6% ABOVE average
Nasdaq .16%, volume 26% ABOVE average
Dow ETF (DIA): UP .23%, volume 26% ABOVE the average
S&P ETF (SPY): UP .22%, volume 31% ABOVE the average
Russell Small Cap ETF (IWM): UP .51%, volume 13% ABOVE the average
::: SelflInvestors Leading Stocks :::
The Self Investors Leading Stocks Index is comprised of stocks in the Breakout Tracker, which is a database of the fastest growing companies near a breakout or having already broken out of a base. Leading stocks did fare quite well again today. That’s 4 straight days of positive action in leading stocks after getting somewhat pummeled in the previous 4 days.
Summary:
* Advancers led Decliners 240 to 146.
* Advancers were up an average of 1.47% today, with volume about average
* Decliners were down an average of 1.54% with volume 36% ABOVE average
* The total SI Leading Stocks Index was UP .33% today with volume 14% ABOVE the average
* Where’s the Money Flowing *
Many investing websites provide leading industries based on price performance alone. However, without accompanying volume levels, this can sometimes be misleading. The only way that I know of to gauge industry/sector strength WITH volume levels is through the analysis of ETF’s. A couple years ago this was not possible, but as more traders/investors use ETF’s they become a much better tool for guaging the health of the market and seeing where the money is flowing (or not flowing). Using the proprietary SelfInvestors Demand Indicator score which measures price and volume movements, I’m able to quickly see which sectors/industries are seeing the greatest inflows of cash. For a detailed look at how I go about gauging sector/industry strength please see the following post: http://investing.typepad.com/tradingstocks/2006/09/wheres_the_big_.html
* Current Leading Sectors/Industries (over last 30 trading days):
Internet, Retail, Technology, Consumer Services, Biotech
* Current Lagging Sectors/Industries (over last 30 trading days):
Semiconductors & Broadband
* Today’s Market Moving Industries/Sectors (UP):
Energy was the clear winner today, followed by Technology
* Today’s Market Moving Industries/Sectors (DOWN):
Healthcare and Pharma, known targets of Democrats were hit the hardest today. Gold also fell with volume.
** Stocks **
The stocks section will be an area where I highlight one stock selected from a group of stocks moving up with volume well above average and most likely breaking out of a base or consolidation. Today’s stock is Las Vegas Sands (LVS), the casino operator expecting big things out of "gambling island" Macao. The stock broke out of a base today to a new all time high.
ABOUT: Las Vegas Sands Corp. owns and operates The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino (The Venetian) and The Sands Expo and Convention Center (The Sands Expo Center) in Las Vegas, Nevada, and The Sands Macao Casino (The Sands Macao) in Macao, China. The Company is also in the process of developing additional casino resorts and properties in Las Vegas and Macao, including The Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino (The Palazzo), which will be adjacent to and connected with The Venetian, The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel Casino and other casino resort properties on the Cotai Strip in Macao.
FUNDAMENTALS: A company with impressive growth over the last few years, but should be noted that earnings and sales growth have been decelerating over the past several quarters. Margins & ROE remain outstanding and management owns a large portion of the company. Overall, a company with very good fundamentals.
TECHNICAL: Now sitting at all time highs following today’s break out move. The stock hasn’t carved out a superior looking chart and I’d like to see buy volume a bit stronger in the right side, but like the fundamentals, the technicals overall are quite good.
SELFINVESTORS RATING: With a total score of 52/60 (27/30 for fundamentals, 25/30 for technical), LVS is a top SelfInvestors breakout stock and my #1 in the Casinos space.