• PowerShares S&P SmallCap Utilities (PSCU)
• IQ US Real Estate Small Cap ETF (ROOF)
• PowerShares S&P SmallCap Health Care (PSCH)

Since health care stocks also made our emerging bull list, TEN pulled the sheets back to see which stocks are pushing PSCH higher. The following constituents managed to gain at least 2% on the day.

• AMN Healthcare Services Inc AMN (AHS)
• ArQule, Inc. (ARQL)
• Kensey Nash Corporation (KNSY)
• Cambrex Corporation (CBM)
• Centene Corporation (CNC)
• Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (SLXP)
• Omnicell, Inc. (OMCL)
• Almost Family Inc (AFAM)
• Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc (SVNT)
• Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (QCOR)
• ViroPharma Incorporated (VPHM)

TEN likes the stock charts for CNC, AFAM, SVNT, and maybe ARQL, but our favorite belongs to AHS.

The healthcare staffing and clinical workforce management solutions provider’s stock price recently blasted through its 50 day-moving-average. The upswing pulled AHS’s MACD line above the buy/sell zero line. We also like seeing its 12 and 26-day-moving-averages bullishly bypassing and accelerating away from the 50 day-benchmark.

All of these technical analysis buy signals are occurring with positive volume characteristics. For Top Equity, volume confirming price is essential, and a measure of commitment from buyers. We  look for engagement or wedding rings, not friendship bracelets when picking stocks. You should pay attention to it too.

If AMN can get above $5.50 (nearly a 10% gain from here), the stock has a clean shot to $6. If shareholders are fortunate enough to watch shares take out $6, AHS can start the process of closing a gap down from $8.50.

ETF X-Ray: Getting Healthy on Small-Caps is an article from:

Many times, the market can be like and old, wily, veteran baseball pitcher.  Like one of TEN’s favorites, Greg Maddox, just when you think a fastball is coming down the middle of the plate, you‘re double crossed with a changeup on the outside corner. Stttttriiiike 3 – grab some pine.

Instead of swinging wildly, Top Equity News will go back to the basics and let the market pick winners and losers for us. We’ll just follow along because the tape never – ever – lies.

Now that Ben Bernanke and Company have spoken, Top Equity reviewed the results of our daily screens to see if any new trends emerged. We saw two standouts: Gold and Real Estate.

Multiple stocks and ETFs from both sectors worked their way through the funnel to end up on TEN’s buy candidate list. They include:

Real Estate:
Dexion Daily Real Estate Bull 3 (DRN)
iShares Cohen & Steers Realty M (ICF)
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Est (IYR)
Realty Income Corporation (O)
SPDR DJ Wilshire REIT ETF (RWR)
ProShares Ultra Real Estate (URE)
Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ)

Gold:
Allied Nevada Gold Corp Allied (ANV)
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. Common S (AU)
Deutsche Bank AG DB Gold Double (DGP)
ProShares Ultra Gold (UGL)

Despite being outnumbered, Top Equity prefers the metal over bricks and mortar. Comparing charts, gold stocks seem to be in the initial phase of recovery from their recent weakness. Real Estate, however, looks to be more extended. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the sector relax a bit, maybe shakeout some week hands, and then resume climbing higher.

Stock Market Trends: Back to Basics, Follow the Tape! is an article from:

When the market turns sour, it is always the most difficult time for the average investor. The uncertainty of how much lower can it go paralyzes even the most savvy of market veterans.

Since most investors can only profit if the market and their investments go up, corrections can be a killer without a plan of action.

And that’s what we are going to discuss today, two ways we make the most of a red tape.

First and foremost, you MUST protect your downside. An old mentor of mine would say, “It’s better to be out of the market wishing you were in than in the market wishing you were out.”

Unfortunately, there isn’t a “right now is the time to get out” light that switches on at the exact moment. The next best is to know where support and resistance levels are for the stocks that you own.

In a down market, you might consider taking some profits or sell calls against your positions as your investments approach resistance levels. Typically, they are common reversal points.

Support levels are where stocks should stop heading south. If they should break through the floor, support usually becomes the new ceiling or resistance level.

Understand that Wall Street and the market makers know where these points on the charts are too. They WILL manipulate the stock price to attract buyers if they want to sell near resistance, and scare the hell out of you to sell near support if they want to buy. Place your stops accordingly with that in mind.

The next level up is to try to profit when prices fall. The easiest way is with inverse ETFs that go up when their corresponding index goes down. For example, ProShares Short S&P500’s (SH) objective is to make money when the popular index loses ground. For every 1% the S&P 500 backtracks, SH will gain roughly 1%. Just remember, the opposite is true when the S&P heads higher, the ETF will lose money.

ProShares offers many inverse ETFs that cover multiple indexes. TEN would suggest avoiding the leveraged versions that offer 2x, 3x or even 4 times the return and risk. We also view them more as insurance policies than a part of any long-term strategic planning.

From our standpoint, the two strategies outlined above are the easiest to employ and will help you sleep better at night whenever corrections occur.

Stock Market Trends: What to do When Stocks Go Down is an article from:

While both of these situations can persist for some time, the longer they last the steeper the drop is likely to be.

TEN doesn’t believe the primary uptrend is ready to end. However, as we mentioned up top, stocks are due for a correction in the intermediate term. If stocks should turn red, as a rule of thumb, investors can expect anywhere from a third to two-thirds of the recent rally to be erased.

The midpoint would put the NASDAQ around 2650, the Dow at 12,300 and the S&P 500 near 1270ish. We think these levels would be an opportune place to buy the dip should it occur.

Now, there is plenty of news this week that could kick-off the u-turn or kick it down the road. A ton of industry leaders are scheduled to release earnings this week (like Apple (AAPL)), and the Fed could begin QE3 Wednesday afternoon.

A run of better than expected profits and another trillion dollars injected into the economy – this time to buy mortgages – could give bulls a triple shot of 5 hour-energy. Whew-who, let’s buy.

If TEN had to lay odds on it, we would say it is 60/40 that profit taking starts this week and the indexes head towards TEN’s  midpoint projections.

Investors might consider adding a small position in an inverse ETF like ProShares Short S&P500 (SH). The fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, which correspond to the inverse (opposite) of the daily performance of the S&P 500®.

Nothing goes up forever, except a man’s age. The current rally has stretched the rubber-band thin. Another tug or two higher and it’s likely to snap.

Stock Market Trends: A U-turn Ahead? is an article from:

It is somewhat surprising to Top Equity News that materials are in-style. Global headlines are bold with proclamations of a recession starting or underway in Europe, and one of the biggest consumers of materials, China, headed for a hard or soft economic fall.

Regardless of what’s happening on the ground, the saying goes. “The tape doesn’t lie.” And right now, the following Materials ETFs are coloring the tape green.

• PowerShares Dynamic Basic Materials (PYZ)
• PowerShares S&P SmallCap Materials (PSCM)
• iShares Dow Jones US Basic Materials (IYM)
• First Trust Materials AlphaDEX (FXZ)
• Vanguard Materials ETF (VAW)

TEN’s favorite ingredient in the stew of these ETFs is Westlake Chemical Corp. (WLK). Not only is it in the general materials sector, but much narrower sub-sector of specialty chemicals made the buy lists too – a twofer.

The manufacturer of basic chemicals, vinyls, polymers, and fabricated polyvinyl chloride (PVC) building products’ chart looks enticing. WLK’s shares jumped out of a box that’s been in place for the last 6 ½ months. Surpassing multiple tops can be a powerful buy-signal and is sure to catch the eye of momentum investors.

Investors are also likely see Westlake’s 12 and 26 day averages racing away from the 50 day-benchmark. These important trend-lines are baked up with a healthy increase in volume; which means institutional money is pouring in.

From a purely technical point of view, WLK’s price appears to be on the way to $51ish. If the market continues its push through earnings season, $55 could come into focus rather quickly.

On the downside, a stop loss order at $41.90 is about as much risk as TEN would be willing to take. Westlake closed Tuesday at $43.87.

We will see you tomorrow with a Trading Earnings pick for next week.

ETF X-Ray: A Material Difference is an article from: