ChartSmarter Friday Game Plan 2/21/14

Markets were in a jolly mood Thursday as both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 both gained 3/4ths of 1%. Looking at the Dow, which was also up .75%, that we rarely do as it normally lags the other major benchmarks, and this year is no exception thus far as coming into Thursday it was down 3.2% since January 1st, whereas the S&P 500 is lower by 1.1% and the Nasdaq up 1.5%. It is encountering 50 day SMA resistance and a few members have reported this week with WMT today falling almost 2%. KO released number Tuesday and was down by 4%. AAPL is a great example of why we wait for price confirmation. The round 550 figure came into play as it was halted there on Tuesday and then reversed. It had been on my long watch list above a potential 560.30 double bottom trigger. Those who attempted to anticipate that move were premature and for now hurt. Another example of why we do not marry stocks comes from a name in the energy group which we continue to like. HOS was a former favorite we were looking to enter back last summer with a flat base trigger of 59.20. The chart was trading very tautly, a bullish sign, and from the beginning of 2013 to October of that year there was zero distribution. The pivot was never taken out on a CLOSING basis, therefore no entry, and since the week ending 10/4/13 the stock has been up just 8 of the last 20 weeks. It is now by 9% this week and off 35% from its recent 52 week high in a hurry.