Market ends the week on an upbeat note

A weekly analysis of how the market really did -- without all the buzz.

By Jim Van Meerten Dec 5, 2009 1:22PM
Each week, I try to step back from all the daily news and hype and determine how the market really performed. After I look at the real state of the market, I make my investing strategy for the next week. Will I be buying, selling or just sitting on the side lines?
 
I use BarChart to find my data.

Value Line Index: An index of 1,700 of the larger exchange-traded stocks. Much broader coverage than just the S&P 500 or Dow 30. The index had positive price appreciation for the week:
  • The Index was up 3.31% for the week
  • BarChart technical indicators were 9 buys, 3 holds and 1 sell - Overall rating of 64% buy
  • Short-term indicators - 80% buy
  • Mid-term indicators - 75% buy
  • Long-term indicators - 64% buy

BarChart market momentum: How many stocks closed above the daily moving average for various periods (about 6,000 stocks)? Better than 50% of the stocks closed above their DMA for all 3 periods:

  • 20 DMA -- 66.85% above
  • 50 DMA -- 62.46% above
  • 100 DMA -- 71.78% above

Ratio of stocks hitting new highs to stocks hitting new lows for various periods -- above 1.00 positive, 1.00 neutral, below .99 negative -- ratio positive for all 3 periods:

  • 20 day ratio 1537/571 = 3.01
  • 65 day ratio 728/223 = 3.26
  • 100 day ratio 664/318 = 2.09

Summary: The market had positive weekly price appreciation, the majority of the stocks closed above their daily moving averages and the ratio of stocks hitting new highs to stocks hitting new lows shows the market displayed strength to the upside,

 

Investment Strategy: Of course I'll trim out any stocks that can't maintain their price above their 50 DMA, and I'll feel confident to make new purchases that meet my screening criteria.

 

Wall Street Survivor score board: The Top Stock columnists that recommend stocks place those stocks in a model portfolio on Wall Street Survivor for a little friendly competition. Results month to date are:

  • S&P 500 MTD up .02%
  • 7 of the 8 participants beat the S&P 500
  • I'm in 1st place with a return of 3.56%

Disclosure: I do not hold positions in any of my Top Stock recommendations at the time of publication.

 

Jim Van Meerten is an investor who writes on financial matters here and on FinancialTides. Please leave a comment below or email FinancialTides@gmail.com

0Comments

DATA PROVIDERS

Copyright © 2013 Microsoft. All rights reserved.

Quotes are real-time for NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX. See delay times for other exchanges.

Fundamental company data and historical chart data provided by Thomson Reuters (click for restrictions). Real-time quotes provided by BATS Exchange. Real-time index quotes and delayed quotes supplied by Interactive Data Real-Time Services. Fund summary, fund performance and dividend data provided by Morningstar Inc. Analyst recommendations provided by Zacks Investment Research. StockScouter data provided by Verus Analytics. IPO data provided by Hoover's Inc. Index membership data provided by SIX Financial Information.

Japanese stock price data provided by Nomura Research Institute Ltd.; quotes delayed 20 minutes. Canadian fund data provided by CANNEX Financial Exchanges Ltd.

STOCK SCOUTER

StockScouter rates stocks from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best, using a system of advanced mathematics to determine a stock's expected risk and return. Ratings are displayed on a bell curve, meaning there will be fewer ratings of 1 and 10 and far more of 4 through 7.

126
126 rated 1
258
258 rated 2
459
459 rated 3
600
600 rated 4
671
671 rated 5
683
683 rated 6
603
603 rated 7
455
455 rated 8
270
270 rated 9
113
113 rated 10
12345678910

Top Picks

SYMBOLNAMERATING
ABTAbbott Laboratories10
AIGAmerican International Group Inc10
ATVIActivision Blizzard Inc10
CACA Inc10
CSCOCisco Systems Inc10
More
Fidelity Brokerage Services, Member NYSE, SIPC. (c) 2011 FMR LLC. All rights reserved

VIDEO ON MSN MONEY

ABOUT

Top Stocks provides analysis about the most noteworthy stocks in the market each day, combining some of the best content from around the MSN Money site and the rest of the Web.

Contributors include professional investors and journalists affiliated with MSN Money.

Follow us on Twitter @topstocksmsn.