D-Days
More
bloodletting in the bells, though some improvement in the glamours.
As if a trader needed any more
evidence that the growth sector isn’t the place to be, the Naz put in its third
distribution day in the last six outings.
A red flag should go up anytime you
see three d-days in six attempts, especially when you have a market that
escalated 21% in 22 days.
The benefit of watching the current
cycle’s leaders, however, already tipped you off that something was amiss.
As for the glamours, they fared better
than on Monday, but only relatively speaking.
Some of the better ones, such as Ariba
(
ARBA |
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PowerRating) and Check Point
(
CHKP |
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PowerRating), gave back minute ground or were up on
the day.
And Marvell
(
MRVL |
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PowerRating) vaulted to a
fresh high before being turned back just north of par.
Highlight of the day: for the second
session, the crumbling tech bells.
Nortel
(
NT |
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PowerRating), profiled Monday in
this space, surrendered another 8%, while Oracle
(
ORCL |
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PowerRating) retreated 5%.
And Cisco
(
CSCO |
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PowerRating), a company whose
revenues have grown 52%, 53%, 55%, and 61% over the past four quarters,
respectively, was distributed for the third day.
Sun
(
SUNW |
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PowerRating) lost a fraction, yet
retraced its a.m. gain to go out at the bottom of its intraday range, a loser
for the fifth time in six days.
Corning
(
GLW |
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News |
PowerRating), which had held up
rather nicely, lost ground for the fifth time in six days.
So the sacred cows are not so sacred
anymore.
Just how far down will this Naz go?
As a trader, it’s dangerous to predict
the extent of a decline.
What’s crucial is knowing what the
market is doing right now.
And on that score, the intermediate
trader’s course of action couldn’t be easier to figure out:
Lots of cash.