On Financial Tides we give straight forward BUY & SELL signals for your stock investing portfolio. No beating around the bush. Valeant Pharma (VRX) is a global research pharmaceutical company that develops, manufacturers and markets specialty drugs, both subscription and OTC. They have a product line of 389 drugs so this is not a one trick pony.

This is a great technical analysis play with BarChart's TA indicators giving 13 BUY signals out of 13 indicators. 9 new highs in the last 20 session and 5 for 5 recently show the stock in trending well. This stock is part of Financial Tides S%P 400 portfolio on Marketocracy. There has been a 26% price appreciation in the last 65 day of trading.

Recommendation: BUY VRX around 28 with a tight stop loss at 26, for a quick TA play.

Jim Van Meerten is an investor who writes his stock investing opinions on Financial Tides,
MSN Top Stock Blog and Seeking Alpha. Please leave your comments below or email to FinancialTides@gmail.com.

Disclosure: I do not own any VRX at the time of publication.

Comments: View Comments |  Wednesday September 30, 2009

Financial Tides is a stock newsletter that advocates Momentum Investing. Occasionally a stock comes up on the BarChart screens and we can't figure out why. We might buy it but it will be monitored closely and sold at the first sign of weakness. Gannett Co (GCI) is just such a stock.

I've looked at all the fundamentals and they look flat to me. Analyst aren't forecasting much but the stock keeps going up. Possible sale may be foretold in the numbers.

We all know GCI, it's the publisher of USA TODAY. It has 3 divisions. The publishing division has USA TODAY as well as 850 local publications in the US and 200 in the UK. The main focus of the Digital division is Career Builders and some on line classifieds. The TV division has 22 TV stations across the US.

On the technical analysis side BarChart has this stock a BUY on all 13 of their TA indicators. 9 new highs in the last 20 trading sessions plus 2 in the last 5 show it is getting action. I can't find the reason for a 280% price appreciation in the last 65 days.

The action is saying something that the analyst haven't found.

Recommendation: BUY below 11.75 and use a protective stop loss at the 20 day moving average of 9. Watch very closely!

Jim Van Meerten is an investor who writes about his financial opinions on Financial Tides, MSN Top Stock Blogs and Seeking Alpha.

Disclosure: I hold no position in GCI at time of publication but hold in my Marketocracy S&P 500 for accountability of my recommendations

Comments: View Comments |  Wednesday September 30, 2009

On Financial Tides I try to find stocks to invest in that are getting both good press by the analyst and high marks from the technical analysis indicators. American Greeting (AM) is smiled at all the way around and is a stock pick you should consider. AM is held in my Marketocracy S&P 400 portfolio.

AM is the world's largest publicly held creator, manufacturer and distributor of greetings cards. They also sell a slew of gift wrap, party goods , calendars and stationary. AM outsells its nearest publicly held competitor CSS Industries (CSS) nearly 4 to 1. When you don't know how to say it, you buy AM products to say it for you.

The company reports gross margins of 53.4% and most analyst are looking for an increase in operating profits next year, with a consensus target price of around $26.50. Just today Zack's came out with a #1 rank addition call on the stock. Great fundamentals and popular following.

On the Technical Analysis side BarChart rates the stock a 100% BUY with all 13 of 13 TA indicators giving a BUY signal. I'm impressed with the 11 new highs in 20 trading session and it's also 5 for 5 on the short term. Price appreciation has be 90% in the last 65 days.

RECOMMENDATION: BUY American Greeting (AM) around 21 and keep a protective stop loss at 16.

Jim Van Meerten writes stock investing opinions on Financial Tides, MSN Top Stock Blogs and Seeking Alpha. Please give your comments below or email to FinancialTides@gmail.com

Disclosure: No conflict. I never hold actual positions in the stocks I blog about but do hold them in Marketocracy portfolios for accountability of my recommendations. I hold no position in AM at time of publication.

Comments: View Comments |  Monday September 28, 2009

Every week doctors and lawyers across the nation get in arguments over medical tort reform. Whenever the doctors ask the lawyers what they do about their mistakes the lawyers always come back: "Lawyers appeal their mistakes, doctors bury theirs". Not a good way to promote civil discourse!

Doctors claim that one of the largest components of unnecessary medical costs are the defensive and redundant tests and procedures they are being forced to order to combat the legal suits filed by greedy personal injury ambulance chasers. Something they forget is the reason that any award is made against them comes from the courts and juries finding the doctor was negligent and at fault after a fair hearing. Most complaints never make it to court because the insurance carriers settle the claims and have a confidentiality agreement signed by all parties.

I propose the medical profession should catch up with some of the other professions and promote binding and public arbitration through the local State Medical Review Boards. It would be quicker and less expensive. Financial Advisers and Lawyers have done that for years. My monthly Georgia State Bar Journal has pages of sanctions and disbarment. Every month the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) publishes all the financial representative registrations they've pulled and the awards they've made in the Wall Street Journal. Here's my proposal:

Have all doctors, hospitals, clinics and patients agree that they will enter into binding arbitration sanctioned by their State Medical Review Board. Financial Advisors and Registered Representative have binding arbitration agreements right into their account opening paperwork.

Have a panel of practicing or retired doctors, medical teaching professionals and appointees from the public hear each complaint. They could immediately determine if the doctor was negligent or not following normally accepted medical procedures, make an award if the findings warrant it and most importantly have the bite to cancel the medical certificates of doctors they feel are dangerous to the public.

Right now the public feels the medical profession and the insurance companies protect their own. Too many claims are presently settled without admitting or a finding of guilt and a confidentially clause is part of the negotiations. Lawyers and financial professions have their laundry aired in public, why doesn't the medical profession come clean with their dirty laundry too?

The public has a right to know.

Jim Van Meerten is an investor and writes about financial subjects on Financial Tides, MSN Top Stock Blogs and Seeking Alpha.

Please give your comments below or email to FinancialTides@gmail.com

Comments: View Comments |  Monday September 28, 2009

HSN Inc (HNSI) known by most of you as the Home Shopping Network was added to my Wall Street Survivor portfolio and is covered on my blog Financial Tides. What caught my eye was 17 new highs in 20 trading sessions and press releases that they will be carrying Serious Skin Care's FIRMA-FACE XP product line. This is their largest product launch to date with 103,000 units sold in the first 4 day. Landenburg Thalmann announced that they have initiated coverage of this stock with a BUY recommendation.

HSNI is a retailer and interactive lifestyle network offering a broad range of products through TV home shopping programming and on the Internet through HSN.com. They are the leader in the TV home shopping industry far out selling Value Vision (VVTV) and privately held QVC and Access Television Network.

The 3 analyst that cover HNSI have a STRONG BUY consensus rating and project sales growth of 2.5% and earnings growth of 13% next year. Good fundamentals.

On the technical analysis side BarChart's 13 TA indicators rate 12 out of 13 as a BUY with 1 HOLD. That's an over all rating of 96% BUY. There has been a 65 day price appreciation of 83% and the stock has had positive week to week price appreciation for 4 straight weeks.

Recommendation: BUY around 15 with a protective stop loss at 12.

Please comment below or by email at FinancialTides@gmail.com

Jim Van Meerten is a full time investor and blogs on Financial Tides, MSN's Top Stock Blog and Seeking Alpha.

Disclosure: I hold no positions in HNSI at time of publication and do not hold actual positions in the companies I blog about. For accountability I hold my recommendations in simulated portfolios on Wall Street Survivor and Marketocracy.

Comments: View Comments |  Saturday September 26, 2009

At the end of each week on my blog Financial Tides I like to analyze what the market did by using several ways to evaluate the trends. There is some tracking error in each method which is why I like to use several and then compare the results of each to get a consensus. I use BarChart to get all my data.

Value Line Index -- VLA This is an arithmetic index of 1700 stocks followed by Value Line. I like an arithmetic index because it duplicates the way most individuals purchase stocks. You buy 10 or 20 stocks with equal dollar amounts of each. Professionals and mutual funds might weight by market cap but most individuals don't.

•The VLA was down 66.6 points for a loss of 3.05%
•BarChart uses 13 technical indicators and the VLA was a BUY on 6, a HOLD on 4 and a SELL on 3 TA indicators for an Overall rating of BUY 24%
•The Index was tracking above its 20, 50 and 100 Day Moving Average (DMA)

BarChart Market Momentum -- This week BarChart followed 6000+ stocks and determined how many traded above their Daily Moving Average (DMA)

•65% above the 20 DMA
•78% above the 50 DMA
•86% above the 100 DMA
This is still positive but was below the percentages for last week and last month.
BarChart New High/ New Low ratios - I take how many stocks hit new highs vs new lows for various time periods. A number 1.0 or greater shows an upward trend.

•20 day H/L ratio -- 594/431 = 1.4
•65 day H/L ratio -- 401/98 = 4.1
•100 day H/L ratio - 369/69 = 5.3
Clearly there are more stocks hitting new highs than new low but again not as strong as last week.

Summary: All my indicators are in the same direction - UP. The Stock Market appears to be having a short, mid and long term trends all in the same upward direction - I call a CODE GREEN and would continue to BUY into this market.

Scoreboard: This week I'll add my scoreboard which is how the portfolio I have on Wall Street Survivor stacked up against the other Top Stock Blog portfolios. I started out in a market that began trending down during the week. My portfolio was down 10.52% putting me dead last. Hats off to John Reese with his 8.38% positive return.

I'd like some feedback to find out is this analysis is helpful to you. Please feel free to make comments below or email me at FinancialTides@gmail.com

Jim Van Meerten is a full time investor and blogs on Financial Tides, MSN Top Stock Blogs and Seeking Alpha.

Comments: View Comments |  Saturday September 26, 2009

Whenever I hear the words: "Too big to fail" I'm reminded of a poem I read in my high school English Literature class by Shelley titled Ozymandias. The lines that come to mind are:

"....Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."

Can you think of anything but GOD who is now and always was? Just look at the DJIA. Since its inception in 1896 GE is the only original component. The list of recent drop outs include GM, Citigroup, AIG, Altria Group, Honeywell. 57 percent, 17 of the 30 have come on the list since 1990. The S&P 500 constantly changes and so does the Forbes Wealthiest 400.

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty sprit before a fall" -- Proverbs 16:18

When I flip through the history books I see the Roman, Ottoman, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian Mongolian, Egyptian more recently the Hapsburg Empires . I read of Kangis Khan, Kublai Khan, Suleiman the Magnificent, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, Napoleon Bonaparte. Ever day new discoveries of lost cities and civilization in both the Western Hemisphere and Africa are uncovered. What of the Aztecs and Incas?

I can still remember a Friday in 1963 back at Ft. Lauderdale High School -- Home of the Flying L's. It was just after lunch and I was sitting in Coach Duke Maltby's American History class. We were watching a TV broadcast from central educational unit when the talking head said " The President has been shot in Dallas, Texas but time marches on and so must we." We were all in shock. After the class everyone was in the hallways crying. Most kids left school and walked home, not even waiting for the school buses. For 3 days nothing but the assassination of the President was on TV. The whole country was in shock and some froze and cried thinking the world had come to an end.

I'm not trying to be a downer. My point is nothing is too big to fail. No one is too big to fall. Every major civilization, every major corporation and even the greatest empires that ever were have eventually failed and are no longer.

The lesson comes from the human spirit's ability to rise after every major disaster. In the future companies too big to fail will fail. People too big to fall will fall. Governments too good to fail will fail. But I'm also assured that within the blink of an eyelash new entities and new leaders will emerge to take their place and tomorrow will be another day......and a good day at that.

Look for a bright new future. Have a nice day.

Jim Van Meerten is a full time investor and blogs here on MSN Top Stock Blogs, Seeking Alpha and his own blog Financial Tides. Please leave comment below or email him at FinancialTides@gmail.com

Comments: View Comments |  Friday September 25, 2009

Even with the recent market pull back I still feel that utilities are a safe bet, Avista Corp (AVA) among them. This stock is a position in my Marketocracy New High Fund and followed on my blog Financial Tides.

AVA is a diversified energy company with operations throughout the US. With both regulated and non-regulated energy businesses plus some other non-regulated businesses they seem to be well diversified. Their main utilities divisions distribute electricity from hydroelectric and thermal sources. The non-regulated businesses are in metal fabrication, expense management systems for utilities and real estate.

The electric operations are mainly in the northwest US where they have competition from IdaCorp (IDA) and PG&E (PCG).

The stock is covered by 5 analyst with 3 rating a STRONG BUY and the other 2 a HOLD. The consensus is for sales growth of 5.3% next year and 8.7% over the next 5 years.

On a technical analysis basis BarChart rated the stock an 88% BUY with 11 of 13 TA indicators at BUY and 2 at HOLD. AVA has hit 4 new highs in the last 20 trading sessions and recently 2 in the last 5. The last 65 days has shown a 15.8% price increase.

RECOMMENDATION: BUY around 20.5 with a stop loss at 19.50.

Jim Van Meerten is a full time investor and blogs on Financial Tides, MSN Top Stock Blogs and Seeking Alpha. Please leave your comments below or at FinancialTides@gmail.com

Disclosure: I hold no physical positions in any of the stocks I blog about but hold them in Marketocracy portfolios for accountability.

Comments: View Comments |  Thursday September 24, 2009

Beat the Market is a series on stock picking, portfolio management and keeping score. Wall Street Survivor will keep score on my picks not only against the market but also against the other contributors to MSN's Top Stock Blog.

Yesterday the market took a little dip but has not shown signs of reversal so it may be an opportunity to pick up 3 more stocks at lower prices. Today's picks are Limited Brands (LTD), Korea Electric Power (KEP) and Factset Research (FDS) and here's why:

Limited Brands (LTD) purchases, distributes and sells ladies', men's and children's clothing. BarChart rates the stock a 100% BUY on 13 of 13 technical indicators. The stock has hit 12 new highs in the last 20 sessions with a recent 5 for 5. A 46% price appreciation in the last 65 days and can be bought around 17.40. BUY with a 14.50 stop loss.

Korea Electric Power (KEP) generates and supplies power to both industrial and residential customers in Korea. BarChart rates the stock a 96% BUY on 12 of 13 technical indicators with 1 HOLD. The stock has hit 15 new highs in the last 20 sessions with a recent 5 for 5. The 65 day price appreciation has been 28% and can be bought for around 14.65. BUY with a 13.00 stop loss.

Factset (FDS) supplies global economic and financial data to analyst, investment bankers and financial professionals. BarChart has it a 100% BUY on 13 of 13 technical indicators. The stock has hit 14 new highs in the last 20 session with a recent 5 for 5. The 65 day price appreciation has been 46% and it can be bought around 70.25. BUY with a stop loss at 57.50.

Jim Van Meerten is a full time investor and blogs on Financial Tides, MSN Top Stock Blog and Seeking Alpha among others. Please give your comments below or at FinancialTides@gmail.com

Disclosure: I do not hold physical positions in any of the stocks I blog about but for accountability hold them in portfolios evaluated by Wall Street Survivor and Marketocracy.

Comments: View Comments |  Thursday September 24, 2009

Cerner Corp (CERN) is followed on Financial Tides and is part for my Marketocracy S&P 400 Fund, CERN designs, develops. markets, installs and supports information technology and content solutions for health care organizations and consumers. They assist health care providers to improve operations, reduce costs and improve the quality for care provided. Isn't that what President Obama wants?

The stock has gotten recent buzz on MSN Fast Money and is said to be on Dell's short acquisition list by Lee Brodie editor of that site. The company is also followed by 20 analyst and has recently been upgraded by Auriga. Most analyst are predicting higher revenue and improvement of their 17.7% Operating Margin. A nice fundamental stock.

On the technical analysis side BarChart has a BUY on 12 of its 13 TA indicators with only 1 HOLD for an overall BUY rating of 96%, The stock has hit 12 new highs in the last 20 trading sessions and recently hit 4 of the last 5. The 65 day price appreciation has been 22%

Recommendation: BUY around 74 with a stop loss at 65.

Jim Van Meerten is a full time investor who blogs on Financial Tides as well as MSN Top Stock Blogs and Seeking Alpha.

Disclosure: I do not hold any physical position in any of the stocks I blog about but I have this as a position in my Marketocracy S&P 400 Fund.

Comments: View Comments |  Wednesday September 23, 2009

On the Top Stock Blog we're having a little contest to show how our stock recommendations perform not only against the market but a little friendly competition against each other. We'll enter our picks on Wall Street Survivor and they will keep the score.

My picks will use the same methodology I use on the New High Fund I've had on Marketocracy for quite some time. I use BarChart's new high list of stocks trading over 100.000 shares a day, sort for frequency, hopefully weed out ETFs and closed end funds, choose only stocks selling above $5. I then take the top 10 or 15 and only consider stocks that have made at least 10 new highs in the last 20 trading sessions. If I can't find any that have hit new highs at least 50% of the days I make no additions that day. The stocks then are reviewed to see if the short term technical analysis indicators are at least 80% BUY. Last I review the chart to look for any inconsistencies. Here are my picks for the day.

Samina-Sci Corp (SANM) -- an electronic manufacturing services company. The stock is an 80% short term BUY with 12 of 13 TA indicators showing BUY and 1 HOLD. 15 new highs in the last 20 trading sessions and 5 for 5 recently. Price appreciation in the last 65 trading sessions was 226%. Recommendation: BUY around 9 with a stop loss at 7.

Sierra Wireless (SWIR) -- A leading provider of wireless data communications products. The stock is an 80% short term BUY with 12 of 13 TA indicators BUY and 1 HOLD. 14 new highs in the last 20 trading sessions and 5 for 5 recently. Price appreciation in the last 65 days was 110%. Recommendation: BUY around 10.75 with a stop loss at 8.

Targacet Inc (TRGT) -- A clinical-stage biophramaceutical firm that discovers and develops drugs used in treating central nervous system disorders. The stock is a 100% short term BUY with 13 of 13 TA indicators saying BUY. 14 new highs in the last 20 sessions and 5 for 5 recently. Price appreciation in the last 65 session was 890%.

Jim Van Meerten is a full time investor and blogs on Financial Tides among other sites. Please offer comments below or email to FinancialTides@gmail.com

Disclosure: I hold no physical positions in any of the stocks I blog about. All recommendations are held in one of my 6 Marketocracy portfolios or my Wall Street Survivor portfolio for accountability.

Comments: View Comments |  Wednesday September 23, 2009

Harman International (HAR) should be a name you immediately recognize. It is a high end, high quality manufacturer of audio and electronic products. This stock is a holding in my Marketocracy S&P 500 Fund (see disclosure below). HAR makes products for the automotive, consumer and professional markets. Their products are found in theaters, stadiums, homes and automobiles around the world.

J P Morgan has recently projected favorable sales estimates for the industry and had upgraded their recommendation to Overweight. 4 other analyst have also upped their future earnings estimates for HAR. The industry is projecting increasing sales and since their major competition in Bose, Boston Acoustics and Pioneer all of which are private and not traded, HAR is the only major play you can make in this industry.

On a technical analysis basis BarChart's TA indicators are 13 for 13 for a 100% BUY rating. The stock has hit 4 new highs in the last 20 trading sessions and 3 new highs in the last 5 trading sessions. The 65 day price appreciation has been 80%.

Recommendation: Buy around 32.50 with a protective stop loss at 27.

Jim Van Meerten is a full time investor and blogs on Financial Tides. Please make comments below or email to FinancialTides@gmail.com

Disclosure: I never hold physical positions in any of the stocks I blog about including HAR. I do however hold all of the stocks I blog about in either one of my 6 Marketocracy or Wall Street Survivor portfolios. You can follow all of those portfolios on Financial Tides and make me accountable for my recommendations.

Comments: View Comments |  Tuesday September 22, 2009

The aerospace and defense industry might not seem like a great play today but there are still a lot of orders in the pipeline that have to be filled. As the economy recovers some of the suppliers and developers of this industry should see many new orders. One of the biggest recipients of those new orders will be Esterline Technologies Corp (ESL). This stock has been a position in my Financial Tides blog S&P Small Cap Fund on Marketocracy.

Recently they elevated Brad Lawrence to be CEO and he has great plans for this engineering, manufacturing and supplier to defense, commercial aerospace and general industry The main products are GPS technology and display equipment. The are a major supplier to Boeing, Lockheed, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and Raytheon. As the industry goes so goes ESL.

Even though the rest of the industry has taken a hit in the last recession ESL hasn't really lost much revenue. With a P/E of only 9.1 compared to Boeing's 17 there is a lot of room for price appreciation.

On a technical basis BarChart rates the company a 96% BUY with only 1 HOLD. The stock has been on a march lately with 9 new highs in the last 20 days with 4 new highs in the last 5 days. Your 65 day price appreciation has been 51%.

Recommendation: ESL is a BUY around 39.50 but because of recent volatility I'd have a tighter than normal stop loss at 35.

You comments are welcome below or at FinancialTides@gmail.com

Comments: View Comments |  Monday September 21, 2009

At the end of each week on my blog Financial Tides I like to analyze what the market did by using several ways to evaluate the trend. There is some tracking error in each method which is why I like to use several and then compare the results of each to get a consensus. I use BarChart to get all my data.

Value Line Index - This is an arithmetic index of 1700 stocks followed by Value Line. I like an arithmetic index because it duplicates the way most individuals purchase stocks. You buy 10 or 20 stocks with equal dollar amounts of each. Professionals and mutual funds might weight by market cap but most individuals don't.

1 - This week BarChart used 12 technical indicators and the VLA was a BUY in 12 of 13 indicators with only one HOLD
2 - The Index was tracking above its 20, 50 and 100 Day Moving Average (DMA)

BarChart Market Momentum - This week BarChart followed 6000+ stocks and determined how many traded above their Daily Moving Average (DMA)

1 - 85% above the 20 DMA
2 - 87% above the 50 DMA
3 - 90% above the 100 DMA
This is very positive and was above the percentages for last week and last month.

BarChart New High/ New Low ratios - I take how many stocks hit new highs vs new lows for various time periods. A number 1.0 or greater shows an upward trend.

1 - 20 day H/L ratio - 1635/204 = 8.0
2 - 65 day H/L ratio - 1167/50 = 23.3
3 - 100 day H/L ratio - 1047/35 = 29.9
Clearly there are many more stock hitting new highs than new low so that is a very positive sign.

Summary: All my indicators are in the same direction - UP. The Stock Market appears to be having a short, mid and long term trends all in the same upward direction - I call a CODE GREEN and would continue to BUY into this market.

I'd like some feedback to find out is this analysis is helpful to you. Please feel free to make comments below or email me at FinancialTides@gmail.com

Comments: View Comments |  Saturday September 19, 2009

Put a little speed in your portfolio with an addition of Expedia (EXPE). It's in my S&P 500 Marketocracy fund. EXPE is a holding company that provides wholesale and retail travel services to off line retail travel agents and the public. I also follow the stock in my blog: Financial Tides

Some of its holdings include Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Trip Advisor and Hotwire. I've used them all and gotten fine results. It operates in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy Netherlands and through investments in China. Pretty global!

The fundamentals of the balance sheet are solid and growing. Although it had a loss for 2008, it has healthy profits for the first 2 quarters of this year.

It has competion from Orbitz (OWW) and Priceline (PCLN). The stocks market cap is 7B to PCLN at 7B and OWW at only 519M. It wins in the revenue comparison with 2.9B compared to 2B for PCLN and only 800M for OWW.

As the economy recovers both business and personal travel should be increasing and the use of their services will soar.

Any stock needs some buzz to move and there are 15 analysts following this stock. Recent analysts recommendations have had 3 BUYS and 1 HOLD.

On the technical side BarChart rates EXPE as an 88% Buy with 10 out of 12 TA indicators a BUY and 2 a HOLD. Recent price action had 5 new highs in the last 20 trading sessions with 4 new highs in the last 5 trading sessions. Price movement has been 57% for the last 65 trading sessions.

Good numbers, analysts buzz good recent technical action.

Recommendation: BUY under 25 with a protective stop loss at 21.

Disclosure: I hold no position in EXPE at time of publication.

Please make your comment below or email me at FinancialTides@gmail.com

Comments: View Comments |  Friday September 18, 2009

Today all you read about is Health Care. One of the ways to control Health Care costs is to use drugs instead of surgery and hospitalization. The new Health Care Plan will have a very large drug benefit in it no matter what form it takes. According to BarChart one of the drug companies continuing to hit new highs is Bioscrip (BIOS). I follow BIOS on my blog Financial Tides

BIOS's product is comprehensive pharmaceutical care solution through the use of specialty medication distribution systems and clinical management services. They fall in the Retail Drug Store sector and have major competition from Rite Aid, Herbalife, Walgreens and CVS.

Although they are the smallest of the group with only 1.4 billion in revenue analyst are starting to notice them. Arnold Mark of Piper Jaffray recently put out an Overweight recommendation on BIOS. Why?

Although the have had increasing revenue for the last 3 years, last year they had some non-reoccurring expenses that gave them a loss. This year they have been increasing profits every quarter and project a profit by year end. Their gross profit margins have always been positive. Good numbers on a fundamental basis, but how about the technical analysis numbers?

BarChart uses 13 TA indicators and they rate this stock a BUY on 13 out of 13. The price has hit 5 new highs in the last 20 trading sessions with 3 in the last 5 days. Its 65 day price return has been 47%.

My recommendation: The new Health Plan will have a major drug component so BUY BIOS at the 6.50 range and put a protective stop loss at 5.50.

Please give me your comments below or eamil me at FinancialTides@gmail.com
Disclosure: I have no postions in BIOS at the time of publication

Comments: View Comments |  Thursday September 17, 2009

I'm having a hard time with the Fed's talking head saying the recession is over and the economy is in recovery. What charts are they using?

We are a consumer society and our real measure of the economy is what the consumer buys; whether it's for cash or on credit. There seems to be a short supply of both.

Unemployment is rising and about to cross 10%. If 10 % of our consumers have no job and the other 90% isn't sure how long they'll have one either who will be spending money?

Credit card balances are rising at the same time lenders are cutting back credit limits, there will be a crunch soon.

I'm seeing too many for rent signs in store windows that used to be occupied and too many for sale signs on residences with unmowed lawns.

My best indicator for the recession being reversed will be after the unemployment rate peaks above 10% and it comes back down below 10%. When people are back to work and unemployment is down to 5% then I'll wave "The Recession is Over!" banner on my blog Financial Tides; not before.

Give me your comments below or email me at Financialtides@gmail.com

Comments: View Comments |  Wednesday September 16, 2009

International Printing (IP) is one of the leading companies in the paper products industry. Its name says it all. They produce printing and writing paper as well as pulp, tissue, paperboard and packaging material. They even produce chemicals that others in the industry use. Their markets are truly international and they serve the US, Europe amd the PAC rim.

Their main competitors are Weyerheauser (WY) and MeadWestvaco (MWV). Their Market Cap is 10.8B to WY's 8.3B and MWV's 3.9. Revenues are similarly comparable with 25.8B compared to WY's 6.5 and MWV at 6.2.

As the world economy comes back online the demand for packaging and paper product should soar and IP will start printing money.

The stock is part of my Marketocracy S&P 500 holdings and is followed on my blog Financial Tides.

On a short term technical basis BarChart is high on this stock. In the last 20 trading sessions IP has high 13 new highs and given a 104% return over the last 65 trading sessions. Of BarChart's 13 technical indicators IP is 13 for 13 BUY!!!

Recommendation: BUY at this level of around 25 with a protective stop loss at the 50 Day Moving Average of 20. Move you stop loss up weekly to protect your profits.

Please post your comments below or email me at FinancialTIde@gmail.com

Disclosure: I hold no positions in IP at the time of publication

Comments: View Comments |  Wednesday September 16, 2009

Is it just me or does CNBC give you a headache too??? I thought when I became a full time investor I'd enjoy watching TV while I researched investments on BarChart and blogged but CNBC is ridiculous! I have to turn it off to concentrate.

The guest just yell at each other, cut off others before they can express their views and are so rude that half the time I get nothing out of the discussion - and I use the term "discussion" loosely! More like a brouhaha!

Larry Kudlow is the worst among them. He wouldn't have lasted 10 minutes in Mrs. Tyson's 7th grade English class. I could hear her now: "Larry Kudlow, you didn't raise your hand. You shut your mouth and don't interrupt others. One more word out of your mouth and I'll rap your knuckles with a ruler and put you in the corner. Just keep it up young man and you'll be down in Dean Beal's office and your fannie will feel the rath of his paddle. Now do you understand me? Your rudeness reflects on your parents and your poor upbringing!"

Larry Kudlow does not know the meaning of civil discourse. He must have never taken a debating class or he'd know there are rules to follow.

Today on Street Signs, Erin Burnett totally lost control of two professors or think tank guru's. I got nothing out of their rude and obnoxious yelling. I went to look at the replay video but even the directors of the program thought the clip had no value and didn't post it.

Fast Money in no better. BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!

What about Mad Money and Jim Cramer??? I never thought I'd say this but Jim Cramer is the most civilized person on CNBC. He may yell and scream but never at a guest. He asks questions, lets the guest fully answer, listens and then asks meaningful follow-up questions?

You can join my protest and put CNBC on MUTE. Sit down and read my blog Financial Tides, or your favorite blogs of others. Read a good book on investing and learn something, uninterrupted.

Read the blogs, try to understand the authors points, if you disagree, type off a well thought out and polite comment and save your sanity.

Bloggers unite in civil discourse.

Please give me your comments below or pen off a reply to me at FinancialTides@gmail.com

Comments: View Comments |  Tuesday September 15, 2009

Baidu (BIDU) is the leading Chinese language Internet search engine. It has been in my Jim Van Meerten/BarChart New High model portfolio on Marketocracy for some time and I have written about it on my blog Financial Tides. I add stocks to my New High Fund when I see stocks trading over 100K per day that continue to hit new highs.

BIDU's main competition in the Chinese market is SINA and SOHU. BIDU has 545M in revenue while SOHU has 485M and SINA 372M. Why do I like BIDU above the others?

As I've shared before, I use BarChart to find stocks having upward price momentum and good underlying fundamentals. BarChart's 13 technical indicators all have BIDU as a BUY for a 100% Buy rating. The stock continues to hit new highs and has hit 10 new highs in the last 20 trading sessions.

Recommendation: BIDU is trading around 375, a high price. Many think it may fall so use caution and put a stop loss around the 50 day moving average of around 330. This is not a stock to buy and hold but might be a good one for a closely monitored trading portfolio.

Give my your opinion at FinancialTides@gmail.com

Disclosure: I have no actual position is BIDU at time of publication

Comments: View Comments |  Monday September 14, 2009

Genworth Financial (GNW) has been featured on my blog Financial Tides, has been in my Jim Van Meerten/BarChart S&P 500 fund on Marketocracy for a few weeks and has been a great performer lately. GNW is a comeback story. Lately some of the rating agencies have given them a bad rap, but we know the poor record the rating agencies have had recently.
GNW is in the "Lifestyle Protection" business. That's the new fancy name for insurance that protects income: Life Annuities, Disability, Long Term Care and Life Insurance. It has some major competition in Allianz, ING, AIG & AXA. The whole industry is poised to make a comeback because of a flight from securities to safety and as the investment climate brightens so should GNW's bottom-line.
Why am I so high on GNW when the rating agies aren't:

1 - GNW recently was awarded a BIG contract with the Teacher's Retirement Fund of Texas - one of the largest retirement funds in the US to provide Long Term care for its members.
2 - BarChart has it rated as a 96% BUY with 12 of its 13 technical indicators a BUY and only one hold.
3 - The stock has hit 10 new highs in the last 20 trading sessions for a monthly gain of 46%
Recommendation: BUY - presently trading at around 11 and I'd place a protective stop at its 50 Day Moving Average @ 8. Move the stop up as the stock rises but sell if it trades below its 50 DMA.

Jim Van Meerten is a full time investor and blogger who shares his 40 years of experience on his blog Financial Tides. I'd enjoy hearing your comments @ FinancialTides@gmail.com

Genworth's Site

Comments: View Comments |  Monday September 14, 2009

At the close of each week I try to evaluate the Stock Market's Momentum by looking at some key indicators on Financial Tides I've learned to trust that are published on BarChart. I have no crystal ball and I'm not a Technical Analyst that thinks he can interpret the tea leaves and the alignment of the stars and predict the future. I use a common sense approach to see if the Stock Market is trending up or down, determine how strong and how long that trend has continued and cross my fingers it will continue. Sometimes it's good to be in the Market, sometimes it feels better to sit this week out. Let's see what happened this week.

Momentum of the Value Line Index - I use this index because it is a broad based index of about 1700 stocks and covers about 95% of the US Stock Market capitalization

1 - BarChart ranks the Index as a Overall 96% BUY - 12 of the 13 indicators BarChart uses are BUY and only 1 is a HOLD - looks good
2 -The VLA is trending above its 20, 50 and 100 Day Moving Averages (DMA)
BarChart Market Momentum - this week looks at the direction of the 6000 stocks that traded.

1 - 78% of the stocks closed above their 20 DMA
2 - 83% of the stocks closed above their 50 DMA
3 - 88% of the stocks closed above their 100DMA
This is stronger than last week's closings and is positive

The ratio of how many stock hit new highs vs. how many hit new lows - any number above 1.0 is positive, below .99 negative

1 - 20 day ratio - 2222 new highs/ 227 new lows = 9.8 pretty strong
2 - 65 day ratio - 1563 new highs/ 104 new lows = 15.0 very strong
3 - 100 day ratio - 1414 new highs/ 91 new lows = 15.5 very strong
Overall it seems like the Stock Market is trending upward and will continue - A BUY CODE GREEN

NOTE: I've been asked why is use 3 different methods that seem to give parallel information. Good Question - It's because each of these 3 methods has some tracking error in them. Example: In one of the worst weeks in the Market last year there were 26 stocks hitting strong new highs on the AMEX. When I examined closely I found that all 26 were inverse ETFs. By using all 3 methods I hope not to get caught off guard by a tracking error in any one of them.

Remember: Financial Tides is an instructions site that tries to teach you to trust your experience, knowledge, common sense and a good stock screening tool like BarChart to beat the Market on your own

Comments: View Comments |  Saturday September 12, 2009

For my Financial Tides readers I always try to find companies that are getting attention now and will show price movement immediately. One of the easiest was to find such companies is to screen for companies hitting the most new highs using BarChart. This evening I found a company that has hit 14 new highs in the last 20 trading session for a monthly gain of 52.08%.

That company is Nighthawk Radiology Holdings NHWK. The company is one of the leading providers of overnight and off hour radiology services for hospitals, clinics and imaging centers and should get increased revenue if the new health care plan is implemented.

BarChart's 13 technical indicators all rate this stock a 100% BUY. Why am I sure the movement will continue? Morgan Stanley has invited this company to speak at their Global Health Care Conference on September 15 so there will be some press buzz.

Reasons to buy:

•Recent strong price movement
•BarChart rates it a BUY on 13 of 13 technical indicators
•A product that is essential to health care
•An opportunity to get great press coverage in the coming week.
BUY with a stop loss at 6.67. Let me know if it works for you.

Disclosure: No Positions held at time of posting

Comments: View Comments |  Wednesday September 9, 2009

Zenith National Insurance Corp. - ZNT is a pure recovery play. The stock is depressed for 2 reasons: 1- As payrolls in the manufacturing sector contracted so did the underlining payroll insurance premiums and 2 - like all insurance companies they make money investing on the time spread between the time they collect premiums and the time they pay benefits.

When the economy recovers, the investment portfolios should increase in value and when new workers are hired premiums should increase.

There has been recent price action to the upside and BarChart has BUY signals on 12 of its 13 technical indicators. New high have been hit in 7 of the last 20 trading sessions including 4 of the last 5 trading sessions,

I call a BUY with a stop loss at 25.43

Jim Van Meerten shares more investment opinions on his blog Financial Tides

Comments: View Comments |  Tuesday September 8, 2009

Dream Works Animation is the stock of the day coming up on my BarChart screens. The company is rated a 100% BUY for all three rating periods: short, mid-term and long-term. The stock price has hit 7 new highs in the last 20 trading sessions. Nice addition to any portfolio.

The company develops and produces Computer Generated Animation feature films with 17 films presently on it's shelves. Its major competitors are Blue Sky Studios, Pixar and Walt Disney Feature Animation; all 3 are privately held so this is the only one of the 4 you can invest in.

The Company has profit margins of better than 20% and has maintained that for several years. Although it seems to be a great stock fundamentally, it's even a better buy on technical analysis.

As previously stated BarChart give it a 100% BUY rating on all 13 of its technical analysis indicators. The stock has hit 8 new highs and the last 65 days with an 18.83% price appreciation and seems to have some legs to it to go even higher.

It's a buy at this price and you should fells save with a stop loss at 30.

Addition Information:

Financial Tides
BarChart
Dream Works Web Site

Comments: View Comments |  Monday September 7, 2009

This was a pivotal week. The Market was down for the first 3 days but came back the last 2 closing slightly down. As measured by the Value Line Index we were down a net of 1.41% for the week.

1 - Value Line Index - I use this index because it is a broad arithmetic index covering 1700 of the largest stocks on the exchanges. Better that 95% for the entire US market capitalization.

•BarChart evaluated the index as an overall 56% BUY with their short term indicators a 60%
BUY - Good sign

•The Value Line Index trended above it's 20, 50 & 100 Day Moving Average - Good sign
The Value Line Index is still trending in a positive upward trend

2 - BarChart Market Momentum - This week BarChart monitored 5900+ stocks

Percentage of stock trading above their Daily Moving Averages:

•20 DMA - 57%
•50 DMA -78%
•100 DMA - 84%
Since better than 50% all stocks are trading above their DMAs a good bullish sign.

3 - Ratio of New Highs to New Lows - When there are more new highs than new lows that's a bullish sign

•20 day new high/ low ratio - 655 highs/336 lows = 2.01
•65 day new high/ low ratio - 470 highs / 239 lows = 1.97
•100 day new high/ low ratio - 432 highs / 51 lows = 8.47
Since the ratio is positive for all three time periods that's a bullish sign.

Summary: Although the market was down for the week and all trends were not as strong as last week we still feel that its a good time to be invested in the stock market and in your 401K

Code Green - investors have a green light to proceed.

More at: Financial Tides

Comments: View Comments |  Saturday September 5, 2009