Riding the momentum train

The market continues to churn and continues to creep up. While I continue to be cautious but long. Even though I had a hunch that market might slide yesterday, I was ready to buy whatever comes up on either the earning/sales or momentum scan.

Below the surface you will find some sectors are breaking out of long multi year ranges. Look at two sectors Agricultural Chemicals and Auto Parts and you will see they have been quietly breaking out. Like these many stocks have broken out of their long ranges.

I am monitoring around 45 stocks like these which have broken out of two year plus ranges in last one month. Many times such moves are followed by earning/sales acceleration and then the market and IBD kind of crowd gets in to such plays to carry them forward. Here are couple of them from that list:

AFCE,AFC Enterprises Inc
APCC,American Power Conversn
ARRY,Array Biopharma Inc
BRLC,Syntax-Brillian Corp
CCRN,Cross Country Healthcare
CHTR,Charter Communications Inc
GIFI,Gulf Island Fabrication
IACI,IAC/Interactive Corp
IFF,Internat Flavors & Frag
MOS,Mosaic Company
MRX,Medicis Pharmaceutical A
RX,Ims Health Inc
SRR,Stride Rite Corp
SRSL,Srs Labs Inc
TEO,Telecom Argentina Sa
TRA,Terra Industries Inc
Y,Alleghany Corp

Below the surface there are many good opportunities if you have a systematic way of finding opportunities and well defined risk management strategy. Here is a sample of things which I have existing positions in or I am watching keenly :

AIRM,Air Methods Corp
ANTP,Phazar Corp
ARRY,Array Biopharma Inc
BIDU,Baidu.com Inc
BITS,Bitstream Inc
BLTI,Biolase Technology Inc
BMA,Banco Macro S A
BRLC,Syntax-Brillian Corp
BWLD,Buffalo Wild Wings
CBI,Chicago Bridge & Iron Nv
CCRN,Cross Country Healthcare
CECO,Career Education Corp
CMT,Core Molding Tech Inc
COSI,Cosi
CUTR,Cutera Inc
DNDN,Dendreon Corporation
FTEK,Fuel Tech Inc
GES,Guess? Incorporated
GOOG,Google
HOS,Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc
INPC,Inphonic
IOMI,Iomai Corp
LEV,Levitt Corp
LNN,Lindsay Manufacturing Co
LVS,Las Vegas Sands
MA,MasterCard Inc
MAXY,Maxygen Incorporated
MDCI,Medical Action Ind Inc
MEK,Metretek Technology Inc

If you set up your scans properly, you will find several such opportunities arriving on the momentum conveyor belt. The key is to narrow it down further and concentrate on few with best potential. I chose mostly the one with clearly defined catalyst like earning/sales or new product.