-Executive Summary-

• A wet blanket was thrown on the market today.  Some selling began in earnest…   See below…
• At the SMC we sold all our stock holdings today and raised 100% cash… See below…
• We’ve made a change to our SMC Market Trends Table … See below…

This Stock Market Companion 15MinuteStocks Market Update is a powerful tool designed to help you make money in the stock market.  It’s web-based, therefore available wherever and whenever you are.  It is your essential link to the markets, delivers a broad to narrow summary of important market and company specific conditions and events, and prepares you to be ready for actionable ideas.  We show you when/where we put our own money to work… and when/where we take our profits/losses.  Please see our short (2 minute) website videos for more information.

– Markets “At a Glance” –

(Please scroll down to the end of the report to see your favorite benchmarks – Dollar, Oil, Gold … closing prices and daily direction.)

– Market Trends –

*Summary of terms from Trader Vic II-Principles of Professional Speculation (pg. 140-141)
*_________* Represents a change in trend rating.

– Market Perspectives –

For your added perspective, we’ve included these two different views of the broader market –

1. SMC SP-500 ETF Daily Chart (Click to open helpful chart in a separate browser window).

2. SMC SP-500 Weekly Chart (Spanning back through 2007)

– Today’s Highlights –

A wet blanket was thrown on the market today.  Many stocks that have advanced strongly over the past weeks and months met with sellers for the first time in quite a while.  Consider –

While Apple Inc.’s (Ticker: AAPL) chart for today only shows a $1.81/share drop from yesterday’s close, the reality is the stock closed almost -$10/share lower than it’s gap up on yesterday evening’s strong quarterly earnings release.  That’s a big drop for Apple and the number of shares traded today (volume) was BIG.  This may be signalling at least a pause for the stock.   Market participants don’t like uncertainty, and with Steve Jobs planning on not being continuously at the helm for the foreseeable future – some financial institutions were selling into today’s strength at the open.  At the SMC, we sold our shares later this afternoon, when it was clear that there were precious few buyers stepping up to buy the stock.

Ford Motor Co. (Ticker: F) also began to show some signs of buyer “fatigue” today.  We sold our shares this mid-morning at $18.19/share.  The stock closed at $17.90/share.  It’s up from $11.61/share since September so it can really take a break here if it likes.  At the SMC, we’ve gotten 2 good “legs” out of that advance for strong gains.  We’re still bullish on the company, but why let someone else have our profits and keep all the risk on our plate?  If the stock pulls back into the $16’s or even lower, we’d be dissatisfied with ourselves for not taking our profits now and then being able to decide to buy the stock on weakness.  When a stock makes a strong advance and the market begins to wear thin, it’s not unusual for the stock to pull back -20% or more and still hold its general up-trend.   Ford’s recent highest close (4 day’s ago) was $18.68/share.  A -20% pull-back would take the stock to $14.94/share.

In Ford’s case, there is very strong support at $16.36/share.  It may be that the stock will test that support again.  Below that Ford has support at $15.70/share and then just below that is the $14.90/share break-out that validated our last two investments in the co.

This all sounds somewhat technical …  Here’s an SMC Daily Chart of Ford Motor Co. (F) that makes things easy to see.

Being in cash gives us the luxury of being able to watch unemotionally from the side-lines.  We teach frequently that one of the biggest advantages an individual small investor has is to decide when to be in the market and when to be in cash with profits protected on the sidelines watching for the best entries.

Look at China Chen Zhou Mining and Resources, Inc. (SHZ) – it took back another $-1.50/share today – resulting in it being -35% off its recent, early January highs of $10.24/share.  Thankfully we locked in our +54% on that stock when it was on the way higher.

Zagg too is not immune to down-drafts in the market.  We closed out our shares at $9.29/share today and the stock closed at $9.08.  At $9.08, it’s already below the $9.18/share December high that marked the break-out and validated our entry January 6th entry at $8.79/share.

So why is the market selling off?  That’s an important question.  Here’s our current take – based on today’s market activity –

Companies like Apple Inc. and IBM came out with very, very strong earnings results yesterday.  Market participants were watching keenly to see if more institutional money would be drawn in from the sidelines based on these results.  It didn’t happen.  The stocks have – for the moment – stalled out.  In other words, TODAY the MARKET FLINCHED.

Once stocks start stalling, early investors start taking their good profits.  Late-comers start seeing the selling and start getting fearful.  They don’t have much room before they are upside down on their investments.  So they start selling too.  The stock market is a very liquid place and soon more sellers are selling than buyers are buying.  Selling begets more selling.

We wrote a special report on Apple Inc. on March 5th when the stock pushed above $215/share.  The stock opened today at approx. $348/share.  That’s a +61% return on investment for those who have held it since March.  Some came forth today to take their money.

– Story-Stock Investing –

At the Stock Market Companion, we sold all of our stock holdings today and issued two SMC Intra-Day Alerts notifying of our exits.

For many subscribers, our actions today may be a bit surprising.  Please excuse us for what may appear to be a sudden shift in positions.  We move quickly when we see the weather changing or the likelihood thereof.   It’s far better for us to protect our profits and watch for fairer weather ahead.

We are still bullish on this market, but we are uncertain how much profit taking may emerge at this time as some profit taking began today in earnest from this last year’s rally.  We are protecting our profits and will continue our hunt for excellent opportunities to come.

Please remember – at the Stock Market Companion we do not and cannot give individual investment advice. According to the State of Washington RCW 21.20.005 the Stock Market Companion is not a Registered Financial Advisor and we do not render any advice on the basis of the specific investment situation of a particular individual. This information is for a wide readership and is not intended for any particular individual,  and under no circumstances should our Market Update or Watchlist be considered an investment recommendation or plan for any specific individual.  By accessing this material, you agree that the Stock Market Companion will not be held liable for any actions taken by a subscriber or other parties.  Please seek the counsel of a broker or other licensed investment professional for accurate pricing and concerning the suitability of all investments that you may be considering. Disclosure : You understand that the Stock Market Companion holds positions in the above mentioned securities. Based on market related or personal events these positions may change without notice.

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Please remember – at the Stock Market Companion we do not and cannot give individual investment advice. According to the State of Washington RCW 21.20.005 the Stock Market Companion is not a Registered Financial Advisor and we do not render any advice on the basis of the specific investment situation of a particular individual. This information is for a wide readership and is not intended for any particular individual,  and under no circumstances should our SMC Intraday Update, SMC 15MinuteStocks Market Update or Watchlist be considered an investment recommendation or plan for any specific individual.  By accessing this material, you agree that the Stock Market Companion will not be held liable for any actions taken by a subscriber or other parties.  Please seek the counsel of a broker or other licensed investment professional for accurate pricing and concerning the suitability of all investments that you may be considering. Disclosure : Please understand that the Stock Market Companion may hold positions in the above mentioned securities.  Based on market related or personal events these positions may change without notice.

– Stock Market Companion – Current Holdings –

– Stock Market Companion – Performance –

Please click on this chart to see the Stock Market Companion 15MinuteStocks stock performance versus the SP-500.  It will open in a separate browser window.
* Gains (losses) do not include brokerage fees.   Our returns are very strong … BUT …  WE have to remind everyone just like all other financial sites in America – Past Performance is No Guarantee of Future Returns.  Unlike others however, our objective is to teach you to be able to make these types of strong returns On Your Own.

All of the investments – stocks, entries, and exits are listed on our Stock Market Companion Watchlist at the bottom of the spreadsheet, in the section labelled Former Holdings.

– Benchmarks “At a Glance” –

Data Source : Financial Visualizations Inc.

Signing-Off for Today,

Your -Stock Market Companion

** Stock Market Companion Disclaimer **

The Stock Market Companion (SMC) Market Update and Watchlist are published documents to subscribers that show how we (SMC) are viewing the markets and what we are watching, investing in or selling today.  This information is for a wide readership and is not intended for any particular individual,  and under no circumstances should this Market Update or Watchlist be considered an investment recommendation or plan for any specific individual.  By accessing this material, you agree that the Stock Market Companion will not be held liable for any actions taken by a subscriber or other parties.  You understand that the Stock Market Companion holds positions in the above mentioned securities.  Based on market related or personal events these positions may change without notice.

Furthermore, the Stock Market Companion, Inc. is a content provider and publisher and not a registered broker-dealer or licensed investment professional.  Our intent is to publish very accurate market information for an audience of subscribers (1000+ subscribers).  By accessing the Stock Market Companion website and/or using the Stock Market Companion products and services such as this Market Update and accompanying Watchlist, you understand and agree that the material provided in the Stock Market Companion products and services is for informational and educational purposes only, and that no mention of a particular security in a Stock Market Companion product or service constitutes a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold that or any other security, or that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person.  To the extent any of the information contained in any Stock Market Companion product or service may be deemed to be investment advice, such information is impersonal and not tailored to the investment needs of any specific person.  Before selling or buying any stock or other investment you should consult with a qualified broker or other financial professional to verify pricing information and to solicit advice as to the appropriateness of a given transaction or investment.