-Executive Summary-

• HIGHER Again.  The Dow (DJ-30) is dancing around the 12,000 point level.  The NASDAQ posted favorable gains.
• At the SMC we sent out an SMC Intra-Day Alert notifying of our purchase of YRC Worldwide (YRCW) stock at $4.34/share.  See more below.
• Standard and Poor’s downgraded Japans debt to AA- from AA.  The U.S. dollar shot higher – Relative to the YEN – in response.  Energy and commodities sank.
• The price of gold sank hard again today, erasing more of 2010’s gains, even though it is evident that inflation is increasing in developing economies…like China.
• Former SMC holding – Cirrus Logic (CRUS) shot strongly higher today on excellent earnings.  We will need to see how this one digests these gains before deciding to get on board.

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 –

This morning the futures for the market were pointing down as market participants had to digest two negative reports –

1. Initial claims for unemployment insurance increased last week to 454,000. As of late, this number has been trending DOWN into the lower 400K range, so today’s number was a bit of a disappointment.

2. Durable goods orders for December were down -2.5%.  The catalyst for the drop was the -99.5% drop in civilian aircraft orders!  Wow.

An additional NEGATIVE data point of strong significance was Standard and Poor’s downgrading Japanese debt to AA- from AA.  Here’s a choice comment to make you all smile.  When confronted with this news, Japanese prime minister Mr. Naoto Kan said, “I am a little ignorant on those kind of matters,” he said. “Let me look into it more.” While that doesn’t exactly instill confidence, the humility in the answer is refreshing.

The U.S. dollar strengthened on the news about Japan and energy and commodity prices came down a bit.

– Story-Stock Investing –

On this afternoon’s improvement in YRC Worldwide’s (Ticker: YRCW) share price, we sent out an SMC Intra-Day Alert identifying our purchase at $3.34/share.

At the SMC, we purchased shares of YRC Worldwide Inc. (Ticker: YRCW) at $4.34/share.  The company is a “LTL” trucking company and owns trucking brands such as the Holland and Reddaway.  Our chosen share count is SMALL, due to the speculative nature in the stock.   The company has lost money for a long time.  Last quarter’s earnings report was anything but encouraging.

In our report from the other day highlighting our previous investments in this company, we mentioned that last year we had the element of surprise working in our favor.  Everyone was surprised that the company was still in business and that it had convinced many bondholders to convert their bonds to common stock.

This time around, we don’t have surprise in our favor.  We have however a company that has renegotiated its labor contract and has successfully beat back a competitor lawsuit resulting from the new labor contract.  We also have freight data that may be pointing to increased tonnage shipped, but the data is apparently choppy – according to the American Trucking Association.

So what has our attention this time around, motivating us for a very modest investment?  The price chart has made a significant turn for the better and there appear to be buyers stepping up to purchase the stock.  At $4.34/share (post 1 for 25 stock split) represents a pre-split stock price of 17 cents a share.  This is very close to where we made our last purchase in July 2010, when the stock increased over +100% in value in a little over 3 weeks.  We don’t expect anything quite like that this time around, but there may be a decent gain here.  We could also very well  lose money on this one, so we have our stop in at $3.80/share.

Your – Stock Market Companion

Ford Motor Co. (F) reports earnings tomorrow before the open.  We don’t own the stock, but expect the earnings to be good.

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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.

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