-Executive Summary-

• The market took a torpedo below the water-line as the Standard and Poor’s rating agency  downgraded the OUTLOOK for U.S. government debt to “negative” but kept the U.S. bond rating at “AAA”.  See below.
• Amarin Corporation (Ticker: AMRN) from Ireland, released very favorable results from their heart medication tests.  The stock soared +94%, but did not take out its early morning highs.  We are very watchful now concerning this stock – it falls within our “very interesting” category.  See more below.
• Stock Market Companion SOLD its Cisco Systems, Inc. (Ticker: CSCO) holdings when our stop was triggered.
• We issued an SMC Intra-Day Alert today as the market was coming unglued.  See it in its entirety, below.
• Here is a video interview of a father and son using the Stock Market Companion successfully together – as a teaching and investing tool.
  

– Stock Market Companion – Current Holdings –

Nr.	Co.	Ticker	Action	Entry Date	Current Gain (Loss)
1	Nexxus Lighting	NEXS	Holding	3/18/2011	-24%
2	Dell Inc.	DELL	Holding	3/21/2011	-2%
3	Cisco Inc.	CSCO	Holding	4/6/2011	-6.5% (FINAL)
4	Ford Motor Co.	F	Holding	4/1/2011	-5%
5	China Shen Zhou Mining	SHZ	Holding	4/7/2011	+13%

If the above “Current Holdings” table is empty it means that we are not holding ANY stocks at this time and that we are therefore 100% in cash.

– 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	Price (Today’s Close)	Unit of Measure	Today’s Direction
SP-500	1,305.13	Index	Down = -14.55 points
DOW-30	12,201.59	Index	Down = -140.24 points
NASDAQ	2,735.38	Index	Down =-29.27 points
NASDAQ 100	2,292.34	Index	Down = -15.24 points

– Market Trends –

Trend	SP-500	DJ-30	NASDAQ	NASDAQ 100
Short Term	Flat	Flat	Flat	Flat
Intermediate	UP	UP	UP	UP
Long Term	Lateral	Lateral	Lateral	Lateral

*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 this chart of the broader market (Successful stock investors develop and start with a minds-eye view of the broader market and keep it clear) –

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

– Today’s Highlights –

The overseas markets were already acting weak – due to concerns in Europe about Greece … – heading into the last half-hour BEFORE the U.S. markets opened at 9:30 EST, but the hammer that hit the markets flat on the forehead just prior to the open was the news that Standard and Poor’s – a U.S. bond rating agency – had downgraded the quality of U.S. government debt (bonds) to NEGATIVE.  In classic “double-speak”, they kept the U.S. bond rating at “AAA”.  The DOW-30 (DJ-30) opened down well over -100 points and quickly attracted sellers along the way to crush it below -230 points.  At one point the DOW looked like it would post a -300 point day, with it down -242 points – but then buyers emerged to lift the DOW to -140 into the close.

At the Stock Market Companion, we didn’t panic.  While we were stopped out of our Cisco Systems (Ticker: CSCO) holdings for a loss (yuk), we held Dell, Ford, NEXS, and SHZ through the thick of the selling wave, focused on identifying other opportunities to come, and wrote our SMC Intra-Day Alert (below).

Tomorrow will be a new day and we are in the thick of earnings season, when U.S. publicly traded companies release their earnings results for the last quarter and often provide guidance for upcoming quarters.

– Story-Stock Investing –

There continue to be excellent things being developed and produced out of Ireland, although the country’s financial situation is in shambles.  I made my first business trip to Ireland in 1991, and worked with wonderful Irish people to create excellent manufacturing operations to serve mainland Europe with product from Co. Louth through 1997.

Today,  Amarin, Corp. PLC (Ticker: AMRN) – an Irish pharmaceutical development company announced very positive results from their testing of their heart medication.  The stock VAULTED +98% on the news.   Excellent.

Remember, when you see eye-popping one day launches like AMRN results today – there have been 10 other companies that have disintegrated on not meeting testing end-points / objectives.

Click here for a mainstream news article on today’s event at AMRN.

Click here for the link to AMRN’s strategy page on their website.

AMRN has approx. 106 million shares outstanding, but only approx. 22 million of those available to the public (float).  So AMRN falls into the small float category that can really rocket higher if big investors get behind the company.  Today allows us to begin to gauge institutional investor interest – once the early adopters take their profits.

AMRN’s medication reduces high triglyceride levels in the blood.  According to the American Heart Organization, triglycerides is the chemical form in which fat exists in food.  Click here for more info.

AMRN closed at approx. $17/share today.  We will see how the stock performs before establishing a start position.  This is a very interesting development and could lead to very strong stock appreciation.  There are few publicly traded stocks with these types of fresh developments available to institutional investors who are currently chock-full of Microsoft and other leading stocks from the 1990’s.

We sent out this SMC Intra-Day Alert in the middle of today’s selling storm-

Dear Subscriber-Friend –

The U.S. DOW-30 is DOWN -242 points as we write this quick note. The reason for this drop this morning is that the ratings agency Standard and Poor’s – which among other things, rates the quality of debt (bonds) issued by countries – changed their OUTLOOK on U.S. government debt from positive to negative and publicly announced that they are not sure if U.S. policy makers = politicians will reach an agreement on a plan to cut the huge deficit.

We are “stopped-out” on our Cisco Systems holdings, for a loss. Of course we don’t like this one bit. We are holding Ford, Dell, China Shen Zhou Mining, and Nexxus Lighting.

Here’s what we are thinking at this time –

1. Texas Instruments paid a +70% premium to market prices for National Semi-Conductor just a few weeks ago. Other acquisitions have also occurred at rich premiums to current market values. Contrary to December 2007 and August 2008, the market is NOT over-priced. This doesn’t mean however that emotional selling can’t force the market further south.

Corporate earnings are good, corporations in America are sitting on a lot of cash, and there are an abundance of well-run corporations who have handled the various crisis over the last 2+ years extremely well.

2. The trouble in the Arab world, and then the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, Japan were surprisingly not able to rattle the U.S. equities market very much.

3. Today’s strong move DOWN in the markets takes us to the mid-point of the high to low move from mid-February to mid-March in the markets, but no lower – yet.

4. We aren’t going to be “panicked” out of this market. We time our entries carefully, based on the information that we have to work with. Of course, if things change – which they often do – we reevaluate our decisions. Right now, we are simply going to enforce the stops that we have and see how this market responds. We monitor our holdings continuously.

We operate under this principle – The daily decision to continue holding a stock and not reallocate the capital elsewhere (such as raise cash or invest in another stock…), acts as if we purchased the shares again today – a fresh.

5. Such actions by an independent ratings agency like Standard and Poor’s may aid us in the long run by forcing our politicians to be real and start cutting the budget. As such, we may just find that in and around here was the right time to buy something like an inverse precious metals fund – which allow us to SHORT precious metals that have run up very strongly in anticipation of such events as we are having today with Standard and Poor’s. For those subscribers interested in such ideas, here are the funds that we would consider –

ProShares Ultrashort Silver ETF (Ticker: ZSL) – This one moves at 2X the same amount as the silver benchmark. So when silver goes down, this fund is designed to go UP at a leverage of 2:1.

For gold, the ProShares Ultrashort Gold ETF Ticker = GLL.

We have made our money over the many, many years of involvement with the markets by being quicker at our entries and exits than the crowd – and sometimes going against the grain.

American Airlines stock is even UP today, as oil prices decline from last week’s highs.

For your protection and our own, we would like to remind everyone that this is not an investment recommendation for any particular individual. We cannot possibly know the risk tolerance and investment suitability of such investments for any particular subscriber. Successful investors know their own objectives, purposes, and risks associated with any investment – whether in real estate, stocks, or other investments. Each investor is on their own.

We are simply on the watch.

Your – Stock Market Companion

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 council 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.

– 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” –

US Dollar	1.4491 USD = 1 Euro	USD / EUR	Dollar = Down some.
Gold	$1,486.00	Ounce	Gold = Up at High’s Again.
Oil	$109.39	Barrel (West Texas Crude)	Oil = Up another $1.50/barrel.
30 Yr. Fixed Mortgage	4.85%	Percent	Flat
10 Yr. Bond Yield	3.41	Percent	Flat
1 Yr. CD	1.16	Percent	Flat

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.