-Executive Summary-

• The markets recovered some from yesterday’s sell-off.  The markets are in a form of lateral consolidation (side-ways movement) which does provide room for excellent stocks – if they emerge.  Sell-off’s like yesterday do test our courage and challenge us to be very selective about which stocks we are interested in.
• Today, we issued 2 SMC Intra-Day Alerts concerning China Shen Zhou Mining, Inc. (SHZ) and our sale of our holdings at $5.44/share.  See our detail information below as to the “Why?” we were in the stock in the first place and why we sold our shares today.
• Observation: Ford Motor Co. (Ticker: F) shares are holding on, but rather tenuously.  GM and Toyota stock headed south today.  We are attentive.
• At the SMC we sold our holdings of “SHZ” and initiated no other holdings.
• 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	-22%
2	Dell Inc.	DELL	Holding	3/21/2011	-1%
4	Ford Motor Co.	F	Holding	4/1/2011	-4%
5	China Shen Zhou Mining	SHZ	Sold Today	4/7/2011	+4.4% (FINAL)

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	1,312.62	Index	UP = 7.48 points
DOW-30	12,266.75	Index	UP = +65.16 points
NASDAQ	2,744.97	Index	UP =+9.59 points
NASDAQ 100	2,306.77	Index	UP = +14.43 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 markets recovered from some of yesterday’s weakness, which keeps the broader market in an ACCEPTABLE lateral consolidation.  In other words, the market is basically headed side-ways – with bouts of selling and buying to draw attention to itself.  Importantly, there are stocks that can do well in this kind of climate – but they are few.   In other words, the market is acting very “narrow”.

We are currently in the middle of quarterly earnings reporting season.  Goldman Sachs (Ticker: GS) and U.S. Bancorp (USB) reported before the bell and both stocks performed poorly today.

– Story-Stock Investing –

We learned from our “brain-freeze” action some time ago that caused us to experiment right out of the chute with Nexxus Lighting, Inc. (NEXS) – buying an exploratory portion of shares on the good news that they will be launching product at Lowe’s home improvement stores in June – only to find the shares pull-back -25% from our buy point.  Yesterday we mentioned the excellent news concerning Amarin Corp. PLC’s (Ticker: AMRN) heart medication.  Their tablets have proven to be very effective at reducing fat in the blood stream.  The stock gapped-up +90% yesterday – closing at $17/share, and this morning looked poised to press higher (the stock received an upgrade to $25/share).  But sellers emerged to take their gains and the shares pulled back rather predictably today.  We are looking for the shares to build some form of lateral consolidation here in the high teens, allowing “early adopters” of the stock time to take their profits.

When the broader market is in a lateral consolidation (above), there is plenty of room for stocks with excellent stories behind them to march higher.

Today we sold our holdings of China Shen Zhou Mining, Inc. as the company released information from their auditors including a “going concern” notice for the American Stock Exchange.  We sent out 2 SMC Intra-Day Alerts concerning this event – 1. Notifying immediately of our selling action.  2. Explaining “Why”.

Here is the detail behind “why” we were in the stock in the first place and our reasoning for selling the stock today –

Dear Subscriber-Friend –

This morning this headline came up on our screens concerning China Shen Zhou Mining –

BEIJING, April 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ — China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc. (“China Shen Zhou”, or the “Company”) (NYSE Amex: SHZ), a company engaged in the exploration, development, mining and processing of fluorite, zinc, lead, copper, and other nonferrous metals in China, today announced that its audited financial statements in the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 filed on March 29, 2011, received a going concern qualification from Sherb & Co. LLC, the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm.

When auditors release a “going concern” qualification on the company that you are holding shares of, then you know that you are truly “bottom-fishing”.  Bottom fishing when stock investing means, buying a company whose shares are very cheap because conditions at the company are at best misunderstood, if not dire.  Of course – it is precisely when company stocks are at their lowest that significant changes are often finally implemented by management or management is replaced – which may set a company on the path for sustained profitability.  This is the age old lure that “penny-stocks” have on investors.

There are occasions when bottom fishing may be fine – particularly if the company you have purchased shares of is going to stay in business as a publicly held corporation and the near term opportunity far exceeds the risks associated with your investment.  With “SHZ” we like –

1. The company being able to raise $20 million at a price of approx. $7.14/share – as recently as January 2011.
2. The shares were able to hold their value at the $4.7/share area – even after Jim Cramer’s Street.com put out their own “Sell” recommendation on the stock.
3. Shares began moving firmly higher above $5.20/share in the face of controversy and sell recommendations.
4. With 60% of the stock sold short, there was a great opportunity for the stock to shoot above $8/share.  A significant portion of this  push would have resulted from all those who were hoping for their short sales and the negative press to push the stock down farther, who would be finding it necessary to cover their shorts.

When we saw the above mentioned “going concern” headline, the shares of SHZ were still at around $5.80/share, and sellers didn’t immediately “hit” the stock.  We were hoping that this was another chance for the stock to show that some market participants were interested in pushing the stock higher – in the face of more difficult news.  But within a few minutes, when the shares started dropping in a step pattern – we became concerned to the point that we prepared our SMC Intra-Day Alert and sold our stock.

If instead of beginning to drop, the shares had begun pushing higher above $6.20/share, we would have been ready to “ADD-TO” our position and send out a SMC Intra-Day Alert for that idea – ready for the stock to “sock-it” to the short holders and push strongly higher.  But that didn’t happen.

Here’s more from the PR-Newswire, started above from China Shen Zhou Mining …

This announcement is required by NYSE Amex’s rules and does not represent any change or amendment to the Company’s financial statements or to its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010.

Subsequent to the 2010 year end, on January 24, 2011, the Company announced the completion of a registered direct offering to several institutional investors for approximately $20 million of common stock. Institutional investors were issued approximately 2.8 million common shares together with warrants to purchase up to 851,066 shares of common stock which, if fully exercised for cash, would provide an additional $7.2 million in gross proceeds to the Company.  China Shen Zhou believes working capital raised in January 2011 is sufficient to maintain operations throughout 2011. Further, the Company reported in an 8-K filing in April 2011 that it entered into an equity transfer agreement for its 60% equity ownership interest in Wulatehouqi Qingshan Nonferrous Metal Development Co., Ltd. (“Qingshan Metal”), a company with an inactive mine, for a price of RMB 8.5 million. Upon completion, this equity transfer agreement will partially offset the Company’s debts owed to the purchaser, and reduce the Company’s liabilities.

About China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc.

China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is engaged in the exploration, development, mining, and processing of fluorite and nonferrous metals such as zinc, lead and copper in China. The Company has the following principal areas of interest in China: (a) fluorite extraction and processing in the Sumochaganaobao region of Inner Mongolia; (b) zinc/copper/lead exploration, mining and processing in Wulatehouqi of Inner Mongolia; and (c) zinc/copper exploration, mining and processing in Xinjiang. For more information, please visit http://www.chinaszmg.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain of the statements made in the press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believe,” “expect,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “project,” “plan,” “seek,” “intend,” or “anticipate” or the negative thereof or comparable terminology. Such statements typically involve risks and uncertainties and may include financial projections or information regarding our future plans, objectives or performance. Actual results could differ materially from the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including the risks associated with the effect of changing economic conditions in the People’s Republic of China, variations in cash flow, fluctuation in mineral prices, risks associated with exploration and mining operations, and the potential of securing additional mineral resources, and other risk factors detailed in reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.

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 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	1.4334 USD = 1 Euro	USD / EUR	Dollar = Up a bit.
Gold	$1,495.20	Ounce	Gold = Up at High’s Again.
Oil	$108.37	Barrel (West Texas Crude)	Oil = Flat
30 Yr. Fixed Mortgage	4.85%	Percent	Flat
10 Yr. Bond Yield	3.35	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.