-Executive Summary-

• Markets overcome unfavorable economic data and close HIGHER for the day.
• Stock Market Companion re-invests in Amarin Corp. PLC (Ticker: AMRN) at $17.61/share.  See below.
• Learn more about the Philly Fed, April Existing Home Sales, and April Leading Indicators … 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	Cisco Systems,Inc.	CSCO	Holding (Reduced size)	5-10-2011	-7%
2	Amarin Corp. PLC	AMRN	Re-purchased Today	5-19-2011	+1%

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	1,343.60	Index	UP = +2.92 points
DOW-30	12,605.32	Index	UP = +45.14 points
NASDAQ	2,823.31	Index	UP =+8.31 points
NASDAQ 100	2,369.67	Index	UP = +6.72 points

– Market Trends –

Trend	SP-500	DJ-30	NASDAQ	NASDAQ 100
Short Term	Down	Down	Down	Down
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 –

Today the markets had a lot to consider.  Most of it negative.  Let’s explain –

1. The Philadelphia Fed releases a monthly survey of manufacturers from their area.  It is useful, real world data that provides valuable insights about the economy – albeit a local one.  Certainly that which is taking place in Philadelphia is not a direct correlation to what may be happening in say – Los Angeles, but there are parallels.  Today the “Philly-Fed” released information showing their “diffusion index of current activity” decreasing rather dramatically to a value not seen since last October.  They report, “For the first time in eight months, firms reported that unfilled orders and delivery times were falling — both indexes were slightly negative this month.”This decreasing Business Outlook Survey from the Philadelphia Fed shook the market a bit.

2. The next troublesome data point for the market today was the April Existing Home Sales report.  Here are the significant details –

Existing-home sales¹, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, eased 0.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million in April from a downwardly revised 5.09 million in March, and are 12.9 percent below a 5.80 million pace in April 2010; sales surged in April and May of 2010 in response to the home buyer tax credit.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the market is underperforming. “Given the great affordability conditions, job creation and pent-up demand, home sales should be stronger,” he said. “Although existing-home sales are expected to trend up unevenly through next year, unnecessarily tight credit is continuing to restrain the market, along with a steady level of low appraisals that result in contract cancellations.”

A parallel NAR practitioner survey² shows 11 percent of Realtors® report a contract was cancelled in April from an appraisal coming in below the price negotiated between a buyer and seller, 10 percent had a contract delayed, and 14 percent said a contract was renegotiated to a lower sales price as a result of a low appraisal.

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage was 4.84 percent in April, unchanged from March; the rate was 5.10 percent in April 2010.

Click here for the complete report.

The 3rd difficult item for the market to digest was the April Leading Indicators numbers that came also came in somewhat negatively. Click here for the full report.

What we have are market participants needing to understand what lies ahead for the economy and balancing this with the understanding that the Federal Reserve wants to get the economy off stimulus as soon as possible.

The market put a brave face on today’s news and closed positive.  Some market participants are concluding that more data like today’s will cause the Federal Reserve to push back its time-table for removing stimulus and increasing lending rates.  This is your classic stock market – bad news may be favorable for investors – outlook.  We’ll see if the market can hold this positive orientation into the weekend.

– Story-Stock Investing –

There is a term in the trading world called a “fat-finger” trade.  As typists, we have done it ourselves … pushed a few too many zero’s, when we only wanted one.  So it looked with Amarin Corp. PLC this afternoon as it suddenly shot from $16.70/share to $17.95 in a few short minutes – and then began selling-off hard, just like you’d expect in a “fat-finger trade”.  In such a trade, people realize quickly that a mistake has been made.   In the market they don’t simply sit and kindly wait for you to correct the problem yourself.  They sell hard into that unexpected strength and take a quick +7% profit.  The stock sold back down to $17/share, but then began picking up gradual momentum.   After quite a bit of backing and filling on price – as the price began to move above $17.60/share we got back on board with the hope that the stock would not again plummet back down.  We transmitted this SMC Intra-Day Alert as we re-positioned ourselves with shares –

Dear Subscriber-Friend –

This late afternoon, Amarin Corp. PLC (Ticker: AMRN) shares began moving strongly.  After watching it perform well in the face of certain obstacles, we have repurchased our shares.

Our buy point is $17.61

We would not pay much more than $18.29/share if we were adding shares.

Our stop is at approx. $16.20/share (near yesterday’s low).

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 reporting the SMC actions in the market place.

Your – Stock Market Companion

We mentioned earlier this week that Amarin Corp. PLC received a financial firms “buy” recommendation and a $25/share target.  We’ll see.  Today’s high volume push higher has a promising look to it.

Click here for our SMC Daily Chart for Amarin Corp. PLC.

Yesterday we wrote that we hoped to look closer at SODA today.  We ran out of time and will hope to report on SODA tomorrow.  We’ll also add a word or two about Linked-In’s IPO launch today…

Please click on this chart to see the Stock Market Companion 15Minute Market Update 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	1.4317 USD = 1 Euro	USD / EUR	Dollar = Down
Gold	$1,494.60	Ounce	Gold = Flat
Oil	$99.03	Barrel (West Texas Crude)	Oil = Flat
30 Yr. Fixed Mortgage	4.69%	Percent	Flat
10 Yr. Bond Yield	3.171	Percent	Flat
1 Yr. CD	1.16	Percent	Flat

Data Source : Financial Visualizations Inc.

Please help us by sending your valuable feedback to – Support@stockmarketcompanion.com

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.