The major averages fell fractionally on mixed volume as the indexes again gave up an early morning rally to close in the red. Investors need to remember, however, that the market has been rallying since late August, and with the Fed announcement last week indicating that no tapering was at hand, the "good news" was sold into after an initial rally following the meeting. A few days of a pullback so far do not seem abnormal, and most leading stocks are holding up reasonably well.
While U.S. new-home sales missed expectations, the 421,000 annualized rate of August new-home sales was up from the 394,000 seen in July. Data on the economy overall has been coming in mixed to stronger. Whether any renewed strength is sustainable remains to be seen.
Green Mountain (GMCR) violated its 50-day moving average. It had done this also in July. Today would have been the day to sell at the latest as the stock is now a late-stage failed-base type of situation and will likely develop into a more actionable short-sale set-up at some point.
Nu Skin (NUS) had a pocket pivot breakout after a tight 2 week consolidation. Earnings are accelerating, group rank is 27, and it has a strong ROE of 38.1%. This is comes after another recent pocket pivot (see prior report).
Ambarella (AMBA) had a pocket pivot after it gapped up on a strong earnings report. Sales are accelerating and institutional sponsorship has increased in all 3 quarters since the company went public.
Lithia Motors (LAD) had a pocket pivot and has obeyed its 50-day moving average since December 2012. Group rank 20, institutional sponsorship has grown over the last 5 quarters.