Current Focus List
There are currently no names on the Focus List
The VoSI Focus List is a compilation and reference list of stocks for which Pocket Pivot or Buyable Gap-Up Reports have been issued and which have been deemed suitable for inclusion on the Focus List. Not all stocks for which a Pocket Pivot or Buyable Gap-Up report has been issued will necessarily be added to the list. It is not intended as a "buy list" or a list of immediately actionable recommendations. Stocks on the list may or may not be in proper buy positions, and investors should exercise discretion and proper judgement in determining when and where stocks on the Focus List can be purchased. The following notes are intended to assist in this process. Please note that members can enlarge the Focus List image by clicking on the body of the email and then holding the Control Key while pressing the "+" key until it is large enough to read.
General Observations:
The major market indexes all posted fifth-day follow-throughs on Wednesday. This occurred after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell gave a speech at an Economic Club of New York luncheon and uttered words to the effect that interest rates were not too far away from what the Fed would consider neutral policy territory given the current underlying conditions. Note, however, that the NASDAQ Composite Index had actually posted an undercut & rally low the prior week, during what was an ugly Thanksgiving holiday week for the market.
At that time, on November 20th, two full days before Thanksgiving, we issued a report listing several stocks that were in potential undercut & rally positions that should be watched for upside turns well before this past Wednesday's follow-through day. In this market, it pays to be opportunistic, using such U&R set-ups as more efficient entries rather than seeking to chase obvious technical action after a follow-through day when things begin to get somewhat extended. Names that we listed in that report included big-stock names like AMZN, BKNG, NFLX, MSFT, V, and BIDU, among others. Most of these have moved higher, with Microsoft (MSFT) posting a trendline breakout on a pocket pivot signature on Wednesday following the U&R long set-up the week before.
Less robust in its chart pattern than MSFT but still effective as a U&R long set-up on November 20th was Booking Holdings (BKNG). The stock regained its 50-dma on Friday, but volume was weak. It does help to illustrate the efficacy of U&R long set-ups well before a follow-through when that action occurs in synchronicity with similar action in a leading index, in this case the NASDAQ Composite.
Over this weekend, President Trump and China's President Xi are meeting over dinner at the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The market's hope has been that some sort of rapprochement will be forthcoming, and some Chinese names have been rallying in anticipation of this. We issued a Pocket Pivot Report on Huazhu Group (HTHT), a Chinese lodging operator on Wednesday, the day of the follow-through, and the stock has moved higher since. It's action going forward may be affected to some degree by the weekend G-20 developments, but we might look for any constructive pullbacks contained to the 50-dma as potentially opportunistic entries.
Members should review prior Pocket Pivot and Buyable Gap-Up Reports sent out over the past two weeks as these names have mostly worked. In some cases, stocks like Exelexis (EXEL) were already counter-trending the market long before the turn off the lows over a week ago.
On balance, most stocks began turning well before Wednesday's follow-through day, which makes it somewhat moot from the perspective of individual stock action. The market, however, remains subject to at times extreme volatility combined with extreme price velocity, leading to very fast moves in either direction, so investors should remain alert and nimble.
Members who might have more questions on other stocks we've reported on are invited to join our weekly live webinars. As we are subject to an SEC Publisher's Exclusion, this is our only forum which provides us with an SEC-compliant forum for answering individual members' questions on individual stocks we have reported on, and those we haven't.
The Market Direction Model (MDM) has remained on a buy signal since November 7th. (Discussion in last week's Focus List Review.)