Dividend.com: Last Hour Tells
The markets are holding up fairly well on this first day back from the long holiday weekend. Let's take a look at what traders should be looking at as we head into the last hour of trading.
Bullish Signs:
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
: Stock is leading the charge higher. Volume could be better, but long traders will take it. I would be moving my stop up and making sure the bulk of today's gains remain intact. I would be inclined to hold some into tomorrow if we can close near the highs of the day.
Goldman Sachs
(GS) - Get Report
: Similar to Apple in that volume is on the low end, but the stock is still near the highs of the day. Keep the trailing stops moving higher. Same strategy for GS as for AAPL.
Fertilizer Sector:
Potash
(POT)
,
Mosaic
(MOS) - Get Report
, and
Agrium
(AGU)
are all trading nicely higher.
Exchange Plays:
CME Group
(CME) - Get Report
and
Intercontinental Exchange
(GS) - Get Report
are both trading strongly higher.
Sears Holdings
(SHLD)
: Stock is bouncing higher and may be a real spike play if it can get over Friday's opening print of $60.65.
McDonald's
(MCD) - Get Report
: Weak dollar winner has had a big run the last couple of days.
Transports:
FedEx
(FDX) - Get Report
and rail plays are leading the way up.
Home-Related Plays:
KB Home
(KBH) - Get Report
,
Lowes
(LOW) - Get Report
, and
Home Depot
(HD) - Get Report
are all higher.
Commodity Stocks:
Freeport McMoran
(FCX) - Get Report
, and suppliers like
Joy Global
(JOYG)
and
Bucyrus International
(BUCY)
were both upgraded today, and steel names like
U.S. Steel
(X) - Get Report
all look strong.
Bearish Signs:
Volume:
Lots of stocks are up on meager volume so far. We need to see this pick up.
Airlines:
Key names like
Continental Airlines
(CAL) - Get Report
are lagging.
Inflation:
Oil
(USO) - Get Report
and
Gold
(GLD) - Get Report
are bouncing off of earlier lows.
Treasuries
(TLT) - Get Report
are getting hit very hard as rates continue to uptick. Rates are not particularly a concern for me at this level, with the 10-year at 3.49%.
Keep the trailing stops inching higher as stocks build on any gains in the last hour. If the market pulls back, you will be stopped out, but not until you have started the week like an all-star!
Be sure to visit our complete
recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks
as well as a
detailed explanation of our ratings system
.
At the time of publication, the author had no positions in stocks mentioned, although positions may change at any time.
Tom Reese and Paul Rubillo are senior editors of Dividend.com. Visit Dividend.com for more dividend stock ratings, picks, news, and analysis for long-term and income-seeking investors.
