eric135

HANS Hansen Group; ISRG Intuitive Surgical, JVA Coffee Holding

I was feeling too worn out yesterday to post about stocks of interest after the trading day 8/29/2011 (Monday) but I'm including them in this post as a matter of record. So these comments/thoughts are after the market close 8/29 without consideration of today's (8/30) market. The green arrows indicate yesterday's (8/29) date:

 
 
 

 

The Outer Banks, Avon North Carolina, The Earthquake, Hurricane Irene

We've just returned from our vacation in Avon, North Carolina. I've been going to North Carolina's Outer Banks for decades (my first trip was at the age of 13 and I'm 49 now, and it is an annual event). This year, instead of our usual rental house on the sound side, we went all out and stayed oceanfront.

It was a wonderful vacation. I missed last year's vacation and had considered skipping it again this year just to give us a chance to get our finances in order, but we had put ourselves on a strict budget and have been saving (even more than we were saving back when I was making $20,000 more a year) and we felt we deserved a vacation.

The house was incredible - a short walk to the beach from the back door, a private swimming pool, and the best fishing I've seen in more than a decade (I made one cast and caught a flounder).

Then the Ground Shook

We were resting after a day at the beach. Some were out shopping, some napping in their rooms, and I was on the couch chatting with my sister and brother in law. Then I noticed the couch I was sitting on -- it was shaking back and forth. I thought maybe one of my nephews was awake, maybe shaking the couch from behind, but when I looked behind me, no one was there. My sister and I then thought aloud that maybe the washer was in the midst of an out-of-balance spin cycle.

The shaking went on for almost a minute, but the intensity had dropped. I wondered aloud, jokingly, if it were an earthquake (then dismissed the idea). I went down the stairs to our room to check on my room mate, who confirmed that he felt an earthquake, and when we turned on the television, we watched the news break on MSNBC.

Then the Heavens Rent Asunder

We knew there was a hurricane that was working its way up the eastern seaboard, but we had thought it would not arrive at the Outer Banks until Saturday. So four days into our week-long vacation, we decided to check on things via the internets. To our dismay, we learned that there was a mandatory evacuation for all vacationers along the Outer Banks. We ended up sleeping for a few hours and then quickly packing and some cleaning, leaving Avon at 330am Thursday morning, hoping to avoid the expected crushing traffic jams. We were back in Richmond VA by 930am.

Then We Beat a Hasty Retreat

Since our beach vacation was originally planned for a week, our flight back to Phoenix wasn't scheduled until Sunday, four days away. With Hurricane Irene making landfall in Virginia on Saturday, we didn't think a Sunday flight would be possible. So, once again, we used the internets and found a flight that would leave the same afternoon that we had returned to Richmond. Getting out of Richmond ended up being an exciting task, as a huge thunderstorm bore down on the airport as we left. Delta decided to have the flight leave 30 minutes early in order to beat the storm, and as we hurriedly boarded the plane, stewardesses and even the pilot got on the intercomm, imploring us to seat ourselves as quickly as possible. The pilot even tersely said, "There's no reason why it would take anyone moer than 90 seconds to stow your gear and strap yourselves in, so everyone please get out of the aisle so we can leave..."

There's No Place Like Home

The flight home ended up being uneventful. We landed in Atlanta and had a 90 minute layover, where we enjoyed ham sandwiches made by my mother (which really saved us, my room mate's back was killing him and I had a headache, so getting to enjoy a sandwiche without having to stand in line to pay for it was a luxury). We then took off for Phoenix, landing in Sky Harbor Airport at 1115pm. We took a taxi home, and were enjoying a reunion with our kitties before midnight.

 We're hoping our next trip won't be nearly as eventful or exciting.

ULTA Ulta Cosmetics; PII Polaris; ISRG Intuitive Surgical; SHOO Steve Madden

 According to Investors Business Daily, we're back in a confirmed uptrend, but I'm not all that certain. But I'm still keeping track of hopeful stocks if the uptrend holds:

 
 
 
 

HANS Hansen Group; RUE RUE21; RL Polo Ralph Lauren

Still waiting for the IBD to call for the market to be in a confirmed uptrend, but still watching some charts:

 
 
 

LULU Lululemon Athletica; ISRG Intuitive Surgical; SBNY Signature Bank; ARCO Arcos Dorados

I'm still waiting for a rally, but still keeping an eye on a few interesting stocks:

 
 

 
 

RWM: Short Russell 2000 Fund

Yep, I got sucked out along with just about everyone else.

But I've got my eyes on something interesting. RWM: Short Russell 2000 Fund:

 

I really like the fact that the MACD crossed almost to the day the market went into correction.

LPSN Liveperson; FARO Faro Technology

 
 

LULU RUE EDU NTES VMW ISRG SBNY BIDU; HANS Hansen Natural

It's been a nasty couple of days, luckily I spent most of it at work. I personally think this will be a short term decline and probably will end up being a buying opportunity when things get back to normal.

LULU LuluLemon Athletica is an IBD leader that is down around its 50DMA.

 

RUE RUE21 Inc, another IBD leader dropping below the 200DMA:

 

There are others: EDU, NTES, VMW, ISRG, SBNY, BIDU, all sector leaders dropping below their 50 or even 200DMA. I've set alerts for all of them, looking out for when their MACD crosses over, but I might not even wait that long, and start buying them when the MACD just turns upward.

I went long on HANS about a week before they announced earnings. HANS was my first "5-bagger" years ago. I still think it will go up.

 

BPI Bridgepoint Education;

 

CYOU Changyou; SOHU Sohu Com; NOR Noranda Aluminum; RUE RUE21; EDU New Oriental Education & Technology

 
I'd keep an eye on this stock. According to the earnings report, net income rose 29% 54.2M vs 42.1M. Earnings per share 1.04 vs. 0.96. Revenue up 35% 105M vs. 100.9M. Forecast earnings of 0.95-0.98 vs. 0.99. Projected revenue upped to 115M-118M vs. 111M. Maybe if it drops and bounces off the 50DMA.

 

 

 

 

Green arrows indicate initial interest in the stock.