Ticker Tape Digest

Monday - March 9, 2020

By Leo Fasciocco -- TTD

   Ticker Tape Digest presents its daily stock market report containing stocks to go long as Breakout Trades, Quick Trades, or Bargain Accumulation Trades.

  We also feature stocks under Significant Accumulation that are poised to breakout.

   The TTD report also contains stocks to short as  breakdown plays and as bargain (swing trade) shorts.

  Investors should  tend to try to go with a strategy that fits with the stock market's trend, unless there is a special situation play.

  TTD's Breakout Stocks - Long are most suitable for aggressive investors seeking ideal entry points into leading stocks, especially during bull markets. They can do extremely well in bull markets with gains of as much as several hundred percent.

 These stocks can also do extremely well during strong market rallies, or if they are in a industry group that is performing very well. They tend to have strong earnings outlooks and are near new-52 week, or all-time highs.

  TTD Quick Trade Stocks - Long These are leading issues that have pulled back in recent days, but could move higher soon. They are most suitable for Aggressive Investors willing to trade short term. These stocks will do extremely  well during market advances. They have about 74% win rate. During market rally sequences the win rate is even higher. The return is small 3% to 8% in just a few days.

 TTD's Bargain Buy Trades - Long - Long Term.  These are for conservative bullish Investors These long-term buys are ideally suited for entry into stocks on pull backs within overall up trend. These stocks can give a good return long-term especially during a bull market.

   TTD also presents Stocks To Sell or Sell Short. These issues are suitable for aggressive investors willing to take short positions both as trades or for longer-term plays. These stocks will do very well during bear markets or market pull backs.

  TTD's Bearish breakdown stocks to sell short. These issues have potential to fall sharply. They often show a technical breakdown and also some fundamental business problem such as weak earnings.  

 TTD's multi-media updates include a slide-show that presents charts and analysis at midsession. Some times TTD presents feature analysis on stocks and the market. TTD uses Windows Media Files. (WMV).

 TTD also presents a "Breakout Watch List" that is up dated daily. This list consists of key stocks in position to breakout. A close watch of this list can put you in the stock just as it breaks out. A good idea is to study the list and be ready to move into a stock quickly as it hits its breakpoint.

TTD often suggests using stop buy orders to enter. It is very important to buy a breakout stock as close as possible to the breakpoint. The idea is to get "elbow room" if the stock should follow through to the upside. This is very important in being successful in making big money with breakout stocks.

It is also essential to have a stop loss strategy for all stocks in which positions are taken. Not every stock will work as expected. It is important for investors to "police" their portfolios and avoid getting trapped in any bad positions.

 Quality rating of breakout  Two key factors: 1 - Stock near all-time high in price or near a 52-week high. 2 - earnings growth current year is strong. The ideal play is a stock with an Above Average Quality Rating. The stock is near a new high and will have strong earnings. TTD's other ratings are Average and Below Average.

   TTD also has  special feature sections on  Educational Tips on Investing.

   To email Mr. Leo Fasciocco  leo@tickertapedigest.com.   

   For service, email Beverly Owen owen@tickertapedigest.com. TTD’s Tel: 1-480-878-8381 or 480-704-3331.

Monday - March 9, 2020

TTD's Breakout Stocks

  Stock Market Overview

Total Buy Breakouts Monday   -  3

Quality of Breakouts -  Below Average

Stocks Screened - 12,234

Bull side -  Big drop in stock market due to fall in oil sector and crude prices. Very few breakouts and low quality and speculative.

Stock market  -  Bearish in all time zones except for the Nasdaq monthly which just barely holds.

Comment -  Bulls need to be watchful now for a bottoming pattern to develop and then a rally and then a rally follow through move. Not there yet.

See Latest Earnings Reports -  A company that tops the Street's highest earnings estimate has potential to go higher. Key earnings beats -  SOGO.

Stock Market Momentum

(Daily is based on a moving average)

Ticker Tape Digest's

Timely Breakout Stocks From Tape Action

(The “breakout List” gives all stocks breaking out of a base of five weeks or more. These stocks have a good chance to trend higher. However, a stop should be used to avoid those that do not work.

They are ranked according to percentage change and classified as leaders or other.

(Trading strategy: One should buy breakout stocks near breakpoint by using market order or stop buy.  They can also be bought soon after a follow through move, sometimes on an intraday pullback. )  

Today's Featured TTD Breakout Stock

Spherix Inc. (SPEX) - 3.22, up 1.58 - Breakpoint 1.98

Jump on Virus Research, TTD Targets 5

  SPEX, based in New York, acquires patents on intellectual property. It now owns patent for methods to treat coronavirus infection. Annual revenues: $9,000. SPEX, a speculative play, breaks out Monday from its six-month base.

  So far today, SPEX is trading 78 million shares, 11 times its average daily volume of 5.9 million shares.

  The stock is extremely speculative. However, if it clicks on virus research it could score big.

  The company said it executed an option agreement with the University of Maryland for the technology in its patent, Methods of Treating Coronavirus Infection.

  SPEX's stock spiked higher in the morning and reached an intraday high of $5.52 in the morning.

  The stock then drifted lower the rest of the day but still managed to score a big gain and hold above its breakpoint line.

   Tape Action

  SPEX's tape action shows the recent block trades.

  One can see the price for the blocks climbing from $1.64 in the prior session to as high as $5 in the morning.

 A key bullish trade came in the morning when a massive block of 1,062,118 shares (duplicated) crossed the tape at $5.

 That was up from the prior block at$250 on 40,000 shares.

 Then near the close  a block of 42,795 shares crossed the tape at $3.23 a share.

  That was up sharply from the prior block at $2.89 on 253,214 shares.

   Business

  SPEX is an intellectual property company that owns patented and unpatented intellectual property.

The Company is a patent commercialization company focused on generating revenues from the monetization of intellectual property.

 SPEX acquires intellectual property from patent holders in order to maximize the value of the patent holdings by conducting and managing a licensing campaign.

  Its patent portfolio includes both the United States and foreign patents and pending patent applications in the wireless telecom sectors, including data, optical and voice technology, antenna technology, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), base station functionality, and cellular.

  Charts

  SPEX's 12-month performance chart shows the stock up 5% versus a breakeven for the stock market.

  Insider activity was not available.

  SPEX's long-term chart shows the stock trading between $1 and $5 the past few years. It has been basically a very dormant stock.

  However, the virus research patent buy has caused the stock to surge sharply. TTD sees that as due to speculation on a corona virus cure.

  SPEX's daily chart shows the stock climbing sharply a few sessions ago

  That may have been due to news leaking that they were working on a virus deal.

  The action Monday shows a big move with heavy volume.

  The stock's CCI momentum indicator is solidly bullish.

   Earnings Outlook

  No analysts have made an estimate of earnings.

  The company has shown a loss for the past nine quarters. In the most recent third quarter it came in with a loss of $1.38 a share.

  However, back in 2016 in the second quarter it reported a massive profit of $39.14 a share.

  So, the stock is an extremely speculative play.  

Strategy Opinion:  Based on technicals, TTD is targeting SPEX for a move to $5 within the next few months, or sooner.  It could go even higher, or fall back sharply.

A protective stop can be placed near $2

Intermediate-Term Rating: Average.

Suitability:   Extremely Aggressive Bulls.

                                 TTD's special research of Stock's Prior Performance:  

           Stock's Prior Performance After A Breakout

(In actual trading, entry and exit points could vary depending on broker execution.

Also, ideal are breakouts to a new 52-week high or better, perhaps all-time highs.)

  Stock's Long-term Chart

   Stock's Price Performance after Reporting Earnings

 Stock's Performance Chart with Quarterly Earnings Markers vs. S&P 500

Insider Buying in Green  -  Insider Selling in Red

Charts of Selected Breakout Stocks

Ticker Tape Digest’s

Stocks To “Sell or Short”

    Ticker Tape Digest’s Daily List of “Stocks To Sell or Sell Short” ranks stocks well timed to be sold immediately based on daily trading. The list can be used as an alert to reduce current long-term positions.

Shorts from tape action for Thursday - 19

Stocks Screened - 12,234

Long-Term Environment for bears: Unfavorable.

Bear Side- Large list of shorts as oil stocks fall sharply.

  TTD's short from Friday was Hubspot Inc. at 165.54.  Monday, Hubspot (HUBS) falls 23.02 to 142.62 and is working well for bears.

List of Stocks To Sell or Short

TTD’s Feature Bear Play

Apache Corp. (APA) - 9.55

Loss Seen This Year and Next, TTD Sees Drop to 7

  APA, based in Houston, Tex., produces natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids. Annual revenues: $6.3 billion. APA's stock falls sharply Monday and undercuts key technical support. TTD sees more on the downside.

  APA is trading 28 million shares, five times its average daily volume of 5.2 million shares.

  TTD sees more on the downside.

  APA's stock rating was cut by a brokerage firm.

  APA's stock gapped lower in the morning and undercut key technical support. The stock touched an intraday low of $9.32 in the afternoon.

  The stock then trended sideways into the final bell.

  Tape Action

  APA's tape action shows the recent block trades.

  One can see the price for the blocks falling from $20.70 in the prior session to as low as $9.35.

  A key trade came in the morning when a block of 158,770 shares crossed the tape at $13.42.

  That was down sharply from the prior block at $20.70 on 839,255 shares.

  Business

  The company's production areas cover the U.S., Egypt and the United Kingdom North Sea.

  It also pursues exploration interests in Suriname. In North America, the company has onshore regions: The permian region, the Midcontinent/Gulf Coast region.

The Permian region located in West Texas and New Mexico includes the Permian sub-basins, the Midland Basin, Central Basin Platform/Northwest Shelf and Delaware Basin.

 Earnings:

  This year, analysts forecast a loss of 12 cents a share.

  They expect a breakeven in the first quarter compared with a profit of 10 cents a share the prior year.

  For the second quarter, the Street projects a 64% drop in net to 4 cents a share from the 11 cents the prior year.

Charts:  

  APA's daily chart shows the stock gapping lower and undercutting key technical support.

  The stock has been trending lower from $100 in 2014 to $9.55.  

Strategy Opinion: TTD is targeting APA for a decline to $7. A protective stop buy can be placed near 11.

Suitability:  Aggressive Bears.

  TTD's Stock Probability research of Prior Performance:  

   Stock's Performance Chart with Quarterly Earnings Markers vs. S&P 500

Insider Buying in Green  - Insider Selling in Red

   TTD takes no responsibility for trading by those using this information. The stocks presented in our report are those we deem the best looking "Day Trades" for the long side. We take no responsibility for the accuracy of this data, although every effort is made to present the information correctly. Copyright Ticker Tape Digest. - 2020

    TTD columnist Leo Fasciocco has covered the stock market for over 30 years. His articles appear in many publications. He has also been  a speaker at the Money Show conferences. He has been on television and radio. He is author of many educational articles about stock investing and the book “Guide To High-Performance Investing.”

   For information to subscribe to the Ticker Tape Digest Services call: Beverly Owen at 1-480-878-8381.

   Distributed by Corona Publishing Enterprises. TickerTape Digest Inc. 1220 W. Sherri, Gilbert, Az. 85233.

  TTD “Professional Report” is available on the Web: $100 per month. Password needed. Published daily - around 20 times a month.  

 TTD Pro Report includes a Morning chart slide show of breakout stocks, a Midsession video-audio show with commentary on breakout stocks and shorts and a Final end of day overall report on breakout stocks for the session, short plays and accumulation plays.  There are other features too such as Quick Trades and Long-term Plays.  

TTD Daily Report is $39. It covers a Morning slide show of charts of stocks breaking out and a TTD end of day print report covering breakout stocks and shorts.

 Credit cards accepted. Payable to Corona Publishing Enterprises.

(The information contained has been prepared from data deemed reliable but there is no guarantee of complete accuracy. Ticker Tape Digest Inc. is not affiliated with any broker, dealer or investment advisor. Nothing in this publication constitutes an offer, recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any securities. Further research is advised. This report is copyrighted and no redistribution is permitted with out permission.)