Daily - Go to TTD's Tape of  Stock Charts - Thursday, March 22

Daily - Bullish Investors  - Go To TTD Pre-Market Opening Breakout Watch  List and Performance - Thursday, March 22

Ticker Tape Digest

Thursday - March 22, 2012

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 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 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: 1-480-926-1680.

  Breakout Stocks

Total Buy Breakouts so far today - 8

Overall Quality of Breakouts - Average

Stocks Screened - 8,300

Bull side -  Good number of breakouts with some interesting top performers breaking out. Bulls can be venturesome, but must watch all stop strategies. Stock market holds in up trend with momentum still bullish.

 (Put mouse on Dow chart to see Nasdaq chart)

Long Term Environment for bulls:  Bullish

Market (Daily) - NYSE Bullish, Nasdaq Bullish

Market (Weekly) - NYSE Bullish, Nasdaq Bullish

Market  (Monthly) - NYSE Bullish, Nasdaq Bullish 

Ticker Tape Digest's

Timely Breakout Stocks From Tape Action - March 22

(See Top Performing Breakout Stocks for 2011- 2012)

(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 at breakpoint by using market order or stop buy)All Timely Breakout Stocks From Tape Action Today )  

Today's Featured TTD Breakout Stock

Baidu Inc. (BIDU) - 143.40, up 2.79 - Breakpoint 142.63

Profits to Surge 52% This Year, TTD Targets 170

   BIDU is a Chinese-language Internet search provider. Annual revenues: $2.3 billion. BIDU's stock breaks out today from a six-week flat base with a good expansion in volume. The move comes despite a sharp pull back in the general stock market. TTD highlighted BIDU earlier this week as a potential breakout. The stock is a leader and part of TTD's long-term portfolio suggestions.

  So far today, BIDU is trading 7.9 million shares. Its average daily volume is 4.6 million shares.

  The stock's 10-minute chart shows BIDU rising steadily in the morning and cutting across its breakpoint line.

  In the afternoon, the stock backtracked a bit, but then turned higher again.

  The tape action shows the recent big block trades.

  One can see the price for the blocks climbing from $137.60 to $144.

  A key bullish trade came late in the morning when a block of  10,118 shares crossed the tape at $142.47. That was up from the prior block trade at $139.13

  With the stock market acting weak, that signaled some aggressive institutional buying.

 Later in the afternoon, another bullish block crossed when 25,000 shares traded at 144. That was up from the prior block at 142.47.

 The company conducts its operations in China principally through Baidu Online Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.

 It also operates in China through Baidu Netcom Science Technology Co., Ltd., which holds the licenses and approvals necessary to operate the Company’s Websites and provide online advertising services.

 BIDU  launched a Japanese search service at www.baidu.jp, run by Baidu Japan. Its Japanese search services enable users to find relevant information online, including Web pages, images, multimedia files and blogs.

 BIDU offers a Chinese-language search platform on its Website www.baidu.com. It provides Chinese-language Internet search services to enable users to find relevant information online. 

  BIDU's 12-month performance chart shows the stock appreciating 8% versus the 8% gain for the S&P 500. That is a big slowdown for BIDU which was a big winner in recent years. Obviously, the stock has been consolidating for the past several months.

  BIDU's long-term chart shows the stock starting to trade in late 2005 at 8. The stock then soared to 42 by late 2007. It had major pull back during the 2008-2009 bear market. However, it has since turned higher and has been a fabulous winner. In 2010, it voted a 10-for-1 stock split. The stock's all-time high is at 165.98.

  As we said earlier in the week, BIDU's daily chart showed the stock zig-zagging between 150 and 100. That was probably enough to shake out and wear out most investors.

 However,  since December BIDU climbed from 110 to around 140 and put down a classic flat base with a wedge to the upside. Today, it edges out from the base.

  The stock has shown a good pick up in volume the past two sessions. It will be important for BIDU to show a follow through to the upside off this breakout, which is very subtle.

 The stock's TTD momentum indicator (top of chart) is bullish.

  The accumulation - distribution line (bottom of chart) is in a strong up trend and already had broken out to the upside. That  is  a good lead indicator and shows there is strong underlying buying in the stock.  

  This year, analysts forecast a 52% jump in net to $4.60 a share from $3.02 a share a year ago. The stock sells with a price-earnings ratio of 30. That would appear low  given the strong earnings outlook. The p/e ratio has come down over the past several years.

  The company is benefiting from its expansion and the use of new features on the Web service.

  Going out to 2013, analysts project a 41% gain in net to $6.49 a share from the anticipated $4.60 this year.

  Net for the upcoming first quarter should surge 79% to 84 cents a share from 47 cents a year ago. The highest estimate on the Street is at 92  cents a share. TTD sees chances for a modest upside surprise. The past four quarters, BIDU has topped the consensus estimate by one to six cents a share.

  Strategy Opinion:  TTD is targeting BIDU for a move to 175 off this breakout. Aggressive investors can take a full position. Conservative investors scale-in.

  A protective stop can be set near 135.

 TTD rates BIDU an excellent intermediate-term play as long as earnings remain on course.

  Sponsorship: Excellent. The largest fund buyer recently was 4-star rated Artisan International Growth Trust Fund which purchased 761,939 shares. It has 1.1% stake. Another key buyer was 5-star rated Fidelity Growth Company Fund which purchased 95,000 shares.  BIDU has 349 million shares outstanding.

  Insider Activity:  Not available. Currently, 16 analysts follow the stock, 14 have a buy, down from 16 three months ago.     

 Stock Performance Chart with Quarterly Earnings Markers

  Insider Activity - Buying in Green - 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 so far today - 9

Stocks Screened - 8,300

Long-Term Environment for bears: Unfavorable.

Bear Side -  Large number of shorts today with oil and metal stocks dominating the list. Bears be venturesome in the industry groups that are weak. TTD's short from Wednesday was AAR Corp. (AIR) at 20.16. Today, the stock has declined to 19.62 and is working well for bears.

List of Stocks To Sell or Short

TTD’s Feature Bear Play

Noranda Aluminum Holdings Corp. (NOR) - 10.22, down 0.57

Profits to Fall Sharply This Year, TTD Sees Decline to 8.40

  NOR, based in Franklin, Ten., produces aluminum products. Annual revenues: $1.6 billion. NOR's stock breaks down today from the classical head-and-shoulder pattern. The company is poised to show a sharp drop in earnings for the next two quarters and for the year. So far today, NOR is trading 159,125 shares. Its average daily volume is 579,000 shares.

  TTD highlighted NOR as a short at our midsession video show on the Web Thursday.

  NOR's stock is weak along with other metal and oil plays. NOR's stock moved lower in the morning and hit an intraday low at 10.14 around 11 a.m. The stock then trended sideways unable to rebound.

  NOR's tape action shows the recent big block trades. One can see the price for the blocks declining from $10.88 to $10.22. A key bearish trade came in the morning when a block of 2,006 shares crossed the tape at $10.65. That was down from the prior block trade at $10.79.

 NOR produces primary aluminum products and rolled aluminum coils.

 The company operates through two segments, upstream and downstream. The upstream business is a vertically integrated producer of primary aluminum, consisting of a bauxite mine, an alumina refinery and an aluminum smelter. The bauxite mine provides all of the bauxite ore used for the production of alumina at its alumina refinery.

 Alumina refinery processes bauxite, delivered from the bauxite mine, into smelter grade alumina for use in the firm's New Madrid smelter. All of Noranda's primary aluminum production occurs at the New Madrid smelter which also includes a fabrication facility that converts molten aluminum into value added products such as rod, extrusion billet and foundry ingot.

 The downstream business, known as Norandal USA, Inc. is a manufacturer of aluminum foil and light gauge sheet that owns and operates rolling mills in the southeastern US.

  This year, analysts are forecasting a 24% drop in NOR's earnings to 80 cents a share from $1.05 a year ago. Earnings for the first quarter should decline 80% and then in the second quarter fall 52%.

  NOR's chart shows the stock climbing from 7 to 13. NOR then pulled back to form its head-and-shoulder pattern. The breakdown today is bearish even though it comes with light volume so fart. The stock's TTD momentum indicator (top of chart) is bearish.

   Strategy Opinion:  TTD is targeting NOR for a decline to 8.40 within the next few months, or sooner. A protective stop buy can be placed near 11.40.

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.

TTD columnist Leo Fasciocco has covered the stock market for over 20 years. His articles appear in many publications. He is also a speaker at the Intershow 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: B. J. Owen at 1-480-926-1680. Distributed by Corona Publishing Enterprises. Ticker Tape Digest Inc. P.O. Box 2044 Chandler, Az. 85244-2044. TTD “Professional Report” is available on the World Wide Web: $100 per month. Password needed. “TTD Professional“ Faxed is $200 per month. The TTD Daily Report is $39.95. Credit cards accepted.

(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.)