EB Watch List Update Report

Dear Members: First I want to let you know that I will be conducting a webinar next Monday, February 4 at 4:30 pm eastern where I will be discussing some potential long/short trading candidates on those stocks that have recently reported. There's no need for you to register for the event and you will receive room instructions prior to the start. The event will be recorded for those of you unable to attend the live event. Market Update: Let's recap the week as we move out of January and into February. First, the bulls have continued to flex their collective muscles with all of the major indexes up nicely for the month of January. Next, we saw a mixed earnings picture with stocks like Apple and Facebook rewarded while Amazon fell after an earnings warning after the bell last night. We heard from the Fed on Wednesday that they were going on an interest rate hiatus. We got a much better than expected January non-farm payroll report though the December number was revised substantially lower. And the government re-opened even though so far it's on a temporary basis. The market is still on pins and needles about trade relations with China, perhaps the one thing that could move the market meaningfully, depending on the outcome. So with most of the "important" earnings out of the way - though we will hear from Alphabet/Google on Monday - with the Fed back on the sidelines and with the jobs report behind us, where might the market be heading next? One could argue that the non-stop move higher since December 26 has been too much too quick. But currently that argument seems to be falling on deaf ears where good news is great and bad news is mostly ignored. This has frustrated the bears to no end. It is possible that the market will move into consolidation mode as trader await the China trade verdict. Or it could continue to drift higher if traders decide to hold onto their long positions. Of course we could see some profit taking out of nowhere or if traders sense the recent move higher has run its course. In looking at the major indexes the Dow has now cleared its 200 day moving average with the S&P and NASDAQ one to two strong days away from reaching theirs as well which could very well happen if traders remain in a buying mood. But all of the major indexes are quickly becoming overbought with stochastics in the mid 90's on all of them and with RSI's one decent day from getting to that overbought 70 level. To me this argues against getting aggressively long here but we've seen that shorting is very tricky as well. The good news is at some point those companies that beat earnings and moved up sharply are likely to pullback to better buying levels which will require some patience. And if at any point we do see the market peaking or rolling over, at the right time there could be some very good short opportunities as well. Companies reporting earnings today (February 1) Before Market Opens: AON, BAH, CVX, CI, D, XOM, HMC, HON, IDXX, ITW, JCI, KKR, MSG, MRK, PJC, ROP, SPG, SOHU, SNE and WY After Market Closes None Companies reporting earnings Monday (February 4) Before Market Opens: ALXN, CLX, JOUT, ON, SYY and UFI After Market Closes: GOOGL, GOOG, GILD, LM, and STX ADDITIONS TO WATCH LIST We've been waiting for the big group of companies to report this week and we will let you know as soon as the Candidate Tracker is updated and will also keep you posted on any additions to the Watch List. BRIEF COMMENTS ON WATCH LIST STOCKS SHORTS: OLED - Stock is flat after hitting our second entry level yesterday. Though it hasn't moved lower in any meaningful way since becoming a short alert it hasn't participated to the upside of late and remains vulnerable. But we'll keep our stop in place of any close above $105.75 in case it does move higher. BRKS - Stock is down slightly and needs to close back below its 200 day moving average, currently at $30.44, which could take it lower. As a reminder our stop is any CLOSE above $31.30. LONGS: Large Cap Watch List None Mid Cap Watch List None Small Cap Watch List None Deletions from Watch List None At your service, John Hopkins EarningsBeats