EB Watch List Update Report

MARKET NOTE: Dear Members: Perhaps the market won't be crashing anytime soon but it's sure having a hard time making any progress with all of the major indexes reversing from the session highs. This includes the beloved NASDAQ which hit another record high before moving into negative territory and the S&P back below 2400, a level that has been hard for the bulls to crack in any meaningful way. The selling today can hardly be categorized as heavy; we know that traders have been eager to scoop up stocks on any type of pullbacks recently. So the question to me is this; is the S&P simply consolidating for the next move higher or is it topping? Or, another option; is it just consolidating in a range it might stay in for an extended period of time? Traders have certainly had plenty of distractions and reasons to move to the sidelines; some weak economic reports, a reeling retail sector, non-stop political developments. But they've mostly been very impressed with the latest round of earnings which is almost always number one on the list of what's most important to the market. The VIX is fairly flat though it's firmed up since dipping into the 9's last week. But it remains very close to its all time low; traders continue to exude confidence. In looking at the fairly narrow range the S&P seems to be locked in to, we've now got 2405, today's all time high, and 2370, the 50 day moving average, to the downside. That's not much to work with and is likely to make it more difficult and frustrating to identify stocks that will make big moves; maybe a lot of churning instead. That applies to both the long and short side where trying to bet against the market has proven to be an exercise in futility. In summary, we may be witnessing a stalemate here with traders waiting for something significant to get aggressively long or short. It's hard to be bearish but we could be seeing a near term lid on the market. This supports the case for preserving cash just in case we do get a long overdue correction which could pop up out of nowhere. KEY EARNINGS REPORTS Companies reporting earnings today (May 16) include: DKS, HD, JACK, SINA, SPLS, URBN and VOD Companies reporting earnings tomorrow (May 17) include: AEO, CSCO, LB and TGT ADDITIONS TO WATCH LISTS: As a reminder, we have update the Candidate Tracker and there are now a new batch of stocks that beat earnings expectations. Some of these could become trading candidates and we will keep you posted. BRIEF COMMENTS ON SELECT WATCH LIST STOCKS: SHORTS: LONGS: Large Cap Watch List None at this time Mid Cap Watch List None at this time Small Cap Watch List SCSS - This stock has been struggling to make any progress to the upside. It's fallen below the its 20 day moving average for the first time in a month. So PLEASE NOTE: we're going to assign a stop loss of any close below the 20 day, now at $29.85, as a close below that level could spell more trouble. if it closes below the 20 day it will be removed from the Watch List. DELETIONS FROM THE WATCH LIST None at this time At your service, John Hopkins EarningsBeats