For more than a week, the action has been generally flat but with a positive bias. We are seeing it again this morning as the indices produce minor gains, and breadth is running 2700 advancers to 2250 gainers. There is some positive action and a few big movers but no great excitement. The attitude seems to be "I want in in case we see a fiscal cliff deal, but I really don't trust it much."
I continue to be very frustrated with my inability to put money to work. I have a few things working but I'm trading them small, and there is enough volatility in other positions to chip away at gains. What makes it challenging is strong momentum is lacking, which indicates that the hot money is aggressively pursuing positions.
The momentum star right now is Uni-Pixel (UNXL), which makes film for touch screens -- obviously a hot area with the new Windows 8. The hot money is aggressively pursuing that name. There are also a couple of small biotechnology names, Celldex Therapeutics (CLDX) and CombiMatrix (CBMX), that are active, but it's a mixed bag.
My stock of the week is a small-cap mortgage play Security National Financial (SNFCA), which is acting well. I'm putting a little money into Apple (AAPL) this morning and I am looking to build that for a bounce when the fiscal cliff deal is announced. I'm confident we will see a deal, but the market is anticipating it to such a degree that I'll be watching for a "sell the news" reaction.
