You know what a good market feels like? When you keep hearing, "There must be something going on with that stock," and they are referring to something good, not bad.
For Action Alerts PLUS, we can't stop thinking that something is going on at Johnson Controls (JCI) and Yum! Brands (YUM). They are simply "too strong" for us to believe it is just the fundamentals. Could Johnson Controls be breaking up more, bringing out more value? Is Yum! Brands seeing a dramatic turn in China or in Taco Bell breakfast? What's going on?
I am hearing it with the airlines. Is it price increases? They can't just be levitating.
How about IBM (IBM)? Hearing activism.
Apache (APA) got a big downgrade today, and it's up. Isn't that a natural target, now that Egypt, which is so important, seems to have stabilized? How can Continental Resources (CLR) be so strong without thinking that Statoil (STO) is in there kicking the tires? How about Marathon Oil (MRO)? That's having a nice move up, a nice suspicious move. Are you hearing Publix (PUSH) for Whole Foods (WFM)? I am not kidding, I am.
These are all part and parcel with an excellent "tape," where all that is probably really happening is nothing. Just large buyers trying to find stock and having to reach for it because there's just not enough supply.
Of course, we know that there's a huge amount of M&A going on. We see it every weekend. And we know that the stocks of the acquirers keep rallying, so it makes sense that there would be so much chatter.
I just want to point out that when you get this kind of action, you can expect a ton of covering every Friday. Weekends are just too dangerous to be short.