We are wrapping up the week with a little profit-taking. Breadth is running around 2,400 gainers to 3,900 decliners and we have about 150 stocks hitting new 12-month highs. It is just some routine consolidation following the spike on the FOMC decision on Wednesday.
One positive for trades is that we have more focus today on stock picking. Names like Twitter (TWTR) and Facebook (FB) are dominating the news coverage instead of the macro matters that had been the focus. We had to deal with both the Fed and the Bank of Japan this week, which caused stock picking to take a backseat to market-timing concerns. (Facebook is part of TheStreet's Action Alerts PLUS portfolio.)
Many bears thought this would be the week when the market finally lost confidence in the central banks, but it was business as usual with routine buying on dovish news. There will be at least a dozen appearances by Fed members next week, but the central banker sideshow should not have as much impact for a while.
I'm putting more focus on stock picking and like what I see in a number of places. TPI Composites (TPIC) , one of my biggest positions at the moment, continues to develop well. It could use a bit more volume, but I like the technical picture. Aratana Therapeutics (PETX) is closer to moving out of its base and I'm still accumulating the stock. Etsy (ETSY) , which I highlighted on Wednesday, is busting out of its base. Gold miner Gold Resource (GORO) is working on a breakout. Small biotechnology firm Galmed (GLMD) continues to attract interest. Sarepta (SRPT) didn't hold secondary pricing of $59.75 but I'm interested in accumulating.
A day of rest is helping charts and we should have some stock-picking opportunities next week.
