It is choppy and sloppy out there as the profit taking that started on Monday continues on a more selective basis. The indices are holding up reasonably well but breadth is running about 2850 gainers to over 3800 decliners. New 12-month highs have contracted to around 50 and new 12-month lows are up a bit to around 25.
This looks like routine consolidation action at this point but that obviously can change. The bulls still have the potential of positive China trade headlines to rescue them if the selling intensifies but that dynamic lost some of its appeal on Monday with the negative reaction to the latest headline.
There still isn't any big shift in the indices to cause a major bearish view but you have to focus on individual stock picking if you want to make progress in this market. The index trade isn't offering much right now.
A few names on my radar right now are NIO (NIO) and Qutoutiao (QTT) both of which report earnings tonight, Ra Pharmaceuticals (RARX) which has some presentations coming soon, Aqua Metals (AQMS) , a play on lead, Evolus (EOLS) a good looking flag pattern, Blink Charging (BLNK) which announced some contract news, and Aurora Cannabis (ACB) a pot play. There are a few others but the indices are struggling a bit and that is causing some headwinds.
The best move here is to stay focused on stock picking but manage positions tightly. There is still no compelling reason to embrace the bearish narrative.
