Watchlist for October 28, 2008

It's all smiles on CNBC so you know we must be set to gap up this morning. In this recent global death spiral I've been wondering if our market has been following the foreign markets or were they following us. For today at least we're clearly following them. The bulls really need to build on this early strength and start making some higher highs and breaking some downtrends. As I write this QQQQ is still about 60 cents below yesterday's high. SO breaking that barrier would be a good start.

On Today's Calendar:

10:00 -- Consumer Confidence

More Calendars: U.S. Earnings | Conf. Calls | Surprises | IPO | Economic

Potential swing trades:

See one of the recent 'Chart Reading' posts for some potential swing candidates. Also be sure to check my typical swing trade entry & exit rules.

Potential day trades:

(From Briefing.com)

Gapping Down

In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance: PRXL -13.1%, BWLD -10.0%, RCII -9.6%, AEG -8.9% (also secures EUR 3 bln of core capital from Dutch State), USG -5.3%, CR -4.2% (light volume), KSU -1.4%, MAS -1.2%... M&A news: HUN -7.4% (Huntsman receives notice that banks unwilling to close merger today)... Other news: ING -9.6% and DB -6.0% (still checking for anything specific).

Gapping Up

In reaction to strong earnings/guidance: VLO +13.2%, BP +7.8%, RCL +5.8%, UA +5.5%, ATHR +3.8%, X +3.8%, HGR +3.8% (light volume), HLIT +3.5% (light volume), FIS +2.5%, SAP +2.1%... M&A news: AHG +31.2% (S&P announces it will be removed from the S&P MidCap 400; being acquired for cash by an affiliate of The Blackstone Group with deal expected to close about 10/28), BRL +3.7% and TEVA +3.4% (TEVA and BRL provide update on acquisition, lending banks have agreed to amend Barr's unsecured credit facilities to permit them to remain in place following Barr's acquisition by Teva)... Select financial stocks rebounding: FITB +13.3%, MS +8.8%, NCC +6.4%, HBC +6.3%, C +5.1%, GS +5.0%, BAC +4.3%, JPM +3.5%, WFC +3.0%... Select oil/gas names trading higher boosted by BP and VLO results: STO+11.2%, TSO +11.0%, NOV +7.4%, RDS.A +6.9%, TOT +6.6%, PBR +6.4%, CVX +3.4%, COP +3.0%, XOM +2.9%,STO +11.2%, TSO +11.0%, RDS.A +6.9%, TOT +6.6%, CVX +3.4%, COP +3.0%, XOM +2.9%... Select metals/mining names showing strength with higher spot prices: SSL +14.3%, MTL +9.8%, AUY +9.4%, BBL +9.2%, MT +8.7%, RTP +7.8%, BHP +7.6%, GOLD +7.3%, GFI +7.1%, AEM +6.7%, NEM +4.0%, GLD +1.9%,... Select solar names trading higher: SOL +13.8%, YGE +10.1%, LDK +8.9%, STP +8.4%, ESLR +6.7%, FSLR +5.7%... Other news: DFS +11.2% (MasterCard settles litigation with Discover Financial Services; Visa also settles legal dispute with Discover), CCL +8.9% (up in sympathy with RCL), VIP +8.2% (Court freezes Altimo's stake in Vimpelcom - WSJ), BA +8.1% (reaches deal with machinists' union - Financial Times), SVNT +7.5% (modestly rebounding from yesterday's 60%+drop), SNY +7.1% (still checking), AAPL +4.0% (still checking), GE +3.9% (accessed Federal Reserve short-term funding facility, doesn't disclose amount issued - Bloomberg)... Analyst comments: ADM +6.3% (initiated with Buy at Soleil), GLW +4.4% (upgraded to Buy at ThinkPanmure), BSY +4.1% (upgraded to Buy at Citigroup); AMR +6.4%, DAL +4.3%, UAUA +3.7% and LCC +3.6% (all upgraded to Add at Calyon).