The Greek Rally

End of Day Update:

It was an interesting day as the S&P500 rebounded from yesterday’s selloff. The chart doesn’t suggest this bounce is any different from all the others that failed. The gains were modest, we closed under 2,100 resistance, volume was below average, and we continue making lower-highs. The notable exception is the situation in Greece deteriorated materially, yet the market rallied.

We easily could have crashed a couple dozen points as Greece’s politicians refused to negotiate with European leaders. That’s what common sense says should have happened, so why didn’t it? The thing many speculators fail to understand is headlines, fundamentals, and technicals don’t move markets. Only people changing their outlook and making adjustments to their portfolio drives price. It doesn’t get any more simple than that. Shifting expectations and the resulting buying and selling move prices, period, end of story.

Puting today’s move in context, stock owners read the Greek headlines, shrugged and went about their business. The reason we didn’t see the “common sense” selloff is every owner who fears the Grexit is already out of the market. When there is no one left to sell the news, it no longer matters.

Today’s price-action is telling us Greece isn’t a big deal anymore. Without a doubt these headlines will continue to drive volatility, we could remain range-bound, and will likely see a kneejerk selloff when Greece finally defaults and gets the boot, but today’s trade tells us this will be a short-lived move since most of the Grexit sellers are long gone. The way to trade the volatility is to continue buying the dip. While this market will eventually crash, it won’t be because of something everyone is talking about. Remember, people don’t get hit by the bus they see coming.

Individual Stocks:

$AAPL – Apple is mirroring the indexes and it’s fate rests with the rest of the market. Last week’s developer conference came and went without a major catalyst and it will be a while before we have another one. There is no reason to sell the stock, but there isn’t much to get excited about either.

$EBAY – Fairly dramatic move today. The day started with a bang as the stock popped a dollar and a half at the open, but the move quickly fizzled and we finished with a much more modest fifty cent gain. While I’d prefer to see more constructive price-action than this intraday reversal, we remain above support and today’s pop shows the explosive potential remains to the upside. We are close to the breakout point and we need to watch this one closely, but it isn’t time to pull the ripcord yet. Failing to hold $59 and we will be forced to reconsider.

$FEYE – FireEye continues to ramp up. While it is exciting to see these gains pile up day after day, owners should be shifting to a more defensive posture. We’re close to a 20% gain from the breakout point and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the stock pause near $55. While it could easily continue racing higher, only a fool would be disappointed by locking in a 20% gain over a few weeks. A more aggressive stance is moving up a trailing stop and letting it ride. We have modest support near $50, but there is a good chance a near-term pullback will under cut $50 for no other reason than chasing off all the owners with a stop under $50. The proactive trader that locks in profits near $55 could reenter following the $50 undercut and bounce.

$ALGN – Align is marching ahead and pennies away from eclipsing January’s intraday highs. At that point virtually everyone in the stock will be sitting on profits and excited to see them continue growing. Confident owners keep supply tight and prop up prices. An Ebay style pullback to $60 is possible so it is riskier to chase if someone isn’t involved yet.

$ORCL – In the big-cap space, Oracle is getting interesting. Today’s 2% gain on 60% above average volume makes this worth a look. We’re on the verge of breaking through the upper end of the $45 trading congestion. After that, the only thing holding us back is last December’s $46 highs. Clear this and we’ll be making multi-year highs. While not as exciting and fast-moving as some of the smaller growth stories, profits are profits and some slow money offsets the volatility from more speculative holdings.

Jani

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Tags: $S&P500 $SPY $SPX $AAPL $EBAY $FEYE $ALGN $ORCL