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Alert HQ for the week ending 7-11-2008

This post is to announce that the latest list of stock alerts is up and available at Alert HQ. Each week we scan over 7200 stocks and ETFs looking for fresh BUY and SELL signals.

This week's market action showed that wherever the financials are, indexes go down. The Dow and the S&P 500 showed 1.7% and 1.9% declines. Financials make up a significant percentage of those indexes even though their weight has been reduced compared to other sectors. Where the financials do not predominate, indexes actually saw some gains or at least a very small loss: Midcap 400 up 0.1%, Russell 2000 up 1.4% and the NASDAQ down only 0.3% on the week.

Nevertheless, it is a tough market for holding stocks. With rumors swirling around Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, investors have been especially skittish. As a result, markets have traded in wide ranges each day. Throw Iran/Israel and the price of oil into the mix and you have the makings of a spicy stew indeed.

As I have been saying for weeks now, the market turmoil is making it difficult to find good stock alerts on the BUY side and is putting tremendous pressure on previous BUY signals. This week we see at least a slowing of the carnage as, based on daily data, there are only 21 SELL signals. This is two thirds less SELL signals when compared to last week and, with 9 BUY signals this week we increased the number of BUY signals by one. Before we get too excited however, we need to keep in mind one data point does not make a trend. Also this week, we have 2 BUY signals and 23 SELL signals based on weekly data.

What to do with all these SELL signals? If you are not disposed to trading on the short side, you may take a contrarion approach and look through our list of SELL signals for good companies that are beginning to trade at bargain prices. Build that watchlist and be ready to move when price levels are attractive.

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