Market up in spite of the jobs report

This week is a good example of why I like to step back each weekend, ignore the headlines and find out what the market really did. Friday afternoon as soon as the jobs report came out several popular newsletter writers cried Chicken Little -- " The sky is falling --- you'd better short the market!". The market didn't seem to skip a beat.

As usual I go to Barchart to get my data and I like the Value Line Index because it contains 1700 stocks making it much broader than the S&P 500 or the very narrow Dow 30. Let's see how the market did.

Value Line Index -- contains 1700 stocks - up 3.70% for the week -- seems bullish

• The index closed above it's 20, 50 & 100 day moving averages
• Barchart's 13 technical indicators have 12 buy signals for a 96% overall buy rating
• The index has had a price appreciation on 13 of the last 20 trading sessions and also 5 of the last 5

Barchart market momentum -- contains approximately 6000 stocks -- the percentage of stocks closing above their daily moving averages for various time periods -- again a bullish sign

• 20 DMA -- 79.65% close above
• 50 DMA -- 85.10% closed above
• 100 DMA -- 79.87% closed above

The ratio of stocks hitting new highs to stocks hitting new lows for various time frames -- 1.0+ bullish, 1.0 neutral, below .99 bearish -- This week bullish for all 3 periods

• 20 day -- 1862 highs/lows 296 = 6.59
• 65 day -- 1050 highs/lows 488 = 2.15
• 100 day -- 904 highs/lows 89 = 10.16

Summary -- I think the market did very well and never missed a beat even after a negative jobs report. To be fair I'd like you to read the contrary opinion by Michael Shulman in his article -- The jobs numbers: Time to go short. Next week I will trim any stock that fails to maintain a closing price above its 50 day moving average and as long as the market keeps on trucking I'll add new positions that meet my criteria.

Over on Wall Street Survivor the Top Stock contributors that make stock recommendations still maintain their model portfolios. This month 4 of the 8 have beaten the market and so far this month my return of 5.60% vs. the S&P 500 return of 2.68% put me in 1st place for the month so far. The rest of the guys know what they are doing so I might not be first for long.

Disclosure: I do not hold positions in any of the stocks in my Wall Street Survivor portfolio.

Jim Van Meerten is an investor who writes on financial matters here and on Financial Tides. Please leave a comment below or email JimVanMeerten@gmail.com.

Oil equipment might be steadier than oil prices

When I start out looking for new stocks to add to my Wall Street Survivor portfolio my process begins on a purely technical price momentum basis. I look for the stocks that are presently hitting the most new highs and then begin a filtering process till I'm down to just a few. I then look for further reasons to narrow my list.

This week when I sorted on Barchart for the stocks hitting the most highs Cameron International Corp (CAM) came on the top of my list. Cameron is a manufacturer of the field equipment that oil and gas exploration companies use to explore for new oil and gas fields. While oil and gas prices bounce around all over the place the demand for the equipment to find new fields is far more stable. Whether oil prices are high or low we just need to continue to explore and buy more exploration equipment.

Something else I like about this company is something that scares me about playing around with oil prices. I hear the commentators on TV talk about short interest on oil and gas contacts and I've seen the effect that press releases can have on a stock when all the folks who sold it short try to cover their short positions to stop the bleeding they are feeling in a rising stock market. Since August the short interest ratio in this stock has dropped from 3.6 to 1.5. Simply put fewer people each month are shorting this stock, that's a pretty good vote of confidence from the short sellers. Short sellers tend to be more sophisticated and savvy then the rest of us so it's nice to find a stock that fewer of them are shorting.

CAM has made 17 price advances in the last 20 trading sessions and is 5 for 5 recently. There has been a nice price appreciation of 26.32% over the last 65 days. 12 Barchart's 13 technical indicators are signaling buy for a 96% overall technical buy rating.

24 Wall Street brokerage firms follow this stock and13 have buy recommendations out with no strong sell calls. The analysts are expecting a 10.0% increase in revenue next year with an annual EPS growth rate of 12% per year for the next 5 years.

Other technical sites like Wall Street Survivor readers give the stock a 5/5 Survivor Sentiment rating and on Motley Fool their readers think the stock will out perform the market by a vote of 965 to 18 with the All Star members giving it a vote of 212 to 3. Even the Wall Street journalists Fool follows like the stock 15 to 0.

I've got some solid reasons to like this stock:

• The stock is hitting new highs better than 50% for the recent trading sessions
• Fewer of the savvy short sellers are shorting this stock each month
• Brokerages firms have buy recommendations out there without any major trash talking
• Other major Internet sites seem to have confidence that this is a good investment.

Recommendation: I'm adding Cameron International (CAM) to my Wall Street Survivor portfolio around 44.50 with a stop loss at no lower than 40. I'll be moving that stop loss weekly.

Disclosure: I have no positions in CAM at the time of publication

Jim Van Meerten is an investor who writes on financial matters here and on Financial Tides. Please leave a comment below or email JimVanMeerten@gmail.com

Let's hear it for energy independence

Everywhere we turn these days talking heads and politicians are harping about finding new ways to make sure the US isn't dependent on foreign oil and energy sources. Others are telling us that oil isn't the answer and natural gas is the way of the future. Well today my favorite stock to add to my Wall Street Survivor portfolio is Vanguard Natural Resources -- VNR.

The stock came up on my radar while I was using Barchart to screen for stocks hitting the most frequent new highs and this one hit the top of my list with 17 new price advances in the last 20 trading sessions and 4 new highs in the last 5 days. The stock has had a 44.32% price appreciation in the last 65 days and has buy signals on 12 of Barchart's 13 technical indicators for a 96% buy rating.

What made me fall in love with this stock is that it has what everyone seems to be looking for these days. They focus on the acquisition, exploitation and development of both natural gas and oil properties in the US. Most of their natural gas reserves are located in the southern portion of the Appalachian Basin, primarily in southeast Kentucky and northeast Tennessee. We don't have to worry about foreign interests and since they explore for both oil and gas we can have it either way.

On a fundamental basis this stock makes money and has a following. 6 brokerage firms follow the stock and 4 have buy recommendations with the other 2 a hold. No sell recommendations. The consensus is for a 30.4% increase in revenue next year and a 9.9% growth in earnings per share.

Before I put in my buy order I decided to check the other sites and Wall Street Survivor members have a 5/5 Survivor Sentiment rating, with a 4/5 fundamental and 5/5 technical rating. On Motley Fool CAPS members think the stock will out perform the market by a vote of 170 to 11 with the All Stars in agreement 61 to 1. The 3 Wall Street columnist that Fool follows like it 3 to 0.

I want to make a major point here before I receive criticism from any of you who are reading me for the first time. I try to find the stocks on my own. I do not buy them because they are popular with the analysts or other sites. I use these sources as a sounding board. If I want to buy a stock I look to see if others are trashing it. If I like it but others don't then I give it a second look to see it they saw something negative that I was missing. I just like to have that second and third opinion but I make my own finds.

This stock has what I like:

• The stock is hitting new highs better than 50% of the recent trading sessions
• The stock has a following with no major trash talking
• Other sites have a similar favorable opinion

Recommendation: I'm adding VNR to my Wall Street Survivor portfolio around 23.25 with a protective stop loss of not less than 19.

Disclosure: I hold no positions in VNR at the time of this publication.

Jim Van Meerten is an investor who writes on financial matters here and on Financial Tides. Please leave a comment below or email JimVanMeerten@gmail.com

Buy the auditors

Before you jump to conclusions the title doesn't say "Buy-off the auditors". You need to read more carefully. We are in a recession and many businesses are about to run out of cash. There is a big difference between having a passionate business idea and actually running a business. The reasons most businesses fold -- and guess what -- the majority do -- is not that they had a bad product or didn't know their market; it's because of poor business practices.

PRG-Schultz International, Inc. is a leading provider of accounts payable and other recovery audit services to large and mid-size businesses and certain governmental agencies having numerous payment transactions with many vendors. The company has four distinct operating segments consisting of Accounts Payable Services, Freight Services, Tax Services and Facilities Services. Each segment represents a strategic business unit that offers a different type of recovery audit service.

PRGX makes sure you get what you pay for. They audit bills and contracts and give you assistance to manage your accounts receivable and payable. Most business owners fail miserably in these basic areas.

Barchart shows this stock has had price appreciation on 15 of the last 20 trading sessions and 4 of 5 recently. It has had a nice 34.44% price appreciation in the last 65 days.

This stock is not closely followed on Wall Street but analysts expect an annual growth rate of 20% for the next 5 years.

On other sites Wall Street Survivor readers give the stock a 5/5 Survivor Sentiment rating plus a 5/5 technical and a 5/5 fundamental rating. Over on Motley Fool the CAPS members think the stock will out perform the market 157 to 12 with the All Stars in agreement 60 to 2.

This stock has what I look for:

• Hitting new highs in more than 50% of the recent trading sessions
• If followed by Wall street positive outlook with no trash talking
• Confirmation of my research on other major sites.

Recommendation: Credit will continue to be tight. Bankers will only lend to businesses that are run like businesses. A firm hand shake and looking someone straight in the eye won't cut it in today's business environment. I'm adding PRGX to my more speculative Marketocracy model portfolio VMSLO at around 6.25 with a stop loss at 5.50. This is a highly speculative purchase because of low price and low volume. Take your stop loss seriously.

Jim Van Meerten is an investor who writes on financial matters here and on Financial Tides. Please leave a comment below or email JimVanMeerten@gmail.com

Disclosure: No positions in PRGX at the time of publication

Covering some short positions

These are being closed on price performance alone in my Marketocracy short funnd VMSHT:

ALNY - Alnylam Pharma
MATK - Martek Biosciences
PHM - Pulte Homes
VLO - Valero Energy

Please leave a comment below or email JimVanMeerten@gmail.com

Wall Street Survivor deletions

Just a quick note to let you know of a couple of sell orders in my Wall Street Survivor portfolio. I'll wait till the trades clear and maybe add back tomorrow or the next day.

Selling Novartis -- NVS -- stock is trading below its 50 day moving average on dilution from an acquisition of more stock in Alcon -- ACL.

Selling Targacept Inc -- TRGT -- stock trading below its 50 day moving average -- stock is just not participating in the rally.

Please note that I'm kind of strict on when to cut a stock loose. It needs to maintain a price above its 50 DMA. If it can't, I'll sell and leave it to others to determine why it is an under performer.

Disclosure : I do not hold positions in NVS or TRGT at the time of publication

Jim Van Meerten is an investor who write on financial matters here and on Financial Tides. Please leave a comment below or email JimVanMeerten@gmail.com

Biogen is what the doctor orders

Biogen Idec -- BIIB is being added to my Marketocracy S&P 500 model portfolio. IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company engaged primarily in the research, development and commercialization of targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Their first commercial product, Rituxan, and our most advanced product candidate, ZEVALIN, are for use in the treatment of certain B-cellnon-Hodgkin's lymphomas. They are also developing products for the treatment of various autoimmune diseases (such as psoriasis, rheumatoidarthritis and lupus).

I screened for S&P 500 stocks showing the highest relative strength on Barchart and then used my normal elimination procedures. Biogen was on the short list. The stock has had 13 new days of price appreciation in the last 20 sessions and was 3 for 5 recently. 11 of Barchart's technical indicators rate the stock a buy for an 80% technical buy rating.

There are 20 brokerage firms following the company with no recent sell recommendations. 7 have buy recommendations on the stock.

On other sites Wall Street Survivor has a 5/5 sentiment rating with a 4/5 fundamental rating and a 5/5 technical rating. Motley Fool Caps members feel the stock will outperform the market by a vote of 622 to 45 with the All Stars in agreement 204 to 9 and the Wall Street columnists Fool follows are voting 10 to 3.

This stock has met my criteria:

• Hitting new highs better than 50% of recent days
• Following by Wall Street with no trash talking
• Others sites agree with my screening.

I'm adding Biogen Idec -- BIIB to my Marketocracy S&P 500 model portfolio around 53.75 with a protective stop loss of not less than 50. Remember to keep stop losses tight on pharmas. One bad press release can tank them over night.

Jim Van Meerten is an investor who writes on financial matters here and on Financial Tides. Please leave a comment below or email JimVanMeerten@gmail.com

Disclosure: No positions in BIIB at the time of publication

Micron Technologies - MU

I needed to search of a new addition to my Marketocracy S&P 500 fund VMFIV. I used Barchart to screen the S&P 500 stocks that were presently exhibiting the highest relative strength and then used my normal screening criteria to come up with my pick. Micron Technologies -- MU was the strongest on my short list.

Micron Technology, Inc. has established itself as one of the leading worldwide providers of semiconductor memory solutions. The company's quality memory solutions serve customers in a variety of industries including computer and computer-peripheral manufacturing, consumer electronics, CAD/CAM, telecommunications, office automation, network and data processing, and graphics display. The company's mission is to be the most efficient and innovative global provider of semiconductor memory solutions.

On Barchart MU has hit 14 new highs in the last 20 trading sessions and is 4 out of 5 recently. The stock has enjoyed a 65 day price appreciation of 76.96% and is rated a buy on 12 of Barchart's 13 technical indicators for a 96% overall technical buy rating.

On a fundamental basis the stock has a wide Wall Street following and analysts estimate the stock will have an annual growth of 8.6% on sales and 136.8% on earning per share next year. 17 analysts have upgraded their EPS estimates in the last 30 days. Of the 10 brokerage firms following this stock 14 rate it a buy.

On other sites Wall Street Survivor members give a Sentiment rating of 5/5 and a fundamental rating of 5/5. Motley Fool CAPS members think the stock will beat the market with a vote of 608 to 109 with the All Stars in agreement 154 to 20. The Wall Street columnist Fool follows like to stock 19 to 0.

This stock meets my criteria:

• The stock is hitting new highs in more than 50% of the recent sessions
• If Wall Street follows the stock -- no trash talking
• Other site seems to agree with my research.

I'm adding the stock to my Marketocracy S&P 500 model portfolio around 10.80 with a protective stop loss of not less than 8.25.

Jim Van Meerten is an investor who writes on financial matters here and on Financial Tides. Please leave a comment below or email JimVanMeerten@gmail.com

Disclosure: no positions in MU at the time of publication

Market ends on a nice note

Every week I like to step back and use the same tools to evaluate the market and try to decide my investment strategy for the coming week. I use Barchart for my data and the Value Line Index as my yardstick. I like the Value Line Index because it contains 1700 stocks giving me a broader view than the S&P 500 or the very narrow Dow 30. Let's see how the market did.

Value Line Index - 1700 stocks - seems bullish

• Down 1.20% for the week
• Up 7.01% for the month
• Up 57.95% for the year
• Closed above its 20, 50 & 100 Day Moving Averages
• Buy rating on 11 of Barchart's 13 technical indicators for an overall Buy rating of 88%

Barchart Market Momentum - approximately 6000 stocks -- percentage of stock closing above their Daily Moving Averages for various periods -- majority closed above their DMAs

• 20 DMA -- 69.73% closed above
• 50 DMA -- 74.14% closed above
• 100 DMA -- 72.75% closed above

Ratio of stock hitting new highs to new lows for various periods - above 1.0 bullish, 1.0 neutral, below .99 bearish -- This week still bullish

• 20 day new high/new low ratio -- 1056/361 = 2.93
• 65 day new high/new low ratio -- 518/138 = 3.75
• 100 day new high/new low ratio -- 421/104 = 4.05

Summary & Strategy -- The market ended the year on an upward trend and I see no reason that the trend won't continue through January. During the coming week I'll trim any stock that doesn't maintain a price level above it's 50 DMA and feel confident that I can replace it with a new position.

Jim Van Meerten is an investor who writes on financial matters here and on Financial Tides. Please feel free to leave a comment below or email JimVanMeerten@gmail.com

Disclosure: No individual stock mentioned