6:30 AM – MORNING MARKET UPDATE & WATCH LIST NOTE: Today’s watch list can be found here. After another solid week last week, this morning, futures are sharply lower as we get ready to kick off trading week number four of 2019. The new year continues to be very bullish for stocks as the major averages traded higher again this past week. After three weeks of 2019 trading, we still have only had two down days on Wall Street. The stock market hasn’t started a year this strongly since 1987. This past week was technically significant, as the major indices closed higher four out of five sessions as each index blasted through previously noted areas of resistance, and closed well above their respective 50-day moving averages. The Dow Jones added another +2.9% this past week. However, the index is now at resistance of a downward trendline. Chart courtesy of stockcharts.com The Nasdaq gained +2.6% on the week. Chart courtesy of stockcharts.com The S&P 500 advanced +2.9%. Chart courtesy of stockcharts.com Of note, the indices are still below their 200-day moving averages. ____________________________________________________ Now You Can Start Receiving James’ –Technical SetUps WatchList Each Market Morning Early each market morning James diligently screens through hundreds of high EPS and RS ranked stocks that have solid fundamentals. He is looking for those select few which are setting up in sound technical bases and which looked poised to breakout that day. Each stock is listed with specific trading criteria such as a TRIGGER PRICE, TRIGGER VOLUME and MAX BUY PRICE. Normally $19.95 a month, now just $9 a month through James’ BuyingBreakOuts.com website. LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS SPECIAL 50% DISCOUNT OFFER HERE ____________________________________________________ Also of note, the small-cap stocks, as gauged by the Russell 2000 index are off to their best start to any year in the past 32 years, boasting a gain of +8.8%over the past 12 trading sessions, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Over the same period, the Dow is up +4.5%, while the Nasdaq has posted a +6.8%advance. This morning, the International Monetary Fund has released its latest economic outlook with a warning: Growth is slowing and things could get much worse if countries keep fighting over trade. The IMF lowered estimates for growth in 2019 by 0.2 percentage points to 3.5%. It’s the second time the agency has cut its forecast for this year. I ran my routine stock screens this morning, yet did not add any new stocks to our watch list. Over the long holiday weekend, I ran my routine stock screens and added 2 new stocks to our TrendLine SetUps WatchList. We now have a total of 9 stocks which we will be watching for the next buyable breakout – see here. One of those is NMIH. Chart courtesy of stockcharts.com Now you can get access all watch lists with updated trading criteria including –TRIGGER PRICE, TRIGGER VOLUME, and MAX BUY PRICE for every stock here. Missed any of these morning reports? You can find all previous reports here. Standard rules apply – any gains above the stock’s TRIGGER PRICE while the day’s volume is at least on pace to make the TRIGGER VOLUME would have any of these set ups confirming a BUY signal up to their MAX BUY PRICE by default. Keep in mind that when a stock breaks out – becomes potentially buyable – there are other factors to consider. Volume on the breakout. A stock that is breaking out through resistance, with an increase in volume of +50% above the stock’s average volume (50 DAV), is showing more conviction and more demand. This is not saying – all lower volume breakouts will fail. Actually, we’ve seen many continue higher. If you have found that you did buy a stock that showed lower daily volume or volume under 50%, going forward – simply treat it a regular trade. Earnings BreakOuts. Many stocks from our watch list will break out during earnings season. Earnings breakouts can be more rewarding, however, these trades carry much more risk then traditional (non-news) breakouts. One needs to also consider – the strength/weakness of the fundamental news that was just released along with the forward-looking guidance the company gave, investors response to the conference call, etc. For anyone who is not familiar with – buying earnings breakouts – I suggest that they sit through a few seasons to study, paper trade, and show some profits, before applying actual capital. As always, if anyone has any questions – please feel free to email me at james@jamestaulman.com as I would be glad to assist you.