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| PLAY > New Plays |
Tuesday, January 09, 2001 |
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New Split Plays
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New Candidate Plays
| APOL - Apollo Group Inc. $52.38 +2.81 (+4.25) |
Houston we have no problem! In fact we have good news. On Tuesday, Apollo Group rocketed to a new 52-week high of $53.06. The company provides higher education programs for working adults. In its most recent earning release on December 19th, APOL posted first quarter FY 2001 record results. Since its earnings release the stock has risen an impressive 52% from $34.00 to today's close at $52.38. Tuesday's new high was achieved on twice the stock's normal trading volume, which indicates that buying was for real. At its present level, we see APOL as a split candidate. The company currently has 76 million shares outstanding with 400 million authorized, plenty of stock to announce a split. To date, APOL has split its stock five times, the most recent occurring in April of 1998. As for trading, we are currently tracking resistance at today's high of $53.06. Support will be measured at the previous consolidation level near $50, and then at the 10-dma at $48.92. Look for a move through $53.06 on volume of 500,000 shares traded by noon EST as a possible entry point. We will cover our downside by placing a stop loss at $48.00.
| ESRX - Express Scripts $86.56 +2.52 (+3.33) |
Express Scripts thrives in its niche of providing retail drug card programs, mail pharmacy services and drug management programs. The company has more than 9,000 clients, including some of the largest HMO's and health care companies in the United States. Analysts expect 2001 to be a solid year for ESRX. Earnings are expected to grow 26.54% to $3.04 a share. ESRX announced a 2:1 split in October of 1998 when the stock was trading at $82.00. Now that the stock is trading at higher level than the last split announcement, we think ESRX is a solid split candidate. ESRX soared to a new high of $107.00 during the last trading day of 2000. Profit taking broke the solid up trend. However, ESRX now seems ripe for picking because it has found good support just above the 50-DMA of $80.75. The MACD is still negative, but we are trying to get a jump on a comeback rally. OBV and Money Flow held their ground during the selling and are both starting to turn back up. If the stock can take out the $87.75 resistance, a rally to $93.50 could occur quickly.
New Momentum Plays
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New Plays Index
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