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| PLAY > New Plays |
Thursday, February 08, 2001 |
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New Split Plays
No new Split Plays today
New Candidate Plays
| NATI - National Instruments Corp. $55.06 +2.19 (+3.53) |
National Instruments (NATI) develops and manufactures hundreds of integrated software and hardware products, which are used to replace and communicate with older, more traditional instrumentation. Strong management and heavy investments in R&D have produced a string of 24 years of double-digit sales growth for the company. Currently, the company has 50.57 millions shares outstanding and 180 million authorized, enough to split the stock 2:1. Moreover, the recent strength in the stock has pushed NATI shares above each of its previous split-levels, which positions this play as a good split candidate. In addition, the stock has just broken above previous highs and continues to climb on strong volume. For the day, shares gained $2.19 on heavy buying of 502,000 shares. This is more than double the three-month average of 234,400 shares and is a good indication that momentum players might already be accumulating the stock. Look for initial resistance to arise at the $60 mark. Down below, look for support in the $52 to $5 range. Time possible entries off an advance through today's intra-day high of $55.25 when accompanied by strong mid-day volume of 115,000 shares.
New Momentum Plays
| BDK - Black & Decker Corporation $46.37 +0.51 (+1.22) |
Black & Decker Corporation is a global marketer and manufacturer of quality products used in and around the home and for commercial applications. Tonight we welcome BDK to our new list of momentum plays after the stock achieved a new 52-week high. Intra day the stock traded as high as $46.65 on volume of 1.04 million shares, pretty good considering the stock normally trades on 810,000 shares. The stock has risen more than 50% since mid December of 2000 and recently conquered resistance at $45.00. In January BDK matched analyst's expectations for its earnings and now looks ready to sail to higher ground. In January the investment firm of CF First Boston changed its coverage of BDK to a "buy" from a "hold" and most recently Lehman Brothers ranked BDK as a "Strong Buy" with a price target of $52.00. The next technical challenge for the stock looks to be the half-century mark and then $52.00 a previous point of resistance dating back to January 2000. Support now exists at the 5-dma at $45.44, the 10-dma at $44.30 and the 20-dma at $43.30. Possible new play opportunities might include a move higher on volume over 500,000 by midday or a bounce off the 5-dma on similar volume. Be cautious of opening a new play if the volume drops as the stock rises. We will protect ourselves with a stop at $43.00.
New Plays Index
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