CTAS - Cintas Corporation $51.61 (+3.30)

A designer and distributor of rental equipment and household products, Cintas Corporation (CTAS) is expected to generate 75% of its total annual revenues from the sale of industrial supplies (uniforms, mats, clothes). Other revenues (25%) are generated from the company's consumer sales division, which is comprised of catalog sales and first aid supplies. The company recently expanded its sales force, which is expected to help boost its core business by 15%. With one of the highest P/E ratio's in the industry (40.91), the company has justified its present valuations by having the industry's highest earnings growth rate of 37.33%. Although the company has 168.65 million shares outstanding and 300 million shares authorized (not enough for a 2:1 stock split) its most recent split was 3:2 and at current levels, is a definite possibility. The company is now trading just below its most recent split announcement level of $54.06, which we feel is in reach, given the recent momentum and solid uptrend. As for the play, shares have just broken above stiff resistance near $50 and good volume (1.0m shares traded) suggests that CTAS could be on its way to challenge all time highs of $52.25. However, we'll look for an initial entry point to be signaled when the stock advances sharply above Friday's all time high of $51.88. Tougher challenges will arise as the stock treads higher to $55 and $60, which could also present an excellent opportunity to lock in gains. However, should the stock consolidate prior to advancing, we'll initially look to $50 for support, with a firmer base to follow at $49 (recent high), bolstered by the 10-dma of $48.45. A sharp bounce originating from either of these levels, when accompanied by good mid-day volume of 500 thousand shares will present low-risk entry points. We'll set a firm stop loss below these levels at $48.50, to protect against a trend reversal.

Picked on November 24th @ $51.61 Change since picked 0.00

DGX - Quest Diagnostics $104.38 (-1.88)

Quest Diagnostics offers a broad range of clinical laboratory testing services used by physicians in the detection, evaluation, monitoring and treatment of diseases and other medical conditions. The stock has been strong, given the recent shaky market conditions. Shares of DGX have risen from the $30 range last November to an all-time high of $141 on September 5. The stock then sold off with the biotech sector, hitting a relative low of $82.75 on October 30. Since then, DGX has rallied back to $119.50 and then sold off again, hitting a low of $94.25 on Wednesday. We believe that DGX may have put in a bottom and could be ready to rally. Evidence of this comes in the fact that within the last month, the stock has been selling off on lower volume and rallying on higher volume. The RSI is also starting to trend up and the stochastic is bouncing off oversold levels. The stock is also a split candidate. The company has enough shares for a split with 46.2 million shares outstanding and 100 million shares authorized. DGX has never split, so an announcement could come at their next BoD or with their next earnings release, which is expected at the end of January. Going forward, DGX has support at the century mark with additional support at the November 20 intra-day low of $96.25. There is resistance at the November 20 intra-day high of $107.69 and then $110, just below the November 17 intra-day high. We are looking for entry points on a bounce off of $100 or a move above $107.69 on midday volume of at least 350,000 shares. We plan to use stops at $95 as downside protection.

Picked on November 26th @ $104.38 Change since picked +0.00