PLAY > New Plays	Tuesday, March 20, 2001

	New Split Plays   New Candidate Plays   New Momentum Plays
(We update our stop losses daily at the CURRENT PLAYS page.)

New Split Plays

None

New Candidate Plays

GDW - Golden West Financial $58.80 +0.55 (+1.88)

GDW showed some remarkable resiliency today in the face of broad market selling into the close. The resiliency was even more impressive in light of the fact that the PHLX Bank Index (BKX) plummeted 28.67 points to a close of 818.38 following the FOMC's latest rate cut. Perhaps the interest in GDW lies in the possibility that the stock is ripe for a split. The current share price is more than $15.00 above the price when the last split was announced in November 1999. Another reason traders might be interersted is that GDW broke out of its 2001 trading range today. The bottom of the range found excellent support at the 200-DMA of $51.88. The top of the range is $59.19. GDW did pull back below this resistance. Therefore, we would be really interested in initiating a position if GDW can push back above $59.19 tomorrow. In the event of a pullback, we would be cautiously willing to pick up the stock if it stays above $54.50. Today's volume of 1.1 million shares was almost twice the average daily volume. This is another good sign that there is interest in owning this stock. What's more, other technical indicators such as the MACD, OBV and Money Flow are all strong and point towards continued gains.

Picked on March 20th @ $58.80 Change since picked +0.00 Stop Loss @ $54.50
Interactive Chart	Quote	News	First Call on GDW

New Momentum Plays

SIAL - Sigma-Aldrich Corp. $45.44 +0.50 +1.06

Specialty-chemical manufacturer Sigma-Aldrich bucked the overall market trend to move higher today, as some traders continue to look for any semblance of safety on the long-side of the market. What's more, Tuesday marked the third-consecutive day that SIAL made for higher ground. Today's move came on better-than-average volume of 915,000 shares, nearly double the three-month average of 525,000, so there was some conviction behind the buying. With the recent rally, SIAL has caught support at what appears to be a consolidation base at $43.00, which should be bolstered by the 10-dma at $45.08. Above, SIAL has immediate resistance at the March 9 intra-day high of $46.06 followed by today's intra-day high of $47.50. With the MACD set to turn positive, we wouldn't be surprised if SIAL takes out immediate resistance sooner rather than latter. With that said, traders interested in taking a position in SIAL could consider an entry point on a move through the March 9 high of $46.06 on 300,000 shares traded by noon. Should SIAL fall apart, however, we will limit our losses with a stop-loss just below the 40-dma at $42.25

Picked on March 4th at $42.50 Change since picked 0.00 Stop Loss at $39.00
Interactive Chart	Quote	News	First Call on SIAL

New Plays Index