PHCC distributes specialty pharmaceuticals and related medical supplies to the alternate site healthcare market and provides patient specific, self injectable biopharmaceuticals and disease treatment programs. For the FY ended 12/30/00, revenues rose 37% to $584.7M. Net income rose 36% to $28.1M. Results reflect increased patients and increased new disease states servicing, partially offset by higher SG&A expenses.

March 4, 2001

Priority Healthcare Corporation is a national specialty pharmacy and distribution company that provides specialized pharmaceutical services for patients with chronic diseases or genetic disorders that require high-cost, complex therapies. This weekend we welcomed PHCC to our list of momentum plays on the heels of the stock achieving a new 52-week high of $43.75 on Friday. Let's back up a bit to the events leading up to the new high. On February 22nd PHCC released their most recent earnings report which came in one cent above expectations. Since that date PHCC has risen 22% and now looks poised to move even higher. This has been a great year for investors of PHCC, since December the stock has nearly doubled in value; from a mid-December low of $22.89 to Friday's high of $43.75. The only dark cloud hanging over PHCC's new high was the fact that volume came in slightly lower than the average. Normally PHCC trades about 541,000 shares based on a three-month average, but Friday's high was recorded on volume of only 491,000. So going into next week we will look for volume to build as PHCC attempts new highs. Possible entry points might include a bounce off support at $42.00 or a new move higher to $44.00. We'd like to see volume of 400,000 traded by midday when considering starting a new position. Additional support exists at the 5-dma at $41.00, should the consolidation area at $42.00 fail. Look for additional support from the NASDAQ Composite Index (COMPX) and the CBOE Health Care Index (HCX.X) when considering starting a new play. We will post a stop loss at $39.00 on this play.

Picked on March 4th at $42.50
Change since picked 0.00
Stop Loss at $39.00

March 13, 2001

PHCC's downtrend didn't stop today, as the stock sold off hard for most of the day. We were actually fortunate to get out at our stop-loss of $39.00 yesterday because PHCC gapped down to open at $37.50 today to trade lower through most of the session. With that said, we will keep an eye on PHCC for future trading opportunities.

Picked on March 4th @ $42.50
Profit/Loss -3.50 (8%) (Stopped Monday @ $39.00)
Best Profit +2.00 (5%)

March 11, 2001

PHCC, the national distributor of specialty pharmaceuticals, shed 6-percent this week with much of that occurring on Friday. It should be of no surprise to anyone by now that Friday was an ugly day in the market, and that's being polite. There were few safe havens for traders to hide, as sell orders flooded the market in a fairly steady stream all day. Caught in the storm was PHCC, which shed $3.00 on Friday. The trading volume was 714,000 shares, which is 28% above the three-month average of 556,000. The stock crashed through two support levels and came within 32 cents of triggering our stop loss. Next week we'll need to see some life come back into this play ASAP or we'll have to say farewell. If you are considering a new play in PHCC, look for the stock to rise through resistance at the 20-dma at $40.71 on strong volume as a possible entry point. Strong volume would mean 400,000 shares traded by noon. Additionally, entries should be coordinated with a decent market rally, with emphasis in the NASDAQ Composite Index (COMPX) and the CBOE Health Care Index (HCX.X). We are keeping our stop loss just under foot at $39.00.

Picked on March 4th at $42.50
Change since picked -2.87
Stop Loss at $39.00