American Standard manufactures high quality, brand name air conditioning systems, bathroom & kitchen fixtures and fittings and braking systems for vehicles. For the FY ended 12/31/00, revenues increased 6% to $7.6B. Net income from continuing ops. increased 20% to $316M. Revenues reflect higher air-conditioning sales due to share growth in equipment and expanded solutions and services sales. Earnings reflect a $57M gain on sale of business.

May 6, 2001

American Standard Companies is a global manufacturer of air conditioning systems, bathroom and kitchen fixtures, and vehicle control systems for trucks, buses, trailers and utility vehicles. Shares of ASD have been hitting new highs over the past four months following a major breakout from the $35-$50 range in January. The stock closed at an all-time high on Friday and we believe that ASD could continue to move higher. We are also looking for a split announcement with the July earnings report or out of the next BoD meeting. The company has enough shares for a split with 200 million shares authorized and 71 million shares outstanding. Going forward, ASD has support at Thursday’s intra-day high of $61.75 with stronger support at $60.33, the 10-dma. Resistance was taken out on Friday so new resistance may show up at $63 or $65. Look for a bounce off of $61.75 or a breakout above $63 on midday volume of at least 250,000 shares before starting new plays. We plan to place stops at $58.50 to limit potential losses.

Picked on May 6th @ $62.50
Change since picked +2.00
Stop Loss @ $58.50

ASD finally fell victim to the profit taking that we knew was bound to surface soon. Its MACD is rolling over and volume is starting to build on down days. Due to the fact that we had recently raised our stop, we exit ASD today with a profit.

Picked on May 6th @ $62.50
Profit/Loss = +3.50 (+6%) (Stopped out Thursday @ $66.00)
Best Profit = 4.85 (+8%)

June 5, 2001

ASD set a new closing high on Tuesday and appears as if it wants to go higher. The stock was lifted $0.64 on moderate volume of 290,000 shares. We would have liked to see ASD's volume come in over 400,000 shares, but will keep an eye on buying interest as the stock heads towards $70.00. Support should come in around $66 and resistance has become Tuesday's high of $67.46. We are ratcheting up our stop to $66.00 to protect against a reversal.

Picked on May 6th @ $62.50
Change Since Picked +4.85
Stop Loss @ $66.00

June 3, 2001

ASD managed another closing high on Friday. The stock seems to have good buying support since pullbacks have been minimal for the last two weeks. We will want to see daily volume get above 475,000 shares as ASD continues to climb, in order to confirm the strength of the rally. Support should come in at $65 and resistance is Friday's high of $66.90. Momentum traders could look to get in on a break above $67 on daily volume of at least 475,000 shares.

Picked on May 6th @ $62.50
Change Since Picked +4.27
Stop Loss @ $64.50