AXA Financial, Inc. is a financial services company offering financial advisory, insurance, investment banking, and brokerage & investment management services. For the 9 months ended 9/30/00, revenues increased 14% to $5B. Net income from continuing operations increased 48% to $520.5M. Revenues reflect market appreciation and good investment performance. Net income reflects decreased interest credited to policyholders% account balances.

December 10, 2000

In keeping with the holiday season, the theme song for AXA Financial could include the lyrics, "all is calm, all is bright". This is because the company's stock continues to calmly plod along and we see the imminent future as potentially bright. The diversified insurance company has been consolidating for quite a while now. Once the election debacle is resolved, we will be looking for an upside burst to break the trend. The company split its stock at this same level last year. If the board were to vote to increase the number of outstanding shares, we feel that another split could certainly follow. Friday's trading volume came in at 1.4 million shares, a little light compared to the three-month average volume of 1.8 million shares. The chart indicates support at $55.00 and the 50-dma at $53.80. Resistance is up at $56.00. Look for leadership and momentum from the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) and the NYSE Financial Index (NF) when considering opening a new play. We will keep our stop loss at $53.00.

Picked on November 30th @ $56.31
Change since picked -0.68
Stop Loss @ $53.00

January 4, 2001

AXA Financial recently went through a merger internally, which involved a stock swap between AXF and AXA Merger Corp. The end result was that the stock now trades on under the AXA symbol with a different price structure. Thus, this play ended on Wednesday. The final trading price was $57.06.

Picked on November 30th @ $56.31
Profit/Loss +0.75 (+1%) (Stopped on Wednesday)
Best Profit +1.19 (+2%)

January 3, 2001

Ceased trading, now under AXA. Write-up to follow

January 2, 2001

If doing something different was your New Year's resolution, then please read on. On Tuesday, as both the major indices were engaged in a full blown sell-off, AXA Financial chose to buck the trend and hit a new 52-week high. Bravo, is all we can say to this insurance and financial company from New York. The stock gapped open and by the end of the first hour of trading had hit a new high of $57.50 -- a nice way to start the year. At that point the stock did drift lower but remained in the green even by the close of trading. The stock posted a 2% gain for the day but the volume was somewhat dismal, only 902,000 shares changed hands. This number is well off the stock's average three-month volume of 1.9 million shares. Therefore, we will regard the new high as suspicious until we see more confirmation. As of Tuesday's close, AXF has support at the 5-dma at $56.44, the 10-dma at $55.66 and finally the 50-dma at $54.99. The ideal scenario would be a broad market rally with full cooperation from the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) and the NYSE Financial Index (NF). Use a quick bounce off a support level as a possible entry point if it is accompanied by good volume. We will carry on with our stop loss at $53.00.

Picked on November 30th @ $56.31
Change since picked +0.75
Stop Loss at $53.00

December 31, 2000

AXA Financial finished the year up 67%, after posting nice gains for the last trading week of the year. The year 2000 has not been the most exhilarating year for investor's in general, compared to previous years, but we think that AXA has performed exceptionally well in light of the bearish overtones in the market. On Friday, this insurance and finance company finished down slightly but managed to post gains for the week. The stock traded on very low volume of 841,000 shares, which is less than half of its average, based on a 3-month cumulative total. The stock held at the first level of support, which was the 5-dma at $55.92. Below that, there is support at the 20-dma at $55.32 and then the 50-dma at $54.90. Resistance for the stock, as we enter the New Year, will come in at $57.25. Once earnings season revs up in the next couple of weeks, we may see some momentum drive AXF higher. Look for AXF to rise in conjunction with a broad based rally in the major indices, especially the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) and the NYSE Financial Index (NF). Use a quick bounce off a support level as a possible entry point if it is accompanied by good volume. We will carry on with our stop loss at $53.00 for now.

Picked on November 30th @ $56.31
Change since picked -0.44
Stop Loss @ $53.00