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You Should Think Twice Before Buying This Sector...

By Jeff Clark
Tuesday, May 12, 2009

The oil rally is solid.
 
The price of a barrel of West Texas Crude is up 100% since its bottom last December. By the look of the following chart, there are more gains to come...
 
 
The chart has broken above resistance at $55, and there should be enough momentum to take it all the way to $70. So if you're long oil, then stay long.
 
But if you're thinking about buying oil stocks now, you better think again. The single best oil stock timing indicator is flashing a warning sign...
 
 
A bullish percent index (BPI) is a measure of overbought and oversold conditions. A sector is oversold when the index dips below 30, and it's overbought when the index rallies above 80. The best market timing signals, however, come when the BPI reaches truly extreme conditions.
 
For example, the best buy signals in the oil sector occur when the BPENER dips below 10 – as it did in October, November, and March. Each of those signals generated 25% gains in the AMEX Oil Index in just a few weeks.
 
The best sell signals in oil are when the BPENER runs near 90 and above. You can see how the two previous sell signals played out on this chart...
 
 
Yesterday, the bullish percent index for the energy sector closed above 93. That means 93% of the stocks in the energy sector are trading in bullish chart formations. That's an extreme reading... And it doesn't leave much more room for additional momentum to carry it higher. In fact, it increases the likelihood of a strong selloff in the oil sector.
 
So even though oil itself looks ready to run higher, the stocks are in the danger zone. We'll likely have a better opportunity to buy them a couple months from now.
 
Best regards and good trading,
 
Jeff Clark




Market Notes
Seabridge gold hits 52-week high... up 244% from October 08 low.
 
Green Mountain up 60% in two weeks... Coffee maker has doubled this year.
 
Hansen at another 52-week high... Earnings surprise boosts soft-drink maker 15% in two days.
 
Earnings today... Applied Materials, BMC Software, Fossil, Hitachi, MBIA, Nissan, Ticketmaster, Warnaco.
Market Watch
Symbol Price
Change
52-Wk
S&P 500 1221.53 +1.28% +10.12%
Oil 38.31 +1.43% -0.55%
Gold 138.07 +2.12% +16.32%
Silver 28.60 +2.40% +53.60%
US-Dollar 80.67 -0.81% +8.09%
Euro 1.32 +0.64% -12.10%
Volatility 18.01 -7.12% -19.81%
Gold Stocks 581.56 +3.02% +17.04%
10-Year Yield 3.02 +0.67% -10.65%

World ETFs
Symbol Price
Change
52-Wk
USA 122.89 +0.27% +11.33%
Canada 30.50 +0.20% +16.19%
Russia 21.94 +1.43% +18.08%
India 37.85 +0.32% +22.33%
Israel 16.69 +1.34% +10.75%
Japan 10.64 +0.57% +6.51%
Singapore 13.73 -1.08% +18.77%
Taiwan 14.78 +0.41% +19.19%
S. Korea 57.31 +1.33% +23.38%
S. Africa 71.87 +1.44% +28.20%
China 44.42 -1.42% -0.58%
Lat.America 53.17 +0.66% +8.38%

Sector ETFs
Symbol Price
Change
52-Wk
Oil Service 137.59 +1.04% +18.94%
Big Pharma 64.14 +0.02% -3.24%
Internet 72.07 -0.08% +23.41%
Semis 16.22 +1.19% +29.35%
Utilities 31.28 +0.22% +1.46%
Defense 18.52 +0.05% +10.57%
Nanotech 10.03 +0.40% +1.62%
Alt. Energy 10.08 +1.31% -3.26%
Water 18.49 +0.98% +14.49%
Insurance 16.14 +0.44% +21.08%
Biotech 20.54 -0.19% +28.13%
Retail 19.70 +0.25% +30.20%
Software 24.79 +0.81% +25.90%
Big Tech 53.87 +0.26% +22.74%
Construction 13.10 +0.85% +15.72%
Media 13.64 +0.52% +25.95%
Consumer Svcs 67.39 +0.19% +24.54%
Financials 55.04 +0.31% +7.44%
Health Care 64.30 +0.12% +2.01%
Industrials 63.54 +0.46% +21.03%
Basic Mat 74.35 +1.06% +25.27%
Real Estate 55.32 +0.14% +25.02%
Transportation 91.77 +0.66% +26.93%
Telecom 22.59 +0.49% +17.78%

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