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This Sector is a Triple-Digit-Winner Machine

By Tom Dyson, editor, S&A Penny Trends
Monday, June 15, 2009

If you're a trader, it's critical you watch biotech shares.
 
Since 1983, the biotech sector as a whole has seen four triple-digit rallies... and even one quadruple-digit rally. That's just for the whole sector. Some individual stocks went much higher. You see, investors love the promise of cancer cures and miracle drugs... so it's easy for them to justify piling onto a rally.
 
That's why you don't even need a bull market to make huge gains in biotech. In any given year, a few tiny biotech companies hit it big with new procedures or drugs. So if you're hunting for giant winners that rise 300%... or even 600% in a year, you must keep an eye on this space.
 
In my weekly service, Penny Trends, I analyze several important pieces of trading data to find great trades.
 
First, I want to own stocks and sectors that are acting well... that are in confirmed uptrends. This is a simple concept, but thousands of market players don't use it at all. I want to trade with the trend.
 
I also want to own stocks and sectors with terrific "volume" action." I simply watch trading volume to see what stocks and sectors are enjoying plenty of money flow. It's a way to keep track of supply and demand for a given asset.
 
So how does this data look for biotech right now? Let's take a peek at the Biotech ETF, XBI. This fund holds many of the market's top medium-sized biotech companies.
 
 
 
As you can see, XBI suffered along with the rest of the market in January and February... but it's showing life. Below XBI's price chart, you'll see a series of black and red bars. These bars show XBI's trading volume... the supply/demand picture. The black bars represent the volume on days the fund advanced in price. The red bars represent the volume on days the fund declined in price.
 
The blue rectangle highlights the tremendous amount of money that just flowed into XBI in early June. This "boost" pushed XBI close to a three-month high. Big rallies are almost always preceded by big volume splashes. They're kind of the "starter's gun" for a race.
 
The XBI isn't in a big uptrend yet. But this sector has extraordinary rally potential... so it's worth keeping an eye on it. The recent surge of money here says we might have another big biotech trend on our hands.
 
Good trading,
 
Tom




Market Notes
Brazil leads the emerging-market rebound... iShares Brazil up 71% since March 1.
 
Lumber futures up 18% since May 1.
 
Silver takes a breather... the white metal is down 5% so far this month after vaulting 28% in May.
 
Earnings today... Casey's General, La-Z-Boy.
Market Watch
Symbol Price
Change
52-Wk
S&P 500 1221.53 +1.28% +10.12%
Oil 37.77 +1.53% -2.75%
Gold 135.20 -0.13% +13.44%
Silver 27.93 +0.43% +47.86%
US-Dollar 80.67 -0.81% +8.09%
Euro 1.32 +0.64% -12.10%
Volatility 19.39 -9.22% -8.19%
Gold Stocks 564.53 +1.34% +10.57%
10-Year Yield 3.00 +1.35% -9.64%

World ETFs
Symbol Price
Change
52-Wk
USA 122.56 +1.28% +10.17%
Canada 30.44 +1.33% +13.84%
Russia 21.63 +2.27% +16.67%
India 37.73 +1.92% +19.97%
Israel 16.47 +0.86% +9.65%
Japan 10.58 +0.95% +7.41%
Singapore 13.88 +1.02% +19.24%
Taiwan 14.72 +1.59% +17.76%
S. Korea 56.56 +1.67% +22.80%
S. Africa 70.85 +3.89% +22.94%
China 45.06 +1.37% +0.13%
Lat.America 52.82 +1.40% +6.71%

Sector ETFs
Symbol Price
Change
52-Wk
Oil Service 136.18 +1.51% +14.84%
Big Pharma 64.13 +0.61% -3.32%
Internet 72.13 +0.70% +22.34%
Semis 16.03 +2.10% +28.86%
Utilities 31.21 +0.29% +1.56%
Defense 18.51 +1.26% +10.11%
Nanotech 9.99 +1.32% 0.00%
Alt. Energy 9.95 +1.43% -4.42%
Water 18.31 +1.10% +12.19%
Insurance 16.07 +1.20% +18.34%
Biotech 20.58 +1.08% +27.12%
Retail 19.65 +0.10% +28.43%
Software 24.59 +0.94% +24.07%
Big Tech 53.73 +1.02% +21.92%
Construction 12.99 +2.12% +13.25%
Media 13.57 +1.12% +24.95%
Consumer Svcs 67.26 +0.81% +23.30%
Financials 54.87 +2.39% +5.18%
Health Care 64.22 +0.74% +1.31%
Industrials 63.25 +1.61% +19.70%
Basic Mat 73.57 +1.56% +21.56%
Real Estate 55.24 +1.36% +23.77%
Transportation 91.17 +1.35% +25.60%
Telecom 22.48 +1.08% +17.08%

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