How do you find good stocks for great short-term trading
opportunities? Do you hunt for value, growth or price momentum?
I look for all three, but with a twist that gives me an added
"edge". I want to buy solid growth stocks after the market has
"temporarily" and irrationally thrown them out with the bath water.
If I am right that the selling insanity is temporary, I am also
getting value that is about to resume a momentum price
trajectory.
The exaggerated reports of a great stock's death are often
terrific "one shot, one kill" trading opportunities. Here are my
essential screening gauntlet for "killer" swing trades with an
edge:
1) Industry Dominator, Moat Optional
2) Earnings Machine with Institutional Sponsorship
3) Juicy Price Collapse that makes me say: "This stock is on
sale!"
The first criterion is pretty straight forward. I want to be
looking at a well-run business with an established niche, if not
industry domination. Obviously, a competitive moat is ideal. It’s
hard to get excited about price momentum if the company doesn't
have other kinds of momentum going for it.
The second criterion is all about growth. And when steady
earnings momentum is confirmed by institutional investors
accumulating and holding shares over long periods, you know you are
in good company for higher prices in early to mid-stage growth.
The third criterion is all about relative value. Sometimes good
stocks get trashed for some of the following unwarranted
reasons:
- Missed EPS or revenue target
- Warned about a soft patch in business or economy
- Made an acquisition the Street didn't like
- New competitor is knocking on their niche
- Concerns about the economy that cause a correction and sink all
stocks with the market tide
- Management change or a legal/regulatory/environmental battle
cry from some assailant
The assault could be any one of a dozen things that drive the
price of a good company down 20% or more. In all cases, if you can
confirm that criterion #1 and #2 are still intact, you may have
just found a juicy bargain.
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Only Hours to Go for Hidden Bulls
Saturday, February 18 is your last chance to target quick bull
market swings that few are seeing. Time's running out to take
advantage of the irrational behavior of other investors. The door
must close to Zacks' new short-term investor group because if too
many members were accepted, it would be harder for everyone to
profit fully.
Don't miss four powerful investment opportunities that are
emerging...
See them now >>
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3 Stocks That Screamed "Buy Me!"
1) CME Group (CME)
The most dominant derivatives exchange in the world saw a slow
drift lower in its shares for all of 2011. Falling from above $325
to support at $240 in the fall, the stock met strong resistance at
its 200-day moving average in November at $280. And then things
really got scary when one of its largest clearing members filed for
bankruptcy on Halloween.
The implosion of MF Global sent institutional investors running
for the hills, and sent the stock to lows not seen since April of
2009. When I saw the stock trading at $225 in early January, I
decided to take a closer look at the earnings picture. Estimates
had definitely come down after the Corzine debacle, but the core
business was intact, still dominant and still growing.
Plus, the company was poised for potentially outstanding growth
as trillions in the OTC interest rate derivatives business was
destined to move to the exchange "mark-to-market" model. Sensing a
fantastic opportunity, I bought March 260 calls for under $2.50.
After CME's strong earnings report in February, the stock exploded
from $240 to $290, handing my Tactical Trader subscribers at least
a triple (200% gain) in those options, while some held on to see
ten times their money!
![](http://www.zacks.com/images/upload_dir/1329507213.jpg)
2) Coinstar (CSTR)
Remember when Netflix (NFLX) shot themselves in the foot by
making their subscriber service more complicated and costly?
Customers said "who needs this?" And investors punished the stock
because they saw the company headed in all the wrong
directions.
Well a tiny little competitor for movie entertainment appeared
to be headed down the same path after its October earnings report.
Coinstar, owner of the Redbox DVD rental kiosks, raised their price
by a whole 20 cents! The stock fell nearly 20% as investors thought
it was another NFLX debacle.
I said this was crazy! This price bump should only make CSTR
earnings estimates go up. And everybody I knew who rented movies
the Redbox way would gladly pay another 20 cents. Heck, most people
I know would pay another buck and not think twice. Why? Because
it's fun to go pick a flick that way – even if you are "streaming"
video at home, which most consumers are not.
I was so convinced about CSTR being a bargain, I told everyone
to "buy it with both hands" under $45. The company was not only
executing its core strategy, it was brewing the content
distribution deal with Verizon for potential streaming
opportunities. As you can see from the chart, CSTR caught a lot of
bears by surprise on their last earnings report in early February.
I made 24% on my shares.
![](http://www.zacks.com/images/upload_dir/1329507231.jpg)
3) Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX)
Vertex is not exactly a "dominator" in biotech when compared to
Amgen or Celgene. But it did create something incredible last year
that surprised lots of pharma experts and investors. They produced
the first incredibly successful drug treatment for the hepatitis-C
virus (HCV). Their drug Incivek topped sales of over $400 million
in the third quarter of 2011, while pharma giant Merck could only
do about $80 million in sales with their HCV treatment.
Based on this success, the earnings estimates for Vertex soared
to above $4 per share for 2012 with projected sales of over $2.5
billion. But the stock was already in a curious collapse before and
after those results came out, getting cut in half from $52 to $26
in only two months. I decided to take a closer look at the
catalysts.
What I found was that the analyst community and large biotech
investors were looking at all kinds of new competition for Incivek
coming to market. The VRTX drug used an interferon cocktail regime
with nasty side effects and lots of competitors were creating
next-generation oral treatments that didn’t need interferon. The
biggest threat came from Gilead Sciences who had just paid $10
billion for Pharmasett to get their hands on that young biotech's
HCV treatment.
The problem was that none of these competitors would have their
drugs ready for market until 2014. So with 170 million people
worldwide exposed to HCV, and VRTX estimates not coming down, I
thought that Incivek still would win in 2012. Plus, VRTX had a
cystic fibrosis drug very close to FDA approval.
On the very first day of the Tactical Trader service in early
December, we opened the books by buying the VRTX April 30 calls for
under $4. We just sold them for a 100% gain last week. Too bad we
didn't keep them a little longer as the stock launched above my $40
price target Friday morning.
![](http://www.zacks.com/images/upload_dir/1329507248.jpg)
Catching Falling Knives, or Scooping Fallen Gems?
There's an old adage in trading and investing that one can get
really hurt trying to catch a falling knife. But if you do your
homework, and you develop sound screening criteria that give you a
very favorable risk/reward edge, you can bank sizable profits off
the irrationality of other investors.
I may not have the deep pocket and time horizon of a Warren
Buffett, but my approach fully capitalizes on the idea to "be
greedy when others are fearful."
No Need to Pursue These Profits on Your Own
If you'd like some help, my private trading group has been
re-opened until Saturday to new investors. Its purpose is to go
long or short with stock, ETF, and options moves to catch small
market swings that others rarely spot and ride them for substantial
one to 12-week gains.
The number of investors who share the moves from our Zacks
Tactical Trader must be limited, and demand to get into the
service was so intense that it had to be closed early when
introduced last December. Now it's open to you again, but only
until 11:59 pm Saturday, February 18. There will be no extensions
so I strongly encourage you to look into it now.
Click now for details about Tactical Trader >>
Good Investing,
Kevin Cook
Kevin, a Senior Stock Strategist at Zacks, is a recognized
authority in global markets. A former market-maker in the
$4-trillion-dollar-a-day world of interbank trading, he developed
the ability to track the movement of money, and trained his
reflexes to take advantage of it. Today he directs the new Zacks
Tactical Trader, providing commentary and recommendations.
CME GROUP INC (CME): Free Stock Analysis Report
COINSTAR INC (CSTR): Free Stock Analysis Report
VERTEX PHARM (VRTX): Free Stock Analysis Report
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