I love the ridiculousness of CNBC's 'portfolio' challenge. They just interviewed the guy who's currently in the lead. He's up over 100% in the few weeks that the contest has been running. How did he jump into the lead? He threw his whole wad, about $1,500,000 (29,000 shares) at NTRI ahead of their earnings report. Carl Quintanilla asks him "so not the diversified approach, eh?" The response was something to the effect of "you can't win this game being diversified." I just can't imagine anybody trading like that in real life. The risk of ruin must be incredible.

Potential swing trades:

See one of the recent 'Chart Reading' posts for some potential swing candidates.

Potential day trades:

(From Briefing.com)

Gapping Down

Gapping down on disappointing earnings/guidance: MSFT -10.5% (also multiple downgrades), SFD -10% (guidance only), TKP -11% (guidance only), COGT -10.4%, OPWV -9.6% (also RBC downgrade), HLIT -7.5% (also Merrimen downgrade), MEE -6.7%, COLM -6.4% (Wachovia downgrade), SSTI -6.4%, GTW -6.4%, GEHL -5.7%, ACS -5% (also Citigroup downgrade), MLNM -4.9% (also BofA downgrade to Sell), DRIV -4.3%, RNWK -4% (also Piper downgrade), ALTR -2.8%, CNXT -2.3%, FLEX -2.3%, LMS -3.5%... Other News: ACAD -8.4% (prices offering), AMKR -4.4% (downgraded to Sell at Amtech), ISIS -4.4% (profit taking after big move late yesterday), NFLX -4.1% (stock offering), DCX -3.3%, GPOR -3.1% (prices offering), ALA -2.9% (extends yesterday's 5% drop).

Gapping Up

Gapping up on strong earnings/guidance: NTSC +17%, ISRG +15% (also Piper upgrade), PLXS +11% (also Deutsche upgrade), LPNT +6% (Bear Stearns upgrade), WDC +6% (also Baird upgrade), BVN +5.2%, LMS +1.2%.... Other News: TZOO +5.8% (rebounds after 14 pt drop in last 3 sessions), SINA +5.3% (profiled in BWeek), FRG +5%, IFOX +4.7% (profiled in BWeek), NVAX +4.5% (bird flu cases in UK), ELN +4.4% (committee issues positive opinion for Tysabri), KNOT +4.1%, SNY +2.7%, GSK +2% (Morgan Stanley upgrade), CMCSA +1.8% (Kaufman upgrade), INFY +1.5%... Mad Money mentions: MATR +3.8%, NKTR +3.3%... Under $3: BIOM +22% (clinical data), ADH +19%, DVW +4.7% (reports Q1).

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