Back by popular demand, below are Earnings Surprises since Jan 1, 2011 that were up 8% or greater on the day of earnings. You can take this list and drop it into Telechart. Sort by 5 day rate of change and look for stocks that have pulled back after their initial post earnings rally.

See the Earnings Thrust post on what a pullback would look like: http://patientfisherman.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-manage-earnings-thrust.html

Over the past week we’ve entered into a correction. Yes, we did have a small bounce Friday, but next week will be the true indicator if we follow through to new highs or descend further into a correction.

Breadth was mediocre compared to the 600+ down day we have a few days ago. Stocks up came at 226 on lower volume. Not a promising sign. We might see some follow through  to the upside on Monday, but I’m not optimistic at the moment.

At this point, it’s a wait and see game. Until we get some type of resolution to the downside or a new breadth thrust to the upside I will be sitting in cash.

Below are three earnings surprises worth watching tomorrow. If buyers jump back in the market, these could get interesting.

Is this the real deal? We’ve all been waiting for a correction and finally saw a 600+ downward thrust on stocks down 4% or greater. The last time we saw this many stocks down in a single day was August 11, 2010 at 1069 stocks. On January 28 we had a big downward thrust (400+) but the market reversed the very next day and continued higher for two more weeks.

If we do get follow through to the downside, my first target would be 55 to 56 range on the Q’s. For now, taking it one day at a time and not buying in anticipation of a move in either direction.

My last two holdings stopped out this morning, so I’m in currently in cash.

Below are Earnings Surprises since Jan 1, 2011 that were up 8% or greater on the day of earnings. You can take this list and drop it into Telechart. Sort by 5 day rate of change and look for stocks that have pulled back after their initial post earnings rally.

See the Earnings Thrust post from earlier this week on what a pullback would look like: http://patientfisherman.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-manage-earnings-thrust.html

Below are the best looking setups from today’s Percolator Scan.

Top 100 Blogs of 2011 (#41) - The Kirk Report

Bluefin is working people's dream machine. If you are a working person with no time to run scans and do research and yet quickly find opportunities then Bluefin is for you. When DC started designing the Bluefin machine his primarily goal was to find a way to trade while working. We discussed the concept for several weeks and put a structure behind it to do all things required to find swing ideas in a jiffy. It has both the standard breakouts scan I use, but also breakout anticipation scans. Emerging opportunities is best example of that. There is a little bit of learning curve involved in using it, but once you understand all the capabilities you will find out how it is very powerful way to find swing trading opportunities. – Pradeep Bonde of StockBee
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From my initial observations and use of it, I think Dan has created a nice inexpensive tool many new traders would find helpful. – Charles E. Kirk of The Kirk Report
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Bluefin has fantastic potential for me. I am a lifelong student of the market and trading. And with a wife and two children, and a job, leaving me little precious time to improve my trading, Bluefin is a godsend. –torosotrader
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I am starting to invest some time to understand BlueFin and its much more than it appears on the surface. Kudos for what you have done and allowing us regular folk to benefit from your hard work and innovation. –anonymous
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You've made me $1,000 so far today. Many Thanks!! – Mark
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I am one of those traders with a job during market hours and no access to many of the charting and scanning tools needed to trade during the day. I scrambled to find a way to get access to scans and watchlists when away from home. Bluefin has fulfilled this need and has added a new dimension to my trading. Bluefin has everything a trader needs to access intraday to trade Stockbee's methods. Not only am I able to access stocks meeting Stockbee's entry signal scans, but Bluefin provides other useful watchlists as well. My personal favorite has been the "Sector 50" list. I have used this list to find stocks with good setups in the strongest sectors. This list took a lot of leg work out of finding the best stocks in the highest rated sectors, a huge time saver. The greatest thing about Bluefin is that it gives the ability to scan a list of stocks and their charts in a flash...a trader can scan setups at lighting speed using Bluefin and the time and effort is streamlined to that task. This feature alone is worth its weight in gold. The fisherman has definitely helped me get better at my trading process and Bluefin has become the most important tool in my toolbox, even more important than my own charting software. Wonderful platform! – bh
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It is a very quick tool to use. The scan results are presented in a spreadsheet fashion, which means you can SORT the results by whatever column you wish. But my favorite feature is that you can simply HOVER your mouse over the link in the far right column, and a FINVIZ daily chart pops right up next to your mouse. So you never have to leave the spreadsheet. I just move my mouse down the page and the popup charts tell me in an instant if I like the setup or not.
I would say that maybe this is similar to driving a car with automatic transmission versus driving a car with a stick shift. Sure you have much more control with a stick shift, and it's fun to do the shifting yourself, but hey, automatic transmission does a pretty awesome job of getting you from point a to point b with a minimum of pain and hassle.
I like Bluefin. I am going to learn Telechart. I am sure I will prefer one over the other for my day-to-day. But for the time being, I do not feel in the least that I am missing out by not using Telechart. Thanks Dan and Pradeep for a really great tool!  I am very happy with it.  ~greginmarin
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Subtly and not so subtly I have mentioned that my success this year has come from the PEAD approach and using the Bluefin Post Earnings Surprise list as my primary source of setups. This year the market has rewarded earnings growth. - Laser



Tell us what you think. Email: patientfisherman@gmail.com

This market feels a little different compared to our rally in the fall of 2010. Over the past two weeks earnings thrusts have actually been following through. If this persists, we can look forward to some nice gains. We just need a plan to manage these buggers.

For earnings plays use a 5 period exponential moving average as a guide. See the chart of BIDU below to see how it would of kept you in from earnings day.

BIDU announced superior earnings and raised guidance on Feb 1. The stock was extended from it's 5 period ema after surging almost 10% on the day of the announcement.

Use a low of the day for your initial stop. If for some reason the stock reverses you will be covered. The 5 period ema can be used as a visual reference point to gauge if the stock is behaving as expected. Pulling back to the 5 ema would not be unusual after a big thrust on earnings day. After kissing the 5 period ema, BIDU finally breaks out of range. Then we were off to the races.

At this point you can use three exit strategies:
1. Profit target - wait for the stock to hit your target (10%, 20%, 50%).
2. Moving Average Crossover - Sell if it crosses under the 5, 10 or 20 moving average.
3. Trailing Stop Loss - Use a trailing stop loss of (4% or 8%) depending on how much wiggle room you can handle.

By using a moving average as a guide, combined with a sound exit strategy you should be able to successfully manage your next earnings play.

Testing out dynamic charts. Let me know what you think. (Charts removed)


SSCC - Smurfit Stone Container - It's a buy above 39.80 on above average volume.
CRUS - Cirrus Logig Inc - It's a buy above 24.70 on above average volume.
FTK - Flotek Industries - It's a buy above 6.80 on above average volume.

Below are today's best setups from the Percolator Scan.

The Percolator scans all watch lists in the Bluefin system looking for a breakout on higher than average volume. Below are the best setups from today’s scan.

Few new features are up on Bluefin today:

1. Export All icon will allow you to export every symbol for all Bluefin watch lists.

2. Sectors on the Move shows the top 5 sectors across all sectors ranked by percent change for the day.

Below are all stocks with an Earnings Surprise after the market close. The watch list: Today's Earnings found under the “Tools” menu, highlights all stocks with an earnings surprise each day. This watch list is updated at 6:55 a.m. MST and 3:05 p.m. MST every day during earnings season.