Here is an updated list of stocks which are demonstrating strong technicals. In this list of 20 stocks there does not seem to be a specific trend among the stocks, like last week's, which were mostly from the healthcare sector.

The ratio used in the table below is the Bull to Bear ratio. This is a list of criteria I screen for to find stocks that are potential breakouts. Recently by using this method I was able to make very good trading profits by finding breakout patterns on specific stocks like Joy Global (JOYG) and STEC (STEC). It was also the way I found Terra Nitrogen (TNH) while it was trading in the 40s and watched it climb to 120 quickly a few years back. This method requires monitoring these stocks very closely with tight stop losses.

Q4 2008 Earnings Call

February 10, 2009 9:10 pm ET

After the worst day for the Nasdaq Composite in seven years, the index today turned around and posted a gain that was equally stunning, as the Street became hopeful that the financial crisis is nearing a turning point.

The Nasdaq Composite today gained 100.25 points, or 4.78%. That was the Nasdaq’s fattest one-day gain in terms of points since May 8, 2002. On a percentage basis, it was the best day for the index since March 13, 2003. There have been 56 days since the index debuted in 1971 with larger points gains; there have been 37 days with bigger percentage gains.

Supercomputers are like muscle cars for IT: Few of us have one, but boy they are fun to look at.

IBM (IBM) on Tuesday touted that its supercomputer built for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Los Alamos National Lab is the most powerful system in the world. It sustained 1.02 petaflops or a 1.02 quadrillian calculations per second.

Cray Inc. (CRAY)

Q1 2008 Earnings Call Transcript

Cray, Inc. (CRAY)

F4Q07 Earnings Call

February 14, 2008 4:30 pm ET

Over the years, canny investors have done very well for themselves by buying beaten-down stocks just as the year comes to an end and tax selling ceases to be a factor. This year should be no exception. I believe that buying "beaten downs" at year-end comes down to a single major decision. Is the stock way down because of a temporary problem or perception, or is the long-term future of the company in question. I believe that Investors who can answer this question correctly can come away with a portfolio of bargains, especially this year.

There are a wide variety of companies on the new low (or nearly new low) list, some of which may be ready to transition from laggards to leaders. Some clues to which stocks may be ready to turn upward are already available.

AES Corp. (AES) - BMO
FQ2 2006 Revenue Estimate: $3.01B
FQ2 2006 EPS Estimate: $0.17
FQ3 2006 Revenue Estimate: $3.10B
FQ3 2006 EPS Estimate: $0.24
Last Quarter FQ4 2005 reported on 04/04/06 BMO
EPS Estimate: $0.19 ¦ EPS Actual: $0.27
04/04/06 Close: $17.13 Change($): $0.45 Change(%): 2.6%
04/05/06 Close: $17.00 Change($): ($0.13) Change(%): -0.8%

Bullish calls:

At that time CRAY had been reporting record EPS results and its shares had four buy ratings and no sell ratings by securities analysts. In the article Cray's CFO questioned my assessment by saying: "With these kinds of firms that look simply at data, they don't really get the full picture."

CRAY's shares responded by losing over 90% of their value when they hit a five year low of $.85 in September of 2005. On May 15, 2006, we changed our outlook from negative to positive for the first time in five years.