Well, I think we can safely say traders are once again not quite sure what to think of the market right now. The momentum was bullish as of the end of last week, but when it came time to clear some key ceilings this week, the bulls hesitated. We're not in a downtrend yet. But, the uptrend certainly looks like it was thwarted before it could really get going. We'll look at it the market in detail today, as we always do. We've got a couple of other things we want to take care of first though, beginning with a quick look at some of the more interesting commentaries posted at the site today. Off the Beaten Path I'm sure it wasn't by design, but it struck me today as I was browsing the latest write-ups at the site that our regulars have been finding some real buried treasure the past few days. By that, I just mean our regular contributors have been pointing out and analyzing stocks not often discussed by the mainstream financial media. While I wouldn't go as far as to call them obscure ideas, they're certainly off the beaten path. It matters, because in my too-many-years-of-doing this, I've found it's the rare and largely overlooked (and un-hunted) stocks that end up being the most rewarding. It's not just for effect when I tell you the bulk of my gains in my personal portfolio have been from stocks of companies the average investor hasn't even heard of. [Most of them are kind of boring stocks too, but that's another story.] Anyway, I only point this out to let you know you need not be afraid if you've not heard of all, or any, of the stocks dissected of late by the site's contributors. Just read them - you might find you like what's being said. In no particular order... Forget Perrigo and Teva. Little Ol' Aceto is the Top API Play Right Now (TEVA, PRGO, ACET) Small Cap Fred's Inc (FRED) Earnings Report: Great Expectations? DG & BIG Small Cap Five Below Inc (FIVE) Earnings Report: More Trouble? GMAN & ROST Modine Manufacturing Falls Back Into Favor (MOD, BWA, JCI) And, I also want to direct you to Dr. John Faessel's "ON THE MARKET - Another dose of flimflam", from Monday. It's not about any stock in particular, but as usual, it's a fun and funny read. In any case (and speaking of off-the-beaten path stuff), the Elite Opportunity found and issued a great stock pick today that I'm sure was on a minimal number of radars, but should really be on every investor's watchlist. Why? It's one of those picks I suspect is going to end up being like LinkedIn (LNKD) or Corning (GLW). See, both GLW and LNKD have been among the market's best performers over the past couple of years, but at this time of year in 2013, neither stock was well-loved... or even liked. Investors simply looked past them, largely not appreciating how marketable their products were. Big mistake. Now - in retrospect - both LinkedIn and Corning were obviously in prime position for a long-term rally then. Hindsight is 20/20, huh? Well, while I can't and won't make firm predictions, I will say today's EO pick looks like another one of those buried treasures like LNKD and GLW were. John Monroe is so good at finding these picks too. JetBlue (JBLU) is one example. The Elite Opportunity added it to the long-term portfolio back in mid-October when practically nobody else was thinking about going long on airline stocks, and JBLU has gained more than 90% in the meantime. Nice call. The great part about this new pick is, if you're not yet a member of the Elite Opportunity service, it's not too late to get in on this trading idea. This is a long-term play, and John gives entry limits, targets, and stop levels to guide you through the entry process. You can get all of that information and learn about the pick by accessing the archived EO newsletters. You know what though? I don't even suggest you sign up for the Elite Opportunity newsletter just yet. Yes, John's finds these hidden gems all the time, knowing what I know - it's tough to get the most out of the market just by buying stocks you see in the headlines. And, I'm confident if you want the top prospects, it takes the kind of digging the Elite Opportunity does every day for its members. Before you do anything though, just take a small - and free - taste of what John and his team are capable of doing. Sign up for the free stock picks the EO team sends out to investors, and make the Elite Opportunity prove its value to you. I'm quite sure you'll want to become a full Elite Opportunity subscriber before it's all said and done, but I'll let you decide that for yourself. Here's how to get it, or cut and paste this link: https://www.smallcapnetwork.com/pages/SCNEOL/v1/ There's nothing to lose, but there's plenty to gain. New Home Sales Surge: Fluke, or Omen? You may or may not have heard, but new home sales were through the roof last month, reaching a seven-year-high pace of 539,000 versus expectations of only 465,000, topping January's pace of 500,000. There's no denying it's a strong figure, but once again the headlines as well as most of the commentaries lacked the perspective that only a chart can offer. So, we'll give it to you. On the same chart we'll include Monday's existing home sales data, which interestingly only edged a little higher, from 4.82 million in January to 4.88 million for February. It's a surprising and maybe even troubling disparity. So what's the deal? While new homes sales are admittedly strong and have been trending higher since 2011, last month's surge may be a little misleading about the strength of the actual trend in new home sales. And, it has to do with existing home sales. Did you notice the tepidness in the longer-term trend of existing home sales? It's been tapering (mostly) since mid-2013. Point being, while new home sales are rising and were up firmly last month, that's only because home buyers can't find existing homes they'd like to buy. Overall home sales (new + existing) are only still modestly on the rise. And if you want to know why existing home sales are wobbly, that can be chalked up to a simple lack of inventory - fewer and fewer people are looking to sell the home they currently live in. The revised chart below adds the home inventory for sale data. As of right now, only 1.8 million existing homes are on the market, which is near multi-year lows. New home sales surged in February because inventory has been light for the past three months.... and inventory has been remarkably low since 2013. This bodes well for home construction stocks. While some pessimists are still recycling the "phantom inventory" concern, I think at this point we would have seen it become a problem if it was going to become one. Just thought you'd like to know the rest of the story. (Yawn) This won't take long. Yeah, today wasn't great. The S&P 500 pulled back nearly 13 points to close at 2091.50, and is starting to put pressure on the 20-day moving average line as a floor. We're also seeing vague hints that the VIX wants to move higher from here. On the flipside, notice the volume behind today's weakness was basically as tepid as the selling volume behind Monday's action, as well as the volume behind Thursday's lull. There just aren't many sellers. That's not to say they won't show up in the future, but based on what we can SEE right now, it's too soon to worry. We can't really worry about a deep dip until the VIX starts to edge meaningfully higher and the S&P 500 makes a technical breakdown below the 20-day line at 2086. And to tell the truth, I think the S&P 500 could fall all the way to the 2060 area and the VIX could move to 16.4 before the undertow makes a major shift for the worst. I'd like to be able to say more, but I'm not going to because it would be making a mountain out of a molehill. Let's do the smart thing and remain on the sidelines here while traders figure out what they really want to do. By the way, later this week we're going to update a sector/industry calls, and hopefully get you the other new ones we didn't get a chance to look at last week. We're also going to look at the market's overall health from a perspective nobody else is looking out.... sales and margins. Earnings have gotten all the focus of late, here in the shadow of earnings season, but earnings growth and valuation aren't the whole story. Sales growth and profit margins also speak volumes about the condition of the market, and can point out red flags that earnings data alone can't. In the meantime, don't forget to add your name to the Elite Opportunity's free stock-pick alerts list.