News Details – Smallcapnetwork
Market Update: Not the Bottom - Looks at IRBS, FRGB, SPY, PWRM, PROV
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February 2, 2024

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PDT

In This Edition... Power3 Medical Products (PWRM), First Regional Bancorp (FRGB), SPDR Trust S&P 500 Fund (SPY), ImmuneRegen Biosciences Holdings (IRBS), and Provident Financial Holdings (PROV) are reviewed in depth.  After that, we take an updated look at our market forecast.    Stocks in Focus  Up-Trend Outlook: PROV, ACHN, SIGA Dennis Askew found an incredible turnaround story with Provident Financial Holdings Inc., (NASDAQ:PROV). Last quarter's EPS of $0.37 is a complete '180' from the $0.82 per share the company lost for the same quarter a year earlier. The bank is positioned for more of the same though, and Dennis says Provident Financial Holdings is something to buy on its dips. Check out the commentary for the full details.  ImmuneRegen Stem Cell Active Compound Gaining Attention The ImmuneRegen Biosciences Holdings Inc. (OTCBB:IRBS) story has been not only amazing, but occasionally strange. The company's lead compound has proven effective as an immune booster, yet the brains behind it didn't even initially know how it worked. As the 'know how' comes to light, its applications are growing in number. M.E. Garza has the full scoop.  Technical Forecasts for HEB, SNSS, and SPY Even with the strong start today, the SPDR Trust S&P 500 Fund (NYSE:SPY) is already fading into flatness... a prediction made by James Brumley yesterday, who says the damage done to stocks over the last few days is irreparable at current levels. He points out a lower downside target for SPY - check it out.  Technical Highlights: KATX, PWRM, CYCC Power3 Medical Products, Inc. (OTC:PWRM) went from bad to worse today. James Brumley pointed out that the stock had already broken the lower side of an important wedge shape as of yesterday. With today's dip, PWRM has fallen under the support it had managed to find earlier this week. Downside targets are posed in the write-up.  Charting Analysis of XEC, FRGB, and ARRY First Regional Bancorp (NASDAQ:FRGB) has been identified as the next big thing in the recent resurgence of the regional banks. FRGB is making its second upward thrust (the first one pulled back), suggesting the bulls are 'coming back for more'. The suggested target would mean more than a double of its current price.    Market Update Wow. The best GDP growth rate since 2003 (+5.7%), and the market still can't get any traction? Actually, I'm not surprised. Investors have been 'wanting' the market to go down for a while now, and the interpretation of data can be bullish or bearish as needed. Rather than focus on the GDP growth (which would be bullish), the market's focusing on Chevron's and Honeywell's decline in profits (which is bearish).  And that's not a joke either - the market is much less data-driven and much more sentiment-driven than any of us care to believe. Anyway... What's next? The same as before. The market still has some excess it needs to bleed off, and I feel it's going to do so by completing the move it started a couple of weeks ago. A few things have changed - or at least materialized - in the meantime.  The target for the S&P 500 is still the 1025 area. That's almost horizontal support from October's two lows, and more recently I've realized that's about where the 200 day moving average line will be by the time the index can reach the 1025-ish area.  Though it's the first time the 200 day average will have been tested in this bull market, I think in this scenario it will end up acting as support - the interception will occur right around an 11.0% dip from the January peak.... enough to call this a healthy, normal, and COMPLETE market correction. (We may see a brief move slightly under it, just to create a little extra doubt for investors at the time.)  As for how and why I possibly think the market can actually go lower from here... In short, the market's not scared to death right now. Investors were terrified back on the 21st and 22nd, when the S&P 500 fell to 1091. Yet, now that it's fallen under the next support level of 1086 and reached a low of 1078, investors aren't quite as afraid.  This is a hint (and an important one) that this week's selling isn't one born of panic and hysteria.... this selling is calculated, moderated, and strategic. As such, it's the kind of selling that's not apt to experience any kind of quick snap-back rally.  As evidence of that idea, I submit the CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX. It went ballistic on the 21st and the 22nd when the market started to shatter; investors were freaking out. The market's still falling, but the lower VIX since then says investors aren't freaking out right now - they're working their way out as painlessly and as intelligently as possible. The market won't likely hit a bottom until we actually see some sort of spike in the VIX, which will be a capitulation of sorts. This ain't a capitulation.  I'm sure there will be a bullish day or two in the meantime that casts doubt on the outlook. And, obviously anything can and will eventually happen, so that's not a guarantee (and I reserve the right to adjust the outlook as needed). Based on what I see right now though, the move to the 1020-ish area is the market's path of least resistance, as there's still some excess optimism - and excessive pricing - that needs to be bled off.