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- Market rise shocking in awe over US military success.
- Consumer prices rise on energy spike, but that won’t last from the look of it.
- Indexes surge higher on expiration, war success, reaching the 200 day MVA.
- Team Trades.
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2) Stock Splits

Playing stock splits can be very profitable, but it takes know-how.

Our stock split service focuses on three main types of plays:

1) pre-announcement (where we forecast an upcoming split prior to the company making the announcement); 2) pre-split (these plays are made in the days leading up to the actual split day); and 3) post-split plays (plays made after the actual stock split where the stock is showing continued or renewed strength).

We play pre-split plays as short-term plays. We get in when the technical indicators show us things look right, grab as much as we can, and get out, always being conscious of resistance and support. These stocks are highly volatile at this time, and can turn on you quickly. Don't let good profits disappear. Watch for turns, especially when a stock trades in a wide range and finishes off its high. That is a sign these stocks often give you that they are running out of steam. We usually get out and ask questions later. We can always get back in. We like to play in the money calls, preferably two strike prices in the money as this usually gives us a greater delta (the percent an option will mover versus the stock's movement). We prefer deltas of 75 or better. This means if the stock moves 1 point, the option should move three-fourths of that point. That means up or down.

Remember, wait to see the stock start to move up. Don't just blindly make a play and don't try to guess tops and bottoms. We can look at indicators to give us a clue as to what will happen, but we need the stock to confirm it for us. Here's a pre-split play to watch and our current analysis.

Chart by StockCharts.com

FCN (FTI Consulting--$44.02; +0.02; optionable): Management services. Splits 3:2 on 5-7-03.
Company Profile
STATUS: Ascending triangle. FCN started moving out of its consolidation of the past three weeks, rallying Friday on much stronger, above average volume as this stock hit an all-time high on the action. It gave back a third of the move, so it was not a clean breakaway move. Still solid action and we are looking for FCN to kick off the next leg from here. Solid 10 to 6 accumulation in the bigger base. Still a buy at this point on a continued volume move.
Volume: 205.9K Avg Volume: 242.409K
BUY POINT: New: $44.88 (orig. $44.55; $42.96) Volume=400K Target=$48.38 Stop=$40.15
POSITION: FCN FH - June $40c (66 delta, low OI) &/or Stock.

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J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Inc. said on Wednesday the Securities and Exchange Commission has advised that it may bring disciplinary action against one of the company's units related to initial public offering allocations.

J.P. Morgan said it sent the SEC staff a letter disputing the need for action against its J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. unit and the two sides were in talks, according to the No. 2 U.S. banking company's annual report filed with the SEC.

(This IPO story is continued on our website in the IPO Forum.)