These two health-care stocks not only have room to run if the sector continues to rise, but the youth of their rallies means that they may be better able to withstand a near-term correction, writes MoneyShow's Tom Aspray.
Though the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 remains under pressure, so far the selling in the broader S&P 500 has been well absorbed. Once again, the stock index futures are lower in early trading, but are holding above initial support.
The markets are nervously waiting for earnings from financial giants JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS), which will be released before the opening. The new all-time highs for the Dow Jones Transports and the S&P Health Care Sector are a positive for the overall market. Health care surpassed 12-year resistance in 2012.
The positive intermediate signals for the stock market do not rule out a 2% to 3% pullback at any point, which could take the Spyder Trust (SPY) back toward its quarterly pivot at $142.64. Such a decline would also partially fill the gaps that were formed on the first trading day of 2013.
Despite the gains in many health-care stocks, there are still some that are just turning higher from support and are likely to hold up better if the market does correct. These two health-care stocks fit this criteria and are quite close to their buy levels.
Chart Analysis: The Select Sector SPDR Health Care (XLV) is up well over 4% so far in 2013, after testing the weekly uptrend (line b) in late 2012. The October highs at $41.40 have been overcome.
The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology Index (IBB) dropped to a low of $134.21 at the end of the year and has since surged 8.8%. The next resistance is at $148.54, which was the early October high.
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