Specifically, we want to go ahead and officially end coverage on a couple of our small cap stocks, and we want to put another pick temporarily on the shelf. We also want to add a stop to one small cap idea already on the table. 
 

Goodbye

There's nothing inherently wrong with Applied DNA Sciences (OTCBB: APDN), other than the pace of growth. They're doing everything they set out to do, and we think they'll be doing millions of dollars in business eventually. However, the pace has been too slow to justify giving it a lot of focus when there are other, faster-growing companies out there. 

That's not to say it's a bad long-term holding for you, as long as you understand the kind of time it's likely to take before they start to see serious results. They're still a well run company, and there's a market for their product (as we've said all along). It's just a matter of productivity in the meantime.

We're also letting go of SpongeTech Delivery Solutions (OTCBB: SPNG). This is one of the more confounding stories I've seen in a while. The company exceeded every expectation anybody had a right to have. Yet, the stock just didn't perform. Make no mistake about it though - SPNG shares have been way undervalued for too long, with a P/S ratio of under 1.0, and a projected P/E ratio of well under 10.0.

Ultimately, I think a fear of more dilution coupled with a bear market was more than the stock's price could overcome. Too bad, as the math still strongly favors SpongeTech shareholders. However, what 'is' and what 'should be' are two different things. We've got to move on.

Note that I'll continue to watch SpongeTech and Applied DNA, and if something extraordinary happens in the foreseeable future I'll let you know. As far as being a focus stock though, don't look for day-to-day coverage any longer. We're reserving our attention for some new ideas coming soon.

The only other company we're taking off our watchlist today is a stock we unofficially took off our list weeks ago - Smart Energy Solutions (OTCBB: SMGY). We've kept them in our back pocket just to give them the benefit of the doubt. But, a little like Applied DNA, it's just taking too long to get any revenue results. Unlike Applied DNA, we don't plan on even keeping tabs on SMGY.

None of this is to say these three companies can't or won't be winners at some point. We just see better ideas coming in the near future. If you're wondering what to do with any of these three names, you'll have to decide what your personal timeframe and risk tolerances are, and cross-check that against your personal expectation for each stock.
 

See Ya' Later

We hadn't forgotten about Cogent Inc. (NASDAQ: COGT) - we just haven't had much of a chance to talk about in light of everything else going on. As you may have suspected, the bear market finally dug into this chart too; COGT fell under our stop level a few weeks ago.

Though we're certainly not advocating a re-entry right now, we're keeping Cogent in our back pocket as a potential trading idea in the future. All the reasons we originally liked the stock are still valid. However, the bearish environment was just too much for COGT to resist. So, we're not saying goodbye here - we're just saying see ya' later. 

That said, don't assume COGT will be our very next new trading idea.
 

Still Around

There's a bitter irony in our coverage ofChina Energy Recovery (OTCBB: CGYV) - it started literally on the very same day the market started to fall apart.... September 12th. Needless to say, not much of anything has been able to move against the bearish grain, including CGYV.

Nevertheless, we've also seen the company take great strides, fulfilling the growth promises made over the last several weeks. We have no reason to think more of the same isn't on the way.

However, we do want to add one layer of detail to the trade now that it looks like the market is stabilizing (i.e. not in a complete freefall). We suggest adding a stop of 80 cents. 

We didn't want to issue a stop right out of the gate, as we didn't really know how this relatively new stock was going to behave. The decision had its upside and its downside. Now, however, we can see the company is generating some major growth, and we believe the market will start to see it - and start buying - soon. A stop of 80 cents gives us adequate protection, but also gives us enough wiggle room to let the chart turn things around.
 

And What About This Market?

Surely you didn't think we'd pass up the opportunity to tell you what's going on with the overall stock market, did you? 

Here's the deal - don't get too enamored with last week's big win. If you look back over the past four weeks, three of the four Mondays were bearish disasters that followed decent rallies late in the previous week. The only good Monday in the bunch was last week's Monday, but that was also the first day back from the worst week for stocks ever - a bounce was to be expected. I don't know why this pattern unfolded the way it did, and I don't care. All I know is unless last week broke the streak, we may be back in the hole by Monday afternoon. 

On the other hand, the market's dynamics over the last two weeks - or more accurately, the change in dynamics between last week and the prior week - may truly point to further upside. For instance, cash positions are now back up to levels not seen since late 2002. So, there's a lot of money on the sidelines that could come flowing back in at any time.

I've been blogging almost all of these dynamics every day, so I'm not going to recite them here. If you missed them though, you really should check out the blog - this has been a fascinating month. A lot of the bottom signs have been made, even though it's not clear if the bottom is in place yet. 

With that in mind, the coming week will help us do what we can't do right now, which is determine where stocks are headed next. Like we mentioned, most of the recent Mondays have given us huge selloffs, so survival is critical now if there's to be any bullishness ahead. Needless to say, that will be our focus (in the blog and the newsletter) over the next few days. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, we will let you know there are some stocks on the rise again. Most are still troubled, but seeing a few of them move higher tells us the overall market tide isn't overwhelming anymore. We'll have some of those emerging leaders coming to you soon.