Technical Signals: JOSB, IHS, MLM, ACF

The news may or may not be flowing for these companies, but their charts are still suggesting there's something trade-worthy going on. Take a look at our bullish and bearish cues for AmeriCredit Corp. (ACF), Martin Marietta Materials Inc. (MLM), IHS Inc. (IHS), and Jos. A Bank Clothiers Inc. (JOSB). All four have already given s buy and sell signals.

Martin Marietta Materials Inc. (MLM) gave us a buy signal last week after several weeks of gains. The signal - our primary 'bullish finding' pattern - happened to hurdle a key resistance line just a couple of weeks before the systematic 'buy' was made, though that had nothing to do with the signal itself.


Martin Marietta Materials isn't a basic materials company, but a building materials manufacturer... more from the commercial side than the residential side of the street. The current P/E of 31.4 and the forward-looking P/E of 22.5 are healthy enough to inspire a little bullish follow-through for MLM.

The $50.00 level was a major - and precise - resistance level for IHS Inc. (IHS), and it was obliterated over the last three days with the move to $53.53. Though looking like it's going to pull back (we're expecting it), the hurdle has been passed.

Simultaneously, IHS Inc. made another buy signal from our primary trading system 'buy' criteria. Though the last time we saw this signal from HIS it didn't work out all that well (mid-2008), this instance has the wind at its back rather than the wind in its face.

After a pullback - enough to cool off this hot move - we're looking for HIS to regroup and work on a journey back to the prior ceiling of $70.00. That's about a 17 point move, which would be good for the stock, and great for a longer-term call option

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Though it was up today, Jos. A Bank Clothiers Inc. (JOSB) shares have already made a bear signal.... a pretty reliable one in fact. As the chart shows, the last two times this bearish trading system flagged JOSB, it was indeed n front of a trade-worthy move.


Note that the short exits (to cover) were pretty lousy, so you may not want to rely on the system to get you out of a JOSB trade in a timely manner. That's alright though - you're apt to be in at an optimal downside turning point Jos. A Bank Clothiers. You can use a different set of criteria to exit the trade when the time comes.

This is the first time we've seen the bear system signal from AmeriCredit Corp. (ACF), so there's no way to know if it's got a history of strong results. However, just judging from the way ACF has rolled over the four weeks while the rest of the market has not, we have to think the signal is a high-odds hint (which is what it's designed to look for).  We also see a bearish MACD confirming the negative outlook for AmeriCredit Corp. shares.

As for a landing point, it would probably be a little naive to expect a compel tumble all the way back to this year's low around $3.00 for ACF. However, there are two major Fibonacci retracament lines at $9.44 and $6.24 that would make good targets for AmeriCredit.

And just to clarify about these systematic trades, these aren't the same thing as our official trading recommendations. They may or may not become official trades in the future, and as such, we may or may not follow-up with them. Nonetheless, our proprietary trading systems - available to you just for reading our commentary - were created and back-tested with consistent long-term results in mind.

If you'd like to know of any changes in our opinion of MLM, ACF, JOSB, or IHS (or if we officially recommend them as trades), be sure to sign up for our free newsletter today. It's delivered 2 to 3 times per week.