Zacks.com Announces That Gregory Spear Highlights the Following Stocks: Apple, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

CHICAGO -- Gregory Spear, editor of The Spear Report Professional Edition newsletter, says the Nasdaq is now in a bearish trend but it has not infected the rest of the market. Learn about Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL), Intel (Nasdaq:INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD). Click here for the full story exclusively on Zacks.com: http://at.zacks.com/?id=84

Highlights from the July 21 Featured Expert column by Gregory Spear include:

Thursday's market began on a positive note, with the QQQQ gapping up on Apple's (Nasdaq:AAPL) shiny results. Although AAPL was able to hold on to the lion's share of its early gains, Intel (Nasdaq:INTC) lost over 6% after reporting that second-quarter profit fell 57% on 13% lower sales. Intel lost a major design battle with Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) over the last two years and is in the midst of a restructuring, cutting 1000 manager jobs worldwide. Accordingly, the stock has been in a technical decline since 2004 and Spear's team expects the chip giant to test its bear market lows around $13. AMD on the other hand, enjoyed a bull market from January 2003-January 2006. Shares of AMD have corrected sharply since then, however, due to concerns about a price war with INTC and the postponement of Microsoft's new Vista operating system, which is widely expected to spark a new desktop upgrade cycle. AMD reported excellent earnings last night, but revenues were soft due to this circumstance. Gregory Spear and his team think AMD is closer to a bottom than INTC.

Intel's sharp decline did not affect the Dow as much as the Nasdaq, since the Dow is a price-weighted average, while the Nasdaq is a market-cap weighted average. As a result of weakness in the chips, profit-taking overtook the Nasdaq within fifteen minutes and by the end of the day the 4-letter index had given back all of Wednesday's advance and then some. That type of 100%+ give-back is very typical of bear markets, which we now have in the Nasdaq, but which has not yet infected the rest of the market.

To review, in bull trends, profit-taking creates opportunities to "buy the dip" and that sport is widely practiced by professional and amateur traders all over the world. Dips are often sharp enough to create a short-term mood of pessimism, but they don't last long. In bear trends, however, many more traders remain on the sidelines during rallies and some actively grease the rails of declines by selling short. Therefore, dip buyers have less fire power and lose confidence as they go out on a limb, only to see it sawed off time after time. As a result, more and more buyers take profits very quickly, while the rest either remain on the sidelines or begin to sell the rallies short, anticipating complete reversals such as we had yesterday.

In summary, bear markets generate and then punish optimism, just as bull markets generate and then punish pessimism. The antidote in a bear market is to practice reverse psychology, so that when you feel bullish, sell; when you feel the most bearish, know that a rally is probably just around the corner. This principle applies to certain phases of bull markets, as well, except that in strong bull phases, dips are shallower and you get paid to hold positions through mild dip after mild dip.

Read Gregory Spear's complete commentary on market trends and check out this expert's daily updates by clicking: http://at.zacks.com/?id=85

About Zacks Featured Experts

Successful investing requires professional advice from knowledgeable experts who can help investors achieve their financial goals in good markets and improve their portfolios, especially in bad ones. That is why Zacks Investment Research has assembled the best investment experts in the business to offer their powerful advisory newsletters on all the major investment topics: Stocks, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Options, Futures etc.

Additional recommendations from Zacks.com Featured Experts are highlighted in the free investment newsletter, Profit from the Pros. Each issue highlights several Featured Experts in this free e-mail newsletter. Register for a free subscription to "Profit from the Pros" at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=86

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=87

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.