Zacks.com Featured Expert Kevin Matras Highlights: Magellan Midstream Partners, Sasol, Ltd., Martin Marietta Materials, and Philippine Long Distance Tel. Co.CHICAGO -- Kevin Matras looks at how to use Price and Volume for locking in profits, cutting losses and spotting potential trend changes. Stocks in this week's article are: Magellan Midstream mid·stream n. 1. The middle part of a stream. 2. The part of a course that is neither at the beginning nor at the end: the midstream of life. Noun 1. Partners L.P. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :MMP MMP Matrix Metalloproteinase (enzymes related to tissue healing/remodeling and cancer cell metastasis) MMP Mixed Member Proportional (New Zealand electoral system) MMP Multi-man Publishing ), Sasol, Ltd. (NYSE:SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) The leading security protocol on the Internet. Developed by Netscape, SSL is widely used to do two things: to validate the identity of a Web site and to create an encrypted connection for sending credit card and other personal data. ), Martin Marietta Materials Martin Marietta Materials is in the aggregate, chemical, and composite material business. It is the second largest producer of crushed stone, sand, and gravel in the United States. It is a leading U.S. , Inc. (NYSE:MLM MLM Multi-Level Marketing MLM Mailing List Manager MLM Marxism-Leninism-Maoism MLM Mid-Level Manager MLM Medical Liability Monitor (newsletter) MLM Multi-Longitudinal Mode MLM Military Liaison Mission ) and Philippine Long Distance Tel. Co. (NYSE:PHI phi n. Symbol  The 21st letter of the Greek alphabet.PHI, n See health information, protected. ). Click here for the full story exclusively on Zacks.com: http://at.zacks.com/?id=109 Screen of the Week written by Kevin Matras of Zacks Investment Research Zacks Investment Research A firm that compiles earnings estimates and brokerage firm investment recommendations for thousands of publicly traded firms. : Kevin wants to talk about how to use price and volume to know when to pull profits and cut your losses. And he'll go over three ways to do this. First, simply take a look at your stocks. Are they moving higher convincingly on growing volume or are they marking higher prices on diminishing volume? This is important since volume is supposed to follow price. If the stocks on your radar are moving higher, but without greater investor interest, it can often mean pullback Pullback A falling back of a price from its peak. This type of price movement might be seen as a brief reversal of the prevailing upward trend, signaling a slight pause in upward momentum. is in the near offing. The more buying pressure there is, the higher it will go. But once the buying pressure eases up, it often means a pullback is in store. The pullback can be an ordinary retracement Retracement A reversal in the movement of a stock's price, countering the prevailing trend.  Notes: An example might be market risk causing a stock's price to pull back. as new buyers catch their breath or it could be a trend-changing event. So pay attention to what the volume is telling you and be alert. A screen for helping you weed weed, common term for any wild plant, particularly an undesired plant, growing in cultivated ground, where it competes with crop plants for soil nutrients and water. out the weak from the strong can be as simple as looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. three days (or more) of higher prices while each day it's registering less buying pressure (lower volume). The parameters are: --Recent Price greater than Price 1 Day Ago (Recent greater than Recent-1D) --Price 1 Day Ago greater than Price 2 Days Ago (Recent-1D greater than Recent-2D) --Price 2 Days Ago greater than Price 3 Days Ago (Recent-2D greater than Recent-3D) and ... --Recent Volume less than Volume 1 Day Ago (Recent less than Recent-1D) --Volume 1 Day Ago less than Volume 2 Days Ago (Recent-1D less than Recent-2D) --Volume 2 Days Ago less than Volume 3 Days Ago (Recent-2D less than Recent-3D) Here are two stocks that fit these criteria as of the end of business on Monday, 8/22/05: MMP Magellan Midstream Partners L.P. SSL Sasol, Ltd. There are many more stocks that appear on the list too. If your stocks show up on it, pay close attention. They could be in store for a direction change. You can also look for three days down (or unchanged) with increasing volume. Lots of action with no upside Upside The potential dollar amount by which the market or a stock could rise. Notes: This is basically an educated guess on how high a stock could go in the near future. See also: Bull, Downside progress can often be a sign of distribution (people selling off their stock), or people going short. The parameters are: --Recent Price less than or equal to Price 1 Day Ago (Recent less than or equal to Recent-1D) --Price 1 Day Ago less than or equal to Price 2 Days Ago (Recent-1D less than or equal to Recent-2D) --Price 2 Days Ago less than or equal to Price 3 Days Ago (Recent-2D less than or equal to Recent-3D) and ... --Recent Volume greater than Volume 1 Day Ago (Recent greater than Recent-1D) --Volume 1 Day Ago greater than Volume 2 Days Ago (Recent-1D greater than Recent-2D) --Volume 2 Days Ago greater than Volume 3 Days Ago (Recent-2D greater than Recent-3D) Here are two stocks that fit this example as of the end of business on Monday, 8/22/05: MLM Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. PHI Philippine Long Distance Tel. Co. You may even want to check for stocks with big price drops on much larger than average volume. If the price falls by a $1, for instance, on 20% more volume than average, that can also be your queue that things may be changing (from up to down -- or down to even more down). Again, since volume in general should follow the price, a big price drop on increasing volume could be foreshadowing fore·shad·ow tr.v. fore·shad·owed, fore·shad·ow·ing, fore·shad·ows To present an indication or a suggestion of beforehand; presage. fore·shad even lower prices to come. The parameters are: --Recent Price - Price 1 Day Ago greater than or equal to $1 --Recent Daily Volume greater than or equal to 1.2x (20%) 20 Day Average Volume There are also many other ways to use price and volume as an indicator of a stock's possible future direction. (Especially on the way up too.) But by simply applying these screens to your stocks, you could keep yourself out of 'suckers rallies', exit major tops sooner, and lock in hard earned profits on your winners before the market takes it away. All the Screen of the Week strategies are created and back-tested using the Research Wizard software from Zacks Investment Research. Learn more about the Research Wizard free trial offer and our new special report "Top 10 Stock Screening Strategies" at http://at.zacks.com/?id=111 Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. About Screen of the Week Zacks.com created the first and best screening system on the web earning the distinction as the "#1 site for screening stocks" by Money Magazine. But powerful screening tools is just the start. That is why Zacks created the Screen of the Week to highlight profitable stock picking strategies that investors can actively use. 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