There were no changes seen in the action this week that would suggest that things are changing in favor of the bulls or the bears. As such, I have no new mentions based on general direction of the market. Nonetheless, I do have 3 mentions based on fundamental and/or chart factors affecting these 3 stocks and their particular industries that is unlikely to change based on what the overall market does.

GS Friday Closing Price - 220.28

GS is a stock that normally would be affected by index action but there was a change of industry fundamentals that is highly likely to affect the stock negative. In addition, this is a stock that has been unable to follow the indexes to the upside even before this piece of news occurred, suggesting that its own fundamentals may have shown an inability to go higher before the negative news came out. The negative news is that Ameritrade just a few weeks ago decided that they would offer trades at no charge to the client. Their source of income would be exclusively from the interest rates charged on money on the sidelines and/or interest charged on margin accounts. Given that those interest rate charges were already being charged previously, it does mean that no matter the way you look at it, income for the brokerage firms that adopt this plan will be lower than before. It is also evident that those firms that do not adopt the same plan that Ameritrade has instituted will be at risk of clients moving to Ameritrade or any other company that does not charge fees for trading.

By the same token and on a chart basis, GS has also shown a strong inability to continue the 2-yer uptrend, given that the stock got up to 222.24 in July, got back up to 221.50 in September and following the index market broke above those 2 resistance levels 3 weeks ago with a rally to 224.77. Unfortunately for the bulls, they were not able to generate follow through to that breakout, having closed the following week at 220.25, which was below the previous week's close at 222.91 and also below the previous high weekly close seen in July at 222.14. The failure to follow through was confirmed this past week with the close at 220.28, which means 2 weekly closes in a row below the previous 2 high weekly closes.

With the new fundamental news regarding the competition lowering their trading fees to zero and the inability of the stock to continue upward during the past 4+ months in spite of the indexes moving up having rallied 2.8% during the same period of time, it does suggest a strong probability of the stock heading lower and with a clear desired entry point, stop loss point and minimum downside objectives that offer a very good risk/reward ratio as well as a decent and possibly high probability rating, this trade becomes a must do.

To the upside and on an intraweek basis, GS shows decent resistance between 221.50 and 222.24 and decent to strong resistance at 224.77. To the downside and on an intraweek basis, there is minor support at 216.40 and then open air below until 199.10 is reached. On a daily closing basis, there is support at the 200-day MA, currently at 203.83 and on a weekly closing basis, there is support at the 200-week MA, currently at 210.43, neither of which will hold up if the change of fundamentals creates a non-competitive edge or the indexes head lower. There is no previous area of intraweek support of consequence until the 193.43 area is reached, meaning that this trade has a potential for at 12.7% profit.

Sales of GS between 221.49 and 224.23 and having a 224.87 stop loss at a 193.43 objective offers an 8-1 risk/reward ratio.

My rating on the trade is a 4 (on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the highest).

CRON Friday Closing Price - 7.07

CRON seems to have found a bottom to the 9 month downtrend where the stock lost 76% in value, especially with the news that the House passed a bill that make Marijuana legal in the United States. The normal scenario of a changing trend is to go from a downtrend to a sideways trend where support and resistance areas are tested several times before another change of trend occurs. With the stock having tested support this week after the news and fallen back, both support and resistance seem to be clearly defined and tradeable. By the same token and with the possibility of an important change in the fundamentals, there is an opportunity for more upside above resistance than downside below support.

CRON traded in a clearly defined sideways trend between $6 and $8 between December 2017 and October 2018 and it is now likely that the same thing will occur but perhaps with a bit more upside and a bit less downside due to the news. During that period of time, the stock saw 4 low weekly closes at 5.51, at 5.63. at 5.88 and the last one at 5.86 and 5 high weekly closes at 8.48, at 9.40, at 7.37, at 7.23 and the last one at 7.06. Nonetheless, on an intraweek basis, the low was 5.13 and the high 10.39. It does have to be mentioned that the company at that time had not established itself yet as a strong company in the industry and had not yet been bought by another strong company called Atria, meaning there is more reason to believe that the possibility of higher highs is greater than lower lows or even those lows being reached now.

CRON made a new 15 month low this past week at 6.04 and reversed to close in the green and in the middle of the week's trading range, suggesting that at the very least a temporary low has been found, especially considering that the stock rallied 25% from the low to the high of the week. In addition, the low seen just prior to the rally that began in August of last year and that took the stock up to the $25 dollar level was 5.61 and this suggests that unless the industry is worse off than at that time, that low will not get broken.

Nonetheless, and given that the likely trading range is somewhat small, a good risk/reward ratio must be found that supports doing the trade. To fulfill this scenario, a stop loss at 6.30 will be used for the trade. On a daily closing basis, the stock broke out above 6.40 last week and what followed was a rally up to 8.07, suggesting the 6.40 level is now support. In addition, the 200 10-minute MA is currently at 6.83 and on that same chart there is quite a bit of intraday support at that same level. There is also decent intraday support at 6.58, suggesting that news would need to be bad for all 3 support areas to break.

Upside objective is a minimum of 8.15/8.67 to perhaps as high as 10.56 where a spike high is found.

Purchases of CRON between Friday's low at 6.85 and 6.72 and using a stop loss at 6.30 and having an 8.67 objective will offer a 4-1 risk/reward ratio.

My rating on the trade is a 3.5 (on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the highest).

CLB Friday Closing Price - 46.13

CLB is an oil related stock that made a 10+-year low at 36.61 just 15 weeks ago. During the past 15 weeks the traders have built a dependable bottom, having tested the 36.61 low 7 weeks ago with a drop back down to 40.39. During this period of time, oil also has been building support after its drop down to the $50 level and on Thursday, oil generated a small breakout above a level of resistance at 57.88 with a high at 58.67, followed with a high on Friday at 58.74. On both days, oil closed above the daily close resistance at 57.15. With no resistance above until 60.93 is reached, it seems oil will continue higher and the stock follow it as well.

CLB broke the 200-day MA, currently at 53.52, to the downside 13 months ago and with oil likely to go higher and the stock having built support for some higher prices, that line is a natural target at this time.

To the downside, last week's low in CLB at 43.65 is now considered support as on the daily chart it is now a second successful retest of the low made 15 weeks, having generated 3 subsequent higher lows and higher highs. In addition, the stock closed near the high of the week, suggesting further upside above last week's high at 46.87 will be seen this week. If that does not happen and last week's low is broken this week, then the last 4 month of building support, as well as the small breakout in oil, will be erased. The probabilities of that happening are low.

This is not a major trade but it is a high probability trade given that clearly defined support has been built and there is also a clearly defined upside objective that is a magnet, even within a bear market.

Using the intraday chart of CLB, it does look like the initial action for the week will be to the downside. There is quite a bit of support on that chart at 45.67 and even more at the 200 10-minute MA, currently at 45.14, that got broken to the upside on Thursday, after 8 days of trading below it. As such, the probabilities favor a drop to one of those areas where a purchase can be made that offers a good risk/reward ratio and a high probability rating.

Purchases of CLB below 45.68 and using a stop loss at 43.55 and having a 53.52 objective offer a 4-1 risk/reward ratio.

My rating on the trade is a 3.25 (on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the highest).