AAR Corp (AIR)

Company. "AAR is the premier supplier of products and services to the worldwide aviation/aerospace industry." (company website)

Buy. AAR reached a newhigh of $8.45 and then pulled all the way back below $7. I bought when it looked to be safely over the $8 level again. However, it traded in a narrowing range below $8.50 for three weeks before breaking out smartly in mid-September.

Unfortunately, AAR dived along with most other stocks during the last week of September, dropping over $1.

Sell. Once it began to recover AAR moved upward in a very distinctive pattern: big gain one day, drop back a bit the next day, then repeat. Trouble reared its ugly head once AAR broke the $10 level, for the next day was not a baby step backward, but a giant step. This was followed by a day of trying to move up again, but without much success.

When AAR opened lower today and then continued to drift downward, I decided to sell, but had to lower the price several times to make the sale. I was reluctant not to sell because the indicators seemed to be softening. Because many of AAR's customers are airlines, it is vulnerable to bad news from lots of directions. It seemed wise to take profits before next weeks blizzard of earnings reports.