Sykes Enterprises (SYKE)

Company. "SYKES has been providing expert outsourcing and consulting solutions to the world's leaders in the technology, finance and communications industries for over 25 years." (company website)

Buy. Sykes made a double-bottom in November, 2002, at $2.75 and January, 2003, at $2.85. It then began a steady climb to $5, which it reached in early May. At that point, SYKE settled into a sidewise pattern, ranging between $4.50 and $5.00.

At the end of July, SYKE leaped up with two days of gains of about $1. The directional indicators (ADX, +DI) took off, as did the Chaikin oscillator. I bought on the dip.

Sell. I think this is among the best-timed sells that I've made. After a new high of $8.29 at the beginning of September, SYKE moved sidewise a bit, then took a nasty tumble this week. Both the ADX line and the +DI began to decline, showing that the trend and buying pressure were weakening, although the selling pressure did not increase substantially. At the same time, Chaikin's oscillator began to slip toward zero.

On 10-Sep SYKE formed a bearish engulfing candle (the big solid red one that completely overshadows the previous days). The stock recovered somewhat yesterday, but could not sustain it today. Amidst this weakness and the generally dour mood in the general market, I decided to sell and preserve some nice gains.