Ixia (XXIA)

Company

"Ixia is a leading provider of multiport traffic generation, performance analysis, and conformance validation systems. These systems are used to accurately and reliably assess the data communications equipment that make up the high-speed, sophisticated networks of today." (company website)

Buy

8-Aug-06. After peaking in 2005, XXIA took a long dive (see right), but the latest dip (March to July, 2006) seems to have reversed (see sidebar). It has broken above the 50-day moving average with several positive signs in the chart.

• Price momentum (PPO) — picking up sharply
• Trend (ADX) — well above the threshhold (20), with buying pressure (+DI) above selling pressure (-DI)
• Money flow (CMF) — money was flowing out of the stock, but is now flowing in
• Relative strength (RSI) — strengthened over past weeks
• Volume — average volume has declined over 3-month period in chart, but appears to be stabilizing

XXIA can probably be characterized as an "early buy." The question will be whether it can hold above the moving average.

Sell

3-Oct-06. Early buy, late loss. My stop-loss order was trigger this morning when XXIA traded at $8.66, and it is clear from hindsight that I should have cut the loss much sooner, say around the time I bought a second lot! Even by then weakness was showing, and it became only more visible after that. The breakthrough from the trend that can be seen in the 2-year chart simply didn't happen.