CKE Restaurants (CKR)

Company

"CKE Restaurants, Inc., through its subsidiaries, franchisees and licensees, operates some of the most popular U.S. regional brands in quick-service and fast-casual dining, including the Carl’s Jr.®, Hardee’s®, La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill® and Green Burrito® restaurant brands. The CKE system includes more than 3,200 locations in 43 states and in 13 countries." (company website)

Buy

15-Nov-06. Burger lovers have spoken: "More!" A while ago I had noticed that CKR is on a long, steady climb upward, and that I had left a lot of money on the table when in 2004 I sold my CKR shares. After CKR hit the $20 mark on 1-Nov (I don't know why my Stockcharts chart only shows a high of $19.96 that day), CKR consolidated and pulled back to the $19 level. It has just bounced off the lower Bollinger band and the chart shows signs that it is ready for another push upward. I want some of that action.

• Price momentum (PPO) — the slow down has slowed
• Trend (ADX) — still weakening but buying pressure (+DI) has turned up again after a brief dalliance with selling pressure (-DI)
• Money flow (CMF) — dropped to neutral, but pointing toward an inflow again
• Relative strength (RSI) — dropped to neutral, but pointing up again
• Volume — massive volume to hit $20, and average volume is increasing slowly but steadily

Sell

5-Dec-06. I got nervous watching CKR continue to fall and raised my stop-loss price a bit, just in case it took an unexpectted dive while I was on vacation. As luck (not the good kind) would have it, CKR fell just enough the folllowing day to trigger a sale, apparently in a last fit of selling before reversing the slide. ~expletive~

Since the sale, crucial indicators have ticked up again (RSI, +DI, StochRSI) and the slip in momentum (PPO) has stabilized. I am seriously considering jumping back in again if prices hold through the remainder of today's session (5-Dec).