As expected, there has been a lot of movement in our Equity Trades Portfolio.  By design it is looking for short to intermediate term long (buy) and short (sell) trading opportunities, unlike our Investments Portfolio which identifies only long (buy) recommendations from an intermediate to long term perspective.

With respect to the long (buy) portion of the Equity Trades Portfolio:

Two of our three buy recommendations have already done quite well, as EMC (NYSE: EMC) is up over 13% from when we first recommended it on December 13^th, and is now above our buy limit price of $24.  Our short term target price is $30 so it is now rated a hold until then.

Likewise, Riverbed Technology (NSDQ: RVBD) has increased in value 22% in just the past five weeks, and is also currently trading above our buy limit price of $18.  Our short term target price is $22 so it is now rated a hold.

Our Sector Spotlight stock from last week, Ricoh (OTC: RICOY) has declined in value 3% from last month and is still below its buy limit price of $60 so it is still an active buy recommendation.

The good news is that the short (sell) portion of this portfolio is mostly still in play, as follows:

3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) is well above our sell limit price of $80 so it is a prime candidate for put options or short sell positions for traders comfortable with those strategies.  We have raised the stop loss price on it to $98 to reflect its recently inflated value to buy time for this trade to work out because once it start to drop it doesn’t find technical support until $55.

Amazon.com (NSDQ: AMZN) is also above its sell limit price of $390, having briefly topped $400 before encountering resistance.  Several analysts are beginning to hedge their bets on Amazon, expressing concern over its inflated value and narrowing margins.  It’s time to go short on this highflyer as it could be a quick drop down to its support level of $320.

Facebook (NSDQ: FB) has hovered around its sell limit price of $55, running into stiff resistance at $58.  The intermediate term floor is at $45, so at current levels it could drop 20% before finding support.

If you haven’t already taken advantage of our short sell recommendation on Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) last month, then it may be too late to jump in on it.  Already down 10% in just five weeks, it is well below our sell limit price of $360.  If you did short Netlix then be aware that the next intermediate term support level is at $310, about $20 below where it is now.  After that, the next level of support is $280 so you should expect some resistance as it approaches those critical price points.