Wednesday, January 7, 2009, we had four Around the Horn premium trades and four Stocks to Watch trades on our radar. Of these, three had profit opportunities and the rest were no-shows.

Allegheny Energy Inc (AYE) was an Infield Fly short Around the Horn premium trade for Wednesday. EP gapped lower on the open, below our entry level but did reach up to touch our entry. AYE traded in a wide consolidation for much of the day before trading lower and to within 10 cents of our our initial profit target late in the day. Exit was end of day when AYE ran out of time.

Allegheny Energy Inc (AYE), 5-Minute Chart


El Paso Corp (EP) was an Infield Fly short Around the Horn premium trade for Wednesday. EP gapped lower on the open, triggering our entry price. EL then traded to a wide consolidation for much of the day before pushing lower late the session. EP did not touch our initial profit target level, but came within 10 cents, so we moved our stop to a profit stoop at the 50% to target level. Exit was at end of day just below that level just before closing bell.

El Paso Corp (EP), 5-Minute Chart


Valero Energy Corp (VLO) was an Infield Fly short Around the Horn premium trade for Wednesday. VLO gapped lower on the open, below our entry level but did reach up to touch our entry. VLO then traded cleanly and steadily down to our initial profit target and below. The first time through the target VLO did not hesitate so we stayed in with a trailing stop that took us out with an additional 18 cents in profits. VLO did trade back up to the initial profit target level, so exit was at or below this level.

Valero Energy Corp (VLO), 5-Minute Chart


Extra Innings and Opportunities for Thursday, January 8, 2009:

Prestige Brands Holdings Inc (PBH), 30-Minute Chart


Alexandria Real Estate Eq Inc (ARE), 30-Minute Chart


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Julie Peterson-Manz is cofounder of TraderInsight.com. Email her at julie@traderinsight.