Just one day after my last “Sector Watch” column (March 9), the stock indexes had clearly had enough of being nags and decided to go the stallion route instead. In fact, the S&P 500 galloped 20% higher in just eight trading days before hitting its 50-day moving average late last week. 

Since the current rally began two weeks ago, the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) indexes have performed stronger than the rest.

The Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLF) has rallied over 40% from its low on March 6 through to last Thursday’s higher opening. The price action last week has triggered a half-day buy signal, which means that it should make at least a three-wave move to the upside.

As soon as the Obama administration began talking about healthcare reform, healthcare stocks began selling off and the Healthcare Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLV) reached a new low this week.

The casino industry has been one of the worst hit by the global downturn. But Jim Stanton says last week’s impressive rally could signal a bottom for sector “stalwarts” like LVS, WYNN and MGM . And mutual fund GACFX is a great way to spread risk on gaming sector investments.

Clean energy ETFs became hugely popular in 2007. But they’ve been taking a beating since this August, when crude oil prices began to fall from their year highs.

Nevertheless, Jim Stanton says alternative energy — and the wind-energy market in particular — has a big future. Wind energy is already the second largest source of new power generation in the US, and it now has the backing of the much-hyped Pickens Plan.

Jim says two clean-energy ETFs that look undervalued right now are PBW and GEX. He also recommends FAN for a more wind-specific ETF. 

Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) has a lot to answer for… No sooner had I wrapped up this edition of “Sector Watch” than the company declared bankruptcy, thus forcing me into a swift re-write! So much for my plan to go fishing yesterday…

1-2-3 Trader editor Jim Stanton says commodity ETFs are riding the three-point waves of a downturn. After the first trough, the stock stages a small rally, before heading back down. This pattern provides good buy and sell signals for resource investors. Jim says ETFs United States Oil Fund (AMEX: USO) and United States Natural Gas Fund (AMEX: UNG) have further short-term corrections ahead, meaning an opportunity to go short.

Technical and quant analyst Jim Stanton says he has developed a trading system – the 1-2-3 Trader – that has so far brought in cumulative profits of 591%. Here he explains how he applies this system to the energy sector…

There are two main forces that move the stock market, says Jim Stanton in The Smarts Profit Report: fear and greed. Jim says charts are invaluable to stock investors because they make it easy to spot patterns caused by these two emotions. Recognizing and understanding these patterns can open up great opportunities for profit – even in a bear market.