OHFdex Update

Since several readers expressed some interest – or at least some amusement – in the OHFdex (Overripe High Fliers Index) I unveiled back on October 12^th, I though it might be interesting to see how these high fliers have fared during the recent market turmoil.

Given that most major indices peaked at the end of October, I did not expect the changes from October 12 to November 20 to be particularly dramatic, but as can be seen below, the devastation over the past 5 ½ weeks has been widespread and substantial, even though it is only a small portion of most of the peak to trough losses over the past three weeks.

The companies that have fared the best during the period in question have done so partly with a stronger post-October 12 runup, but also by doing a better job of weathering the current downturn. These are the tech stalwarts, AAPL and RIMM (GOOG was also up 11 points during this span), as well as the two Chinese tech plays, BIDU and CHL.

I have been short five stocks on this list at one time or another during the past three weeks: AAPL; BIDU; GRMN; DRYS; and CROX. I suspect that most of the easy money on the short side has already been made, but if the NDX fails to hold 2000 and if the NASDAQ composite cannot stay above the 200 day SMA (currently 2584), I’ll flip from neutral to bearish and look to this list to find where the momentum money is most nervous.