IRA Investing > LEAP Options	In association with
By Mark Phillips
Fundamentally Sound but still looking for a bottom!

EMC - EMC Corporation $56.40

Recent trading in shares of one of our favorite LEAPS plays has left us a bit puzzled here at the home office. The company was one of the few technology companies to beat analyst earnings estimates AND revenue growth targets. On top of that, in the conference call, Chairman Michael Ruettgers said the company "gained share in every major segment of our addressable market. Our competitive lead has never been stronger." So the fundamental picture looks intact - why did the stock get taken apart in the past 2 weeks? Blame it on NASDAQ weakness, Fed dread, energy costs, or just plain old investor nervousness, but the stock seems to have been excessively punished recently.

A quick look at the chart bears this out, with the closing price the past two days deep into the lower Bollinger band (currently at $59.69), daily stochastics deep into oversold and due for a bounce, and the closing price approaching major support between $50-53. Given the strong fundamental picture, with a strong case for a bounce on technical reasons, we think EMC makes a compelling case for new positions, provided it doesn't plunge below major support. We'll actually give the stock until the $50 level to find bottom and would advocate aggressive traders begin to take positions on any bounce above that level. More conservative traders can still take advantage of the near term weakness by opening new positions as the stock moves back above the $62-63 resistance level on solid volume.

BUY LEAP JAN-2002 $60.00 WUL-AL at $14.40
BUY LEAP JAN-2003 $60.00 VUP-AL at $20.10