NEW TECHNOLOGIES PRODUCE UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITIES 203

matched the S&P 500 with a solid 23% gain. Some of the best groups for
the year included semiconductors, which soared 80%; computer hardware,
which was up 41%; and software, which gained 36%.

Roppel Follows the Market’s Action

The upward momentum of the recent market action continued as 1997

began. January was another solid month as the markets continued higher.
Consolidation was dominant in February as the Dow traded sideways, though
it did cross the 7,000 mark, but the Nasdaq began to slip downward. In March
the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a point, which helped
send the markets downward. Sharp drops in the markets occurred until mid-
April. After some profit taking and a scare from the Fed, the markets would
again turn right around and resume their upward trends. Roppel was right
there, and he noticed a new leader taking shape. He bought into Jabil Circuit,
which was a technology leader from the electronics–contract manufacturing
group. Roppel bought this stock perfectly when it broke out of a base on
May 2, 1997, and made a new high at $25 per share, which can be seen in Fig-
ure 10-5 on p. 204. The market had also just turned back upward, and Roppel
was right in sync with the market and a strong stock. He held on to this stock
as it kept gaining in price. In mid-June 1997, the company reported outstand-
ing earnings and the CEO was featured on CNBC touting the bright future
that lay just ahead for the company. The stock really exploded upward after
that. Roppel still hung on, and the stock reacted perfectly by rising on heavy
volume and pulling back or pausing on weak volume, indicating that the big
investors were content to hold the stock. Roppel would go on to hold this stock
until it finally showed selling signals, which included heavy down days on very
strong volume. It also would slice through its 50-day moving average, which it
had never done all the way up on its rise. As we’ll see later, the market was set
for a major correction in the fall and Jabil Circuit would head lower with that
market correction. Roppel was out of his position when its action flashed sell
cues, and he acted correctly and retained another 100%+ gain. We are really
starting to see now how Roppel was beginning to turn things around and how
his profitable transactions would begin to mirror the same strategies of the
best stock traders who have already been featured.