Newsflash: RIM Sucks

Is anyone surprised to see Research In Motion plumbing the depths of an 8-year low today after yet another failure to execute?  If you’re surprised or, even worse, you’re long this stock – I gotta ask you: What is your system?  What is your method for stock selection and how do you manage risk?

I don’t do a ton of stock picking these days, I’ve been more focused on sector selection and overall equity weightings – a better focus to have for a risk-on, risk-off tape.  But before plowing into a stock just because it “looks cheap”,  I need real a reason to buy.  Over the last year, $RIMM has given me virtually none and all the reasons in the world to simply watch from the sidelines as this massive tech giant imploded.

Here at Fusion we follow thousands of stocks and ETFs assigning each a quantitative rank between 100 (the best) and 1 (the worst).  We rank them based on a technical score and fundamental score blending the two to come up with a Master Rank.

Here’s what $RIMM has looked like through that lens, I took out the candlesticks leaving only a simple line chart and a simple moving average.  Other than a headfake false breakout gap in August, this thing has been an avoid or a sell for more than 50 points now: