There are several ways to 'play' the market. The least common is actually "market play", which depends on the fluctuations of the market in general, while using stocks only as trading vehicles. But not just any stocks, not DJ stocks, not just S&P stocks, but that group of tech stocks which move 2-3 times as much as normal stocks. This is our stock universe - the only stocks we would ever buy, not low-percentage financial, transportation and manufacturing stocks, but the stocks that really move.
The trick is not to endlessly analyze the financials, products, executives, etc. of these companies, because stock purchases based on the best analyses in the world still lose money in a down market. 'It's the market, stupid'
Movement of the market that contains most of our high-potential stocks - the Nasdaq - should be the overriding subject of investigation for real players. Not that based on moving averages, support levels, economic predictions or other 100% ineffective parameters. [just because these are the subjects mentioned on the nightly news gives them no validity at all; those bow ties are not traders]. There is, however, a continuing discussion on market movement - the ability, with patience and remaining out of the market quite a lot - to pick, one after another, the bottoms of the 1-3-week fluctuations that count.
Stockpicking plays no part here - any couple of 30 different medium cap companies will do, if we get the market right. And what can be known about Nasdaq movement is the singular topic of discussion at the non-commercial New Breed site