5 Big Stocks to Trade for Gains

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- It's data Thursday -- and that means that economic data is getting the spotlight today as investors search for the next direction in stocks.

This morning, jobs, inflation and trade numbers have already hit Wall Street, with the trickle of information set to continue throughout the day. But economic stats are only part of it; a new earnings season is also underway this week. Those earnings numbers have the biggest potential to reignite the stock rally in April, particularly with the poor expectations analysts have laid out for the first quarter of 2012.

From a technical standpoint, Mr. Market is down but not out. While this latest pullback is deeper than the one we saw in March, the uptrend in the S&P 500 is still intact. That gives traders reason to get ready for another leg of this rally -- and reason for us to take a technical look at five of Wall Street's big-name stocks this week.

>>7 Stocks With Relative Strength to Beat the Market

If you're new to technical analysis, here's the executive summary:

Technicals are a study of the market itself. Since the market is ultimately the only mechanism that determines a stock's price, technical analysis is a valuable tool even in the roughest of trading conditions. Technical charts are used every day by proprietary trading floors, Wall Street's biggest financial firms, and individual investors to get an edge on the market. And research shows that skilled technical traders can bank gains as much as 90% of the time.

Every week, we take an in-depth look at large-cap stocks that are telling important technical stories. Here's this week's look at the technicals of five must-see stocks.

Talisman Energy