Institutional toe dipping with HES, RIMM and VMW

This post was written by Minyanville contributor Jeffrey Cooper.

Institutions may not be chasing stock but there certainly seems to be a bid for select names when they gaped lower this week.

Names on my radar that have seen opening prices scooped up include Hess (NYSE: HES) and Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) and VMWare (NYSE: VMW) this morning.

Often times institutions will sell 10,000 shares or so when they want to buy 500,000 to test the waters. They are complacent and feel they have time to accumulate, than there is no rush. When this 'complacency' as to buying reverses course it will show up in a more persistent steadier rally phase -- a change in character in the advance when it comes.

In other words, often times institutions will sell a small block of 10,000 shares when they actually want to buy size in order to bring the price down; i.e., bang 'em to buy 'em. They bang em to bring the price down to a more attractive level to keep momentum players away in order to actually buy quantity at a preferred level. Once we observe that they do not take the time to do this (which shows up in backing and filling action) it will show up in more sustained buying pressure and equate with a lack of buyside complacency.