Things have been interesting lately, and as I have been increasing my size on positions, I have been taking some more significant hits when stopped out of positions. Still, that won't deter me. That's how it goes... more risk, more reward, but sometimes you'll get burned. Anyway, the airline stocks are taking off and I sold of UAUA and DAL for a decent profit. They are continuing to run, but I sold into strength, maybe a bit to early, but profit is profit. Unfortunately, I took a large hedge... I guess you could say even more than a hedge... more like a heavily bearish position on the Riets yesterday and got burned by it. With the market pushing upwards at these levels, I was expecting a pull back and was looking to profit on it. Too bad I was wrong! I have been bullish this whole time yet I took a bearish position, go figure. The question I asked myself after I ate the loss was "Who was I trying to out smart?" I guess I thought I was smarter than myself LOL!
Anyway, that was another lesson learned. In the mean time I have been doing some research and looking for some setups. Here is what I have on my watchlist:
SKH: smaller valued healthcare stock; double bottom formation on the daily chart; starting to break out; stochastics crossing from oversold region; MACD crossover; looks good for a long (entry @ or under $7 on a pullback / nibble at $7.15 entry and add at $7.30 if no pullback)
RRR: rental and leasing service company; downward channel (close to breakout of top trend line); stochastics crossing over; MACD crossover; looks good for a long (entry @ $6.70; stop @ $6.15; measured move is 65 cents ===> target @ $7.30-.35)
CNO: Conseco; stochastics crossing over; MACD crossover; looks good for a long (entry @ $5.20; stop out under $5.00; 1st target at $5.70 second target @ $6.00
That's it for now. Looking to take 500-1k shares per position. I will post updates later on!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Day Trading Post #78
Today we had a nice gap up in the market, and intraday it was great to short. Many of my longs are playing out nicely, and I managed to catch DRN for 3.10 point long at the close. The market overall is looking very bullish and I would anticipate that we will break 1100 on the S&P Cash soon. We broke through to new 52 week highs on the S&P and on the Dow, but closed shy of the resistance at 1100 for the S&P. My take on this is that we will probably consolidate a bit under the 1100 level and then we'll have an explosive move up. I'm being more cautious this time around since I got burned the last time we came up to these levels.
As for my longs, SPG is playing out nicely and I am sitting nicely in the money. The Airline stocks are consolidating and look as if they may push upwards a bit more. Along with that, the healthcare sector is still going strong. I am holding my last 100 shares in AET and letting it run!
Today's day trade went very well, and I have been watching and waiting for the technicals to setup for the past few days. Sure, I could have broken and bent my rules a few times last week and earlier this week and potentially made some nice gains, but I held off and waited until my indicators all lined up and then I pulled the trigger. I took DRN long at $123.55 and sold it for a gain of $3.10 per share! Chart is below:
As for my longs, SPG is playing out nicely and I am sitting nicely in the money. The Airline stocks are consolidating and look as if they may push upwards a bit more. Along with that, the healthcare sector is still going strong. I am holding my last 100 shares in AET and letting it run!
Today's day trade went very well, and I have been watching and waiting for the technicals to setup for the past few days. Sure, I could have broken and bent my rules a few times last week and earlier this week and potentially made some nice gains, but I held off and waited until my indicators all lined up and then I pulled the trigger. I took DRN long at $123.55 and sold it for a gain of $3.10 per share! Chart is below:
Monday, November 9, 2009
Day Trading Post #77
Well, today got me a bit bullish again and I took some long positions. I am only planning on holding for a short period of time. I bought SPG, UAUA, and SKS. Charts with my notes are below:
SKS is an interesting chart. For the past 6 months you can see (from my interpretation of this chart) that we traded in an upward channel with a wide range. Short term, we have a downward channel which brings us to the lower trend line of the long term channel where you see we bounce. Along with that, the Stochastics and MACD have setup for a long. Things look good for about a point move give or take some.
SKS is an interesting chart. For the past 6 months you can see (from my interpretation of this chart) that we traded in an upward channel with a wide range. Short term, we have a downward channel which brings us to the lower trend line of the long term channel where you see we bounce. Along with that, the Stochastics and MACD have setup for a long. Things look good for about a point move give or take some.
SPG is one I have been watching for a while. The stochastics and MACD have crossed to the upside and look bullish. There is the potential for it to pull back down into the falling wedge pattern present on the chart, and if that is the case I may cut my losses and wait for a better entry. Although right now it looks as if we may have caught the breakout. Overall, I took small size but will be watching it closely.
UAUA is a trade I took when looking at a bunch of different airline stocks. I honestly think that you could take a basket of airlines and hold for a few days or so with a tight stop and have some decent profits. Many airline stocks look very similar to UAUA and have the stochastics and MACD setup for a buy.
Finally, the S&P cash chart. On the daily, we look really good for a move up, but I am hesitant around the 1100 level since I got burned pretty badly the last time we hit 1100. Mid October, I should have locked in profits but got greedy and held on resulting in many winning positions rolling over and turning into losing positions. This time, I am not going to let that happen. If I see the market stalling out and showing some resistance around 1100 again, I plan to scale out / lock in profits. We will see in the next few days / weeks!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Day Trading Post #76
So, the past week or so has been busy hence I haven't posted as much as I would have liked to. Anyway, after regrouping and going over my trades, I realized my mistakes, worked on them and fixed it. As a result, I managed to bring my account back up 8-9% from my low of last week after cutting off my losers! It was a good week and I exercised more discipline in my trades resulting in smarter trades. I have some friends whom I keep in touch with who also trade and it's interesting to me that I can pick out some of their flaws with their psychology regarding trading pretty easily but when it comes to myself, it is much harder to see what is wrong. Hence, I really feel that last weekend, by going over my mistakes, I managed to improve myself. This upcoming week I have some plays that I am interested in, but I am exercising more discipline as to my entries so that I don't end up getting in too early. Pretty much I am looking at some RIETs along with GE and some tech stocks which are setting up nicely. The market itself is in an oversold region on the stochastics, and is matching up for a crossover on the MACD indicator on the daily chart. Weekly charts still look bullish too. The pullback may or may not be over, but I am sitting on my hands until I get the signal that we are ready to launch this market back up!
Friday, October 30, 2009
This has been a very interesting week. We had some big moves in the market that have changed my tune overall. I am skeptical but things look like we are going to pull back. I am starting to see that in some of my trading, I held on until my risk (sometimes a little bit longer than I should have) but that I am not a big fan of having to hold on to the risk. Therefore, I am restructuring my trading strategy at the moment and refining it to limit risk even more so. I took two day trades this week which went sour but it doesnt deter me. I know that I will be able to regroup and bounce back. I did take a bearish hedge on my positions today by buying up SKF. I've got to listen to the charts now and not let my own bias influence my trades. Yes, I like to go long and most of my trades are on the long side but sometimes you need to change it up and go with the market.
That's it for now. Today's close will be interesting to see if we can hold the 1040 level on the S&P cash. If not, we are heading down to the next area of support around 987. With that said, be safe and good luck!
That's it for now. Today's close will be interesting to see if we can hold the 1040 level on the S&P cash. If not, we are heading down to the next area of support around 987. With that said, be safe and good luck!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Day Trading Post #74
So, after doing a bunch of research last night, I read about 2 things that stuck with me and made a lot of sense. First, I read about the psychology and nature of bull vs. bear markets and while it seems pretty obvious that people are driven by fear and greed I found the article very interesting because it made an interesting point. Basically, the article explained that Bull Markets setup in such a way that they try to keep everyone out. They move up, and try to leave everyone behind while trying to also prevent people from finding an entry into a position. Bear markets do just the opposite. They are designed to keep people in the market for as long as possible. The idea is the push the market down just enough little by little so that the majority of people will hold on to hope that it will come back. The second thing that stuck with me was something I read in an article as well, but sounds a lot like a proverb: "You only ask advice when you know you are wrong but don't want to admit it." So, applying both of those things I read to my trading, today was the day where I drew my line in the sand. Many of my positions were pulling back to the 50ema on the daily charts. I told myself that if they broke through, I was out. If not, I was staying in. Well, today, a lot of my positions broke the 50ema so I had to take the losses. My account value pulled back approximately 15%, all of which ate away into my profits. Overall, my profits were essentially cut in half over the course of this week.
The lesson I have learned, which is important.... lock in profits. I got a little to greedy and was looking for those homeruns again. I have to learn to settle for the small gains. On a positive note, each of the positions I entered were profitable at some point throughout the trade, but I held on too long. I need to learn to lock in profits and to not look back. Plain and simple.
In the mean time, I am gauging the market and plan to wait for us to flush down to support around 1040 on the S&P Cash. Then we should be set for some longs. I am now only holding AET and SIRI as swings. I also have 2 penny stocks long term which I noted were speculative plays.
The lesson I have learned, which is important.... lock in profits. I got a little to greedy and was looking for those homeruns again. I have to learn to settle for the small gains. On a positive note, each of the positions I entered were profitable at some point throughout the trade, but I held on too long. I need to learn to lock in profits and to not look back. Plain and simple.
In the mean time, I am gauging the market and plan to wait for us to flush down to support around 1040 on the S&P Cash. Then we should be set for some longs. I am now only holding AET and SIRI as swings. I also have 2 penny stocks long term which I noted were speculative plays.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Day Trading Post #73
The market looks a bit weak the past few days despite the fact that the overall trend in the long term is still bullish. It's time to clean up the portfolio, manage some positions, lock in profit and cut off some losers. That's just what I did yesterday. LDK hit my stop order, and despite the fact that it looks like its starting to bottom out, it is a high risk play that I am not willing to take. As I am learning, sometimes it's a good move to just lock in profit and move on to something new in order to make your money work for you. Yesterday was not the best day for longs after some news and speculation came out regarding congress not extending the new home buyer bills along with the US dollar strengthening. As a result, the market pulled back and right now we are sitting just above the 20EMA on the daily chart. We definitely have the potential to fall down to about 1046 on the S&P Cash, so be careful with the longs.
Listening to the commentary from Day Trading Radio, I have to agree with the fact that the short term trend is bearish while the overall long term trend is bullish. I have to change my tune a bit personally and readjust being that I was 100% bullish as we saw the S&P hitting 1100. Unfortunately, that 1100 mark is a brick wall and we need this minor pullback to reset the market for the big move up. It may be a quick flush down to 1046 or it might take a few days or even weeks, but in the mean time I am looking for the market to pull back before I initiate any more longs. Along with that, I am sitting on my hands in order to prevent myself from building any snowballs. I have been learning a lot the past few days, and despite the fact I have taken some hits, I still remain profitable overall. My big thing is I need to lock in the profits quicker instead of looking for that homerun. Continuing with the baseball analogy, it's more important to be consistent and hit those singles and doubles in the long run rather than searching for that homerun all the time!
With that said, good luck in the market today! We will be opening up in the next 10 minutes or so!
Listening to the commentary from Day Trading Radio, I have to agree with the fact that the short term trend is bearish while the overall long term trend is bullish. I have to change my tune a bit personally and readjust being that I was 100% bullish as we saw the S&P hitting 1100. Unfortunately, that 1100 mark is a brick wall and we need this minor pullback to reset the market for the big move up. It may be a quick flush down to 1046 or it might take a few days or even weeks, but in the mean time I am looking for the market to pull back before I initiate any more longs. Along with that, I am sitting on my hands in order to prevent myself from building any snowballs. I have been learning a lot the past few days, and despite the fact I have taken some hits, I still remain profitable overall. My big thing is I need to lock in the profits quicker instead of looking for that homerun. Continuing with the baseball analogy, it's more important to be consistent and hit those singles and doubles in the long run rather than searching for that homerun all the time!
With that said, good luck in the market today! We will be opening up in the next 10 minutes or so!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Day Trading Post #72
Today was a choppy day in the market where the bears came out to test the market in the AM only to have the bulls come back swinging later in the day. As I said in my earlier posts, "BUY THE DIPS, SELL THE RIPS!!!" SLM held up nicely today and closed above $11, and I plan to hold this one for a further move up. Along with that, I added to the MPG downgrade. The downgrade that pushed MPG down seemed more like manipulation than anything else. As for my other positions, everything held up nicely and things are looking good going into tomorrow.
On a side note, did you see AMZN on earnings!!! I was sitting and watching it but since I didn't have enough capital left to fund the trade, I sat on the sidelines and watched it rocket up! Too bad I didn't take it, but then and again, there are always other trades. See you all tomorrow!
On a side note, did you see AMZN on earnings!!! I was sitting and watching it but since I didn't have enough capital left to fund the trade, I sat on the sidelines and watched it rocket up! Too bad I didn't take it, but then and again, there are always other trades. See you all tomorrow!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Day Trading Post #71
The past week has been very interesting, and I have been seeing some swings in my profits with the positions I am holding. Regardless, things are playing out nicely. Today, SLM popped off its earnings report from yesterday after the close and we got to a high of $11.54. Yesterday, after hours I wanted to scale out a third of my position but accidentally added to it. Maybe it was the right move but I was not comfortable doing so, so I sold the shares I bought for a quick profit of 5 cents, along with an additional 100 shares. Today, I held my 600 share position in SLM and watched it hit the high of the day and pull back 70 cents or so. I am still bullish and will look to take profits, but I do feel that we have some more room to move up. The daily chart looks great, and I am tempted to lock in profit, although the weekly chart says to me 'Stay in!' Now what should I do? I think my game plan will be to lock in profit and leave a third of my position in to run. If it plays out the way the weekly chart is set up, it will be a nice gain. We will see how it trades tomorrow. Will SLM continue running up? I'd say things look bullish but we may see people lock in profit.
LDK popped today off of some news after hours which is posted in the shout box. I was almost stopped out but as I take a look at the chart, it continues to set up for an additional buy. I am watching it closely though and may just cut it off if it doesn't pop. AET seemed to have a nice start to the day, and then it sold off as the market came to a close. I will also be watching it closely. Finally, the cheapies... MPG and CVM. CVM looks decent still, but MPG got downgraded and gapped down. Might be taking this one off the table if it doesn't hold the 20ema tommorow on the daily chart. Also, ALY pulled back a bit at the close too. My take is that the market was choppy today, and as a result, big time buyers are still in the process of shaking out all of the weak hands. Things will play out soon enough.
LDK popped today off of some news after hours which is posted in the shout box. I was almost stopped out but as I take a look at the chart, it continues to set up for an additional buy. I am watching it closely though and may just cut it off if it doesn't pop. AET seemed to have a nice start to the day, and then it sold off as the market came to a close. I will also be watching it closely. Finally, the cheapies... MPG and CVM. CVM looks decent still, but MPG got downgraded and gapped down. Might be taking this one off the table if it doesn't hold the 20ema tommorow on the daily chart. Also, ALY pulled back a bit at the close too. My take is that the market was choppy today, and as a result, big time buyers are still in the process of shaking out all of the weak hands. Things will play out soon enough.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Day Trading Post #70
Today was not as great as the past two days for longs, and my account value pulled back, but despite how the market traded today on options expiration day, we are still in a bullish market. Take a look at the weekly indices charts and you can see we are breaking above resistance. Sure, we are going to have pull backs, but we should be "buying the dips and selling the rips" in this kind of market.
As for my positions, many of them pulled back today, and I am not too worried about them except for LDK and AET. LDK missed my stop today and bounced back up a little bit, but still looks pretty sick to me. AET sold off today, and I may just eat the loss on these two positions and put my money into some stocks that will work.
Other than that, since last week, my portfolio is up and things are looking good. Have a great weekend!
As for my positions, many of them pulled back today, and I am not too worried about them except for LDK and AET. LDK missed my stop today and bounced back up a little bit, but still looks pretty sick to me. AET sold off today, and I may just eat the loss on these two positions and put my money into some stocks that will work.
Other than that, since last week, my portfolio is up and things are looking good. Have a great weekend!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Day Trading Post #69
The market ended up 47 points on the DOW and 4.54 points on the SP500 after shaking a bit throughout the day. We are in a bull market, so it's time to buy! Stocks look good, companies earnings are coming out and performing well, and the market is reacting! The charts are very bullish, and being that we closed above 1093 on the SP500 cash, we are set to run up to around 1250 or so. The chart's don't lie, and just as we saw the market flush down last year at this time, there are no areas of major resistance to keep us from pushing up. Sure we may see some minor pull backs, but I feel the overall trend is set and we are going long!
Today, I took SYMC off the table. It hit my target yesterday and started to pull back today. I gave back about 20 cents, but I'm not too concerned with that. What I like more so about the trade is that it played out the way I had predicted. We filled the gap from last August and that's all there was too it. Other than that, my other positions maintained their current standings from yesterday or pushed up higher. The only losers I have on the table include LDK and AET. AET is very oversold, the SMI look good for a move up, and once the news quiets down regarding the health care bill, we should see some moves up in the health care sector. On the other hand, LDK is slowly falling down further, and if it breaks through this major area of support in the range of $7.60-$8.00, I am out of it. No point to tie up capital and let losers get bigger.
As for some trades I took today, I found some cheap stocks that I liked the setups on. I have a lot of capital (for my account) in the open market right now, so I was looking at some of the cheaper stocks to find some setups and came across MPG and CVM. The charts look great on both where they have both created a bullish flag like pattern, SMI's have crossed to the upside, and they are breaking through areas of resistance. I like how they are set up (charts posted below):
Along with these trades, I also purchased some OTC stocks which are very speculative plays that I wouldn't recommend to anyone. If anything, I would describe these trades as being experimental, and I only put up a couple hundred bucks which I am willing to take a loss on to see how these play out. I guess you could call this a little bit of foward testing (as opposed to back testing since I took the plunge and got into the positions). Anyway, I am in EDVP from about a week ago, and then I took BEHL today as well. EDVP and BEHL look decent on the daily charts for a bottoming pattern and have a tremendous upside potential. We will see how these play out, and again as I said, these are highly speculative and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. They are high risk trades, but with high risk comes high reward.
To finish off the day, here is a screen shot of the SP500 cash where you can see that we have no significant resistance above us. As I said earlier, it's time to buy! The only problem I am running into right now is that I don't enough money to buy everything I want to hold on to right now!
Today, I took SYMC off the table. It hit my target yesterday and started to pull back today. I gave back about 20 cents, but I'm not too concerned with that. What I like more so about the trade is that it played out the way I had predicted. We filled the gap from last August and that's all there was too it. Other than that, my other positions maintained their current standings from yesterday or pushed up higher. The only losers I have on the table include LDK and AET. AET is very oversold, the SMI look good for a move up, and once the news quiets down regarding the health care bill, we should see some moves up in the health care sector. On the other hand, LDK is slowly falling down further, and if it breaks through this major area of support in the range of $7.60-$8.00, I am out of it. No point to tie up capital and let losers get bigger.
As for some trades I took today, I found some cheap stocks that I liked the setups on. I have a lot of capital (for my account) in the open market right now, so I was looking at some of the cheaper stocks to find some setups and came across MPG and CVM. The charts look great on both where they have both created a bullish flag like pattern, SMI's have crossed to the upside, and they are breaking through areas of resistance. I like how they are set up (charts posted below):
Along with these trades, I also purchased some OTC stocks which are very speculative plays that I wouldn't recommend to anyone. If anything, I would describe these trades as being experimental, and I only put up a couple hundred bucks which I am willing to take a loss on to see how these play out. I guess you could call this a little bit of foward testing (as opposed to back testing since I took the plunge and got into the positions). Anyway, I am in EDVP from about a week ago, and then I took BEHL today as well. EDVP and BEHL look decent on the daily charts for a bottoming pattern and have a tremendous upside potential. We will see how these play out, and again as I said, these are highly speculative and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. They are high risk trades, but with high risk comes high reward.
To finish off the day, here is a screen shot of the SP500 cash where you can see that we have no significant resistance above us. As I said earlier, it's time to buy! The only problem I am running into right now is that I don't enough money to buy everything I want to hold on to right now!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Day Trading Post #68
What a day in the market today! The DOW is now back up over 10,000, the S&P is flirting with resistance around 1,093, and with a little more of a push up, we can see this market really rally. We are in the midst of a bull market so I would be wary of short positions (at least that is just me). Anyway, my portfolio is doing well again. I have been paying attention to for just over a week again since I took a hiatus to deal with other things in life, and I have increased my profits to 28% overall in my portfolio.
Unfortunately, I still don't have a 'Day Trading Account' since I left the proprietary trading group (which might I add was shut down... but I left well before that happened). So, I have been swing trading my long term account and holding positions over night. Being that I must follow the regulations with my margin account, I am only allowed to take 3 day trades within 5 business days (i.e. - buy / sell securities in one business day without holding overnight). So, I decided that the opportunity was too good to pass up and I took an intraday trade in FAS (I figured go big or go home, and FAS was making moves today!). So, I took FAS long which you can see in the shoutbox on the right, held from 1:08pm and sold at 3:59pm for a gain of +2.30 points on 200 shares. I am very pleased with how this trade played out. I made notes on the charts below (4 charts shown - from left to right / top to bottom: 15m chart; Daily; 10m chart; 5m chart). Refer to the image below:
As for my long term holds, VMW is a monster and has no resistance until around $50 from the gap it made about 2 years ago. SLM broke out today, and I am holding my entire position still. SIRI is holding up nicely and I can't wait for earnings to come out to push this one up. SIRI is a dog of a stock and subject to manipulation but the charts still look good to me. ALY is playing out, and we should see a break of $5.00 soon, so I am continuing to hold. SYMC filled the gap, and I plan to lock in profits on it soon but I am still holding to see if it will run up a little further. Maybe its greed that is keeping me in the trade, but I have to be disciplined so I will lock in the profit if it doesn't continue to perform. AET bounced back a little bit, and I am watching it closely. Healthcare stocks took a little bit of a hit the past few days, but they are very oversold at this point and the SMI looks setup to cross over for a long. Then there is LDK which came out with some bad news last night... it is weak and I may just cut it off sometime this week and stop looking for the positives. He is sick and just tying up money in my account at this point in time. Finally, there is EDVP which was a very speculative position I took about a week or more ago. EDVP is an OTC stock and I took 5000 shares. We saw a nice pop with big volume yesterday and then watched it pull back today. I want to see how this one will play out, but it is such a small investment, I am not too concerned about it overall.
As for the blog site, if you haven't noticed, I added a lot to the site here. I inserted the DayTradingRadio.com chat room to the top of the site, as well as the video feed of the radio show to the right column. I like how it looks and it makes it easier for me to manage my browser when trading because I have all I need here on my blog now. On top of that, I added a counter to the site to get some statistics and see if anyone is checking out the site. If you are, feel free to post comments on the postings. I would love some feedback. Regardless, I will continue to update the blog for my own personal use to keep track of my trading. Anyway, things are going well, the market is looking great, and I feel like we are all in a good place right now. With that said, good luck in the market!
Unfortunately, I still don't have a 'Day Trading Account' since I left the proprietary trading group (which might I add was shut down... but I left well before that happened). So, I have been swing trading my long term account and holding positions over night. Being that I must follow the regulations with my margin account, I am only allowed to take 3 day trades within 5 business days (i.e. - buy / sell securities in one business day without holding overnight). So, I decided that the opportunity was too good to pass up and I took an intraday trade in FAS (I figured go big or go home, and FAS was making moves today!). So, I took FAS long which you can see in the shoutbox on the right, held from 1:08pm and sold at 3:59pm for a gain of +2.30 points on 200 shares. I am very pleased with how this trade played out. I made notes on the charts below (4 charts shown - from left to right / top to bottom: 15m chart; Daily; 10m chart; 5m chart). Refer to the image below:
As for my long term holds, VMW is a monster and has no resistance until around $50 from the gap it made about 2 years ago. SLM broke out today, and I am holding my entire position still. SIRI is holding up nicely and I can't wait for earnings to come out to push this one up. SIRI is a dog of a stock and subject to manipulation but the charts still look good to me. ALY is playing out, and we should see a break of $5.00 soon, so I am continuing to hold. SYMC filled the gap, and I plan to lock in profits on it soon but I am still holding to see if it will run up a little further. Maybe its greed that is keeping me in the trade, but I have to be disciplined so I will lock in the profit if it doesn't continue to perform. AET bounced back a little bit, and I am watching it closely. Healthcare stocks took a little bit of a hit the past few days, but they are very oversold at this point and the SMI looks setup to cross over for a long. Then there is LDK which came out with some bad news last night... it is weak and I may just cut it off sometime this week and stop looking for the positives. He is sick and just tying up money in my account at this point in time. Finally, there is EDVP which was a very speculative position I took about a week or more ago. EDVP is an OTC stock and I took 5000 shares. We saw a nice pop with big volume yesterday and then watched it pull back today. I want to see how this one will play out, but it is such a small investment, I am not too concerned about it overall.
As for the blog site, if you haven't noticed, I added a lot to the site here. I inserted the DayTradingRadio.com chat room to the top of the site, as well as the video feed of the radio show to the right column. I like how it looks and it makes it easier for me to manage my browser when trading because I have all I need here on my blog now. On top of that, I added a counter to the site to get some statistics and see if anyone is checking out the site. If you are, feel free to post comments on the postings. I would love some feedback. Regardless, I will continue to update the blog for my own personal use to keep track of my trading. Anyway, things are going well, the market is looking great, and I feel like we are all in a good place right now. With that said, good luck in the market!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Day Trading Post #67
The market has had some light volume today, but we do have earnings coming out for some big companies which might be holding all the big money back from pulling the trigger on buying or selling. Intel comes out with earnings after the close today, and it would be interesting to see how this plays out. The market looks to me like it is set for a move up, but things can change on a dime. Regardless I am still bullish.
I have been watching the health care sector and was surprised to see it sell off today at first until I realized that there was a vote in the Senate today regarding the passing of the Health Care bill by the finance committee. After the vote passed, we saw the health care stocks start to recover a bit, and I am under the impression that as the news clears, people will see this as a buying opportunity. We have some nice upside potentital with AET, UNH, WLP, and a few others. Those are just some I have been watching lately.
Besides that, SYMC filled the gap, and I am watching to see if we can break up into the $17 price range. If not, I'll take my shares off the table and lock in the profits. I took a tiny trade in SYMC back in August when we gapped down and never added to it because I was testing out a strategy. I just wanted to be in the trade to see how it would play out, and it has played out as I had anticipated.
As for my other positions, the only loser I am holding right now is LDK but that is because I got locked into it. It has been showing some decent support arount the $8.25 area, and I think we may see it move up soon. The daily chart is setting up right now for a buy and if I wasn't already in it, I think I would be looking at it for an entry at this point in time.
That's all for now!
I have been watching the health care sector and was surprised to see it sell off today at first until I realized that there was a vote in the Senate today regarding the passing of the Health Care bill by the finance committee. After the vote passed, we saw the health care stocks start to recover a bit, and I am under the impression that as the news clears, people will see this as a buying opportunity. We have some nice upside potentital with AET, UNH, WLP, and a few others. Those are just some I have been watching lately.
Besides that, SYMC filled the gap, and I am watching to see if we can break up into the $17 price range. If not, I'll take my shares off the table and lock in the profits. I took a tiny trade in SYMC back in August when we gapped down and never added to it because I was testing out a strategy. I just wanted to be in the trade to see how it would play out, and it has played out as I had anticipated.
As for my other positions, the only loser I am holding right now is LDK but that is because I got locked into it. It has been showing some decent support arount the $8.25 area, and I think we may see it move up soon. The daily chart is setting up right now for a buy and if I wasn't already in it, I think I would be looking at it for an entry at this point in time.
That's all for now!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Day Trading Post #66
The market looks great right now! Things are set to move up, and on the S&P 500 chart and once we break through 1090, there are no major areas of resistance until 1250!
Many stocks have great setups right now, and the only problem I am having right now is that I don't have enough money in my account to take all the positions I want before we pop up! Hopefully, I have chosen some quality picks that will pay out nicely as we head into this bullish move in the market.
Here is a daily chart for the past 2 years for the S&P 500:
For all you bears out there who like to see things go down, analyze this chart posted on daytradingradio.com... this is a mirror image of the S&P 500 flipped upside down:
This chart is very interesting, and shows that the market should move further down on this chart (which in reality means up since this chart is upside down). Therefore, we should see a significant move in the market very soon.
Many stocks have great setups right now, and the only problem I am having right now is that I don't have enough money in my account to take all the positions I want before we pop up! Hopefully, I have chosen some quality picks that will pay out nicely as we head into this bullish move in the market.
Here is a daily chart for the past 2 years for the S&P 500:
For all you bears out there who like to see things go down, analyze this chart posted on daytradingradio.com... this is a mirror image of the S&P 500 flipped upside down:
This chart is very interesting, and shows that the market should move further down on this chart (which in reality means up since this chart is upside down). Therefore, we should see a significant move in the market very soon.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Day Trading Post #65
The market is looking pretty strong on the daily chart and my positions are mostly doing well. VMW is playing out nicely, and I am in the money on most positions. AET is starting to come back after yesterdays pull back, but other than that I really don't have much else to say. SMI on the S&P and the Dow looks good for a move up.
Go long!
Go long!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Day Trading Post #64
Wow! It's been a long time since i last posted, but that is because I have been focusing my efforts on other things. Despite that, I am now focusing my efforts back on my trading. While I was on hiatus, I left some positions in place and things haven't gone too poorly. Unfortunately, looking back at some of my trades, I have been able to learn from my mistakes in regards to scaling out, holding too long, holding past profit targets. After going through my old trades, if I would have locked in profits when I had planned to originally, I would be up over 100% on my portfolio. But when you get excited in the moment of everything, you don't think as clearly or objectively as you are when you research for your stock picks. Anyway, when looking at my performance from my initial deposit of $4000, I managed to get about an 80% return on my money. Then, I deposited an additional $3000, and managed to bring my account value up to $12,000. Thus, I made an additional $2000 after my second deposit. That is a 66% return on the value of my second deposit, and a 74% return on my total investment of $7000. Well, feeling good about all of this, I went and deposited an additional $5000 into my account. This brought my total deposits to $13,000. I took some trades where I started to get greedy, and I got burned on 2 of them. LEA and CNB went sour and I lost approximately $2500. Then, I started focusing my efforts on studying for licensing exams and I stopped trading my personal account hence the lack of postings.
Anyway, I am now up on my account 20% overall with my entire deposit of $13,000. That's not too shabby, but now that I am back and focusing on my trades, I bought up $12,000 worth of positions yesterday off of some setups I liked. Things are going well, and I am in the money on most of my positions at this point.
Here are my most recent trades:
ALY is a cheap stock just under $5 that has a lot of potential. My notes are on the chart which explain my reasons for getting in. Overall, the setup looks very good to me. The SMI indicator is crossing over, there is no overhead resistance, and we have a 50/200 EMA crossover. I took 500 shares, and plan to take profits at some point after we break through $5. I do not have a tentative profit target on this trade as of now.
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VMW has reached a 2 year high. My main indicator, the SMI, show that the stock is turning over from being slightly over sold. There is no overhead resistance until about $51, so we have the potential to hit a home run with this one! Things look good, and for more technical details, check out my notes on the chart.
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AET looked promising as of yesterday, but today we have a gap down. I got into this based on the chart, and things looked as if AET were very oversold. The SMI is setting up, and I believe we have potential for this one to pop, but I plan to cut it off early if it doesn't cooperate with my plan. Check out the chart for my notes!
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I have been holding this one for a long time, but SLM still looks good to me. I got in back in early August because we had a falling wedge pattern that formed perfectly, and the SMI indicator was setup to pop. Then, we fell back into the channel, and the falling wedge continued to develop. Things still look good on it and I love that it never really went too far against me as it came back into the channel. Originally, I was trying to buy this up just before we broke the top trend line, but then I realized that I should have been buying every time we came down close to or touched the bottom trend line. As a result, I brought my average price down, and things are looking very promising right now. I will update this one as it plays out! Check the chart out for my notes.
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This is a screen shot of my current holdings in my portfolio. The only trades I haven't talked about in this post include SIRI, LDK, and SYMC. LDK is the only trade that kind of hurts right now, but I am holding because if I wasn't in it already, I am seeing a setup on the daily chart that I like. As a result, I probably would be looking to buy it at this point, so I haven't take the loss on it. SYMC is closing the gap, and turning out to be a great trade. I took small size with this one because I was testing the strategy out, and it seems to be playing out well. Unfortunately, it took a very long time for it to do so, but I am seeing many places where I could have added to my position, and increased my profit potential. SIRI is a monster! This one has a lot of potential, but is subject to a lot of manipulation. I think we have good things in store for us once the 3rd quarter earnings come out!
Anyway, that's all I have for now! I have some ideas for other postings, but have to decide if it's something I really want to include on my blog or not. With that said, good luck in the market!
Anyway, I am now up on my account 20% overall with my entire deposit of $13,000. That's not too shabby, but now that I am back and focusing on my trades, I bought up $12,000 worth of positions yesterday off of some setups I liked. Things are going well, and I am in the money on most of my positions at this point.
Here are my most recent trades:
ALY is a cheap stock just under $5 that has a lot of potential. My notes are on the chart which explain my reasons for getting in. Overall, the setup looks very good to me. The SMI indicator is crossing over, there is no overhead resistance, and we have a 50/200 EMA crossover. I took 500 shares, and plan to take profits at some point after we break through $5. I do not have a tentative profit target on this trade as of now.
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VMW has reached a 2 year high. My main indicator, the SMI, show that the stock is turning over from being slightly over sold. There is no overhead resistance until about $51, so we have the potential to hit a home run with this one! Things look good, and for more technical details, check out my notes on the chart.
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AET looked promising as of yesterday, but today we have a gap down. I got into this based on the chart, and things looked as if AET were very oversold. The SMI is setting up, and I believe we have potential for this one to pop, but I plan to cut it off early if it doesn't cooperate with my plan. Check out the chart for my notes!
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I have been holding this one for a long time, but SLM still looks good to me. I got in back in early August because we had a falling wedge pattern that formed perfectly, and the SMI indicator was setup to pop. Then, we fell back into the channel, and the falling wedge continued to develop. Things still look good on it and I love that it never really went too far against me as it came back into the channel. Originally, I was trying to buy this up just before we broke the top trend line, but then I realized that I should have been buying every time we came down close to or touched the bottom trend line. As a result, I brought my average price down, and things are looking very promising right now. I will update this one as it plays out! Check the chart out for my notes.
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This is a screen shot of my current holdings in my portfolio. The only trades I haven't talked about in this post include SIRI, LDK, and SYMC. LDK is the only trade that kind of hurts right now, but I am holding because if I wasn't in it already, I am seeing a setup on the daily chart that I like. As a result, I probably would be looking to buy it at this point, so I haven't take the loss on it. SYMC is closing the gap, and turning out to be a great trade. I took small size with this one because I was testing the strategy out, and it seems to be playing out well. Unfortunately, it took a very long time for it to do so, but I am seeing many places where I could have added to my position, and increased my profit potential. SIRI is a monster! This one has a lot of potential, but is subject to a lot of manipulation. I think we have good things in store for us once the 3rd quarter earnings come out!
Anyway, that's all I have for now! I have some ideas for other postings, but have to decide if it's something I really want to include on my blog or not. With that said, good luck in the market!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Day Trading Post #63
Well, as you can see, the market is bouncing back. So there is merit behind my previous posting. But, we haven't flushed out the system yet by pulling back to the support around the 960 area. Regardless, it might be a nice time to scale out / lock in some profits. As you can see on the daily chart for the S&P 500 cash, the stochastics have crossed over to the upside once again, and we are back over 1000 by 30+ points! Chart below:
Also, one trade I would like to point out is one I took in SLM a few weeks ago now. It has been in a downward channel or a falling wedge pattern (whichever you prefer). Anyway, I drew the trend lines out, tried buying / adding to my position the first two times on the breakout, only to have it pull back down into the channel pattern. The third time I added, I decided it would be best to add when we touched the bottom trend line. I now have 700 shares and am even on the trade! If I would have been adding on the bottom trend line the first two times, I would have been up nicely on this trade, but regardless, it is setup nicely for a profit target price of $9.95-$10.05. Today's closing price and tomorrow's closing prices will be important to watch... can we break out of the trendline or will we pull back into the channel??? Chart is below:
Also, one trade I would like to point out is one I took in SLM a few weeks ago now. It has been in a downward channel or a falling wedge pattern (whichever you prefer). Anyway, I drew the trend lines out, tried buying / adding to my position the first two times on the breakout, only to have it pull back down into the channel pattern. The third time I added, I decided it would be best to add when we touched the bottom trend line. I now have 700 shares and am even on the trade! If I would have been adding on the bottom trend line the first two times, I would have been up nicely on this trade, but regardless, it is setup nicely for a profit target price of $9.95-$10.05. Today's closing price and tomorrow's closing prices will be important to watch... can we break out of the trendline or will we pull back into the channel??? Chart is below:
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Day Trading Post #62
So, after talking with my father today about the markets, I had the urge to put up another posting. Lately, we have been seeing some pull backs in the market, but I think that it is important to realize that this is not negative! I've been scanning blogs, checking message boards, reading through random postings on google finance, etc. and it seems to me that the average investor is bearish (I say the "average investor" when referring to those who don't follow the market daily, but rather allow the media to influence their views regarding the market). I've seen many postings online where people seem to have the "Chicken Little" mentality in which they are preaching that the sky is falling.... or rather that the market will fall! The major point I want to make is this... open your eyes and look at what the market has been doing for the past 5 months!!! It has been going up!!! I guess you can continue to say "It's going to fall" and eventually you will be right because yes, we cannot go up forever without some sort of pull back, but overall, the trend is still bullish.
After talking with my dad and explaining my views regarding the market, I decided to confirm them with some charts. So, below, I have posted the weekly chart for the S&P 500 Cash:
If you look at the chart closely, you can see that for the past 5 months, on the weekly chart, we have been in an up trend since hitting the March lows. On top of that, the SMI shows that we were very oversold back in March, and as you can see, we had a crossover to the upside with a very bullish trend that formed which in turn created the rally we have seen for the past 20-25 weeks. Now, if you notice the current candlestick forming for this week, you can see that we are in the midst of a pullback. If anything, this is healthy! We have been pushing up for the past 7 weeks overall, so it is only natural that we see the market pulling back. People are locking in profits!!! Now if we look at the indicators, we have a few things going for us. Currently we are trading below the 200EMA on the weekly S&P cash chart. We are at 997, and the 200 EMA is approximately at 1200 give or take. Also, we can see that we are about to have a 20/50 EMA crossover to the upside, which is very bullish in my opinion. The only negative about this is that we have pulled a little bit too far away from the 20EMA, and we are even trading above the 50EMA. So, my prediction would be that we pull back to the 50EMA, and maybe even the 20EMA. After that, hold on for a move up!!! Things are bullish. September is here, volume should be increasing soon, and things seem to be setting up nicely. As for the stochastics, we are trading in an over bought region (current value of 77), but this is not a terrible thing. A minor pull back will bring the SMI down a bit, and once we see it cross over to the upside and/or become embeded, I feel that we will see the market push upwards over 1000 and up to or even over 1100. The move may not be explosive, but regardless, I feel that we have some decent upside potential.
S&P daily chart:
Now, looking at the S&P daily chart, we can see that we are currently in a pull back. The stochastics have turned to the down side, and we are currently looking for an area of support. If you compare both the weekly and daily charts, yes, you will notice that there is more noise in the daily chart, but more importantly, you can see that there is some nice support right around 950-960. Interestingly enough, if you refer back to the weekly chart, you can see that the 20 EMA on the weekly is at 950-960ish. So, as I said earlier, I see us pulling back to this area, and then pushing right back up!
Based on the weekly chart, I am bullish. Of course, this is just my interpretation of the market and I want to point out that yes, I could be wrong... so please take this for what it is worth!
That's all for now!
After talking with my dad and explaining my views regarding the market, I decided to confirm them with some charts. So, below, I have posted the weekly chart for the S&P 500 Cash:
If you look at the chart closely, you can see that for the past 5 months, on the weekly chart, we have been in an up trend since hitting the March lows. On top of that, the SMI shows that we were very oversold back in March, and as you can see, we had a crossover to the upside with a very bullish trend that formed which in turn created the rally we have seen for the past 20-25 weeks. Now, if you notice the current candlestick forming for this week, you can see that we are in the midst of a pullback. If anything, this is healthy! We have been pushing up for the past 7 weeks overall, so it is only natural that we see the market pulling back. People are locking in profits!!! Now if we look at the indicators, we have a few things going for us. Currently we are trading below the 200EMA on the weekly S&P cash chart. We are at 997, and the 200 EMA is approximately at 1200 give or take. Also, we can see that we are about to have a 20/50 EMA crossover to the upside, which is very bullish in my opinion. The only negative about this is that we have pulled a little bit too far away from the 20EMA, and we are even trading above the 50EMA. So, my prediction would be that we pull back to the 50EMA, and maybe even the 20EMA. After that, hold on for a move up!!! Things are bullish. September is here, volume should be increasing soon, and things seem to be setting up nicely. As for the stochastics, we are trading in an over bought region (current value of 77), but this is not a terrible thing. A minor pull back will bring the SMI down a bit, and once we see it cross over to the upside and/or become embeded, I feel that we will see the market push upwards over 1000 and up to or even over 1100. The move may not be explosive, but regardless, I feel that we have some decent upside potential.
S&P daily chart:
Now, looking at the S&P daily chart, we can see that we are currently in a pull back. The stochastics have turned to the down side, and we are currently looking for an area of support. If you compare both the weekly and daily charts, yes, you will notice that there is more noise in the daily chart, but more importantly, you can see that there is some nice support right around 950-960. Interestingly enough, if you refer back to the weekly chart, you can see that the 20 EMA on the weekly is at 950-960ish. So, as I said earlier, I see us pulling back to this area, and then pushing right back up!
Based on the weekly chart, I am bullish. Of course, this is just my interpretation of the market and I want to point out that yes, I could be wrong... so please take this for what it is worth!
That's all for now!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Day Trading Post #61
Just wanted to post a brief update since it has been about 2 weeks since I last posted. So, SIRI couldn't be going better... well it could, but the trade is amazing so far in my opinion. I am up about 70% on the trade and things look good. Also, the channel trade in SLM setup nicely, and I have added to it the past 2 days. I wasn't comfortable adding at the lower trend line, but have been adding to it as it breaks above the upper trend line. This trade has potential and I like the stochastics on the daily chart. SYMC is not doing much and this was more of an experimental trade. It isn't really going against me, nor is it going positive by much. I am basically flat on the trade. Then, LDK, the position I haven't been watching. Nothing really going on there.
Trades to come... FSLR has been pulling back. I feel like its a risky trade at the moment, and I am personally staying out. The daily is starting to setup for a long position, but we could see it come down even further soon enough. The weekly chart is still in a down trend. Once I see the daily and weekly charts match up, then I'll take the trade. Other than that I am just watching what I've got, and holding off on focusing all my attention on trading until I take my exam. That is all for now!
Trades to come... FSLR has been pulling back. I feel like its a risky trade at the moment, and I am personally staying out. The daily is starting to setup for a long position, but we could see it come down even further soon enough. The weekly chart is still in a down trend. Once I see the daily and weekly charts match up, then I'll take the trade. Other than that I am just watching what I've got, and holding off on focusing all my attention on trading until I take my exam. That is all for now!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Day Trading Post #60
So, I've been in the process of studying for the series seven, and I am almost through with the study material. Besides that, I have held off on trading this week because the market is a bit overbought on the daily chart, so the market is in need of a pullback. We have broken through some major areas of resistance in the past few weeks, and at this point, I believe that the minor pull back we have seen / are seeing is just people taking profits. After that, we are good to go for a break to the upside (I think things look good to about 1150 on the S&P Cash but I have to check the charts again... this number is just off the top of my head right now from what I think I remember seeing).
Anyway, SYMC is setting up nicely, and we have had a little pullback of 50-60 cents from my entry, but it has retraced and I am even on the trade. I plan to add to this position at a break of $15.70, and looking to fill the gap on the daily chart. SLM looks like it is coming back down to the bottom of the falling wedge pattern, and I am continuing to hold. I will only get out if we significantly break the lower trend line on the chart (see post #59). Otherwise, I plan to add to this position when we touch the bottom trend line.
As for my penny plays, SIRI looks great! All of the nay sayers out there are just scared of some minor pull backs. The weekly chart looks amazing, the daily chart is decent, but overall I am loving the fact that we are holding above 50 cents. I would only begin to worry about this position if we broke down below 40 cents. Other than that, I am now deciding whether or not I should add more shares to my current position, or if I should just hold and maintain my average price of 42 cents. Time will tell, but I believe we will see this push up in the next few days or weeks to come! Finally, there is CNB. This is an important week to watch. The bad news that came out has taken its toll on the stock, although if we see some good news by the end of this week in regards to the investigations that are being conducted, we could see a big pop. If this happens, I am out! If not, and we see a continuing decline, I will be out as well at a break of 40 cents.
Interesting week, and a slow one at that. At least I have my study materials to keep me company as I watch red and green candlesticks form on quotetracker charts...
Anyway, SYMC is setting up nicely, and we have had a little pullback of 50-60 cents from my entry, but it has retraced and I am even on the trade. I plan to add to this position at a break of $15.70, and looking to fill the gap on the daily chart. SLM looks like it is coming back down to the bottom of the falling wedge pattern, and I am continuing to hold. I will only get out if we significantly break the lower trend line on the chart (see post #59). Otherwise, I plan to add to this position when we touch the bottom trend line.
As for my penny plays, SIRI looks great! All of the nay sayers out there are just scared of some minor pull backs. The weekly chart looks amazing, the daily chart is decent, but overall I am loving the fact that we are holding above 50 cents. I would only begin to worry about this position if we broke down below 40 cents. Other than that, I am now deciding whether or not I should add more shares to my current position, or if I should just hold and maintain my average price of 42 cents. Time will tell, but I believe we will see this push up in the next few days or weeks to come! Finally, there is CNB. This is an important week to watch. The bad news that came out has taken its toll on the stock, although if we see some good news by the end of this week in regards to the investigations that are being conducted, we could see a big pop. If this happens, I am out! If not, and we see a continuing decline, I will be out as well at a break of 40 cents.
Interesting week, and a slow one at that. At least I have my study materials to keep me company as I watch red and green candlesticks form on quotetracker charts...
Friday, August 7, 2009
Day Trading Post #59
So, this week ended bitter sweet for me. I can't complain much because profit is profit, but I did give back a little more than I wanted. I am very pleased with myself in regards to my trades in GE and FWLT! I took FWLT this past Tuesday just before the close as we broke the neckline on an inverse head and shoulders pattern. All the signals were there, and I pointed them out in my previous post and boy was this one a winner! I sold out of FWLT for a profit of +4.85 (20.24% profit)!!! Chart is below:
GE was also a great trade! I took GE long at $11.68 on June 22, and then watched it sell off a bit. The plan was to hold unless it broke under $9.82-$10.00, and it never did. Also, I planned to add to GE if it were to break back above $11.00, and when it did, I added to my position. In the end, if you take a look at the chart, you can see the stochastics entering an oversold area, and then they turn to the upside. On top of that, the 20/50ema crossover occurred to the upside pushing the stock even further up, and I was able to scale out at $13.05, $13.25, and then today I sold the last of my shares into strength at $14.71. I am very pleased with this trade because I did not let greed take over and influence my decision making. Instead, I stuck with my plan and the sold off the last of my shares today for an average profit of +2.10 (19.24% profit)! Chart is below:
As for my other holdings, I still have SYMC and it's setting up nicely. I am basically even on this trade right now though. Also, I took SLM yesterday after seeing the chart, and I love the setup. The Stochastics are oversold, crossing to the upside. Also, it is in a falling wedge pattern, and it looks as if we could see the 50/200ema cross over shortly. Chart below:
Finally, there is SIRI and CNB, my penny plays. CNB is a position I got stuck in and married... and yesterday it looked promising after rising 30% in one day. So, with the setup, I added to the position and doubled down. Unfortunately, some more bad news came out pushing the stock right back down to where it was. So this position hurts a little and I am almost ready to take the loss and move on. We will see how it plays out next week. As for SIRI, I am very bullish! SIRI reported better earnings than their projected 11 cents loss per share. On top of that, the clunker bill being passed in congress looks promising too for SIRI since a majority of their subscribers are in fact new car owners. Finally, the weekly chart looks very promising, and I like the setup. Right now, we haven't seen it pop as much as it should because of manipulation in my honest opinion. I am continuing to hold with anticipation of good things to come in the near future!
So, I am pleased with myself because I am starting to be more mechanical about my trades and not letting greed take over. I am dissapointed because even though I had my reasons for adding to a losing position, uncontrollable forces came in and changed the scenario overall causing some pain. Regardless, everyday is a learning experience. With that said, take care!
That's all for now!
GE was also a great trade! I took GE long at $11.68 on June 22, and then watched it sell off a bit. The plan was to hold unless it broke under $9.82-$10.00, and it never did. Also, I planned to add to GE if it were to break back above $11.00, and when it did, I added to my position. In the end, if you take a look at the chart, you can see the stochastics entering an oversold area, and then they turn to the upside. On top of that, the 20/50ema crossover occurred to the upside pushing the stock even further up, and I was able to scale out at $13.05, $13.25, and then today I sold the last of my shares into strength at $14.71. I am very pleased with this trade because I did not let greed take over and influence my decision making. Instead, I stuck with my plan and the sold off the last of my shares today for an average profit of +2.10 (19.24% profit)! Chart is below:
As for my other holdings, I still have SYMC and it's setting up nicely. I am basically even on this trade right now though. Also, I took SLM yesterday after seeing the chart, and I love the setup. The Stochastics are oversold, crossing to the upside. Also, it is in a falling wedge pattern, and it looks as if we could see the 50/200ema cross over shortly. Chart below:
Finally, there is SIRI and CNB, my penny plays. CNB is a position I got stuck in and married... and yesterday it looked promising after rising 30% in one day. So, with the setup, I added to the position and doubled down. Unfortunately, some more bad news came out pushing the stock right back down to where it was. So this position hurts a little and I am almost ready to take the loss and move on. We will see how it plays out next week. As for SIRI, I am very bullish! SIRI reported better earnings than their projected 11 cents loss per share. On top of that, the clunker bill being passed in congress looks promising too for SIRI since a majority of their subscribers are in fact new car owners. Finally, the weekly chart looks very promising, and I like the setup. Right now, we haven't seen it pop as much as it should because of manipulation in my honest opinion. I am continuing to hold with anticipation of good things to come in the near future!
So, I am pleased with myself because I am starting to be more mechanical about my trades and not letting greed take over. I am dissapointed because even though I had my reasons for adding to a losing position, uncontrollable forces came in and changed the scenario overall causing some pain. Regardless, everyday is a learning experience. With that said, take care!
That's all for now!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Day Trading Post #58
So, my postings haven't been as frequent but as I've said, I am studying for the series 7 and I've been dealing with the registration process with FINRA... what a headache.
Anyway, updates... GE!!! Hell yea! GE hit my GTC orders last week locking in +1.50 points of profit. I still have 1/3rd of my position in there as a runner and things look good. Also, SIRI was hanging around the 37-41 cents range and looked like a great buy on the daily so I kept adding to it on the pull backs. I am now holding 4k shares and have just over $0.10 profit per share... not too shabby! Finally, LDK is looking good and my trade in FSLR went great where I locked in an average of 17points. Unfortunately with FSLR there was a huge pop when earnings came out where I could have locked in 30 points profit, but that window of opportunity only lasted for about 30 minutes before FSLR fell down from $190 to the $150 range. I'm glad I got out with the profit I had (entering with an average price of $147.32 and exiting with an average price of $164 and change).
Anyway, I am holding SIRI into earnings which is in 2 days (Aug. 6) and anticipating a pop! We'll see how it goes, but so far so good. I've also taken 2 more trades today. I really don't like buying when things are already moving up ( I don't like to chase or average up) but I found some setups I like. The 2 trades I like are: FWLT and SYMC (charts below)
FWLT: Inverse head and shoulders on the daily chart where we are breaking the neck line, nice volume (slightly above average), Stochastics are in an uptrend and have some more room to push up, and it looks as if there will be a 20/50EMA crossover.
SYMC: See chart for comments... I like the gap play in this one, and I am anticipating the stochastics to cross over to the upside shortly. Looking to fill the gap with a small risk of 90 cents or so.
Other than that, I am currently holding LDK, GE, SIRI, SYMC, and FWLT.
My only loser is CNB (married this one a long time ago but the loss doesn't hurt any more)
Also in my previous post I pointed out the formation of an inverse head and shoulders on the weekly S&P Cash, and it is really playing out. That "Head and Shoulders" that was pointed out by the media and many other 'professionals' about 2 or 3 weeks ago was a very weak pattern in my opinion and as we can all see now, it did not play out. All those preaching Armageddon and calling a top in the market were wrong. It's important to look at the bigger picture all the time!
That is all for now!
Anyway, updates... GE!!! Hell yea! GE hit my GTC orders last week locking in +1.50 points of profit. I still have 1/3rd of my position in there as a runner and things look good. Also, SIRI was hanging around the 37-41 cents range and looked like a great buy on the daily so I kept adding to it on the pull backs. I am now holding 4k shares and have just over $0.10 profit per share... not too shabby! Finally, LDK is looking good and my trade in FSLR went great where I locked in an average of 17points. Unfortunately with FSLR there was a huge pop when earnings came out where I could have locked in 30 points profit, but that window of opportunity only lasted for about 30 minutes before FSLR fell down from $190 to the $150 range. I'm glad I got out with the profit I had (entering with an average price of $147.32 and exiting with an average price of $164 and change).
Anyway, I am holding SIRI into earnings which is in 2 days (Aug. 6) and anticipating a pop! We'll see how it goes, but so far so good. I've also taken 2 more trades today. I really don't like buying when things are already moving up ( I don't like to chase or average up) but I found some setups I like. The 2 trades I like are: FWLT and SYMC (charts below)
FWLT: Inverse head and shoulders on the daily chart where we are breaking the neck line, nice volume (slightly above average), Stochastics are in an uptrend and have some more room to push up, and it looks as if there will be a 20/50EMA crossover.
SYMC: See chart for comments... I like the gap play in this one, and I am anticipating the stochastics to cross over to the upside shortly. Looking to fill the gap with a small risk of 90 cents or so.
Other than that, I am currently holding LDK, GE, SIRI, SYMC, and FWLT.
My only loser is CNB (married this one a long time ago but the loss doesn't hurt any more)
Also in my previous post I pointed out the formation of an inverse head and shoulders on the weekly S&P Cash, and it is really playing out. That "Head and Shoulders" that was pointed out by the media and many other 'professionals' about 2 or 3 weeks ago was a very weak pattern in my opinion and as we can all see now, it did not play out. All those preaching Armageddon and calling a top in the market were wrong. It's important to look at the bigger picture all the time!
That is all for now!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Day Trading Post #57
Today is playing out nicely, and it looks as if the weekly chart is proving to be correct! The inverse head and shoulders pattern looks good. I am sitting pretty on all of my positions! I am up over 10 points on FSLR! Here is the S&P Weekly chart (refer to post #56 for info / reasons why I am and still am bullish):
The S&P chart is just confirming what I've already posted!
The S&P chart is just confirming what I've already posted!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Day Trading Post #56
I already have one post today, but I here is my second post which I though I should make separate instead of continuously updating Post #55. Anyway, the market has been range bound lately, and it seems to me that we might just break out of this range. In post 45, I laid out my thought regarding the market, and we did have a slight pull back but we didn't break down and see the market crash as we did last March, or last November 2008. With that said, I am more bullish now due to what I see on the weekly chart. I laid out my interpretation in the attached image as to why I am bullish. Review it and feel free to comment.
Basically, I see that we are coming to the top of the range we have been trading in on the S&P cash since April, and I feel that we now have multiple indicators that are showing us we are ready for a move up. As of now, I see the formation of an Inverse Head and Shoulders pattern in which we are testing the neck line. On top of that, the Stochastics although still in an overbought region have crossed over to the upside which is bullish as well. Along with that, it looks to me like we may see the 20/50 EMA crossover to the upside soon enough if we continue holding our current levels or push up further. If that's the case, go long and hold! With 2 indicators and a 3rd one setting up, I like the odds that the market will be and is in fact trending up. Maybe I'm an optimist, but that is what I see, and that is my interpretation at this point in time.
S&P Chart Below:
Basically, I see that we are coming to the top of the range we have been trading in on the S&P cash since April, and I feel that we now have multiple indicators that are showing us we are ready for a move up. As of now, I see the formation of an Inverse Head and Shoulders pattern in which we are testing the neck line. On top of that, the Stochastics although still in an overbought region have crossed over to the upside which is bullish as well. Along with that, it looks to me like we may see the 20/50 EMA crossover to the upside soon enough if we continue holding our current levels or push up further. If that's the case, go long and hold! With 2 indicators and a 3rd one setting up, I like the odds that the market will be and is in fact trending up. Maybe I'm an optimist, but that is what I see, and that is my interpretation at this point in time.
S&P Chart Below:
Day Trading Post #55
Okay, it's been a little while, or a long while since I last posted. Here is a brief update... I got stopped out on a bunch of positions (NCS, PCX, LEA...). I took some losses as the market came down but also I took some profit, just no as much as I would have liked. Oh well. Anyway, since then, I called out FSLR and I waited for my entry. I Started scaling in when we were breaking back above $150, and the FSLR pulled back to $139! Ouch. 139.00 was my hard stop. It never was touched. Also, since my indicators said to go long, I was a little wary about doing so since it was pulling back, but I kept adding to my position. Well, it was the right move and FSLR is moving back up.
Other than that, I am just in 4 positions currently. Besides that I am still cracking the books and studying hard so I can pass the series 7 exam. Once that is done, I will be posting a lot more!
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UPDATE:
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I decided to play the earnings on AAPL. AAPL was expected to beat earnings and I decided to go long. Chatter online was saying that it might go short, but I liked the long. I decided that since it was my first time playing earnings like this, I would take small size, so I took 15 shares initially. I was up and down during the first 3 minutes while AAPL's earnings were released and since then I added 5 shares to my position (a 33% increase in the # of shares I was holding LOL!) and I am up over $100 bucks on 20 shares.... about 5 points of profit! not too shabby!
Entry @ 4:23pm : 15 shares at $151.85
Add On @ 5:05pm: 5 shares at $1.56.95
Currently holding, may or may not hold into the open tommorow. I will post what I do later.
That is all for now!
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UPDATE
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Ok, I decided to not let greed take over! I sold out for profit in AAPL at $158.25. Total profit is $5.125. Not too shabby!
Done trading for today, and back to the books for studying!
Other than that, I am just in 4 positions currently. Besides that I am still cracking the books and studying hard so I can pass the series 7 exam. Once that is done, I will be posting a lot more!
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UPDATE:
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I decided to play the earnings on AAPL. AAPL was expected to beat earnings and I decided to go long. Chatter online was saying that it might go short, but I liked the long. I decided that since it was my first time playing earnings like this, I would take small size, so I took 15 shares initially. I was up and down during the first 3 minutes while AAPL's earnings were released and since then I added 5 shares to my position (a 33% increase in the # of shares I was holding LOL!) and I am up over $100 bucks on 20 shares.... about 5 points of profit! not too shabby!
Entry @ 4:23pm : 15 shares at $151.85
Add On @ 5:05pm: 5 shares at $1.56.95
Currently holding, may or may not hold into the open tommorow. I will post what I do later.
That is all for now!
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UPDATE
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Ok, I decided to not let greed take over! I sold out for profit in AAPL at $158.25. Total profit is $5.125. Not too shabby!
Done trading for today, and back to the books for studying!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Day Trading Post #54
Well, I'm still watching FSLR, and like it at these levels, but I don't want to take it yet and haven't.
In other news... NCS?!!? What happened this AM. I got stopped out for a small profit at $2.25. Profit is profit, but it would have been nice to take more out a few days ago.
The market has been sucking lately and we are back down under 900 on the S&P cash. We are range bound, and until we get out of this range, there won't be too much happening. I am now going to be tightening up my stops / profit targets as I have had many opportunities to take more profit but haven't.
That's all for now.
In other news... NCS?!!? What happened this AM. I got stopped out for a small profit at $2.25. Profit is profit, but it would have been nice to take more out a few days ago.
The market has been sucking lately and we are back down under 900 on the S&P cash. We are range bound, and until we get out of this range, there won't be too much happening. I am now going to be tightening up my stops / profit targets as I have had many opportunities to take more profit but haven't.
That's all for now.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Day Trading Post #53
So... last Thursday / Friday, I got screwed on LEA due to greed. I had a chance to lock in over $1k profit and greed got to me! But that's the name of the game. You have to learn to get out when your targets are hit whether its a stop or a profit target! Anyway, I did lock in some profit so the loss on LEA won't hurt too much but I still have learned a lot from that trade.
Anyway, it looks as if the solar sector is going to have a move, and I have been watchign FSLR for the past 3 weeks. It finally looks like a good setup. Also, low and behold, it looks like Daytradingradio.com picked up on the same thing, and Day Trader Rockstar has taken a position in it already. This will be the largest stock in my portfolio if I do in fact take the trade but I really do like the setup. Stochastics are oversold, crossing to the upside, decent buying volume, and the dail chart shows a hanging man pattern. Buy Trigger is $149.90 to $150.00, with a profit target around $157-160.
Anyway, it looks as if the solar sector is going to have a move, and I have been watchign FSLR for the past 3 weeks. It finally looks like a good setup. Also, low and behold, it looks like Daytradingradio.com picked up on the same thing, and Day Trader Rockstar has taken a position in it already. This will be the largest stock in my portfolio if I do in fact take the trade but I really do like the setup. Stochastics are oversold, crossing to the upside, decent buying volume, and the dail chart shows a hanging man pattern. Buy Trigger is $149.90 to $150.00, with a profit target around $157-160.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Day Trading Post #52
So, I am currently doing my research for this upcoming week and low and behold, I feel like I should give myself a pat on the back! I just noticed that Daytradingradio.com's GTO has put NCS on his watchlist for this upcoming week!!! That was my pick from last week and I am already in this position and sitting pretty with an average price of $2.11! This only tells me that I am doing well with my picks in that some of the things I am seeing are being seen by other traders, and more importantly, traders who have more experience than myself!
The same thing occurred with my trade in PCX that I called out back in February, as well as with HW! I picked these positions and then 1-3 weeks later, they were called out by Daytradingradio.com!
So, like I said, I feel like I am doing well and that I should pat myself on the back!!!
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Update:
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I like how SPG looks on the daily. It looks like this will be our 3rd try to push above the 200EMA on the daily. I like a Buy trigger around $51.65; Stop at 49.00; Profit Target 1 - 54.00; Profit Target 2 - 54.50; Profit Target 3 - $55.00; and Profit target 4 - 56.00
ACAS came up in my search as well and I like that as a cheap play for this week. Big volume spike with a stochastic crossover to the upside from an oversold region. I like a buy trigger @ $3.00-3.20 with a profit target of $3.80-$5.00 region. Still need to plan this one out, and I want to watch how it performs today. I may take a nibble at it with very small size. Stop is @ $2.50.
ALD, a competitor of ACAS, looks interesting as well. I like a buy trigger @ $3.00-3.20. I would add to this as well on a pullback as long as it didn't break below $2.45. Target is $4.20-4.40.
Those were the one's I found / liked besides what I checked out on Daytradingradio.com.
The same thing occurred with my trade in PCX that I called out back in February, as well as with HW! I picked these positions and then 1-3 weeks later, they were called out by Daytradingradio.com!
So, like I said, I feel like I am doing well and that I should pat myself on the back!!!
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Update:
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I like how SPG looks on the daily. It looks like this will be our 3rd try to push above the 200EMA on the daily. I like a Buy trigger around $51.65; Stop at 49.00; Profit Target 1 - 54.00; Profit Target 2 - 54.50; Profit Target 3 - $55.00; and Profit target 4 - 56.00
ACAS came up in my search as well and I like that as a cheap play for this week. Big volume spike with a stochastic crossover to the upside from an oversold region. I like a buy trigger @ $3.00-3.20 with a profit target of $3.80-$5.00 region. Still need to plan this one out, and I want to watch how it performs today. I may take a nibble at it with very small size. Stop is @ $2.50.
ALD, a competitor of ACAS, looks interesting as well. I like a buy trigger @ $3.00-3.20. I would add to this as well on a pullback as long as it didn't break below $2.45. Target is $4.20-4.40.
Those were the one's I found / liked besides what I checked out on Daytradingradio.com.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Day Trading Post #51
Today was a very tiring day... I did a lot of driving and traveling, starting my day at 5am EST, and getting back home around 8:30pm EST. Regardless, I was monitoring my positions throughout the day, checking how the market was doing periodically while driving on the interstate.
Anyway, I am going to make this posting short and sweet. Here is the run down:
SIRI: This position looks great, and I am looking to take profits into the 200EMA on the daily chart. I am in the money on this position now and holding 2,500 shares. I held through a small amount of pain where I actually added to my position a tad bit. Reasoning behind adding to this was because SIRI looked bullish and the pullback never came down to my stop! This is one is setting up nicely!
NCS: After today, I am very confident about NCS. The last time were hit these all time lows on NCS, we saw a pop up to 6-7 dollars! I got a little anxious on this trade and pulled the trigger early, starting to scale in and build my position at $2.25. I've been adding to this position slowly, and I am now in the money by approximately 20 cents. This one has a lot of upside potential, and I will add to it a little more if it really starts to take off. I love the stochastics at this oversold level as well!
GE: I took 200 shares of GE at around $11.59 or so, and I am in the money. The setup looks nice, and as long as the market pops up, GE is showing some good relative strength. The stochastics are about to turn over to the upside as well. I will be monitoring this one, but right now it looks like a hold to me. Profit target is around the monthly pivot at $13.41 or so.
HW: I am still holding my last hundred shares and will only get stopped out if I hit my entry price. Otherwise, I am letting this one run. I have already locked in approximatley 2.5-3 points on HW.
PCX: I am continuing to hold PCX as a long term investment. This one has been moving up and down. My stop on this is more of a mental stop since I have locked in 2 points already. I am continuing to hold as I think long term PCX has potential to move up big in the long run.
CNO: I am a little disapointed I didnt take out my 100 shares when I was up 2 points, but I wasn't watching this one closey. I only took this one to satisfy my desire to get in because I had tried to get in twice back in March just before we hit the lows in the market. I didn't get filled, and then saw a reentry which was a good one but I am now even or slightly up on the trade. Continuing to hold.
ZLC: I should have taken the point I was up on ZLC prior to earnings a few weeks ago. Now I am down a point, but things are setting up for a pop. I am holding and may add to this if I see some good strength coming into Zale's.
CNB: I got stuck in this one and I have to say, I was bkinded by greed. I should have takent the point when I had 1,500 shares, but instead I scaled out 1/3rd, then took out 1/4 as it pulled back, and held half. Unfortunately news of bankruptcy made CNB gap down, and my stop is very very close to being hit. I locked in just over $300 or so profit, and net profit if I were to close out now would result in me being net negative. Holding for now, but I may cut this one off very soon if it continues to show weakness.
LEA: This was a great trade and I was up over a point on about 1000 shares or so, but like CNB I held on, scaled out small, and am now kicking myself. LEA has now filed for Chapter 11, and unfortunately, I would have been profitable on this trade, but it started to show some decent strength this past Tuesday and Wednesday, so I added to the position. I was down 10 cents or on 600 shares until the bad news came out today. This one is temporarily at a hold, but like CNB, I may cut it off shortly if it continues to show weakness. It goes to show you that even though technical analysis works well, bad news can trump all of your research!!!
That is my run down on my current positions. I will have more detailed posts in the future with charts, etc.
That is all for now!
Anyway, I am going to make this posting short and sweet. Here is the run down:
SIRI: This position looks great, and I am looking to take profits into the 200EMA on the daily chart. I am in the money on this position now and holding 2,500 shares. I held through a small amount of pain where I actually added to my position a tad bit. Reasoning behind adding to this was because SIRI looked bullish and the pullback never came down to my stop! This is one is setting up nicely!
NCS: After today, I am very confident about NCS. The last time were hit these all time lows on NCS, we saw a pop up to 6-7 dollars! I got a little anxious on this trade and pulled the trigger early, starting to scale in and build my position at $2.25. I've been adding to this position slowly, and I am now in the money by approximately 20 cents. This one has a lot of upside potential, and I will add to it a little more if it really starts to take off. I love the stochastics at this oversold level as well!
GE: I took 200 shares of GE at around $11.59 or so, and I am in the money. The setup looks nice, and as long as the market pops up, GE is showing some good relative strength. The stochastics are about to turn over to the upside as well. I will be monitoring this one, but right now it looks like a hold to me. Profit target is around the monthly pivot at $13.41 or so.
HW: I am still holding my last hundred shares and will only get stopped out if I hit my entry price. Otherwise, I am letting this one run. I have already locked in approximatley 2.5-3 points on HW.
PCX: I am continuing to hold PCX as a long term investment. This one has been moving up and down. My stop on this is more of a mental stop since I have locked in 2 points already. I am continuing to hold as I think long term PCX has potential to move up big in the long run.
CNO: I am a little disapointed I didnt take out my 100 shares when I was up 2 points, but I wasn't watching this one closey. I only took this one to satisfy my desire to get in because I had tried to get in twice back in March just before we hit the lows in the market. I didn't get filled, and then saw a reentry which was a good one but I am now even or slightly up on the trade. Continuing to hold.
ZLC: I should have taken the point I was up on ZLC prior to earnings a few weeks ago. Now I am down a point, but things are setting up for a pop. I am holding and may add to this if I see some good strength coming into Zale's.
CNB: I got stuck in this one and I have to say, I was bkinded by greed. I should have takent the point when I had 1,500 shares, but instead I scaled out 1/3rd, then took out 1/4 as it pulled back, and held half. Unfortunately news of bankruptcy made CNB gap down, and my stop is very very close to being hit. I locked in just over $300 or so profit, and net profit if I were to close out now would result in me being net negative. Holding for now, but I may cut this one off very soon if it continues to show weakness.
LEA: This was a great trade and I was up over a point on about 1000 shares or so, but like CNB I held on, scaled out small, and am now kicking myself. LEA has now filed for Chapter 11, and unfortunately, I would have been profitable on this trade, but it started to show some decent strength this past Tuesday and Wednesday, so I added to the position. I was down 10 cents or on 600 shares until the bad news came out today. This one is temporarily at a hold, but like CNB, I may cut it off shortly if it continues to show weakness. It goes to show you that even though technical analysis works well, bad news can trump all of your research!!!
That is my run down on my current positions. I will have more detailed posts in the future with charts, etc.
That is all for now!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Day Trading Post #50
If only it were true! I woke up this morning, checked out my beast of a computer... my trading / gaming / work computer and saw that I had my trading platform open still. Anyway, I'm assuming that the info being displayed isn't accurate but if it is I will be EXTREMELY HAPPY!
Check it out:
It shows SIRI trading 100 shares at $6.65 as the last print... if that's the case all I have to say is F*CK YEA!!!!! LOL!!! I guess if it is true, SIRI hit a home run with their new iPhone App for the new model iPhone that came out this week!
But like I said, I'm assuming that these were either false prints and/or somebody got screwed over and placed a market order after the close getting some crazy bad fill. Regardless, it put me on a short term high for now! I'll definitely be checking on Monday to see where we are really at, but I figured I'd post this up here because it's either very humorous, or extremely amazing! Hahaha!
See you Monday!
Check it out:
It shows SIRI trading 100 shares at $6.65 as the last print... if that's the case all I have to say is F*CK YEA!!!!! LOL!!! I guess if it is true, SIRI hit a home run with their new iPhone App for the new model iPhone that came out this week!
But like I said, I'm assuming that these were either false prints and/or somebody got screwed over and placed a market order after the close getting some crazy bad fill. Regardless, it put me on a short term high for now! I'll definitely be checking on Monday to see where we are really at, but I figured I'd post this up here because it's either very humorous, or extremely amazing! Hahaha!
See you Monday!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Day Trading Post #49
So, yesterday premarket, things were gapped up and the stocks I listed in post #48 were on my watch list. I ended up taking SIRI and NCS, but I should have waited. The gap up messed with my plan a little, and I pulled the trigger a little early on both positions. It's nothing too bad though, and I am still confident in my trades. I took a total of 400 shares of NCS at an average price of 2.22, and I have 2500 shares of SIRI at an average price of $0.41ish.
The plan was to get into NCS if it broke below $2.00, but I will add to my position as it pulls back. I know that I am bottom fishing on this one, but I am confident that we will see a pop. SIRI pulled back 15 minutes into the trading day and continued to pull back the whole day yesterday. I have my position, and I am sticking to it. If I see some really good strength I may add to my position but as of now I am holding. I held off on taking EBHI, but that would have been a good trade yesterday. Oh well :(! I put a trade out for MESA but it turned out my broker does have enough shares available to buy it or something, so I moved on from that trade (would have been nice to have gotten in that one though). And finally, UAUA pulled back to $3.80, so I am glad I held off on getting into that one, although it's setting up nicely today, so i may pull the trigger!
Today is quadruple witching, so look out for lots of manipulation!!! Any big pops on any of my positions, and I plan to take them off the table and lock in profit! Other than that I will just be sitting back, observing, and only taking trades if I see great setups. I have gotten burned in the past on quadruple witching, so I don't want to be too aggressive today.
Anyway, I will post an update later today. That's all for now!
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Update @ 6pm after todays close...
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So, I am now holding onto SIRI (2,500 shares), CNB (750 shares), NCS (400 shares), LEA (250 shares), HW (100 shares), CNO (100 shares), PCX (100 shares), and ZLC (100 shares).
Of those positions, I have already locked in profit on CNB, LEA, HW, and PCX. Of the remaining, no stops have been hit, and I am currently holding and planning to take profits soon.
Anyway, today was extremely slow, choppy, and uneventful. To be honest, I hear people always saying things like "Tommorow should be good its tripe/quadruple witching" only to see that nothing happens. Most of my current positions stayed the same and at the close my account was up from yesterday by about 20 bucks. Nothing special at all. The only good thing is that since the close SIRI has been popping up which is nice to see, and it's now at $0.38 cents. My price is $0.41 cents, so I am only down a few cents on it now. We'll see what happens monday though. Other than that, my days have been spent watching the market and studying for the series 7 exam. Of those two main activities, none have been too exciting yet. With that said, I hope you are doing well in the markets and have a great weekend!
The plan was to get into NCS if it broke below $2.00, but I will add to my position as it pulls back. I know that I am bottom fishing on this one, but I am confident that we will see a pop. SIRI pulled back 15 minutes into the trading day and continued to pull back the whole day yesterday. I have my position, and I am sticking to it. If I see some really good strength I may add to my position but as of now I am holding. I held off on taking EBHI, but that would have been a good trade yesterday. Oh well :(! I put a trade out for MESA but it turned out my broker does have enough shares available to buy it or something, so I moved on from that trade (would have been nice to have gotten in that one though). And finally, UAUA pulled back to $3.80, so I am glad I held off on getting into that one, although it's setting up nicely today, so i may pull the trigger!
Today is quadruple witching, so look out for lots of manipulation!!! Any big pops on any of my positions, and I plan to take them off the table and lock in profit! Other than that I will just be sitting back, observing, and only taking trades if I see great setups. I have gotten burned in the past on quadruple witching, so I don't want to be too aggressive today.
Anyway, I will post an update later today. That's all for now!
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Update @ 6pm after todays close...
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So, I am now holding onto SIRI (2,500 shares), CNB (750 shares), NCS (400 shares), LEA (250 shares), HW (100 shares), CNO (100 shares), PCX (100 shares), and ZLC (100 shares).
Of those positions, I have already locked in profit on CNB, LEA, HW, and PCX. Of the remaining, no stops have been hit, and I am currently holding and planning to take profits soon.
Anyway, today was extremely slow, choppy, and uneventful. To be honest, I hear people always saying things like "Tommorow should be good its tripe/quadruple witching" only to see that nothing happens. Most of my current positions stayed the same and at the close my account was up from yesterday by about 20 bucks. Nothing special at all. The only good thing is that since the close SIRI has been popping up which is nice to see, and it's now at $0.38 cents. My price is $0.41 cents, so I am only down a few cents on it now. We'll see what happens monday though. Other than that, my days have been spent watching the market and studying for the series 7 exam. Of those two main activities, none have been too exciting yet. With that said, I hope you are doing well in the markets and have a great weekend!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Day Trading Post #48
Ok, I am a little disappointed that I didn't lock in as much profit as I could have on some of my positions but I am not discouraged at all. As of now, if you refer to posting #45, you can see that unfortunately, the S&P 500 cash failed to close above and hold the 200EMA on the daily chart. On top of that, the stochastics on the SMI have turned over towards the downside, and the market has been pulling back. Overall, I think that this presents a great opportunity to find some nice setups for buying! Despite the fact that we are pulling back, we have a lot of support under us as I stated in previous posts. First, we have 900 which is a very psychological number (although I think that 900 won't bee too hard to break under). Then, we have 880-876, 850ish, 825, 800, 776, and so on... So, it will be very tough for the bears to bring us down that far. Again it's important to note that this is just my own interpretation of the market and that I can not predict the future! But, as I said, I personally feel that we are still in good shape and this week has just been a necessary pullback in the market. We've been going up and up and up, and at some point, people have to start taking profits. On top of that, for those people who got in late and like to chase stocks, I'm sure that we are seeing some selling as fear comes back into the market. Those who chased don't want to see us fall hard again hence we see some more selling. Again, this is just my interpretation.
Anyway, as I said, I feel that there are some nice setups and some good opportunities. As of now, I do have some positions in the open market that are slightly against me, but none of my stops have been hit! So, back on topic, I said there were some decent setups that I've seen and that I may take. I went through charts tonight, listened to day trading radio, and I would like to get some more cash out in the market so that it can work for me. As of now, I only have 30% of my cash in my long term account in the open market... so 70% of my money is just sitting there. Time to put it to work! Below are some charts / notes I've taken on some stocks and setups I like: (note: these are all cheapies, but they are they setups I liked!)
These are two that I like from day trading radio dot com:
UAUA:
-Good buying volume
- Stochastics are about to cross over to the upside & are oversold!
- 20% short interest... big upside potential!
- Entry @ 4.18 / add on pullback if breaks under $4 / stop @ $3.60ish
SIRI:
-Buying volume spike!
- Broke out of consolidation to the upside
- Entry @ $0.40 if pulls back otherwise buy @ $0.44
- Stop @ 32 cents give or take
- Profit target around 55-60 cents... scale out here or take full profit
- Based on history of chart, may be quick trade (1-4 days after entry)
Some charts / notes from my own picks and research:
EBHI:
-Big selling volume today
- waiting for stochastics to turn to upside / entry @ $0.20 w/ a stop @ 10-12 cents
-hitting 52 week low... this one may be some bottom fishing
(EBHI filed for bankruptcy protection, so I may hold off and wait before I dive into this one. I still think we can see a pop here)
MESA:
- STO crossover to the upside!
- HUGE volume spike! Lots of buying!
- Buy @ 0.13 / stop @ 9 cents / Target @ 19-24 cents
NCS: (I really like this one... lots of upside potential!)
- Very oversold and close to $2.00... approaching march lows / 2 year lows!
- Stochastics are very oversold and look like they may cross to the upside.
- Buy @2.21 (scale in)... add if breaks $2.00 / stop @ 1.75ish / targets to scale out
$3.45, $4.00, $4.25, $5-6
-hitting 1year lows (close to it)... this one may be some bottom fishing
That is my research for now, and I am sticking to it. It is important to note that these picks are just my interpretations and in no way am I suggesting that you get into any of these trades. I am not a financial advisor nor do I claim to be one. This is strictly my own interpretation and my own notes for myself. Please be careful with any trades you take as you are responsible for your own money, your own trades, and understand that you are taking a risk with any sort of investment.
With that said, I'm out! That's all for now!
Anyway, as I said, I feel that there are some nice setups and some good opportunities. As of now, I do have some positions in the open market that are slightly against me, but none of my stops have been hit! So, back on topic, I said there were some decent setups that I've seen and that I may take. I went through charts tonight, listened to day trading radio, and I would like to get some more cash out in the market so that it can work for me. As of now, I only have 30% of my cash in my long term account in the open market... so 70% of my money is just sitting there. Time to put it to work! Below are some charts / notes I've taken on some stocks and setups I like: (note: these are all cheapies, but they are they setups I liked!)
These are two that I like from day trading radio dot com:
UAUA:
-Good buying volume
- Stochastics are about to cross over to the upside & are oversold!
- 20% short interest... big upside potential!
- Entry @ 4.18 / add on pullback if breaks under $4 / stop @ $3.60ish
SIRI:
-Buying volume spike!
- Broke out of consolidation to the upside
- Entry @ $0.40 if pulls back otherwise buy @ $0.44
- Stop @ 32 cents give or take
- Profit target around 55-60 cents... scale out here or take full profit
- Based on history of chart, may be quick trade (1-4 days after entry)
Some charts / notes from my own picks and research:
EBHI:
-Big selling volume today
- waiting for stochastics to turn to upside / entry @ $0.20 w/ a stop @ 10-12 cents
-hitting 52 week low... this one may be some bottom fishing
(EBHI filed for bankruptcy protection, so I may hold off and wait before I dive into this one. I still think we can see a pop here)
MESA:
- STO crossover to the upside!
- HUGE volume spike! Lots of buying!
- Buy @ 0.13 / stop @ 9 cents / Target @ 19-24 cents
NCS: (I really like this one... lots of upside potential!)
- Very oversold and close to $2.00... approaching march lows / 2 year lows!
- Stochastics are very oversold and look like they may cross to the upside.
- Buy @2.21 (scale in)... add if breaks $2.00 / stop @ 1.75ish / targets to scale out
$3.45, $4.00, $4.25, $5-6
-hitting 1year lows (close to it)... this one may be some bottom fishing
That is my research for now, and I am sticking to it. It is important to note that these picks are just my interpretations and in no way am I suggesting that you get into any of these trades. I am not a financial advisor nor do I claim to be one. This is strictly my own interpretation and my own notes for myself. Please be careful with any trades you take as you are responsible for your own money, your own trades, and understand that you are taking a risk with any sort of investment.
With that said, I'm out! That's all for now!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Day Trading Post #47
Today is looking to be a good day! LEA is up almost a point and I'm holding some nice profits in that now. It's a little bitter sweet though because CNB is had some bad news come out and gapped down as well. So even though I've locked in profits on CNB, I am now down on the position, but not by that much!
LEA is my money maker right now and the setup looks GREAT!!! I am continuing to hold and plan to take profits soon!
As for CNB, I am holding until my stop is hit... we'll see what happens, but what I do like is that its getting into an oversold area and has the potential to turn over to the upside on the stochastics. Worst case scenario, I take a hit, but that's how trading goes. Cut your losses and let your gains run!
LEA is my money maker right now and the setup looks GREAT!!! I am continuing to hold and plan to take profits soon!
As for CNB, I am holding until my stop is hit... we'll see what happens, but what I do like is that its getting into an oversold area and has the potential to turn over to the upside on the stochastics. Worst case scenario, I take a hit, but that's how trading goes. Cut your losses and let your gains run!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Day Trading Post #46
Today is going well with my swing trades and I don't want to speak too early.... but screw it I'm going too! LEA is finally popping back up!!!! I added another 400 shares today bringing my average price down to $1.48 and it has now retraced all the way back to my average price! Now time to make some profits baby!!!! I added to it when it crossed back up over the 76.4% Fibonacci Retracement and things look good!
Ok, is that cocky? Maybe.... but I'd like to attribute it to confidence! LOL
Anyway LEA is trading above $1.50 and I'm pumped up! The chart is below with my notes:
Anyway LEA is trading above $1.50 and I'm pumped up! The chart is below with my notes:
Monday, June 8, 2009
Day Trading Post #45
So, no new trades to talk about at this point in time. Basically my account is hovering around the same level its been at for the past 3 weeks. I added 100 shares to LEA last week, and then it pulled back a little bit more. Nothing too bad though.
As for the market, we are stuck in a 60 point range on the S&P cash since we broke 880 on May 3rd. We've tested this level multiple times as both support and resistance and it looks like a solid area of support at this point in time. We tested 880 on the S&P cash as support on May 13th, 14th, 15th, 21st, 22nd, and 25th; We tested 880 as resistance on January 28th, 29th, February 9th, and April 17th. Currently, we are hovering around the 200EMA on the daily chart and haven't been able to successfully close above it without pulling back under it a day later. Also, the stochastics (SMI indicator) on the S&P cash is starting to top out again but we may get a further push up. The current value that I see today for the SMI is 58.75. So, we have some room to push up on the Stochastics until we reach an over bought level. Also, it's interesting to see that we are currently having trouble breaking through the same highs of around 940-945 that we were hitting back at the start of the new year on January 2nd, 5th, and 6th. Then, looking at the S&P Daily, we can see that there is the monthly R1 and R2 pivot just above us at 944 and 969.
Overall, I would say that we have the potential to continue upwards if we can close above the 200EMA and break through the monthly R1 pivot at 944. If we do that, then we'll also see the 20/200 EMA cross over to the upside followed by the 50/200 EMA cross over which will be very bullish. It seems to me that things are in limbo right now, and we are waiting for that big move to happen... will it be good news that pushes us up or will we lose our momentum and pull back down? Personally, I am bullish, but we'll see! You never know how things will go until they've already happened!
In the mean time, I am going to be managing my swing trades, and studying for the Series 7 Exam. That's all for now!
As for the market, we are stuck in a 60 point range on the S&P cash since we broke 880 on May 3rd. We've tested this level multiple times as both support and resistance and it looks like a solid area of support at this point in time. We tested 880 on the S&P cash as support on May 13th, 14th, 15th, 21st, 22nd, and 25th; We tested 880 as resistance on January 28th, 29th, February 9th, and April 17th. Currently, we are hovering around the 200EMA on the daily chart and haven't been able to successfully close above it without pulling back under it a day later. Also, the stochastics (SMI indicator) on the S&P cash is starting to top out again but we may get a further push up. The current value that I see today for the SMI is 58.75. So, we have some room to push up on the Stochastics until we reach an over bought level. Also, it's interesting to see that we are currently having trouble breaking through the same highs of around 940-945 that we were hitting back at the start of the new year on January 2nd, 5th, and 6th. Then, looking at the S&P Daily, we can see that there is the monthly R1 and R2 pivot just above us at 944 and 969.
Overall, I would say that we have the potential to continue upwards if we can close above the 200EMA and break through the monthly R1 pivot at 944. If we do that, then we'll also see the 20/200 EMA cross over to the upside followed by the 50/200 EMA cross over which will be very bullish. It seems to me that things are in limbo right now, and we are waiting for that big move to happen... will it be good news that pushes us up or will we lose our momentum and pull back down? Personally, I am bullish, but we'll see! You never know how things will go until they've already happened!
In the mean time, I am going to be managing my swing trades, and studying for the Series 7 Exam. That's all for now!
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