The markets maybe…my computer for sure. I spent most of yesterday on my knees working on my machine. Ouch. Either the computer was slow or it was me crippled by having three out of four displays not functioning. Time to start looking. I think I may try building my own this time around.
The markets? Well the pattern has been broken. We started down and ended down…red across the board. And it looks like it will continue today…futures down, Asia and Europe down…and I think I’m down 
Now when I go to post my entry, my hosting service is down with cgi and php problems….wah wah wah
The pattern continues…start red, end green…not much though, the Dow ending up 9+ points after traveling 150 points during the day. We did end in our hoped-for pattern, a doji day.
The markets started with ugly futures and a down start. But this time, Fed-speak actually turned things around, when Bernanke all but promised that more rate cuts are coming. In my mind that is disputable if that is really good or bad.
So we have one day of rest, will tomorrow be another? Or do we continue up? If we reverse, I’ll give it to the 34 ema (about 1,370 in the S&P and about 12,540 in the Dow) before I put my bear suit back on.
No winners or losers today…I didn’t trade 
Published on
February 26, 2008,
6:33 pm in
Daily.
It worked again today! Lousy futures, open down…end the day up and green. The S&P and the Dow confirmed their upside breakout from the wedge, and the Nasdaq closed above its 20ma. The S&P is close, but shy of its 50 day moving average and the Dow closed at its 50dma.
So what can we make of this? Well, we’ve had 3 up days, with the Dow up over 400 points. I would expect some sort of consolidation tomorrow…maybe a doji day.
Winners today: CNTF LMRA DVAX VNDA. No losers. I had my single best day I have ever had 
Now, if I could only do that with some consistency.
The news isn’t that appealing this morning. HD forecasting lower profits, ODP with a bad earning report, inflation news over the top (inflation highest rate in 26 years), and a lot of Fed-speak over the next couple of days. So futures are under a little pressure this morning.
But, if the pattern holds a down start translates to an up ending. That pattern has been working for a couple of weeks now…no rhyme or reason. I don’t think it is a trade-able pattern, but it has been playing out.
So buckle in and do some trading 
Luckily or unluckily, the day started down for the first half hour…which means that the day just had to end in the green 
And it did…way in the green.
My winners today: DVAX CNTF PEIX. Loser: VNDA. Winners far outweighing the loser.
Crummy news started the day with C calling for more layoffs, housing data bad, and LOW earnings bad. But all that was forgotten when the S&P announced it will keep ABK and MBI bond ratings at AAA late in the afternoon. Buyers came out of the woodwork, but total volume was just average, a bit lower than Friday’s. The QQQQ and Nasdaq are still below their 20ma, but the S&P and DOW are above the 20ma and heading for the 50ma.
Now will those buyers stick around or will Tuesday be one of those start green and end up red days?
Monday morning we’ll find out if Friday afternoon was just a massive short covering or if there is some meat on those rumor bones. We’ve heard those rumors before on a financial bailout….And because they come and go, so does the market and its indexes.
Looking at the SP500 chart, you can see that we were just about to breakout of the wedge to the downside, when we turned and headed up into the consolidation area….on really big volume. No reason to stay short over the weekend.
So, for next week, we’re looking for the S&P to get through the upper trendline at about 1365 and the bulls start to run. For the bears, if we go through the lower trendline at about 1327 we’ll go short. Everything in between is chop-chop.
Happy Trading 
Published on
February 23, 2008,
6:34 pm in
Tools.
Tags: Tools.
I wrote about this a week or so ago, but I had to delete the entry because it was messing with the feed.
I had to go see my orthopod because my shoulder had been bothering me. And he asked me, “What do you sit on?” Of course I said, “A chair.” But he explored how I did my work (mousing, keyboarding, looking at screens) and he suggested I change my chair! And he passed on some info:
The SwingSeat adjusts in height, depth and angle of seat and back. Once you have adjusted the SwingSeat to fit your body, SwingSeat’s “smart motion” is automatic. No other chair can support you dynamically as you move through the many seated tasks that you do each day. BALANCED, EFFORTLESS MOTION found only in the SwingSeat. Your body will know the difference.
Check out the SwingSeat. Is anyone using it? I’m looking at getting one. Please leave a comment if you have one and what you think of it. And it’s cheaper than one of those Aerons.
Now, if I would just listen to my own intuition. Friday was another ugly day…for most of the day. But wow, those last 45 minutes were a godsend for the bulls. And if you were short going into the last hour today…ouch!
The chart shows the S&P 500 and the wedge that has been forming for over a month. It’s gonna break one way or another, but which way? I guess it really doesn’t matter which way, as long as we are prepared to take action on the break….long or short. So this weekend I’m going to build a few scenarios in each direction and make a couple of watchlists. Have a great weekend everybody
Published on
February 22, 2008,
11:24 am in
Tools.
Tags: Tools.
NYSE MarkeTrac.…not quite sure what it is telling me or how to use it, but I’ll play and explore to see what it does. Since it is on a 20 minute delay, I’m not sure if it will be beneficial.
Buy homebuilders Look at the entire sub-industry: HOV AVTR SPF MTH DHI KBH TOL They are going gangbusters in the first 15 minutes of the day. Of course the day is young, but might as well make money while the opportunity exists.
Nice strong open and then a big wavering until 2:30PM EST when the markets dumped. That doesn’t rest well with the bulls…but HPQ had a good report and dragged AAPL up in its after hours rise…which in turn is taking the QQQQs up also. Volume was on track to be the lowest of the year, but picked up a little during the sell off…still below average.
VLNC was my one play today and it followed the market…great up move and then meandering down. Still holding and will see what to do tomorrow.
Well, 17 hours until the US markets open again, so we’ll see what the rest of the world thinks about our action today
