How else can you explain the action in the markets today? Trend day up. I think non-believers were shorting in the first half of the day….and then covering in the afternoon….yes, I think it was a short-covering rally, but, as I had to change tactics today, it’s hour by hour in this market.
Today after markets gapped up, I went long QLD and found a few stocks that looked enticing: JRJC ARM ACAS. I bought all my longs because they were approaching or at the 8ema on their daily charts. They all did well. But as the end of the day approached and they took off, I claimed my profits and closed them out. And, since the market was looking like a 1999 blowoff, I nibbled a short position buying BGZ, the large cap 3x bear fund. Even if we get a continuing gap up on Tuesday, this was a quick up move and I’m looking for a quick move down just to compensate for the move up.
Now for the case of a continuing bull….VIX was down today, almost going sub-30. And, maybe last week was enough of a pullback to get all those money managers back in a buying mood. And, maybe tomorrow’s Building Permit report and Housing Starts report will be better than expected. So….I may be stopped out of BGZ real quick and getting into BGU. 
It was opex week but the markets were pretty boring. The Dow was down a bit for the week, but all the other indexes were up a bit. We traded within the confines of Tuesday’s big candle….and except for Friday, the volume was fairly light.
Market action, I thought, was pretty good considering all the bad news… retail sales, Madoff, Detroit bailout, credit and loans. Again except for the Dow, many indexes held the 8ema….the Russell 2000 even held its 50 day moving average.
We’ve got 2 messed up weeks coming up with the holidays…market short-session on Wednesday and closed on Thursday. Also closed next Thursday. Volume will be low, but that may be perfect timing for a Santa Claus rally 
Well my drop-n-pop scenario almost made it. But then Alan Greenspan came on CNBC and brought it back down 
The Nasdaq showed strength most of the day. Even the others were acceptable consolidations after a run-up. …and by others I mean the S&P, DJ30, Russell. Except for the DJ, they all were still able to close above the 8ema.
Even with the crummy red indexes, there was a lot of green on my screen and I just happened to make some good entries and exits on NKTR, DELL and SCA. ASTI was an early entry that got busted right away and got out a few pennies below entry.
There still seems to be quite a few nice charts out there. Now to see if I can pick the right ones.
Published on
July 30, 2008,
9:55 pm in
Daily and Trading.
Tags: 34EMA, 8EMA, CLF, earnings, FSLR, SBUX, SP500, SYMC, V.
That was some midday swoon, but the bulls came back in style. The conundrum is why did the market go up when oil was making such a big up move also? I guess we’ll see tomorrow.
Lots of good earnings after the market closed: FSLR, CLF, SYMC, V, while SBUX…well just sux’d. Surprise surprise, people don’t want $5 cups of coffee anymore. If the morning earnings continue like this and the initial unemployment claims come inline, we should continue our upward move….a lot of ifs.
I got a chart of the S&P showing how this is the 2nd time in a week that we have reached the 34ema. The first time we were turned back. Tomorrow we’ll get the answer for the 2nd try….and maybe we’ll go for the 50sma, say another 20 – 25 points in the S&P 
Looks like the bounce continues….some profit taking today, including me. Overall it was a good day. Look for some more upside next week!
The techs took a beating from the GOOG and MSFT debacle, but that will turn around in a day or two. Many charts looking good and prices moving above their 8ema. I’m salivating!
Have a great weekend!
The Dow ended up for the week….not by much, and the other indexes, that is, Naz, S&P, Russell, ended down…not by much. The economy was a bit more definitive…inflation up, oil up, comodities up, and consumer sentiment down. Technically though, the indexes are showing a strong candlestick signal…the MorningStar breaking through the 8ema…and stochastics oversold and turning up. I’m thinking at least a couple days to the upside
Besides the usual economic reports, as in oil inventories and unemployment, there are a few zingers in the mix, like May PPI and May housing starts. Also, all the major investment banks report earnings this week…and it’s options expiration week with June options expiring this Friday! We should expect some volatility along the way.
Most of my watchlist from last week is still active, but I’m adding a few: LSI, AACC, and CMLT.
My active trading CNBC portfolio is still behind my “inactive” portfolio that only gets cash from answering trivia questions. I lost money in the first week of the contest and haven’t recovered…of course I haven’t dumped the losers yet either. If I could only pretend it was real money I know I’d do better. I guess that’s why I’m not an advocate of “paper trading.” 
Published on
June 4, 2008,
9:02 pm in
Daily and Trading.
Tags: 8EMA, DIVX, DJ30, IAR, MNKD, moving average, MRVC, RYL, SP500, XRIT, ZIXI.
Those damn financials brought the market down…again. Volume did strengthen a bit, and overall the Dow and S&P ended as dojis, but the morning looked so strong! Actually the Q’s and the Naz had bullish engulfing patterns, which bodes well, but the Dow seems to be dragging the rest of the indexes down.
Got out of ROYL and looking for it to pullback to the 8ema…might get back in. I also entered ZIXI and MNKD today…so far so good. IAR had a strong morning but weakened in the afternoon. I took profits on half of my position when it hit the 34ema. Still looking for it to run up though. My watch list is still good to go (check the sidebar), but am adding: XRIT, MRVC, and DIVX.
Happy Trading
Published on
May 12, 2008,
9:12 pm in
Daily and Trading.
Tags: 8EMA, bullish engulfing, chart, CNBC, CNTF, DVAX, HYTM, markets, momentum, moving average, MVIS.
Nothing can get this market down…not an earthquake, not an ugly loss by (S) or even a warning by (FDX). The only thing keeping this market lackluster is the volume…there isn’t any!
All the major indexes closed above the 8ema, which for me gives them a positive direction. And I had some decent winners: (MVIS), (DVAX), (SUPG) and (CNTF). I held them over so we’ll see how they do tomorrow. We have morningstar candles on the (QQQQ) and Nasdaq, while the Dow and S&P500 are close to bullish engulfing patterns. Plus I’m also going to watch these: (HYTM), (BCON), (DXCM) and (OWW). It’s good to be a trader right now
I tried to make some trades in the CNBC Millionaires Challenge, but I guess they had troubles with the website. I was finally able to get in near the end of the day and place some trades, but only completed 3 of the 5 daily trivia bonus questions….at least I got them right 
See ya’ in the market tomorrow.
Looking at the Dow and S&P charts. they both pulled back to the 8ema in the first part of the week and then rocketted off the 8 for Thursday and a mild up on Friday. Well Friday was a gangbuster in the morning, but soon dwindled, but still ending in the green.
(XRM) (DVAX) and (AVR) were all winners and will look for more gains on Monday. A couple others I’ll be watching: (CRY) (INCY) (LSCC) (AAV) and the watchilist in the sidebar. Biotechs and Drug manufacturers are looking like they want to move up in general.
It was disappointing that the indexes could not hold on to the morning rally on Friday. So there is some trepidation, but I’m writing it off to the normal Friday afternoon selloff so as not to hold over the weekend. Microsoft (MSFT) and Yahoo (YHOO) will be interesting, with of course (MSFT) moving up and (YHOO) moving down. And I expect (YHOO) to move down much more than (MSFT) will move up
Happy Trading y’all.
SSCC OPWV EPEX KNOT COCO sscc.png' title='SSCC Apr 16'>
Here’s a chart for SSCC (click to enlarge). One of my favorite setups is the downtrend reversal and then buying as it crosses the 8 ema.
opwv.png' title='OPWV Apr 16'>
OPWV is a very similar chart, although the downtrend is only 2 weeks long, but a similar premise.
KNOT is also a similar pattern. COCO and EPEX are both bouncing off the 8 ema after a short consolidation. Let’s see how these develop Thursday.
