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Swing Trading BLOG – Week in Review – July 8, 2011

Sunday, July 10th, 2011

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

Traders watched as the indices pushed higher this holiday shortened week.

One thing to point out this week is the fact that an oversold or overbought market can still become MORE oversold or overbought.

A lot of Swing Traders were prepared to SHORT this latest rally but when the market moved higher Wednesday and Thursday some were caught in the mix.

Now if you have a tried and true (and tested!) strategy for trading against the market then have at it!

There are a million ways to make money trading so far be it from us to tell you how to trade.

What we are saying though is don't start trading by the seat of your pants using the latest overbought/oversold indicator or oscillator.

There is no doubt that a retrace in the market will happen…it is just a matter of when.

Friday's price action (Gap Down and Reverse) tells us that the BUYERS are still there.

When we open for trading on Monday that could all change but for now don't try to guess what what the market will do.

As we look at the charts for next week we can see that the market is still extended a bit.

There are a ton of good looking charts to watch in the future.

One sector that stood out this week was Real Estate.

Here is a look at the chart for the Dow Jones Real Estate sector ETF ($IYR).

From a technical analysis perspective $IYR put in a higher low at the end of last month.

As the market rallied recently $IYR has traded up to a NEW HIGH for the year on Thursday.

The Retail sector ETF ($RTH) has also rallied nicely as is flirting with NEW HIGHS.

Watch out for the possible overhead resistance in the $114 area first though.

The Technology sector is also on our Watch List as we move forward from here.

Here is a look at $XLK…

As far as individual stocks go keep an eye on $AMZN, $ERTS, $JAZZ, $ELN, $LULU and $HAL just to name a few.

Like we said earlier there are a TON of stocks that should be on your list this week.

The volatility is likely to continue so keep that in mind as we head into trading this week.

As always have plan in place for whatever the market decides to do from here.

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!

Tags: ETF Swing Trading, Learn Swing Trading Strategies, Swing Trading Blog, Swing Trading Price Action, Swing Trading Technical Analysis
Posted in ETF Swing Trading, ETF Trading, Sector ETF's, Swing Trading, Swing Trading Blog, Swing Trading Chart Patterns, Swing Trading Charts, Swing Trading Technical Analysis, Technical Analysis | No Comments »

Swing Trading BLOG – Week in Review – July 1, 2011

Monday, July 4th, 2011

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

WOW!

What a bounce we saw in the market this week!

After putting in a short term "double bottom" pattern last week traders watched as the market RIPPED up for 5 consecutive days this week!

After talking and emailing several traders this weekend it seems that a lot of people were caught off guard.

I sat with one trader after the market close on Friday and he sat there trying to convince me that the market SHOULD not have bounced so hard.

He also told me about how his positions (mostly shorts) SHOULD have acted during a bounce.

After finally revealing that he was still SHORT (after most of his positions were now very much against him) it is apparent that he himself SHOULD have done a few things.

The most important thing to get out of this little story is have a sound set of trading rules in place and stick to them no matter what.

What you or I (or anyone else) think the market SHOULD do DOESN'T MATTER and that way of thinking has absolutely has no place in trading.

As traders we look for opportunities to profit from what we think the market MAY do.

We also know that once we enter into a trade it MAY NOT do what we had hoped for.

We as traders expect to be wrong often.

They key to success is understanding this and PROTECTING YOUR CAPITAL at all costs when you are wrong!

If you read our Swing Trading BLOG 9and we hope you do) you will tell our traders to "prepare for whatever the market decides to do and act accordingly".

That means be prepared and have a plan for action whether the market does what you expect or not.

Being stubborn and trying to out think the market is a sure way to trading disaster…trust me!

Ok so now that the lecture is over lets take a look at the charts!

Almost everything on the board RIPPED right along with the market this week.

The most important lesson to gain from looking at the charts is to learn how to spot when the SHORT TERM trend changes.

Let's take a look at the chart of the "Diamonds" above.

Last Thursday (June 23rd) we saw a big gap down in the AND reversal in the market.

The SELL OFF that day took the market down to an area that was near the low we saw on June 15th.

Once the market traded down to that level the market "reversed" and closed very near the high of the day.

Friday (June 25th) the market didn't do much as it traded sideways on low volume.

It is at this point that we as traders look for signs or clues to see what the market has in store next.

Monday we watched as the market traded higher (albeit or lower volume) which is not a good sign for the SHORTS.

If after seeing a strong reversal followed by a sideways trading day and UP day in the market doesn't give you a very loud hint that a retrace is upon you then I am not sure what will!

Tuesday the market GAPS UP (another clue) and trades in an nice orderly up trend all day (yet another clue).

Once you notice all the clues or hints you need to take action based on your observation.

For some of you that action meant to cover your SHORTS at a loss.

For others it meant to cover and GET LONG.

Our trading plan may not match you trading plan.

Our plan has us stopping out of our SHORTS and entering into some LONG positions in STRONG STOCKS.

In last weeks BLOG POST we mentioned some of the STRONG STOCKS that we were watching this week.

Take a look at the charts of the stocks we mentioned in that post and see how they did.

We have gone from VERY WEAK to VERY STRONG in the market in one week flat!

Expect some increased volatility ahead as traders try to get a handle on where we go from here.

As always be prepared for ANYTHING!!!

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!

Tags: DIA, ETF Swing Trading, SHORT SWING TRADING, Swing Trading Blog, Swing Trading Chart Patterns, Swing Trading Price Action, Swing Trading Strategies
Posted in ETF Swing Trading, ETF Trading, Stock Market Update, Swing Trading, Swing Trading Blog, Swing Trading Chart Patterns, Technical Analysis | No Comments »

Swing Trading BLOG – Week in Review June 24, 2011

Sunday, June 26th, 2011

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

After a the short term retrace continued until mid week traders watched as the overall market again pushed lower to close the week.

The weakness continues in the market and Thursdays GAP DOWN had traders looking again to the SHORT side for trades.

As we take a look at the sector ETF's we see weakness across the board.

Energy and Oil remain weak.

The Financials and Broker/Dealers got hammered.

Agriculture is holding on by a thread.

If we look the through the charts of the stocks in our database we see a mixed bag.

Some of the NON CORRELATED stocks are actually showing some strength.

$ELN, $LULU, $CROX and $FIRE are on this list.

A few "market" or CORRELATED are as well.

Take a look at $TIF, $BOBE, $BBY and $COG.

As we move into next week look for the signs or clues that the market gives.

If we will continue to trade lower the sellers should step in so take notice.

If the sellers don't show themselves we could chop around a bit while traders decide where we go from here.

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!

Posted in ETF Swing Trading, ETF Trading, Swing Trading, Swing Trading Blog, Swing Trading Chart Patterns, Swing Trading Charts, Swing Trading Technical Analysis | No Comments »

Swing Trading BLOG – Week in Review – June 17, 2011

Sunday, June 19th, 2011

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

Swing Traders saw more of the same this week and the overall market continued to drift lower.

Tuesday traders watched as the market had a decent GAP UP but this was quickly followed by a GAP DOWN the next day which erased all of the gains.

Thursday and Friday the indices floated around on lighter volume but that didn't stop some of the sector ETF's from continuing their moves lower.

The Semiconductors ($SMH) continued to free fall as did the entire Technology sector ($XLK).

Here is a look at the chart of Inverse ETF ($SSG) for the Semiconductor sector.

The Energy and Oil sectors also pushed lower after showing signs of losing strength last week.

$USO finally broke out of a month and half long sideways trading pattern to trade down to new multi month lows.

The Steel sector ($SLX) pushed to new lows and finally the Agriculture ETF's ($MOO $DBA) also became the latest to succumb to the selling pressure.

As far as individual stocks go there were plenty of SHORT swing trading opportunities this week.

$CREE and $RIMM were two notable standouts this week.

$CREE was actually on out LONG Watch List at the end of last month.

After the lack of follow through to the up side it quickly returned to a SHORT watch earlier this month.

If you have followed our Swing Trading BLOG for any length of time you will know that we have been bearish on $MOS for quite awhile.

The moves in $MOS to the downside have been very "clean" moves and this week was no exception!

After a "double bottom" bounce the selling resumed Monday and the move lower was a good one.

There are still a few stocks that are holding up nicely and some are actually making new highs.

Although situations stick out to us we are clearly in a bearish phase of this market so why fight the trend (now that its clear)?

We are due for a retrace in the market so as always continue to wait for those setups with good risk reward ratios.

Until next week…Good Trading to You!

Tags: $SSG, Inverse ETF's, Inverse Semiconductor ETF, SHORT SWING TRADING, Swing Trading Chart, Swing Trading Strategies
Posted in ETF Swing Trading, ETF Trading, Inverse ETF's, Sector ETF's, Swing Trading Blog, Swing Trading Chart Patterns, Swing Trading Charts | No Comments »