Archive for the ‘Price Action Trading’ Category

Swing Trading Week in Review – October 12, 2012

Sunday, October 14th, 2012

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

$DIA - Swing Trading ETF

After returning to the recent high last week swing traders watched as the Dow Jones Industrial Average sold off this week.

Right from the opening bell on Monday the sellers came out in a big way.

By weeks end the selling pressure had us looking at one of the worst weeks since the summer.

This did NOT happen without warning though.

Last week we pointed out the some of the recently strong sectors were showing signs of "losing steam".

The Tech sector had stalled causing the tech heavy NASDAQ to stall right along with it.

We said that we would need confirmation to validate a move higher or lower and that the NASADAQ could be a catalyst.

This week we watched the confirmation come almost from the get go on Monday.

The GAP DOWN had us looking to the SHORT SIDE by days end.

This was the price action clue that we were looking for.

The move lower on Tuesday on increased volume was all we needed to know that the next move lower was upon us.

Here is the chart of the QQQ

$QQQ - Swing Trading ETF

The transition from bullish to bearish that we saw this week brings the market back down near the 50 day EMA.

The DJIA and S&P and basically hugging the 50 day while the weaker NASDAQ has now traded below it.

This latest move has people wondering a bigger sell off isnt right around the corner.

There are some sectors still showing strength.

The Financials and Homebuilders are (as of now) holding up.

The Energy and Oil ($XLE $OIH) sectors are trading sideways despite the market pushing lower.

Look for a breakout (or breakdown)in these two sectors in the near future.

One weak sector we mentioned a few weeks ago was the Semiconductors ($SMH).

$SMH - Short Swing Trading

Notice the relative weakness prior to the sell off this week.

A good place to look for SHORTS wouldn't you say?

Gold and Silver ($GLD $SLV) are holding up BUT…

After last weeks down move the market and a few of these sectors are in short term oversold territory.

We could see the buyers step in here very soon to protect their long positions.

The SHORTS may also look to cover and take some profits.

All that being said expect a stall or even a bit of a bounce.

Now that we have seem some weakness in the market it is important to have a complete watch list.

Look through the charts and put together a list of stocks that are weaker than the market.

Put those with the best chart patterns on your SHORT watch list.

Look for stocks that are holding up well doing this recent down move.

Put those with the best patterns on your LONG list.

Once the market lets you know where it is headed next take the appropriate action.

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!

Swing Trading Week in Review – September 28, 2012

Sunday, September 30th, 2012

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

$DIA - Swing Trading ETF

Swing Traders finally get the pullback that they have been waiting for.

After trading "sideways" last week the market put in a much anticipated retrace this week.

Thursdays UP move was the only decent UP move the market saw this week.

The low volume that accompanied Thursdays price action has us wondering if the next move to the UP side was really upon us.

Take a look through your charts and you will see what we mean.

A lot of stocks and ETF's had moves to the UP side but look at the volume.

You will that many of these moves came on very low volume.

We always like to see price action and volume moving together.

This does not always guarantee that the trades we make when these two are moving together always work out.

More often than not though when the price action and volume patterns work together we get a move in our favor.

Putting the current market action into proper context is very important in most trading situations and this is no different.

After such an extended run up in the market we are always cautious of taking trades after brief pullbacks.

This most recent pullback only gave us 2-3 days of pulling back after breaking out to new highs.

In that case we would like to see a few more days of selling before we jump back in to the market.

It takes experience and honestly a little luck to not jump on every trade in such a strong market.

The traders that did jump back in on Thursday had to wonder if they make the right decision come Friday.

Some stocks and ETF's look like they weathered Fridays action pretty well.

As we look through the charts we see a lot of inside bar patterns.

If you have followed us for any amount of time you know how important these inside bars are in our trading strategies.

The bars are what we consider to be "stalls" in the market.

These "stalls" can give us clues to where the market is headed next.

Continuations out of a "stall" can gives us another chance to enter into a stock or ETF that we may have missed.

If price breaks down after a "stall" then this tells us the short term sentiment has changed.

Some of the sector ETFs with inside bar patterns are $GLD $SLV and $XLK.

The Homebuilders ETF ($XHB) actually has a double inside bar pattern.

$XHB - Swing Trading ETF

Next week put these on your Watch List if they aren't already and just watch HOW they break out of these patterns.

As we look forward to next week we are still looking mostly to the LONG side.

There are however a few signs that have us looking to the SHORT side…just in case.

Two sectors that stand out to us are the Steel ($SLX) and the Semiconductors ($SMH).

Both sectors are weak but the semis actually broke down this week.

$SMH - Swing Trading ETF

Being prepared for ANYTHING is crucial to your success as a trader.

Next week we could see the market rip or fall apart.

Have a plan for both outcomes and take action once it happens.

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!

Swing Trading Week in Review – September 7, 2012

Sunday, September 9th, 2012

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

Well let me start off this update by telling you that for some reason I cannot log into my esignal account.

With that being said I will try to update the charts for this post as soon as I can log back in.

Well the BULL keeps on keeping on!

Traders watched as the market moved to NEW HIGHS this holiday shortened week.

Tuesdays low volume sell off was followed by 3 days of up side continuation put the market into NEW HIGH territory.

This recent move has the indices moving through the highs that were established earlier in the year.

This comes after banging into this level a few weeks ago and pulling back a bit closer to the 50 day SMA.

The price action and volume patterns we saw in the market this week were damn near text book perfect.

Both day and swing traders jumped on stocks and ETF's  that were breaking out of nice chart patterns on increased volume.

The "big boys" $GOOG, $AAPL and $AMZN all continue to rally.

The Financials and Homebuilders were rockin with $XHB, $GS and $JPM making some nice moves to the UP side.

Gold, MIners and Silver all gapped up and rallied to close the week.

If you look through all the charts you will see we had quite the week!

This weekend I listened to a lot of people talk about getting into the market.

After hearing that I would tell you short terms traders out there not to chase this market.

Sometimes a runaway BULL move can be a move that whacks your trading account in a big way.

Novice and part time traders often think that because the move is so strong it really doesn't matter how, why and where the enter a position.

The think they don't need a trading plan.

I can tell you first hand that this is the furthest thing from the truth.

Chasing a move can lead to quick losses. 

These losses will shake your confidence in a hurry if you aren't careful.

Once you lose your confidence the game is over…period.

Rarely do you see someone succeed when the are trading "scared money".

As a professional trader you learn to let your trades come to you.

You learn not to chase a move.

You learn that this isn't the only move you will see in the market.

You learn to never force a trade.

There will be plenty of moves in the market…I guarantee it.

Patience is the key.

As we go into next week just remember that.

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!

Swing Trading Week In Review – August 24, 2012

Sunday, August 26th, 2012

Swing Trading Blog – Swing Trading Boot Camp

$DIA - Swing Trading Blog

Traders got the much anticipated pullback that they have been waiting for this week.

The week started off the a lackluster Monday but Tuesday traders flipped to the SELL SIDE after pushing the market up in early morning trading.

After two more days of selling pressure the market finished the week with a nice up day on Friday.

The type of price action we saw in the market this week came as no surprise since we were trading back up in the area of the yearly highs we reached  earlier this year.

Here is the weekly chart of the $DIA that we have posted for the past few weeks on our blog…

$DIA - Weekly Swing Trading Chart

You can see from the chart above that the market has some significant potential resistance in this area.

This creates a bit of an issue for some traders.

Do you get or stay LONG knowing that resistance level is directly ahead? Or do you wait to see how the market reacts to this area and possibly miss the breakout?

Well if you follow us on our blog or newsletters you will know how we do it.

We simply trade our plan and never try to outguess the market.

We have learned after years of trading that the market is always right.

As cliche as that sounds… it's true!

We trade our setups as they happen and never don't take trades based on what we think MAY happen.

Could we look back after the fact and wish we had done differently? Of course but as they say hindsight in always 20/20.

We have stops in place and a sound money management strategy so we let the do there thing.

If we are wrong we simply take our loss and move on and reevaluate.

If we are it is a very similar almost robotic process.

We exit at our profit target and move on and contemplate our next move.

Simply put we have a plan and we stick to it no matter what.

That being said as we look through the charts for this week we see lots of trades to the LONG side.

Most sectors are still strong with Retail ($RTH) breaking out again on Friday.

$RTH - Swing Trading ETF's

Technology and Oil and Energy remain strong while the Homebuilders and Financials are on the move again.

The Silver and Gold sectors RIPPED to the UP side this week so keep an eye on these ETF's and stocks in this sector…

$SLV - Silver Swing Trading ETF $GLD - Gold Swing Trading ETF

The market is likely to come out swinging Monday morning so be ready and have your plan in place.

Watch price action and volume for clues to where the market is headed next.

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!

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