Archive for the ‘Swing Trading Blog’ Category

Swing Trading Week in Review – July 6, 2012

Sunday, July 8th, 2012

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading Boot Camp

DIA - Swing Trading Strategies

Swing traders enjoyed the early part of this holiday shortened week but the news at the end of the week brought on a reality check.

With the dismal jobs report numbers came increased selling bringing the market down on Friday.

The indices basically finished flat for the week but traders had opportunity to take their profits off the table well before Friday came.

All three indicies put in a "higher low" at the end of last month are now back above their 50 day SMA's.

As the earnings season approaches we will see if they can hold above these levels and continue the uptrend.

When it comes to the different sectors in the market we still have a bit of a mixed bag.

Several ETF's are showing some great relative strength.

Real Estate ($IYR), Retail ($RTH) and the Agriculture ($DBA) sectors are rocking.

DBA - ETF Swing Trading Strategies

The Semiconductors ($SMH) and the Broker/Dealers are still lagging a bit.

On the individual stock front we have more of the same.

We have breakouts ($ALK $WMT $O $V) and breakdowns ($ADM $AET $MRVL $LRCX).

You have to come to expect this type of price action when the market in so indecisive and trading around  the 50 day SMA.

It is hard in times like these to make a strong case for just one side (long or short) of the market.

As far as individual swing trading strategies go we will look for for the market to us exactly what to do next.

If we see chart patterns forming on the long side we will need to see price action and volume confirm the next move.

If the sellers step in next week we will see a lot of these long patterns FAIL and we will look to SHORT the weaker stocks in the market.

Certainly we have some big moves in the market as we move through earnings season.

Pay close attention to what the market is telling you.

As always be prepared for whatever the market decides to do from here and act accordingly.

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!

Swing Trading Week in Review – June 29th

Sunday, July 1st, 2012

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading Boot Camp

DIA - Swing Trading ETF Strategies

Despite two big GAP DOWNS on Monday and Thursday that market finally found its legs.

Friday trades watched as the market GAPPED UP and finished the week with a nice rally to the close.

The rally actually started at the end of the day on Thursday which gave swing traders a clue of things to come for Friday morning.

Paying attention to intraday price action can often times give you a "heads up" to what the big money is doing since  a lot of orders go in during the last two hours of each trading day.

Once we saw the rally Thursday afternoon (along with the volume that accompanied it) we were pretty sure that the market was going to lift off the next day.

This would mean that some of our SHORT positions would not follow through and would probably stop us out.

So what did we do?

Nothing. Absolutely NOTHING DIFFERENT.

Did we cover our SHORTS? Did we flip those SHORTS to LONGS?

No and No.

Simply put we traded our plan.

We have learned over the years that we should never try to out guess the market.

In hindsight it east to say that we would have been smart to COVER and even FLIP TO THE LONG SIDE but that is not always the case.

Being almost positive that you are right can cost you…big time.

Our trading plan is very specific.

We enter our trade and place our stops. We set our profit target(s) and manage our trade per our plan.

Then we let it play out one way or the another.

Either we get stopped out OR we hit our profit target.

We don't change our rules based on what we think the market is going to do.

We told you last week that we trade both sides of the market and get stopped out (on the wrong side) once the market finds its true direction.

This week was a great example of this.

When the SHORT trades stall and STOP GOING DOWN that should tell you something.

A lot of good looking SHORT set ups didn't follow through and actually created a higher low this week.

CREE - Swing Trading Strategies

When your LONG trades are breaking out on good volume that should tell you something as well.

WMT - Swing Trading Strategies

Learning to read the price action and volume during these times is crucial to identify turning points in the market.

This is exactly what we mean when we say to "listen to the market and act accordingly".

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!

Swing Trading Week in Review – June 22, 2012

Sunday, June 24th, 2012

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

DIA - Swing Trading Strategies Blog

The markets continued to drift upwards (on low volume) to start out the week bringing the DJIA just above its 50 day SMA.

Wednesday was a different story as the news the market was waiting for finally came out.

The sellers showed up in a big way in the afternoon and followed up on Thursday with a day full of selling pressure.

Friday we watched as the market traded sideways creating a low volume "inside day".

Last week we told you that "One side will win the "tug of war" and you will miss the moves if you aren't ready."

Once the news came out you had to expect a dramatic move one way or the another.

Being prepared for anything (as we say over and over and over) is a key to becoming a successful trader.

If you had a SHORT list prepared then I am sure your triggers were hit either late Wednesday or sometime on Thursday.

With plenty of weak stocks out there I am sure you had plenty of options.

The Energy, Oil, and Oil Services sectors have been extremely weak so that was a natural choice.

$SLB $HES and $HAL had great chart patterns to trade…

SLB - SHORT Swing Trading Strategies

Some of the Retail stocks ($M $BBBY $RL ) also got smacked around despite the strength the overall sector is showing.

M - Short Swing Trading Strategies

Despite all the doom and gloom talk there are actually (for now) still stocks showing a tremendous amount of strength.

The sectors vary but take a look at the charts for $VZ $CRUS $LLY $ASH $V $MMR and $WFM.

So what is trader to do from here?

Go LONG the strong stocks? Or go SHORT the weak stocks?

As always it depends on your personal strategy but when the overall market is hoovering near its 50 day SMA we tend to play both sides of the market.

For our STS trades we will SHORT the weakest of the weak and BUY the strongest of the strong and leave everything else alone.

We are looking for SHORT TERM moves here…we are NOT position traders.

Often times one side will STOP US OUT when the market does make a definitive move but that is a good thing for us.

We then have more conviction and can look for more trades that are now going in the direction of the market.

Don't be afraid to make trades and to get stooped out….it's a big part of trading and it happens often.

Next week the market should give us additional clues to it's "true" direction so, as always, be prepared for anything (heard that before?).

Listen to the market and act accordingly.

Make your entries, set and honor your stops, take your profits. Rinse and repeat.

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!

Swing Trading Week in Review – June 15,2012

Sunday, June 17th, 2012

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

DIA - Swing Trading BLOG

A nice week for the major indicies this week.

That being said was probably better to be a day trader this week instead of an overnight swing trader.

The intraday moves were very nice and offered reliable chart patterns to trade while the over night moves were less predictable.

See how we trade our Intraday Swing Trading Strategy here.

After a BIG GAP UP on Monday morning the sellers stepped in to bring the market down to end the day.

Tuesday didn't draw much excitement but starting on Wednesday the market started to show signs of moving higher.

Fridays close brought the DJIA right up to its 50 day SMA while the S&P and Nasdaq aren't far behind.

A few of the sector ETF's showed signs of life as well while others are showing extreme relative weakness.

The Gold ETF's continue to trade above their 50 day SMA's and although Silver hasn't quite caught up just yet it looks to be showing signs of strength.

GDX - Swing Trading Blog

As next weeks trading begins things could change in a hurry.

With all the news coming out next week be prepared for the markets to move very quickly. One side will win the "tug of war" and you will miss the moves if you aren't ready.

Look for stocks bucking the down trend (i.e. $WFM $EQIX) to add to your LONG watch list.

WFM - Stwing Trading Blog

Look for those stocks that did not hold up well this week to add to your SHORT watch list.

Have a plan in place so whatever the market decides to do from here you will be prepared to act (and hopefully profit).

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!

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