Archive for the ‘Swing 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 – 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!

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