Posts Tagged ‘ETF Swing Trading’

Swing Trading BLOG – Week in Review – July 22, 2011

Sunday, July 24th, 2011

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

$DIA - Swing Trading ETF

Nice follow through this week!

After a spike down below the 50 day SMA on Monday the market found its footing and resumed its move to the UP side this week.

As far as the indices are concerned the NASDAQ actually rallied up to a HIGHER HIGH while the DOW and S&P lagged behind a bit.

$QQQ - Swing Trading

As expected the overall market did well but a few sectors really stood out.

Here is a look at the charts for a few of the sector ETF's that performed well.

$XLE

$XLE - Swing Trading ETF

$IYR

$IYR - Swing Trading ETF

$XLK

$XLK - Technology ETF

$OIH

$OIH - Oil Services ETF

In last weeks BLOG POST we mentioned several individual stocks in these sectors to watch.

The Energy and Oil Service stocks we mentioned all did well.

The Casino stocks moved up but lacked the "pop" (so far) that we were looking for.

The Retail stocks (and ETF) basically "stalled" after moving higher on Tuesday.

$RTH - Retail ETF

The Gold, Gold Miners and Silver ETF's continue to hold up after putting in a nice rally recently.

Keep your eye on the Agriculture ETF's (and stocks) as we move forward since we are seeing some interesting price action and volume patterns lately.

$MOO has drifted up but $DBA is still lagging behind.

The market has moved up fast this week and is flirting with being short term overbought.

Remember though that an overbought (or oversold) market can become even MORE OVERBOUGHT.

Price action and volume paint a picture so look for the clues the market gives you.

Be prepared for anything and as always…Good Trading to YOU!

Swing Trading BLOG – Week in Review – July 15, 2011

Sunday, July 17th, 2011

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

$DIA - Swing Trading ETF

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

That was a line from last weeks BLOG post.

Well that "when" was this week!

Tuesday the market GAPPED DOWN (again) and continued to show weakness for the entire week.

The major indices are now hovering around their 50 day SMA's are trying to figure out where to go from here.

The strong sectors we mentioned last week (Real Estate, Technology, Retail) have all pulled back after their recent run up.

The Semiconductors and the Financial sector continue to UNDER perform the market.

The Broker/Dealer ETF ($IAI) actually traded down to NEW LOWS for the year this week.

$IAI - Swing Trading ETF

Several stocks started to show signs of life by weeks end so they are worth a watch as we begin trading next week.

The Energy and Oil Service stocks are showing some good trading patterns.

$APC, $COG, $SLB, $HAL and a few on the smaller names are on our list.

We also have our eye on the casino stocks $WYNN, $LVS, $MGM, etc.

Of course we still have the Retail stocks and our "list to watch" from our last BLOG post on this weeks Watch List as well.

$ERTS - Swing Trading Watch

After the nice pull back we saw in the market this week we should see some interesting price action next week!

Oh and don't forget to have some SHORT candidates on your list as well…just in case.

That way you can act on whatever the market decides to do from here (heard that before?).

Until next week….Good trading to YOU!

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

Sunday, July 10th, 2011

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

$DIA - Swing Trading ETF

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).

$IYR - Swing Trading ETF

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.

$RTH - Swing Trading ETF

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

$XLK - Swing Trading ETF

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!

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

Monday, July 4th, 2011

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

$DIA - Swing Trading ETF

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.

$DIA

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!

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