Posts Tagged ‘Swing Trading Blog’

Swing Trading Week in Review – June 1, 2012

Sunday, June 3rd, 2012

Swing Trading Blog – Swing Trading Boot Camp

After finding some temporary support last week the markets SOLD OFF hard this week.

After being closed on Monday traders watched the market GAP UP on Tuesday.

On Wednesday though all hopes of a meaningful bounce disappeared as the market GAPPED DOWN and the sellers stepped in to drive the market lower.

Another big GAP DOWN on Friday and continued strong selling pushed the market NEW LOWS for the 2012.

It's amazing what can happen in 1 month.

On May 1st we hit NEW HIGHS for 2012 and here, exactly 1 month later, we are looking at NEW LOWS for the year.

Let's take a look at the transition from BULL to BEAR…

In February we traded to NEW HIGHS and then sold off a bit in early March.

Buyers stepped back in and once again brought the market higher (1st Orange Arrow).

After some sideways trading we once again hit NEW HIGHS on April 2nd but once again we couldn't go any higher.

Sellers stepped and drove the market down to the same level it hit in early March (2nd Orange Arrow).

These levels were accompanied by BIG VOLUME which tells us that there is a lot of activity at that level in the market.

The BUYING volume obviously won since we once again drifted higher to close out the month of April.

We opened up the Month of May by hitting NEW HIGHS once again.

We immediately stalled and another sell off began this time on volume.

This sell off took the market right back to the key area in the market that we touched 2 times before (3rd Orange Arrow).

It is around these key levels (of support this time) that we look for the clues the market gives us.

In mid May we finally BROKE DOWN through this support level as volume picked up (Blue arrow).

The mode of the market had now changed. Sentiment was different.

This BREAK DOWN on INCREASED VOLUME is what we needed to see to change from BULLISH to BEARISH.

Once this level was broken it was time for us to aggressively move the the SHORT side of the market.

If you follow the market and analyze PRICE ACTION and VOLUME it can paint a very clear picture for you.

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!

Swing Trading Week in Review – March 2, 2012

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

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$DIA - Swing Trading ETF

Going nowhere in a hurry!

Swing traders watched as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) flirted with 13,000 again this week. 

Disappointment set in though as the market failed to make a significant move to the up side.

The NASDAQ did a bit better by rallying up to new highs.

The individual sector again was mixed.

Energy ($XLE) and Oil ($OIH) pulled back this week after a nice rally.

$XLE - Swing Trading ETF $OIH - Oil Services ETF

The Retail ($RTH) and Financial ETF's are sitting at new highs while Real Estate ($IYR), Steel ($SLX) and the Semiconductors ($SMH) are well off their recent highs but still holding their 50 day SMA's.

The Gold ($GLD $GOLD $GDX) and Silver ($SLV) ETF's were a different story.

After showing signs of strength early in the week both sectors got hammered after "the Fed" comments on Wednesday.

Stocks were mixed as well this week.

There are plenty of rock star stocks out there.

$ADBE $WYNN $AAP $ORLY and the ever impressive $AAPL.

$WYNN
All in all this week was a bit frustrating as traders watched for a strong move that never came.

It is still a very bullish market but there are a few signs on slowing in some of the sectors.

Can this market find its legs again?

No one knows for sure but as always be prepared for whatever the market decides to do from here.

Until next week…Good Trading to You!

Swing Trading Week in Review – February 17, 2012

Sunday, February 19th, 2012

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading Boot Camp

DIA - Swing Trading

Creeping Higher!

The market rallied to new highs again this week but it was a little slow in the making.

Monday traders watched as the market GAPPED UP and a decent GAP DOWN last Friday.

Tuesday we watched as the market sold off all day only to put in a rip to the close the last 30 minutes of the day.

Wednesdays price action put a lot of fear into the market and had most traders talking about a sell off.

The market spoke loud and clear on Thursday though as it ripped right out of the gate and closed near the high and above the high of Wednesdays trading.

This is why we always form our own opinions by listing to what the market is telling us. We never try to outguess the market.

Did Wednesdays price action and volume tell us anything?

Of course it did.

But we executed our trading plan accordingly and let out LONG trades play out despite all the talk of the "sell off" that was now upon us.

We did NOT change our plan and exit our positions based on what we thought "might" happen.

We were rewarded nicely for being so disciplined.

If you "hit the bid" on Wednesday you might find yourself now chasing stocks up or waiting for the next move to happen.

Stocks and obviously very bullish right now but there will be a retrace in the market sooner or later.

As we look forward trading on Tuesday there are plenty of stocks setting up for potential trades.

A few on our Watch List?

$WFC - Swing Trading Blog

$M $CBRL $WFC $DOW $RIG $HAR to name a few.

Until next week…Good Trading to You!

Swing Trading BLOG – Week in Review February 10, 2012

Sunday, February 12th, 2012

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading Boot Camp

$DIA - Swing Trading ETF

The Rally continues but…

The market drifted higher this week extending the rally that started at the beginning of the year.

So where does the "but" come in?

Well Fridays price action left swing traders wondering if the market has reached its peak (at least for now).

Friday traders watched as the market GAPPED DOWN and sold off in the morning only to rally and close at its high.

The sector action was interesting as well. We watched as some of the strongest sectors either "stalled" or began to pullback even as the overall market pushed higher.

The ultra strong Homebuilders ETF ($XHB) traded sideways all week.

$XHB - Homebuilders ETF

The Retail ETF ($RTH) did the same.

$RTH - Retail ETF

The Airlines ($FAA), Real Estate ($IYR) and Materials ETF's all started to retrace this week.

$FAA - Airlines ETF

One sector to watch that outperformed the market this week was the Solar ETF ($TAN).

$TAN - Solar ETF

As far as individual names go there were some great moves and the charts still look great.

$NE, $HAR, $AKAM, $V, $VECO, and $WFM turned in a great week!

$WFM - Swing Trading Stocks

As we look at the swing trading charts we see a lot of stocks that are still looking very bullish.

Some of the best swing trading indicators are flashing signs of being "overbought" though.

The overall market does continue to show signs of being a bit extended and Fridays trading action leaves us wondering what next week will bring.

So what do swing traders do in a time like this?

Stay true to your plan.

You see  we always have a plan…and so should you!

We know exactly what we will do if the market turns down to make a run back towards the 50 day SMA.

We also know what we will do if the market jumps out of the gate on Monday and rallies to new highs.

We have our plan in place well before the market opens each and every day.

Do you know exactly what you will when the market opens on Monday?

Have a plan in place BEFORE the market does whatever it is going to do.

Once it does simply take action based on the plan you have already laid out.

Not only is trading a lot less stressful when you do this it also helps take the emotion out of your trading decisions.

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!

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