Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading Video
Swing Trading analysis – $DIA $QQQ $SPY
ETF analysis – $XLE $OIH $RTH $SMH $XLI $XLK $XHB
Posts Tagged ‘Swing Trading Strategies’
Swing Trading BLOG – Week in Review Video – July 29, 2011
Sunday, July 31st, 2011Swing Trading BLOG – Week in Review – July 22, 2011
Sunday, July 24th, 2011Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP
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.
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
$IYR
$XLK
$OIH
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.
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 1, 2011
Monday, July 4th, 2011Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP
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.
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!
Swing Trading BLOG – Week in Review – June 17, 2011
Sunday, June 19th, 2011Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP
Swing Traders saw more of the same this week and the overall market continued to drift lower.
Tuesday traders watched as the market had a decent GAP UP but this was quickly followed by a GAP DOWN the next day which erased all of the gains.
Thursday and Friday the indices floated around on lighter volume but that didn't stop some of the sector ETF's from continuing their moves lower.
The Semiconductors ($SMH) continued to free fall as did the entire Technology sector ($XLK).
Here is a look at the chart of Inverse ETF ($SSG) for the Semiconductor sector.
The Energy and Oil sectors also pushed lower after showing signs of losing strength last week.
$USO finally broke out of a month and half long sideways trading pattern to trade down to new multi month lows.
The Steel sector ($SLX) pushed to new lows and finally the Agriculture ETF's ($MOO $DBA) also became the latest to succumb to the selling pressure.
As far as individual stocks go there were plenty of SHORT swing trading opportunities this week.
$CREE and $RIMM were two notable standouts this week.
$CREE was actually on out LONG Watch List at the end of last month.
After the lack of follow through to the up side it quickly returned to a SHORT watch earlier this month.
If you have followed our Swing Trading BLOG for any length of time you will know that we have been bearish on $MOS for quite awhile.
The moves in $MOS to the downside have been very "clean" moves and this week was no exception!
After a "double bottom" bounce the selling resumed Monday and the move lower was a good one.
There are still a few stocks that are holding up nicely and some are actually making new highs.
Although situations stick out to us we are clearly in a bearish phase of this market so why fight the trend (now that its clear)?
We are due for a retrace in the market so as always continue to wait for those setups with good risk reward ratios.
Until next week…Good Trading to You!