Posts Tagged ‘Swing Trading Volume’

Swing Trading Week in Review – December 23, 2010

Sunday, December 26th, 2010

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

The SANTA CLAUS rally continues!

The holiday shortened week saw the market push higher although both VOLUME and VOLATILITY were less than impressive.

SPY

So what do we do from here?

No one knows for sue but a move on significant volume should give traders a clue.

As far as Sector ETF's go we are seeing the most of the strongest sectors continue to "drift" upwards.

Retail ($RTH), Energy ($XLE), Oil ($USO) and Oil Services ($OIH) all had a decent week.

Agriculture ($DBA) had a nice move this week as it moved to a NEW YEARLY HIGH.

DBA

Despite the "stall" on Thursday the Financials ($XLF), Broker/Dealers ($IAI) and the Homebuilders ($XHB) a nice move as well.

XLF

With a few exceptions most of the individual stocks on our Watch List followed the markets lead.

The lack of VOLUME lead to a lot of sideways trading this week.

Target ($TGT) and Carnival Cruise Lines ($CCL) were two stocks that provided us with nice LONG trade setups AND followed through nicely to close the week.

TGT CCL

As this nice move in the market continues the lack of VOLUME and VOLATILITY that we have mentioned in this post is a sign of caution as we move into next week.

The momentum has slowed a bit but that doesn't mean that it cant continue next week.

The only thing we can do as traders is to prepare ourselves for whatever the market decides to do and take the appropriate action.

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!

Swing Trading Week in Review – December 10, 2010

Sunday, December 12th, 2010

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

The market drifted a bit higher this week as both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both made NEW HIGHS for the year.

The DJIA basically traded sideways all week but the action in some stocks and ETF's more than made up for it.

The action in the sector ETF's continues as the "weak" Financials ($IYF $XLF), Broker/Dealers ($IAI), and Hombuilders ($XHB) continued to rise.

IYF

We mentioned these ETF's several weeks back when they broke through their overhead resistance levels.

The pullback that followed was a bit extreme as it took these ETF's all the way back to their support levels.

The "bounce" we have seen in these sectors over the past 2 weeks has been impressive.

IAI XHB

Some of the stocks on our list continued to move higher this week.

One of the hardest things to do as a trader is to let your winning trades ride.

Having a different strategy for different phases of the market may be something to consider.

When the market is in a "choppy" phase and lacks direction we use our STS (Short Term Swing) methodology.

In a "break out' trending type market we switch to a more traditional trend trading style in an attempt to capture bigger profits.

Several of these stocks are moving up nicely and may continue to do so.

$ATMI, $LULU, $ADSK, $JAZZ, $BOBE and $INFA are few names on this list.

BOBE

We saw a lot of stocks setting up towards the end of last week.

Friday we saw signs of these stocks making their next move higher.

Our newsletter subscribers were actually alerted to numerous new trades that triggered on Friday.

The market continues to show signs of strength and if that continues next week hopefully these trades will turn into winners.

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!!!

Swing Trading Week in Review – November 19, 2010

Sunday, November 21st, 2010

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

The sell off continued to start out the week on a negative note.

By Thursday however we saw the buyers step back in and give the markets a lift to close out the week.

This recent sell off has taken the major indices back near their 50 period SMA's on INCREASING VOLUME which is a bit concerning.

SPY- Swing Trading

The "inside day" we saw in the markets on Wednesday was followed by less than impressive volume as the market rose Thursday and Friday.

It looks like we are at another pivotal level in the market and as always follow through (and how it does) is the key.

This low volume "bounce" could be quickly followed by MORE BUYING and an increase in volume.

This would be a great short term sign that the bulls are still in charge.

If however this low volume "bounce" is followed by AGGRESSIVE SELLING then the market could be in a for a significant move lower.

Some of the sector ETF's preformed quite well to close out the week while others are showing signs of tremendous weakness.

The Oil Services (OIH) and Energy ETF's (XLE) had nice moves to the upside.

OIH- Swing Trading ETF XLE

The Semiconductor ETF (SMH) remains strong after it's recent BREAKOUT and we will continue to look for signs of follow through in this sector.

SMH

Silver (SLV) also made it's next UP SWING after a decent pull back from it's most recent high.

SLV - Silver ETF

The two sector's we focused on in last weeks BLOG POST…The Financial's (IYF, XLF) and the Homebuilders (XHB)…have now pulled back to a  level that is BELOW their recent breakout points.

IYF XHB

Both sector's are hovering around their 50 DAY SMA's and are still in a "zone" that COULD hold as support but this type of deep pullback after a HIGH VOLUME breakout is NOT a great sign.

Even though the market is showing a bit of weakness recently there were still plenty of opportunities to take some LONG trades this week.

Several stocks on our Watch List set up for some nice trades this week.

Stocks on this list were $LULU, $COG, $MRVL, $WLK, $X, $BRCM, $TIF, $MEE and $HAL (to name a few).

LULU

Even though the market is still technically in a very BULLISH phase it is at, what we believe, at very pivotal level.

For the first time in several weeks we are actually seeing a number of  SHORT trade setups.

During this recent sell off in the market several stocks have actually started to show signs of weakness.

$ERTS, $LLY, $G, $K, and $MED are a few on our list that are relatively weak.

The Real Estate sector (and the stocks within) have all been hit hard during this recent sell off.

$SPG, $DRE, $KIM and $O have sold off hard recently and a "bounce" could happen in the very near future but the price action and volume we have seen during this sell off has us looking to the SHORT side in this sector.

Next week should give us a good indication of where the market is headed from here.

You may have heard this before but…BE PREPARED FOR ANYTHING!

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!

Swing Trading Week in Review – November 12, 2010

Sunday, November 14th, 2010

Swing Trading BLOG – Swing Trading BOOT CAMP

After breaking out to NEW HIGHS for the year last week the market put in a nice, orderly pullback this week.

We have seen a nice rally over the last 2 months but it looks the BEARS have had enough.

When you look at the charts for the DJIA, S&P, and NASDAQ everything still looks great.

DIA - Swing Trading SPY QQQQ

A pullback after such a nice run up in the market is to be expected.

When you focus on the charts of the sector ETF's you start to see a few things to take note of.

Once the market traded to NEW HIGHS last week we saw the SELLERS step in and hammer some of the sectors.

The Real Estate sector ETF's broke out last week but a big sell off quickly followed and brought them right back to their 50 day SMA's.

IYR - Swing Trading

The recent "Rock Star" Agriculture ETF's ($DBA $MOO) saw a similar outcome after last weeks break out.

We have seen this "Breakout/Sell Off" combo a few times this year and it can be quite frustrating for Swing Traders.

DBA

We saw the same pattern in a few of the strong stocks on our Watch List.

$EC has been a very strong stock as of late and like the market broke out the NEW HIGHS last week.

This week $EC took a beating as sellers drove the stock straight down for 4 days in a row.

EC

The individual names in the Agriculture sector are looking a little weak.

$ADM $AGU never made it to NEW HIGHS last week and sold off this week as well.

$POT traded lower and is trading near the bottom of its multi-month lateral channel.

$POT has a BIG GAP below and a break down from this level could take this stock significantly lower.

POT

$MOS is having a hard time breaking out of the $70-$75 price level.

Now like we said earlier overall the market is still looking good and remains very strong.

This recent pullback is a good thing and some of the other stocks an sector ETF's on our Watch List are, as of now, setting up nicely.

The Retail, Energy, and Semiconductors ETF's still look strong.

Two sectors we will be focusing on will be the Financials and the Homebuilders.

In last weeks BLOG POST we posted about their breakout through some important overhead resistance levels.

Both sectors are now pulling back to these same important levels.

IYF IYF XHB XHB

Once resistance is broken often times it becomes a new "support" level.

We will now need to see price and volume give us "confirmation" that this level will hold as new support and if it does we can act accordingly.

The market has pulled back this week but there could be more to come.

Use this time to watch how the stocks and ETF's on your Watch List react to the sell off.

Are they holding up nicely by pulling back on decreasing volume?

Or are they selling off MORE than the overall market and breaking down through key levels on increased volume?

Stick to your trading plan (you have one right?) and be prepared for whatever the market has in store for us in the days to come.

Until next week…Good Trading to YOU!

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