Three Time Loser

I had some buy stops in place this morning, because I was expecting an oversold, end-of-month rally this week. All of them were triggered this morning, and I found myself in several positions, most moving strongly. I should have known what was going to happen next. This happened twice last month, and both times the market sold off hard in the afternoon, turning paper gains into realized losses, and that's what happened today. Here were my results:

FSLR: -$2
PCLN: -$2.30
GOOG: b/e

I also entered MA, and gave it a wider stop. I am still in. I sold half of my RIG position; should have sold it all.

I wasn't able to watch the market much, but I should have stuck to day trading, I would have done much better.

Holding: USO, GLD, FXE, RIG, MA

IBD 100 Stocks Near Their Buy Point for 11/26/07

There are no stocks in the IBD 100 that have been highlighted in the Monday edition of Investors Business Daily as being near their buy points.

Weekly Review

So much for the rally I expected this week. I had a Buy Stop in RIG that triggered today, otherwise I did'nt do any additional trading on Friday. Here's what I'm holding:

USO, FXE, GLD, RIG

It was nice to see gold move today. Some are saying gold will go to $1,000. If it does, I'm sure it will be volatile, which will probably shake me out before it happens.

Where's The Rally?

Well, so much for the rally I was expecting this week. We have got to bounce sometime soon, right?

I did get filled on my FXE buy stop order yesterday, and I also entered GLD, and am still in USO. I don't know of anything else that's working well right now, except perhaps the double-inverse ETF's like QID or SDS. Wish I could have gotten in those earlier. There's a new fund that I've been watching, ticker symbol FXP, that is a double-inverse China fund. I would like to own a few of these, but don't think I can stomach the wild swings it has. Check it out.

Good trading to everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving.

Anatomy of a Day Trade

I was able to make a day trade this morning.

OSIP: +$.76

I have been swing trading these last couple of months. But I will probably be day trading more in this market. So I thought I would share how I day trade. I am be no means a good trader, but I use a system that makes money more times than not. Here's what I do.

When day trading, I basically use the same system as the HCP Group, whose newsletter I used to subscribe to. I have a list of about 120 stocks that I watch, which I am constantly updating. These are mostly market leaders and momentum stocks. For the last couple of months, I haven't been looking at these charts much. I've been trading lazy. But last night, I went through each stock, looking for some setups. I added both the 50 SMA and the 200 SMA to my charts, and I was very surprised to see how many stocks, which were leaders just a few weeks ago, are now trading near or below their 200 SMA. This obviously does not bode well for the market. I saw a lot of sloppy and bearish charts. Two stocks that were showing some strength were ICE and OSIP. Zanger also had ICE in his newsletter last night, so I had these on my list this morning.

When I am planning to day trade, I sort all of my stocks in QuoteTracker by VOL%. This shows me all the stocks that are trading at higher than average volume from top to bottom. I only want to focus on the top 10 stocks or so. This morning, ICE was in the top 10, and moving fast. As I was setting up an order, it blew through my buy point before I even finished setting up. So I just sat there and watched it mover higher and higher without me. Then OSIP started moving up the list, so I put in a Buy Stop at $42.01, just a penny above what I had selected as a good breakout point. I had a stop at .05% below my buy point. After it cleared $42.50, I moved my top to b/e, then trailed it as it moved higher. I was stopped just below my last stop at $42.80 for a gain of +$.76 per share.



Not a huge trade, but I was able to catch a good part of the move. If they were all that easy, I could make a living doing this, but they’re not.

I am still holding USO; otherwise I am in cash. I know I won’t have time to trade tomorrow, and Wednesday may not be worth it. Also watching FXE.

IBD 100 Stocks Near Their Buy Point for 11/19/07

There are no stocks in the IBD 100 that have been highlighted in the Monday edition of Investors Business Daily as being near their buy points.

Weekly Results and Thoughts

I didnt do much trading or watching of the markets. I did take a position in USO, for what I hope is a pull-back in oil. I am also watching for an entry in FXE, for what I expect is a pull-back in the Euro. However, when I read this week that Jay-Z was flashing Euro's in his new video, I was wondering if perhaps the Dollar decline might be close to a bottom. Then I read this article, linked from the Kirk Report, which wondered the same thing. As the article says:

When people who know nothing about an investment start buying it, that's a good time to start selling it.

The Euro is stalling at the moment, and will probably pull-back, but I think it will be temporary. At least thats how I plan to invest for now. Or perhaps I am one of know-nothings jumping in?

As for stocks, I was watching, but passed TWICE on FSLR on Friday for a day trade. Too bad for me, would have been a great trade. I just froze, and saw it move higher.

I also watched a Momentum Trading DVD by Pristine. I have heard good things about them, but they just seemed too slick. The DVD is ok, but without the constant stream of cliches and over-reptition, the actual content could be posted in a small article. In summary, they advise buying pull-backs or breakouts near the 20 SMA that is rising in parallel with the 40 SMA.

I suspect there will be a low volume rally next week. I may look for some day trades. Good trading.

IBD 100 Stocks Near Their Buy Point for 11/12/07

There are no stocks in the IBD 100 that have been highlighted in the Monday edition of Investors Business Daily as being near their buy points.

Back In Cash

I was pretty aggressive with my stops this week. Usually when that happens, I end up regretting it, but this week, it helped me. I was stopped out of my remaining two positions on Thursday and am now in cash.

NOV: -$1.27
PCZ: +$.50

So I lost some money again this week, but not too bad considering what the market did.
I have been a bit lazy in my trading, and not doing much homework. I plan to change that this week, although I don't think I will be taking any new positions because of OE. I may look to daytrade from the office if my schedule permits.

Almost Back Out

I am out MA (which actually held up well) at b/e and PCP for a small loss after raising my stop. Still holding PCZ and NOV, but am not hopeful. Momentum is to the down side with support on the S&P broken. I should not have been so quick to dive back into the market, but I was hopeful for an end of year rally.

Back In

Just a quick post tonight. I took three new positions today:

NOV, MA, PCP

Currently holding: PCZ, NOV, MA, PCP

IBD 100 Stocks Near Their Buy Point for 11/05/07

There are six stocks in the IBD 100 that have been highlighted in the Monday edition of Investors Business Daily as being near their buy points:

#14, NOV:


#33, CMED:


#34, CNH:


#36, FCX:


#39, GME:


#53, LIFC:

Could Have Been Worse

I sold BIDU today. I moved my stop up to $390 after market open, and was hoping for $400. I was stopped out before it reached me target. My results were:

BIDU: +$40

Because it was a $350 stock, I didn't buy the normal amount of shares, but it was enough to cover most of my losses for the week. I am ending the week -.54%, whereas the DOW ended the week -1.53%, the S&P -1.67% and the NASDAQ -.22%. With the 2 big gap downs in my account this week, I will consider myself lucky. I am also grateful I passed on CROX earlier this week. It was on my screen on Sunday night, but I didnt put in a bid. Had I bought it, I most certainly would have been holding it during its 20% gap down this week.

I was stopped out of RIO on Thursday after moving my stop to break even, which just happened to be the dead nuts low of the day:

RIO: b/e

That's what I get for using an obvious stop. I entered PCZ today and am still holding. A Zanger pick, although he pointed it that it is not a momentum play. Otherwise, I am in cash. So much for me saying "I want to be in stocks right now" on Monday. Blogging keeps me honest.

There was an interesting discussion at Boogster's Blog on momentum trading earlier this week. I didn't participate, but I do have some thoughts. I may share them this weekend if I have time.

I'm out.