Posts Tagged ‘support’

Real trades. Update. Market Overview.

February 17th, 2010

With the latest dollar uprise and the resistance above, there isn’t much chances for the market to rally hard by the end of this week. being an expiration week, there will be a lot of option related chop involved, so I would advice active traders to take a break from the market, or to a least lower the position size.

Today I have made several trades, according to my game plan. Didn’t trade GOOG though, as it lacks momentum and stayed almost flat through the day.

In fact, I was able to make only two trades (others were not executed, as the price hasn’t reached my target):

ABVT – bough February Calls@60 for 0.60$, sold for 1.60$, nice return for a one day’s work.

ADY – The main thing, I like this company is its finances – strong balance sheet, fast growth.I also liek the huge gap above that needs to be closed, thus my target for this stocks is 32$ by next options expiration. Have been accumulating Calls all day long. Average price 1.55 for March@25 calls.

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Exited Google Options. List of Stocks to trade

February 17th, 2010

Exited Google Options for a nice profit yesterday, made back what I have lost in KAZ and then some. Will be looking to buy some Feb@540 options at the pullback (if there is one) at the open today. The catalyst for the pullback might be the gap below and a resistance are at 1105 in SPX

Here is the whole list of long setups for the coming week:

Less risky.

WOOF, ABVT, SHLD, ATI, ADY, GOOG

More Risky
ACAD, AMD, APL, BKM, C, BPCG, CBI, CCOI, DPTR, HOG, INSP, JADE, CNA, JAH, HME, MSO

All the setups are almost the same, the idea is to buy a pullback in the rising stock.

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Back to options trading. Trader Tony LOVES Google!

February 11th, 2010

Well, I guess, trading small cap stocks isn’t just for me. It is not just because of the big hit I took on KAZ (I have lost -13% in that trade). I guess the mane reason is the lack of liquidity and the need to be patient. And by patient. I mean – really patient.

For most of the people that would be the best way to invest in the markets – you research fundamentals, you dig for information, you compare long-term charts and competition, and then you make the move. You invest in several companies with the idea to hold this positions, at least 4-6 months.

For me, as a trader, this route doesn’t work – my capital is my working tool, and I cannot afford stash it away for half of the year.

So, now I am back to trading options, which are great tools to achieve higher return with well managed risk.

The chart below indicates, that the pullback we witnessed for the past 2 weeks may well be over, and some kind of rebound is going to happen soon. And by buying 3  Google Calls@Feb for 1.98$ I am betting that it has already started.

My stop is below 525$. My Targets are 550 and 570 (gap close)

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Game Plan for the next few days. SPX projection.

February 2nd, 2010

Looking for this reversal to be stalled somewhere between 1101 and 1105. Then expecting a pullback, where I would be lookiing for entering longs. The ideal area would be ~1095. Target for the next leg up would be 1118-1120.

Ultimate target would be 1130, which is a exactly 25 pts. from the 1105 resistance area.

Some things to watch out:

  1. Support at 1095 and 1085-1090 must hold for the trend to continue higher.
  2. EUR is still relatively weak, even though it has gained some ground against the USD.
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Stock Market Direction. SPX, EUR/USD

January 27th, 2010

After a 70 pts. pullback it looks like the SPX index is ready to take a break.

1085 is acting as a strong support and I would be looking for a rebound to at least 1113 in the next several days. The game plan is following – we might go to 1105 from here, then a pullback to 1100 area, and the another leg up to 1113 area.

Currencies also support this theory, with the EUR/USD unwilling to go lower and 1.40 acting as a very strong support. Looking for a pullback to 1.43  in this pair.

My only concern here, is that indicators don’t support my theory of a coming rebound – both Stochastic and MACD show no signs of any divergence whatsoever.

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The list of potential plays.

January 22nd, 2010

Rebound Plays
CLF- accumulate at 40-45. Should be above 55 if market holds.
NTRI- buy at ~22. target 27.
TRA – buy at 33. stop below 32.
AGU – buy 60-55
MOS – buy at 55.
APL – buy at 9$ or near 200ema.
LDL – buy at 6.50. Stop below 6. Target 8.

Breakout plays.

MINI – buy at ~15. add above 15.50. target 18-19
TSO – symm. triangle, buy above 15
VLO – 200ema acts as resistance. Buy when stock closes above it.

For those of you who are able to stomach big swings. Here is a list of Micro Cap Stocks with interesting formations.

Micro Cap. Trading at 5$
XTEX – pullback to 6-7 to buy
PETD – buy above 20. targets 23-25
BBEP – buy at 200ema
PKOH – buy at 6.50
FTBK – buy at 4.0-4.5
ALY – buy at 4. Target 6.
WNR – buy at 5. Target 7.
DSPG – buy at 5.80. Target 7$

Micro Caps. Trading Below 5$
KAZ – buy at 1.30.target 2.5
CPE – buy at a pullback to 1.7. stop at 1.5. target 4-5 (huge gap in that area)
CFW – symm. triangle. buy at 0.90. target 2-2.50
NGAS – buy at 1.6. target 3.5
OMNI – buy above 1.75. Traget 2.75

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Took a loss in SPX. Bough USD/JPY

January 20th, 2010

As I have posted before, SPX was forming a nice buying pattern, so I decided to grab some contracts at 1142. Was stupid enough to hold it for too long, so exited finally at a loss 1138.

After witnessing a downfall in stocks, with all support levels being broken, I turned my attention to currencies. Here is a nice long opportunity in USD/JPY.

Bought some at 91.20, have a very tight stop here at 91.10, so it either works out right away or it doesn’t. My first target is at 92.00, 96-97 longer term.

If I stopped out, will look to get back into position.

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What to look for in equity, currency and gold markets in year 2010.

December 31st, 2009

This is the last post for the year. The price action for the last month indicates, that equities and currencies are not moving in the tandem as they used to. Despite the rise in the USD, equities were able to add more to their gains. So, my target of 1130-1140 has been reached. Now I am at the crossroads, as some indicators are pointing to a pullback in January, while others for a more run and bump price action to come.

spx 31.12

The above chart of SPX indicates, that the rising trend we have witnessed since March, is losing its pace. The only thing that might help this thing to go higher is a violent buying, as one we’ve seen in July. Right now, nothing suggests that this is going to happen, in fact the there are good chances that we might see 1080 by the end of January. Using Wyckoff Schematics, I have 1030 as my second target. This is nothing outrageous, as 9-10% pull back would be healthy for this market. Though there are some things that suggest, that bull is not dead yet.

The first bullish indicator is XLF. Financials have been lagging during the latest rally but the chart below indicates that they have finally found solid support and have a good chance of rising as high as 15.50-15.75. This is actually a pretty save play, as you can buy at 14.40-14.50 and place a stop below 14.20, giving you a nice R/R.

xlf 31.12

It may sound odd though, but XLF is also the sector that may trigger the reversal of the broader market. In this case we need to watch 14.40-14.00 area losely, as a drop below 14.00 might lead to a sharp selloff.

Other indicators of the reversal are GOLD and EUR/USD.

eurusd 31.12To support the bear’s case, EUR/USD must stay below 1.4480-1.45. To get more confirmation, I would like to see 1.4070-1.4050 by mid January.

The same thing is about GOLD price action, as long as it is below 1110-1115 price tag.

gold 31.12So, all in all this makes me a cautious bear, as the chances of another run and bump action in SPX are strong. Who knows, maybe the big layers, have dumped EURs, just to accelerate the rise in equities later? I don’t know that, so as a trader the safest option is to trade what I see… But HEY, enough of this, there will be a lot of trading days going forward, as for now:

HappyNewYear

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Use of multiple timeframes when trading.

December 14th, 2009

We often see a lot of arguing what time frame to use while trading, some insist on using short term charts, while others suggest that short term price movements is just a noise and can’t be relied on. Although it depends on the strategy, whether you are a scalper or a swing trade, the combination of several time frames is still the best option of all. The reason for that is easy – while the longer time frames help you to determine the direction of the main trend, and major support resistance levels, the 1- or 5- minute charts will help you find the best entry point.

Here is an example with EUR/USD pair:

Even though the medium term chart has turned bearish, in the longer term we are still in the bull mode. So, you decide to go long EUR at some point. So, you start the analysis with a 4- and 1-hour charts.4

3

On the chart above you see the first signs of a possible turnaround – a MACD divergence and that the price is testing resistance point. Being an experienced trader, you understand that if the price breaks above the resistance at 1.4680, then according to Wyckoff Schematics it can run as high as 1.4900. So, you don’t want to miss the train. You start looking for an entry point with the best Risk/Reward ratio and zoom to the 15-minute time frame.

1

The 15-minute shows us that a reversal is highly possible, and in fact the price has already tested the resistance at 1.48. Now it has pulled back to a 50% Fibonacci retracement, making 1.4650 a perfect spot to enter a long trade with a good R/R ratio.

2

The last step is enter the trade. For that you zoom to 1-minute chart and place a buy order somewere between 1.4652 – 1.4647. Then you place a tight stop of 15 pts.

The trade above has not only great R/R potential, bu it is also a stress free one:

  • You know that your odds of winning are high.
  • You have a predetermined stop in place, which protects you from further losses in case things go wrong.
  • This short term trade has a potential to become a swing trade with more than 1/10 Risk/Reward ratio.

In conclusion, I’d like to add that this is the type of trades you want to make each time – stress free, with high reward potencial. There is no need to rush in every trade you see, just be pacient enought to look for the best ones, and you’ll see your account growing expotencially.

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Buying Stocks here. Update

December 10th, 2009

If you have missed my call yesterday, there has still been some good entry points to get in. Check out the chart below:

spx-10-12

Here is a more detailed analysis why 1088-1090 was a good buying point

  1. This is a classical “spring” according to Wyckoff Schematics. To find out whether this was a turning point, I used other tools, like MACD Divergence, which really helps to find possible short term tops and bottoms, and classical pattern recognition – we had a really nice double bottom on 5-min chart. Also, as I have written before, the Double bottoms in GOLD and EUR/USD also indicated a hight potencial in reversal.
  2. This is a 50% Fibonacci retracement level. A good area to add to your longs or to enter a new position.
  3. I am looking for 1107 as a first target. Again, no fancy indicators used. I was thinking of that level as a good target, because it was a previous pivot point. But now I am more confident in this level, as we have Cup and Handle Built, and according to textbooks, the next target equals the high of the Cup. So, in case you have no position right now, you might want to get in for a nice 10 pt. profit.
spx1-10-12
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