Cheapest Stock Trading Strategies

Last Gasp For S&P 500?

2010-01-02T07:16:00.000-05:00

Happy new year guys... just slowly getting back into first gear with regards to thinking about trading. What looked like a decent rally going into the year-end saw most of the gains wiped out on the final trading session of the year. Is this the last gasp for the equity markets given...

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Swing Trades For The Day - Countdown To New Year Edition

2009-12-31T02:30:00.001-05:00

I promised myself yesterday would be my last "Swing Trades For The Day" post, but seeing a number of quality setups as I scan through my watchlist, I've decided to let you guys in on my swing trade candidates on the final day of the year. A lot of the setups are 1-2-3-4's (GCI, BCSI, MO,...

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Swing Trades Of The Day - New Year Trading Resolutions

2009-12-30T05:11:00.005-05:00

The market indices are showing signs of stalling after its recent string of up days, and it is in overbought territory. Better keep trading volumes light and shift our focus to the year ahead. This will be the final "swing trades of the day" post, and I'll use these final two days of...

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Swing Trades Of The Day - CAH, HPJ

2009-12-29T08:57:00.001-05:00

Fewer swing trading setups by the day coupled with a some high momentum issues failing to continue with their moves (BUCY, JASO, RAX) has me a bit cautious on the markets. Low volume also casts some doubt. But so long as the S&P 500 is above the 1,120 level, the bias should remain...

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JASO Boomer Setup; Selling VIT

2009-12-28T10:15:00.001-05:00

Saw a good momentum trade setup about 30 minutes before the market open. It's a boomer setup on JASO. A boomer trade has three requirements: 1) ADX above 30; 2) +DMI above -DMI; and 3) two inside days as a setup. JASO moved well in the first 30 minutes and my buy stops have been...

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Swing Trades Of The Day - AXP, BUCY, CML, RAX, SLH

2009-12-28T05:39:00.001-05:00

Some swing trade candidates for the day, mostly focused on 52-week highs with pauses or stocks trying to breakout out of consolidation patterns. I chose these charts given the state of the market indices, which have recently broken out of trading ranges and into new 52-week highs, and these...

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Technical Update: S&P 500, Oil, Gold and US Dollar

2009-12-28T02:50:00.001-05:00

It's probably good to make a technical recap of the different asset classes I track after I've been away on a 5-day holiday from blogging. Not surprisingly, the S&P 500 has broken out to a new 52-week high on small volume (see chart below). Take note that for stocks to go up we only...

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Model Portfolio Update - Week Ended Christmas Day

2009-12-27T22:48:00.001-05:00

It was a second consecutive good trading week for my model portfolio, as it was up another 2.9% compared to a 2.2% gain for the benchmark S&P 500. This despite actively trading for only half of the holiday-shortened trading week (went on a holiday with my family... now I'm back and...

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Advanced Merry Christmas!

2009-12-23T08:08:00.004-05:00

It's been a great first five months for this blog, and I've had a pleasant time sharing my stock trading insights with you guys. I'm going to take a five day hiatus over the holidays from blogging, as I'll be on vacation with my family and I'll be away from the laptop for most of the...

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Strong US Dollar and Stocks The New Tandem For 2010?

2009-12-22T02:57:00.003-05:00

I didn't expect it to come this soon, and by all means there is no cofirmation yet that it has indeed arrived, but there are initial signs that the inverse relationship between stocks and the US dollar is dissipating. Yesterday, stocks rallied with the US dollar (US dollar index up 0.41% with stock...

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Swing Trades Of The Day - CGA, JST, FIRE, SWK

2009-12-22T01:34:00.003-05:00

This is going to be my last swing trades of the day post before the holidays. General postings will also be light for the week, as I'll be away from my laptop for the most time. While the S&P 500 and the Dow failed to break through trading range resistance levels last night, it's a...

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S&P 500: Fifth Time's A Charm?

2009-12-21T10:28:00.001-05:00

Fifty minutes into the trading session, markets are up over 1% across the board. Most notable is that the Nasdaq has broken out of its tight trading range and into a new 52-week high. The S&P 500 and Dow are trying to do just that... will they follow suit? Given the thinning...

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Swing Trades Of The Day - ACL, EW, HMIN, MELI, NOC, DGX, SLH, FIRE, SWK, VRX, VIT

2009-12-21T02:06:00.009-05:00

Trading volume is likely to be thin going into the holidays, so I have been quiet selective with my trading setups for today. As always, position sizing and risk management (use your stop losses!) are very important. My setups today range from momentum trades based on the ADX (EW, ACL),...

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"What's Your Best Swing Trade Recommendation" Contest

2009-12-20T12:01:00.004-05:00

This is the first contest I'm introducing to my blog readers, it's called the "What Is Your Best Swing Trade Recommendation" Contest. The winner is going to get a FREE copy of Van K. Tharp's book "Super Trader: Make Consistent Profits in Good and Bad Markets". It's the best book I've read so far...

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Financials: Sign Of Weak Market Internals?

2009-12-19T11:33:00.005-05:00

While I have not shorted aggressively (probably just a bit here and there), I have turned defensive in the past few weeks because of seemingly weakening market internals. One of the key indicators I am looking at is the performance of the financials. Looking at the relative sector performances...

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Cautious But Not Bearish On The Markets

2009-12-19T10:45:00.006-05:00

Market Club is out with additional videos on the Dow and the Nasdaq (click on images below to view the short videos). Basically, they are cautious on both indexes while not fully committing to calling a top. The Dow is a bit weaker than the Nasdaq, rallying to the 50% retracement level and is...

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Model Portfolio Update - 12/18/2009

2009-12-19T09:49:00.006-05:00

Probably the best trading week for the model portfolio since inception, with the portfolio gaining 2.9% versus a 0.4% loss for the S&P 500. Overall, I improved on both the hit ratio and reward:risk ratio for the model portfolio. In terms of the market outlook for the rest of the year, we are...

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Market Gaps Down ... Ask Questions Later

2009-12-17T09:49:00.007-05:00

I'm cleaning house with the model portfolio on the market gap down today... ask questions later. I'd rather scale my long exposure back in when potential for market upside is more evident. We've tried to get above 1,120 on the S&P 500 and have been rejected back below 1,110 numerous times...

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Silly Season For Dollar, Oil and Gold?

2009-12-17T08:11:00.005-05:00

With all the hoopla about the recent strength in the US dollar, two of the prominent beneficiaries of fiat weakness in gold and oil have their recent uptrends thrown into disarray. Market Club is out with three videos on these three asset classes (click on images below to view short videos),...

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Waking Up To A Stronger Dollar... What Now?

2009-12-17T03:39:00.004-05:00

The US dollar is up about 0.7% overnight, and it looks like we're gonna see some follow-through weakness in the stock market as of the moment (US futures, Europe and Asia are down). The US dollar gains come on the back of Fed comments that the economy is improving and that it will slowly wean the...

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Schwab's Sonders Is Cautiously Optimistic

2009-12-16T03:30:00.003-05:00

Charles Schwab's Liz Ann Sonders was one of the first to boldy predict the end to the recession back in June, and so far she's been on track. Despite choppy economic data the trend has undoubtedly been pointing to a recovery, and the stock market has rallied substantially ever since the March lows....

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Taking Profits JASO, LNCR; Going Long MOS, SEED, MOS

2009-12-15T10:52:00.006-05:00

Markets are off the lows today on better than expected industrial production data. The US dollar is up, but so far stocks, commodities and gold are holding up well. Read my post on how there could be a reversal of the inverse relationship between stocks and the US dollar, and how this could be a...

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US Dollar Rallies; Should Equity Investors Be Worried?

2009-12-15T08:03:00.005-05:00

A lot of people are worried about the recent strength in the US dollar, and how this would affect the performance of risk assets, namely global stocks, commodities and precious metals. This is based on the theory that the dollar has been the weak currency of choice, with the accommodative policies...

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Some Low Risk Buy On Dip Setups

2009-12-14T11:11:00.003-05:00

I'm putting in some long exposure in DGP (Double Long Gold ETF) and some AGO for the model portfolio, as they seemed to have hit some decent support levels and have good reward:risk ratios from here on (see charts below). Both are resting above the 32-day moving average, which I consider to be a...

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Swing Trades For The Day - AMZN, AMSC, BDK, BUCY, CCI, DCI, IBKC, SWK

2009-12-14T05:16:00.005-05:00

Futures are up this morning, though off their best levels of the session, with the news that Dubai World has been bailed out by neighboring Abu Dhabi to the tune of $10 Bil. Asian and European markets have either closed up or are currently trading up. For me, the critical levels to watch remain...

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