Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Darth Vader, Peter Sellers and Stop Losses. $study

Stop losses are so important. Not using them makes you look like Peter sellers in this scene I´ve blogged about before...you just stare as the position moves against you.

http://jpotrading.blogspot.com/2010/09/link-between-not-using-stop-losses-and.html


I encountered another scene pertinent to the issue of using stop losses....how often have you told yourself  "I will never again overide or not use them" but end up doing so....again? Just like Darth Vader keeps puting his foot in the oven in the following video...


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

On Shorting Relative Strength. $WTW $SYY $study

-I  am often tempted to short stocks showing relative strength. This can be dangerous and goes against perceived "trading wisdom" . In fact I have blogged before about the importance of relative strength :

                        http://jpotrading.blogspot.com/search/label/relative%20strength

-If I do this I must first wait for relative weakness to manifest itself by, for example, a red 5 minute candle bar that takes out two or three of the previous five minute bars. The exact point of where you go short will depend on the stock, the general market strength, etc, but a valid short is now possible. I show this in the two charts below for $SYY and $WTW .

- The most important thing now is to input your stop-loss order somewhere close to the previous high as shown in the two charts. If you do not do this "horrible" things can happen....imagine not putting the stops in the chart below for $WTW .


Saturday, May 7, 2011

$THOR Strong. Will it break 33.65?

-I identified 33.65 as important resisntance back on april 18th. http://jpotrading.blogspot.com/2011/04/thor-moving-pre-market-levels.html



It closed on friday at 33.58 (up about 5 %)...will keep an eye for a break of the level.

$PVH will 67.00 Hold?

-If it does , trade the 67.00/69.00 range.


$WTW 71.50 Key Pivot

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/05/06/weight-watchers-shares-plunged-what-you-need-to-kn.aspx



-Plan to trade long above 71.50 , short below.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Using Volume Spikes in Intraday Trading. $SLV $FXE $BBBY $CL $study

-If you are looking for a change in the intraday trend of an asset, volume spikes can be very helpful. I blogged in the recent past about an intraday spike in $BBBY and $CL . I blogged about both wondering if a turn would happen after I saw what seemed like a spike and in both cases the theory was correct...both stocks turned direction with the volume spike coinciding with the highs for the day.

 - http://jpotrading.blogspot.com/2011/04/bbby-surge-in-volume-indicating-turn.html
 - http://jpotrading.blogspot.com/2011/04/cl-8500-high-for-day.html

-Yesterday silver was collapsing and coincidentally the dollar was very strong. People were wondering if there was a cause and effect and if so in what direction; so I watched $FXE while wondering when/if $SLV would turn.



-The 11.00 volume bar in $FXE shows a spike in volume and the dollar stops stregthening.
-The 11.10 volume bar makes a huge volume spike (turns out biggest of the day).

This gave me confidence to make a long scalp in silver...the thought of something more substantial occured to me but $FXE and $SLV were just not bouncing with the energy needed.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

$JDSU Levels for Afternoon Trading

-Long term support at 21.60 .-Short term resistance 22.30

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

$AVP Levels and Trading Plan.





Support            Resistance        Pivot
30.30               31.30/31.60       31.00


Notes:    OK results, yesterday´s 5% pop looks like enough.
Plan:       Short Bias especially if staying  below 31.00 . Fade 31.30 .


$HLF Levels and Trading Plan



Ticker           Support                   Resistance           Inflection     

HLF             100.60/101.45       103.30/104.30               

-Notes:         20+% growth in revenues; $6 x 20 = $120       http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Herbalife-Earnings-Third-wscheats-1464152871.html?x=0&.v=1

-Plan:           Long bias, trade the range, watch for test of 104.30  for breakout.