MRK and PFE are on my radar screen today
The last two trading days have proved
to be rather difficult with minimal follow through. Even though the
market seems to be struggling to break up or down, as an active trader you have
to be ready to pounce on any opportunity that might present itself to you.
I decided to trade Morgan Stanley
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MWD |
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PowerRating) yesterday, using
the same style and methods I used yesterday with Pfizer
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PFE |
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MRK |
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PowerRating).
On Monday PFE gap open 2+ dollars and sold off throughout the day. PFE was an
early Christmas gift as this stock gave me the rare opportunity to be short a
sizable amount with minimal risk. There were times when I was short as many as
30k shares of PFE and covering for a .05 profit per share.
As I entered yesterday’s trading day, PFE was on my alert
list, but my main focus stock was MWD. MWD was indicated to gap higher by over a
dollar with the pre-market earnings release of positive fourth quarter earnings.
When MWD opened at $57.95, two thoughts immediately ran through my mind. There
was a large offer in the NYSE openbook at $58.00 and I wanted to be long if a
large buyer took the offer out. I placed a stop order to go long MWD at $58.00.
My second thought was to try and establish a short position and lean against the
$58.00 offer. I would attempt this if MWD attempted to fill in some of its
opening gap. This is the same strategy that I had success in with PFE the
previous day. Although MWD went up through the $58.00 and I was able to take a
small profit the majority of my gains came when I sold through the $58.00 and
added into my position at $57.80.
Other stocks that I traded actively yesterday were General
Motors
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GM |
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S |
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PowerRating), and
(
PFE |
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PowerRating). I love the fact that
at certain times throughout the day each one of these stocks gave me the
opportunity to trade size and capture significant moves.
I will look to be aggressively trading these same stocks
tomorrow if the opportunity presents itself.
Since MRK has not sold off the last few days I am looking at
two technical points. The first is the day high of MRK over the past few days of
$32.31. The second is yesterday’s low of $31.81. I will look to be long or short
through either of these two points.
Since PFE has been relatively active the last few days I will
look for it to possibly move down to $23.00 and fill in some of its gap from
Monday.
Mike Kestler
Please e-mail with any
questions you might have at
mkestler@evotrading.com
Michael Kestler is a
full-time professional trader and managing partner for Evolution Capital LLC., a
proprietary trading firm. Mr. Kestler specializes in intraday trading of NYSE
listed stocks.
Before founding Evolution Capital LLC., Michael began his career on the floor of
the CBOE. Mr. Kestler was previously a Mid-Cap and Nasdaq Market Maker.
www.evotrading.com