Rare Occasion
At this pace I will be in the hospital for
exhaustion within a few days. The markets threw us yet another
stellar trading day. Not only was the HVT excellent, but there were a few longer-term
setups that added the icing to the cake.
In yesterday’s
column, I suggested looking at two long setups and one short setup since I
was not entirely convinced the down move was over. Beazer
Homes
(
BZH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was the short candidate.
“The 15-minute chart is in a clear downtrend,
looks like it is failing at the top of the channel, and pressure on the market
could send this stock lower.”
With the market under pressure on the opening, it was
logical to expect some sort of a reversal and then a resumption of the
downtrend. That was the trigger to short BZH. I trust you kept an eye on this
one, and if you did, a 2.5 point gain awaited you. The exit was called out in TradersWire.
Also, our good friend Duke in TradersWire called
out a fabulous setup on Amgen
(
AMGN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating). What was great about this call was that during the whole vicious
second down leg of the selloff, AMGN not only gained ground, but was trading on
100% of its normal volume. A quick look at the chart showed that it was poised
to go higher, with a little help from the futures.
Once the horizontal resistance (pink line) was broken
and then with the hourly moving average (blue line) broken, it was pretty much a
no-brainer to go long. With a protective stop in place, you were more than
adequately rewarded.
So we begin yet another day where one can only venture
a guess as to which way the market will trade. In fact, last night the futures
were down 9 points, only to be positive this morning by 12 points. Talk about a
schizophrenic market. That is just fine with me, at least from an HVT
standpoint. My longer-term setups have been working, but only when everything
lines up just perfectly. So while there may be a half a dozen possibilities each
day, I am lucky if one pans out.Â
Given that the market appears to be moving higher on
the opening, keep an eye on:
Intersil (ISIL):Â
Setting up nicely on 15-minute chart. A move above 23.26 would trigger a long
entry.
In the meantime, continue to trade assertively. It is a
rare occasion for summer markets to be this tradable. I always share a quote
from a former colleague with my traders, “Step up and pet the pony.”
Key Technical
Numbers (futures):
S&Ps |
Nasdaq |
| 935-38 | 1076 |
| 928 | 1065 |
| 923.56 | 1058 |
| 911-13 | 1043 |
| 898-99 | 1033 |
| 887-90 | 1014-21 |
| 873-75 (875 is the contract low) | 1008-10 |
| 987 |
As always, feel free to send me your comments and
questions. Also, be sure to spend some time in TradersWire.
With the markets moving so fast lately, it has been really nice to catch
observations from other traders.