In yesterday’s ETF commentary, we pointed out the developing bullish setup in SPDR Energy ETF ($XLE). However, as the ETF had not yet broken out to new highs, we said it may need another week or two of consolidation, as well as tightening of the price action near its prior high. While $XLE remains on […]
With our stock and ETF swing trading strategy (overview here), there are three main types of trade setups we take: breakouts above consolidation, pullbacks to near-term support (in uptrending stocks), and trend reversals. In healthy markets, we primarily focus on buying breakouts and pullbacks. However, we occasionally spot low-risk trend reversal setups, which often offer […]
Several weeks ago, the spot gold commodity broke down below major support of a multi-year uptrend line. Now, gold is hanging around near horizontal price support of its 2012 lows. On our internal watchlist as a potential short sale if it bounces into new resistance of its prior uptrend line, SPDR Gold Trust ($GLD) could […]
Yesterday’s bullish broad market performance was impressive, and admittedly a bit surprising. The major indices have now absorbed recent overhead supply by breaking out above pivotal levels of technical price resistance. Most importantly, higher volume finally confirmed the rally for a change. All of this means that our previous intermediate-term “sell” signal on the market […]
We spent several hours extensively scanning the markets over the weekend, and came to the conclusion that the current market environment is a choppy, sloppy mess. Although large-cap stocks continue to show relative strength, which enabled the Dow Jones Industrial Average to finish at a new 52-week high (on the weekly chart), the important Nasdaq […]
Since February 25, we have been operating on a “sell” signal that was generated by our rule-based market timing system (learn exactly what that means). We have been using that same market timing strategy internally since 2006, and it has always done a pretty good job of keeping us in line with the intermediate-term trend […]
In this February 22 post on our trading blog, which was published immediately following two days of heavy selling on February 20 and 21, we said, “If and when the S&P attempts to bounce from its current level, the subsequent price and volume action that immediately follows any recovery attempt will be extremely important at […]
Stocks bounced back last Friday, with all main stock market indexes posting gains of at least 0.9%. However, total volume was significantly lighter across the board, signaling a lack of buying interest amongst banks, mutual funds, hedge funds, and other institutions. Last week’s back to back distribution days (February 20 and 21) in the S&P […]
For the second day in a row, the broad market sold off across the board on higher volume. Although the percent losses were not as bad as Wednesday, the S&P 500 followed through to the downside for the first time in 2013. With turnover increasing on the both the Nasdaq and NYSE, the S&P 500 […]
Stocks suffered their first substantial round of losses in weeks yesterday, as a negative reaction to the Fed’s last policy meeting gave traders a good excuse to sell and lock in profits from the current uptrend. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite declined 1.2% and 1.5% respectively. Blue chips held up the best, as the […]