Commentary:
Yesterday was a difficult day on Wall Street. Stocks were down sharply but on mixed trade. Price action was decidedly bearish as all five major indices closed in the red by more than 1%. The small-cap Russell 2000 led the plummet as it fell 1.9% yesterday. The Nasdaq and the S&P MidCap 400 did not fare much better as both shed 1.6%. By the closing bell the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.2% and 1.1% respectively.
Market internals were not good but did end the day mixed. Volume on the Big Board fell almost 14% while it finished higher on the Nasdaq by 1.2%. Declining volume overwhelmed advancing volume on both exchanges. The session ended with the declining volume to advancing volume ratio at 9 to 1 on the NYSE and 4.5 to 1 on the Nasdaq. Bears clearly had command of this technical indicator. Nonetheless, we cannot classify Monday as a distribution day for the broad market due to weak trade on the NYSE. The Nasdaq did however experience distribution yesterday.
Both our long position in UUP and our short position in IWM performed well yesterday. We sold approximately two thirds of our position in UUP into strength and covered two thirds of our position in IWM into weakness. Both trades netted solid gains. We felt it was wise to take some profits in both trades due to the size of yesterday’s gap down in the market. Our subscribing members should refer to the open positions and closed position segments of the newsletter for full trade details.
The PowerShares DB Agricultural ETF (DBA) is once again testing major support near $31.95. Yesterday was the third time in as many months that this ETF has tested this key mark. We see two potential shorting opportunities for this ETF. The first possible entry would be on a rally back into resistance at the 20-day EMA ($32.90). The second potential entry would be a move by DBA back below support at $31.95. From a risk/reward standpoint we consider the first setup as the better of the two.
The PowerShares DB Crude Oil Double Short ETF (DTO) has been consolidating for the past 13 days as it has set a sequence of higher lows. A quick glance at the hourly chart of DTO also shows that each pullback has “tightened” as this ETF attempts to move back above resistance just above $49.00. A volume fueled move above yesterday’s high of $49.23 could provide a long entry trigger for DTO. We are watching this pattern closely for a potential buying opportunity in this ETF.
The market continues to struggle. If not for light trade on the NYSE, yesterday could have been a complete disaster for the market. Long setups have been virtually nonexistent in our daily scans. Yesterday’s gap down places even more weight on an already heavy market. If we see a significant distribution day tomorrow, the potential increases for a sizeable correction in the broad market. Nonetheless, caution on the short side is warranted given the extended nature of the market.
Today’s Watchlist:
There are no new official setups for today. We will send an Intraday Alert if any new trades are made.
Daily Performance Report:
Below is an overview of all open positions, as well as a performance report on all positions that were closed only since the previous day’s newsletter. Net P/L figures are based on the $50,000 Wagner Daily model account size. Changes to open positions since the previous report are listed in red text below. Please review the Wagner Daily Subscriber Guide for important, automatic rules on trigger and stop prices
- Per intrady alert, we closed out 2/3 of our IWM short and UUP long positions to lock in some gains.
- Reminder to subscribers – Intraday Trade Alerts to your e-mail and/or mobile phone are normally only sent to indicate a CHANGE to the pre-market plan that is detailed in each morning’s Wagner Daily. We sometimes send a courtesy alert just to confirm action that was already detailed in the pre-market newsletter, but this is not always the case. If no alert is received to the contrary, one should always assume we’re honoring all stops and trigger prices listed in each morning’s Wagner Daily. But whenever CHANGES to the pre-market stops or trigger prices are necessary, alerts are sent on an AS-NEEDED basis. Just a reminder of the purpose of Intraday Trade Alerts.
- For those of you whose ISPs occasionally deliver your e-mail with a delay, make sure you’re signed up to receive our free text message alerts sent to your mobile phone. This provides a great way to have redundancy on all Intraday Trade Alerts. Send your request to [email protected] if not already set up for this value-added feature we provide to subscribers.
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Notes:
Edited by Deron Wagner,
MTG Founder and
Head Trader