So Many Hammers


Commentary:

Stocks ended the session mixed on Thursday. The market opened the day higher, sold off sharply in the early afternoon but recovered into the close. The major indices also ended the session mixed. The Nasdaq fell 0.3% while the S&P MidCap 400 slid fractionally. The small-cap Russell 2000 showed the most spunk as it added 0.7% yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 tacked on gains of 0.5% and 0.2% respectively.

Market internals were mixed yesterday. Volume was down fractionally on the Nasdaq and fell 2.5% on the NYSE. Advancing volume edged out declining volume on the NYSE by a ratio of 1.1 to 1. On the Nasdaq the advancing volume to declining volume ratio ended the day at 1.8 to 1. Thursday’s lighter volume suggests that institutions were not active participants in the day’s action.

The market continues to show signs of being oversold. A quick review of the Nasdaq Composite ($COMPX) suggests that caution is warranted on the short side of the market. Over the past four trading sessions the Nasdaq has begun whipsawing about its 200-day MA and appears likely to find support at this key level. It is important to note that at the current trading level there is a convergence of the 200-day MA, the long term uptrend line which began in March 2009 and the prior swing low which occurred on March 16th of this year. Notice how the Nasdaq found support and quickly reversed off the 2,600 mark yesterday. Further, this index formed a distinct reversal candle yesterday as it recovered quickly from the intraday lows. All of these factors combined provide a warning to avoid further shorting activity for the moment.

The Direxion Daily Energy Bear 3X Shares ETF (ERY) has attempted to break above its prior swing high of $17.15 on three occasions in the past four days. Each time ERY has been met with resistance and has returned to the trading range. The next test of this key resistance level should result in a move higher for ERY. We see two possible long setups for this ETF. The first possible long trigger would occur if ERY were to move back above yesterday’s high of $17.42. Alternatively, a buy entry for ERY could trigger on a pullback towards its 20-day EMA. We like the current price action in ERY and will be monitoring it closely for a possible entry.

Reversal candles (hammers) have been abundant in our nightly research over the past two days. Hammers are a type of reversal candle that form near the end of a selloff. A hammer is formed as follows: After a period of significant selling an ETF opens and moves significantly lower from its opening price. However, following the sharp selling, the ETF rallies to close well above the intraday low. The resulting candlestick looks like a lollipop with a long stick. This candlestick formation is widely considered bullish as it suggests that bears are losing control of the current trend. Today’s chart of the $COMPX provides an excellent example of a hammer.


Today’s Watchlist:

There are no new official setups this morning. 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

    position summary

    Having trouble seeing the position summary graphic above?
    Click here to view it directly on your Internet browser instead.

    Notes:

  • Waiting for new setups to emerge.

  • 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.

    Have you had your free 1-month trial to Morpheus Trading Group’s additional ETF and stock trading newsletters?

      Edited by Deron Wagner,
      MTG Founder and
      Head Trader