The Hit List is a look at our current swing trading positions. Stocks we are already in have “triggered”, while those we are considering for plays have not triggered. Click post title to view print-friendly link.
UA & LAMR closed
Open Position Notes:
TIF bounced today with the market, but there were a couple of factors which I found notable. First, the stock remained beneath the recent highs. Sometimes for turnaround plays like this one, multiple failures are seen before a lasting turn is made. It could be that today’s action is simply part of that process. Second, today’s upside volume was extremely light – only 1/2 of normal. That’s encouraging, as it points to limited participation on today’s strength. We’ll know soon enough if this one is going to work, but for now I’m sticking with my original stop while waiting to see if the short-term highs will hold.
PBR gave up a little ground today despite the market strength, which is encouraging. Nonetheless, with earnings due out on Friday afternoon, I still will be looking to make an exit in this one sometime on Thursday in order to sidestep the earnings news. My stop has already been moved to breakeven, so I’m willing to wait to see if any further weakness sets in on Thursday, when I’ll look to make an intraday exit. Watch for an update on Twitter, email, or here in the comments.
Closed Positions:
UA gapped higher this morning and soon hit my stop loss, taking me out of this short for a 2.5% loss. This one was moving back to new recovery highs, which implied it was set to continue the bounce from the February low. With that being the case, I didn’t hesitate to step aside and exit, unwilling to fight the position in which I was clearly wrong. Although the stock did come down from its intraday highs, it still is flirting with short-term resistance, so I’m going to leave it alone for now.
LAMR has earnings due out tomorrow morning, and last night I mentioned I’d be looking for a spot to exit this trade sometime today. I had tightened my stop loss to breakeven, but today the stock opened slightly above that level, taking me out for a 5-cent loss. While I do like the technical setup in this stock for a move back down toward the recent lows, the fact is that I refuse to make the earnings gamble, so I’m out with a fractional loss and will wait for the news to pass and a new pattern to emerge before considering another entry.
As per the discussion in last night’s Bandit Broadcast, I have made an exit in PBR at $40.40 for a quick 4% winner.
Wanted to let you know how I was managing this trade ahead of its impending earnings announcement Friday afternoon.