Good evening StockBandits!

The action today was muted but positive once again, as the bulls continued to make their presence known by maintaining a bid beneath current prices to avoid letting the market slip.  The slow drift up is common to see within uptrends like this, particularly when the trading volume is as light as it is on a holiday-shortened week.

Tomorrow is the last session of the week, and the final session ahead of Christmas with the market being closed on Friday.  With that being the case, we can quite likely expect minimal volume, and somewhat limited price action as the day progresses.  Traders (myself included) will be slipping away from the screens once the morning has passed, and moving on to spend time with family (as we should) for Christmas.  It happens every year, so even if your intent is to stay at your desk and trade the entire session, just keep in mind that the action may be drifty at best if there’s not sufficient news to propel the market one direction or the other.  It’s an easy environment to overtrade, so avoid making that mistake in front of the long weekend.

I have just a handful of stocks on my radar for tomorrow, which I’ll cover momentarily.  I wanted to note that I will have a Broadcast here on Sunday, so slip away from the relatives sometime on Sunday and round up back here for a game plan heading into next week!

For tonight, my notes are on the charts below for index levels and potential trades I’m eyeing for Thursday.

Please leave your comments and/or questions below if you have any, I always enjoy the interaction.

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Swing Trading Candidates:

NONE TONIGHT.

Day Trading Candidates:

These are the trades I’m eyeing for potential plays tomorrow. I will not be holding these overnight, and will wait for these levels to be crossed before entering trades.

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Bullish Watch:

BYD, MELI, LNCR, GTI, MICC, MFC, ODP, ATML, OII, ALXN, CNQ, BLL, YOKU, DANG, NAK, MAS, ISIL, SLV

Bearish Watch:

MA, BIDU, VRSN, SLW, AEM, LVS, BYI, MCO, BVN

The Hit List contains stop and target levels for my swing trades.

Trade Like A Bandit!

Jeff

Good evening StockBandits!

The indexes continued their slow grind higher today with gains across the board, taking each of them to new highs.  As expected on a holiday week, we saw volume diminish from yesterday’s levels, and despite the strength out there, that’s likely to continue as we head toward the final session of the week on Thursday.  Anytime we see price go up and volume go down, it’s not technically ideal, but in the situation of a major holiday week it’s to be expected.  Nonetheless, the buyers are still doing their thing, and apparently the sellers have no interest in asserting themselves ahead of Christmas.

With the volume likely to diminish in the next couple of sessions, I’m not looking to initiate any new swing positions ahead of Christmas.  I entered ISIL today (as per the Hit List post), but otherwise my attention for Wednesday will be on day trading.  For Thursday, I only intend to trade the morning, as I am expecting the action to be rather quiet as the day progresses.

For Wednesday though, it’s easy to overanalyze the action here but I find it’s best to just look at it as an uptrend that’s persisting, plain and simple.  I don’t want to fight the trend, so I’m considering some long-sided trades for tomorrow and will look to be out of them by day’s end at the latest, keeping tight stops and looking to ring the register on gains rather quickly.

For tonight, my notes are on the charts below for index levels and potential trades I’m eyeing for Wednesday.

Please leave your comments and/or questions below if you have any, I always enjoy the interaction.

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Swing Trading Candidates:

NONE TONIGHT.

Day Trading Candidates:

These are the trades I’m eyeing for potential plays tomorrow. I will not be holding these overnight, and will wait for these levels to be crossed before entering trades.

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Bullish Watch:

ICE, CIEN, MIPS, SOHU, LNCR, SFY, MELI, GPC, MCHP, MEE, ISIS, MFC, FCS, HUN, CNQ, BLL, NAK, PPO, ISIL, SLV, CAM

Bearish Watch:

MA, UA, VECO, LVS, MCO, DRIV

The Hit List contains stop and target levels for my swing trades.

Trade Like A Bandit!

Jeff

Good evening StockBandits!

Today’s session was just about what you might expect on a holiday-shortened trading week, as the intraday action lacked momentum in either direction and led to mixed results.  The indexes finished little-changed, although the NAZ, RUT and S&P 500 each posted new closing highs outside of their recent ranges.

Although today’s advances resulted in technical breakouts for those indexes, the way it happened isn’t technically ideal due to the reduced volume and lack of significant follow through beyond those zones.  Nonetheless, today produced breakouts and the uptrends are still very much intact, so there’s no need to argue with the price action at this point.  It’s simply a good time to stay cautious and on our toes due to the minimal conviction on the breakout, as well as the holiday volume which is likely to taper off and the year-end cross-currents I’ve been discussing throughout December.

In last night’s Broadcast, I noted that with this being a holiday week, it’s likely to be a good time to book quick profits when they appear and otherwise to stay selective.  That continues to hold true as this week progresses, so my aim for Tuesday is much the same.  There are setups which hold some appeal for short-term moves, but I’ll be keeping my risk limited and am willing to ring the register into favorable moves due to the expected light volume.  If volume is the fuel that propels stocks higher, and there’s likely to be less of it, it’s sensible to either expect smaller moves or to trail stops aggressively on favorable trades.

When the price action is drifty like we saw today, it’s incredibly easy to force trades and spin your wheels trying to make something happen.  Don’t fall victim to that approach this week, and instead show up with a few setups you like and take them as they come.  If you don’t see what you love, have the patience to sit on your hands and exercise some discipline.  Keep a book close by or tend to some other things until those alerts go off.

For tonight, my notes are on the charts below for index levels and potential trades I’m eyeing for Tuesday.

Please leave your comments and/or questions below if you have any, I always enjoy the interaction.

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Swing Trading Candidates:

NONE TONIGHT.

Day Trading Candidates:

These are the trades I’m eyeing for potential plays tomorrow. I will not be holding these overnight, and will wait for these levels to be crossed before entering trades.

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Bullish Watch:

APA, ISIL, MIPS, SNDK, OAS, MCP, MEE, SODA, SM, FCS, ONXX, WFC, BTU, OMC, JRCC, CPX, TEN, GE, WDR, ACI, ANR, SLV, SLXP, UYG, KKR, CAM, CPWM

Bearish Watch:

NTES, CSTR, MCO, CTRP, DRIV

The Hit List contains stop and target levels for my swing trades.

Trade Like A Bandit!

Jeff

Good evening StockBandits!

Last week the market put in some rest with only minor gains being posted in the major averages.  New highs were marked early in the week and then respected for the remaining sessions as the bulls defended minor dips by providing support, yet refrained from producing another runaway move.

This is a healthy rest and an excellent way to digest the advance that began at the start of December.  We have emerging flag-like patterns for the indexes, and when found within uptrends, those tend to become somewhat reliable continuation patterns.

The only catch right now beyond the technicals however, is the fact that it’s the end of the year and that brings with it a host of cross-currents.  This week, we have Christmas with the market being closed on Friday in observance of that.  We have New Year’s just a week later, and that’s just from a holiday standpoint.  Toss into the mix other factors such as tax-loss selling, end-of-quarter window dressing, index rebalancing, and lighter volume as traders take time off or travel, and the stage is set for some potentially unusual activity.

I’ve mentioned this in the past couple of weeks, and just want to reiterate that this is a time to take it somewhat easy while these end-of-year motives come to pass.  New trades should be taken with smaller size and abbreviated timeframes because of these things, and otherwise it’s an ideal time to tend to other matters like hanging out with family and friends, and reviewing 2010 in preparation for 2011 goals and modifications (if need be) to your trading plan.  Whether you do that this week or next, don’t let January get here without having some goals in place and some well-defined aspects of your trading that you’re aiming to hone in the New Year.

So as we look to the shortened week ahead of us, the market is still acting strong and still has potential to move higher.  Many have in recent days decided the Santa Claus rally has already come, and it may have, but with the charts in such good shape, further upside cannot be counted out.  I’ve got several setups on my radar for Monday, and in the video I’ll explain further but for the swing trades this week I’ll be keeping them rather tight and will be willing to make a premature exit if the price action necessitates it.  For that reason, keep an eye on your inbox or the Twitter stream (@TheStockBandit) if you’re interested in how I’m looking to manage the swing trades this week.

I’ll cover my game plan for tomorrow in the video, and as always, feel free to share your own thoughts, trade ideas, and questions down below in the comments section.

Here is tonight’s video:

The Bandit Broadcast Video – Click to Watch!

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Video Stocks Discussed: FAS, SNDK, AIG, CRM, ISIL, ANR

Swing Trading Candidates:

ISIL has pulled back to some short-term support and now looks poised for a move back up.  This one needs to clear the trend line at $15.05 to get back on the move, so I’ll use that level as my trigger for an entry on the long side. As with all swing trades, my stop and target levels for this trade are on the Hit List here inside the Hideout, and keep an eye on the Twitter stream (@TheStockBandit) and your inbox for possible alerts related to this trade in case I look to make an early exit due to the holiday action this week.

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

ANR has pulled back within its uptrend on light volume and now appears to be stabilizing with price trying to turn back up.  I’ll be going long for a swing trade if this one can clear $52.45, keeping a tight stop and looking to book rather quick profits.  As with all swing trades, my stop and target levels for this trade are on the Hit List here inside the Hideout, and keep an eye on the Twitter stream (@TheStockBandit) and your inbox for possible alerts related to this trade in case I look to make an early exit due to the holiday action this week.

Chart courtesy of StockFinder

Bullish Watch:

FAS, SLXP, MIPS, SNDK, WMS, LULU, IVN, SODA, DECK, GCI, NAK, RDWR, QLIK, PPO, XOP, GE, ISIL, AIG, EXXI, XME, ACI, EXPR, ANR

Bearish Watch:

CRM, FRO

The Hit List is a separate post which contains discussion on open positions and swing trade stops and targets, so be sure to check it for further details on swing trades.

Trade Like A Bandit!

Jeff

Good evening StockBandits!

Following some weak closes in the past three sessions, the market would have been justified for some profit-taking today to bring it further off its highs.  However, the buyers were back to work defending their positions, leaving the market just a short distance from its highs by the closing bell.

Today’s gains weren’t impressive by any stretch, but merely another reminder of the underlying bid beneath this market right now.  No telling what the cause of that is, nor does it matter.  The trend is up and we’ve seen some rest in the past few days, and it could be that we see another push to new highs as soon as tomorrow.  If so, a close in new high territory will be important from a conviction standpoint.

Tomorrow we have the final options expiration day of 2010, and we’re in the second half of December.  The combination of those could quite easily bring some erratic price action as unique motives enter the fray, and having been whipped out of some swing trades this week I’m not interested in adding overnight exposure on Friday.  As a result, I’ll be looking to day trade just a few select names, waiting for my triggers before taking action as usual.

I’ll cover my game plan for tomorrow in the video, and as always, feel free to share your own thoughts, trade ideas, and questions down below in the comments section.

Here is tonight’s video:

The Bandit Broadcast Video – Click to Watch!

–

Video Stocks Discussed: RS, GE, DECK, MOS

Swing Trading Candidates:

NONE TONIGHT.

Bullish Watch:

AMG, LULU, GPC, RS, GTI, SODA, AMTD, CXO, DECK, TWI, JNPR, CERN, LEDS, QLIK, GIII, TEN, RAH, NXPI, GE, RBC, SCHW, CBS, AMP, WLL

Bearish Watch:

MOS, AGU

The Hit List is a separate post which contains discussion on open positions and swing trade stops and targets, so be sure to check it for further details on swing trades.

Trade Like A Bandit!

Jeff