Good evening StockBandits!
Opening indecision produced a trendless morning which lasted until mid-day when the market caught a bid, lifting each of the indexes into positive territory. The oft-quoted phrase of “never short a dull market” was certainly appropriate, as once again activity was muted on the heels of yesterday’s extremely light volume.
Europe remains in the limelight, and with the indexes caught in short-term ranges, it’s apparently leaving many traders uninterested in taking aggressive action just yet. That’s fine, as technically it allows these bases to mature further, giving greater validity to existing levels while growing patterns in individual stocks.
I’m maintaining a bullish bias based upon the recent price action – as it’s been quite constructive – but looking to stay a bit more selective until we see sufficient strength return which could produce an exit from the range. With positive seasonality and the holidays approaching, that could take place sooner than later, so we’ll need to stay prepared for whatever comes along.
As I mentioned last night, I’ve had plans for some time now to attend a fundraising event this evening which will require some travel on my part. As a result, I’m going with an early report tonight in order to give you something of use since I’ll be prevented from sticking with the usual routine due to travel arrangements.
By the way, I put up a post earlier today on a chart which I don’t want you to miss. The stock itself is worth examining, but the principle behind the lesson is what I really want you to gain. You can scroll down the page here inside the Hideout or here’s the direct link.
I’ll run through some notes on the indexes here and then share some setups I’m eyeing for tomorrow’s session.
NAZ – Approaching next key level at 2705, and if it can push through, then 2740 will be the next important resistance zone. For now, still range-bound with light volume.
S&P 500 – The wedge is narrowing with the upper trend line now slightly lower at 1268. A push through there could let this index run up to key resistance at 1294, but first things first. Bullish wedge after a big advance, let’s see if the buyers want it badly enough to produce another leg higher.
RUT – Wedge trend line now stands at 750, and a push through there would bring 772 as the next big level for this small-cap index. Good constructive price action of late as it bases.
DJIA – Flirting with a breakout from the wedge here just shy of 12180, with 12300 beyond that as next short-term resistance. Looking ripe for a push higher.
Tonight I’m going with the written format as I know some of you enjoy being able to skim the setups. My notes and trade levels are provided on the charts below.
Please leave your comments and/or questions below if you have any, I always enjoy the interaction.
Setups I’m Eyeing for Wednesday:
These are the stocks on my radar for tomorrow’s session. Being that I’m putting this post out early, I’m unable to nail down exact levels just yet for entries, but I will be using the trend lines shown on the charts below (provided they aren’t already cleared by today’s close). Please see the Day Trading Strategy for more details on how I manage these trades.
The Hit List contains stop and target levels for my swing trades.
