Good evening StockBandits!
The DJIA suffered its worst week on over a year last week, and that pretty much told the story for the overall price action in the other indexes. The NAZ shed 100 points and the S&P 500 lost almost 4% as traders fled from stocks for the safety of the sidelines.
Despite the give-back of the market, the indexes still each sit at levels which are above their June lows. Zooming out even further on the charts reveals that this market remains range-bound in a multi-month trading range. That’s a huge reminder to us as traders that while the sellers had the ball last week, it’s still a bit of a game-time decision when it comes to which way the market is headed. Anything’s possible within trading ranges, and reversals tend to be more sudden and frequent whenever that’s the case, and right now that’s where we find ourselves.
Most individual stocks have seen quick ramps higher and sharp pullbacks, all in just a few weeks’ time. That’s keeping their charts rather sloppy as a result, leaving very few quality bases to trade from. That makes this really a daytrader’s market, which is fine for those willing to stick solely with cash-flow types of trades. For others who prefer a multi-day timeframe, there’s little to go with right now given the messy charts, wide-ranging bars, and frequent overnight gaps we’ve been seeing.
We’re still in the middle of earnings season so it’s very important to check the earnings calendars daily for any multi-day trade. I like to check both EarningsWhispers and Yahoo Finance. No matter where you look, just be sure to look and compare multiple sites to help confirm reporting dates for any stock you’re considering holding overnight.
** One other note is that this week I’ll be on vacation so there will be no Broadcasts or site updates. I’ve allowed up to 4 weeks of vacation per year, but in 7 years I’ve never come even close to taking it all. In 2010 I took 1 week off, so this is overdue! I’ll return on Monday, August 8th. With the market still range-bound, the continued indecision we’re seeing, the summertime price action, and earnings season, I think it’ll be an ideal time to step away and let the charts do some rebuilding. Plus, it’s good to periodically clear the head and step away from the screens for more than a day or two and then return refreshed and ready to go again. Thanks for understanding!
In tonight’s video, I’m going to do something a little different since I’m not planning to trade on Monday (or this entire week since I’m on vacation). Instead of going through my game plan, I’ll cover the stocks on my watchlist in the video so you see the best charts I’ve found and what I’m watching as some of them continue to work on their respective patterns.
Here is tonight’s video:
The Bandit Broadcast Video – Click to Watch!
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Video Stocks Discussed: SOHU, WLT, MRX, ARIA, RENN, PII, ALXN, CE, RVBD, SLAB, ADTN, RIMM
Swing Trading Candidates:
NONE TONIGHT – 100% Cash
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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.
