TheStockBandit.com

Good evening StockBandits!

Tuesday’s gains were erased today as the market came under pressure.  Whether it was profit-taking from the bounce of the past few sessions, or a response to the rally in the dollar, the end result was lower prices for stocks.  The selling was orderly, and things did stabilize in the afternoon, but with volume picking up it proved to be a day of distribution.

Despite today’s decline, the indexes remain short-term range-bound here.  We’re off the highs set early this month, yet holding above some key levels of support.  At some point that will change, but in the meantime we can continue to expect a lack of follow through until we see a close outside this range.  Trading ranges are periods of indecision, so naturally it follows that shifts of direction are more frequent within the range.

Tonight in looking through many charts, I found only a few of interest for tomorrow’s session.  Each of those will only be for day trades, as I simply don’t like the patterns enough for swings, plus the necessary exits which would accompany them if I took them for multi-day moves.  So, I’ll manage my existing overnight positions (see the Hit List for details) and otherwise look to initiate trades where I can better limit my risk through an intraday timeframe.

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: VMED, RYN, MEE, NUE, SCCO, MON

Swing Trading Candidates:

NONE TONIGHT

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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.

Trade Like A Bandit!

Jeff

Good evening StockBandits!

A positive start this morning found follow through today as the buyers continued to put cash to work after last week’s test of some key levels.  Mid-day, we saw stocks stabilize and enter into a trendless range, yet they held their ground in positive territory.  As the day progressed, some afternoon buying took the market to its highs of the session, taking us back to within a stone’s throw from the highest closes from early this month.  Volume returned as well, which helps add technical validity to today’s strength.

At this point, we’re still range-bound, but the notion of a higher low on the daily charts of the indexes looks like a much easier idea to embrace.  We’ll of course need to see new highs made in order to fully confirm those higher lows, but for now they’re holding and the buying pressure is returning.

I’ve been sticking with day trades of late due to the market indecision, waiting for either better momentum to arrive or better setups.  Tonight I’m seeing some good setups, so I’m adding them to the trading list for potential swing trades.  If they all trigger, I’ll still be hedged with both long and short-sided exposure, and will look to commit more fully to a direction if the market is able to again make new highs.

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: GPOR, IPI, NOV, SOHU, RSH, CTRP, AGU, SINA, NTES, SNDK, MOS, BIDU

Swing Trading Candidates:

SNDK is trying to break a descending trend line here which would help to further establish a higher low from last week.  I’m looking to get long if this one can take out today’s high at $48.10. As with all swing trades, my stop and target levels for this stock are on the Hit List here inside the Hideout.

Chart courtesy of TeleChart

MOS broke major support last week and has attempted to reclaim it without success.  This one looks ready for another leg down, but needs to undercut short-term rising support to get moving again.  I’ll go short if this one breaks $70.85. As with all swing trades, my stop and target levels for this stock are on the Hit List here inside the Hideout.

Chart courtesy of TeleChart

BIDU made new highs a few weeks ago but has seen a substantial change of character since then with some heavy distribution and only a partial rebound.  This relative weakness to the NASDAQ is in keeping with many other Chinese internet stocks.  I’ll be going short if this stock undercuts the trend line at $139.50. As with all swing trades, my stop and target levels for this stock are on the Hit List here inside the Hideout.

Chart courtesy of TeleChart

[table “41” not found /]

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!

This morning, stocks began the new week with lots of indecision as the indexes stayed range-bound for the first couple of hours.  Once the morning highs were cleared, we saw the market catch a bid which held for the remainder of the day.  The rally wasn’t impressive, as we did stay within Friday’s trading range (inside day), but it provided a modest lift on the day, leaving the indexes in the green by the closing bell.

A higher-low scenario is certainly possible here, with last week’s low having potential to hold.  At this point, it seems that notion isn’t being widely embraced, particularly if today’s inside bars and lighter volume are considered.  However, the bulls have a good technical shot here at building on the stabilization of the recent pullback, so we have to keep an open mind.

For the time being, the indexes are short-term range-bound, and with volume trailing off here I’m still reluctant to embrace trades for timeframes beyond a few hours.  Within trading ranges, as you know, the price action is indecisive, and reversals are much more prevalent.  Add to that the fact that there are primarily what I would call mediocre setups out there tonight, and there’s little reason for committing capital here.  That’s subject to changing by the day, but looking slightly to the left on the charts we see May becoming range-bound, and until that changes it means swing trades won’t get much sympathy direction from the overall market.

By the way, be sure to scroll down beneath tonight’s Broadcast to check out my mid-day Chart Review post for Stocks Under $20.

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: ARW, FFIV, SINA, NTES, OSK

Swing Trading Candidates:

NONE TONIGHT

[table “40” not found /]

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!

Happy Mother’s Day to those of you who are Moms!  You are under-appreciated every other day of the year.

Last week proved interesting as the indexes tagged new highs on Monday morning on the heels of the Bin Laden news, and worked its way lower from there.  The indexes were already extended after making sharp moves higher from the mid-April tests of the February lows, and a rest was certainly needed.  As a result, the news many Americans had waited over 9 years to hear was used as a reason to book profits.  The selling continued through Thursday, when the NAZ and S&P 500 both tested prior key levels and held them on the close.  Then, the pre-market jobs report on Friday sent the futures spiking higher, producing a substantial opening gap to the upside.  That strength also faded, however, as the indexes gave up about 1% from their morning highs to finish modestly positive on the session.

At this point, we’ve got some key levels to eyeball for short-term support and resistance, so those will be my focus in the days ahead until we see a clean breach.  On the top side are the highs at 2887 (NAZ) and 1370 (S&P 500), and on the low side are 2802 (NAZ) and 1332 (S&P 500).  While some are quick to jump out and declare last week’s action a “sell in May and go away” environment, I don’t think we can dismiss the remainder of the month so easily.  The indexes are still coming off the creation of higher highs and higher lows, and thus far we’ve only seen a modest retracement back down.  This pullback could still evolve into yet another higher low, so since the trends are still up, I’m keeping an open mind.

My watch lists have shrunken in recent days as leadership stocks have faltered and bases which had been under construction have been negated with this pullback.  That’s alright, and pullbacks can be useful to pare back watch lists.  What’s important is that during this period of indecision on the part of the market, that we don’t simply force buys or chase shorts and hope the market proves us right.  The course of action I’m sticking with is to let the charts set up, formulate some if/then scenarios for potential trades, and go from there.  The market will punish impatience, so I’ll look to maintain high levels of cash over these next couple of days until there are some solid technical reasons to choose a side.  My expectation (which is subject to change, depending upon how this market moves) is that we’ll see some opportunities primarily on the long side with some occasional shorting candidates.  The charts will decide for me though, so the good news is I don’t need to go with a hunch.

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: AMZN, CSCO, ATI, VRTX, ARW, SOHU, SINA, RCII, MOS, BIDU, COH, PLCE, NTES, OPEN, OSK, GS

Swing Trading Candidates:

NONE TONIGHT

[table “39” not found /]

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!

A downside gap this morning was eventually filled as the indexes worked their way back into positive territory by mid-day.  They weren’t able to hold there, however, and the selling pressure returned in the afternoon to make new session lows.  The pace accelerated in the final 90 minutes, generating talk of last year’s flash crash just a day before the anniversary of May 6, but in the last half hour, we did see a rebound from the lows of the day into the closing bell.

Today’s move is simply a continuation of the pullback which started with Monday’s upside gap.  Prior key levels are being tested here, which gives us some areas to eyeball as potential support.  However, it’s important to note that even if those levels get undercut, this is still currently a healthy pullback.  Conditions could worsen and change that, but for the time being this is still just a dip within the existing uptrend.  Keep in mind, new multi-year highs were being hit at the start of this week.

My stance this week has been to take things pretty easy and let this slide play out.  Anticipatory buys aren’t paying off, so it’s best to let some new levels get established and allow some new patterns to form before committing to a direction.  Trading the long side within an uptrend and the short side within downtrends is the ideal way to trade, so I have no interest in shorting here.  At the same time, we’re still waiting for this dip to get completed, so it still feels early to be getting long for anything but quick flips.

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: GA, WSM, COH, RCII, NVDA, SMH, OCR, SCCO

Swing Trading Candidates:

NONE TONIGHT

[table “38” not found /]

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!

The short-term pullback continued today as the indexes sold off into mid-day.  Key areas were tested, at which point buyers emerged to provide a lift from the lows of the day into the closing bell.  The rebound wasn’t significant, but it was enough to remind us that the overall trends are still up.

To see a multi-day pullback like this rattles some market participants, but as traders we know it’s just part of the ebb and flow.  We discussed last week how the indexes had become short-term extended, so to see some profit-taking kick in is actually a healthy thing.  So long as this dip doesn’t evolve into an all-out reversal (and undercut prior lows), it has a shot at creating another higher low.  Along the way, more bases will be built and leadership stocks may rotate, so it’s important right now to keep a close eye on the charts and watch for developing patterns.

I’m still only considering day trades for tomorrow’s session, as there simply aren’t well-defined, mature patterns available at the moment which I trust for multi-day moves (swing trades).  The overall market trend is still up, but we’re in a pullback at the moment, which also keeps things a bit tricky.  Stated otherwise, I don’t want to be shorting here, but it may also be a bit premature to aggressively buy.  As such, I’ll stick with day trades in the short term until some higher-quality patterns set up for swing plays.  My watch lists have been pared back considerably over the past few days, which also means fewer stocks are really in play here.

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: SLV, AAPL, FFIV, WSM, DTG, JNPR, AN, ZMH, X

Swing Trading Candidates:

NONE TONIGHT

[table “37” not found /]

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!

The pullback/rest phase which started Monday continued today as the indexes spent the bulk of today’s session in negative territory.  The downside damage wasn’t significant, however, and was also aided by a late-day rebound from the lows of the session.  In the end, the DJIA finished flat, while the other indexes posted modest losses while respecting some key levels.

The pace of this dip should be encouraging to the bulls, as we’ve yet to see a serious change of character.  We’re still just a short distance from highs, which is to say we could reach them again quickly if this market catches a bid.  For now, the buyers are taking a well-deserved and healthy rest, so there’s no need to force buys while the market stagnates.  My list of potential trades for Wednesday is rather limited, and that’s fine with me.  I’d rather stick with quality than quantity, so it’s not about having a ton of setups to focus on.  There are slow days and busy days, and it could simply be that tomorrow is a day to mark time while this market continues to consolidate.  The key is not to overtrade when conditions aren’t very favorable for momentum-type plays.

One thing I noticed tonight in looking through many charts of individual stocks was the number of pattern failures.  Several leadership stocks like LULU and MELI broke down from bullish consolidations which had been building, thus negating those patterns.  Quite a few others did the same, which cleaned up my watch lists a bit.  That’s to be expected in the midst of a rest phase or pullback, and helps us to locate stocks which may be poised to lead the next move.  Let me encourage you to keep your attention on those setups which are showing some potential, rather than those which used to perform well.

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: ADSK, MELI, LULU, LPSN, FFIV, JNPR, DTG

Swing Trading Candidates:

NONE TONIGHT

[table “36” not found /]

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