Sellers Dominate End of Day Trading as Volume Soars
November 30, 2010 | Comments Off
European fears spread fast and furious as the monetary union is struggling with its debt crisis
Stocks stumble on more European fears as the debt crisis worsens and spreads to more countries. In addition, China signal an interest to raise capital requirements once again to curb inflation in the mainland, but the move is likely to do very little to curb inflation fears. The market was poised to push back to Monday’s high, but sellers had other ideas. A few leaders held up, but the follow through we had been looking for failed to materialize. At this point, cutting laggards and taking profits are prudent moves.
Setting Euro Fears Aside The Market Rallies off the Lows of the Session
November 29, 2010 | Comments Off
Stocks rebound as buyers step up and support the market
The market returned from a holiday shortened week greated by hefty selling as fears over deapening of the European debt crisis. Stocks hung around the lows after a steep sell off heading into the 10am hour. Even a positive Dallas Federal Reserve Manufacturing activity report could not hold off sellers from pushing the markets to their lows. Many leaders were holding up during the sell-off, a positive sign for the markets in general. Just before 2:30pm EST the markets found solid footing and pushed higher back to the day’s high and closing just off the highs of the day. Another positive move by the market bouncing off support and as market leaders continue to act positive the uptrend remains intact.
Top Current Holdings, Total Return, And Date Of Purchase
November 28, 2010 | Comments Off
I am currently fully invested in all of my regular accounts and my IRA.
ticker symbol – total % return since first purchase – date of purchase
URRE 137% 10/26
MIPS 119% 8/20
RES 89% 7/13
JOBS 81% 8/16
SPRD 59% 8/27
GGAL 54% 10/19
TZOO 47% 9/28
CPWM 44% 11/15
XXIA 40% 8/31
FFIV 37% 10/22
IGTE 34% 9/17
AXTI 34% 9/20
ARUN 30% 8/27
TRS 30% 10/1
IVN 27% 9/14
CGNX 27% 9/24
FVE 27% 9/10
NSU 25% 8/20
MHR 24% 10/12
EPHC 24% 10/15
ACOM 24% 10/4
NNBR 21% 9/1
BIDU 21% 9/20
CWEI 21% 11/2
Performance of Big Wave Trading Ideas
November 25, 2010 | Comments Off
Great performance, but an important lesson to be learned
Cutting your losses makes a big difference in performance and the following charts prove by riding winners and cutting losses you can outperform the market.
How profitable are trade ideas from Big Wave Trading?
Our batting average
North Korea and PIIGS Weigh on Stocks as Volume Rises
November 24, 2010 | Comments Off
Fears rise over PIIGS bailouts and potential war in the Korean Peninsula scare traders away from stocks
The markets were rocked with news out of the Korean peninsula where North Korea and South Korea fired upon each other. Futures weakened considerably throughout the early morning session as European fears continued to put pressure on stocks. A better than expected GDP results and a spike in the Richmond Fed Index couldn’t help push stocks higher. Volume on the NYSE rose much higher than Monday’s level where the NASDAQ only saw its volume barely above Monday’s level. Market leaders were largely positive, but overall the damage was done with the banks. Today’s action was not ideal, yet we were able to find support at the lows with a few leaders finishing in the green.
Panic certainly struck the market today as fears regarding Ireland’s bailout, but now attention is turning to other countries making up PIIGS. Spain is the real issue here whereby its bailout will certainly be the grand daddy of them all. It is surprising the European Union hasn’t set up a TARP like program to deal with its banking issue, but what really needs to occur is for governments to run surpluses with slashing entitlement programs. Many will cry foul and ask for bigger taxes, but increasing taxes does not solve the problem of insolvency. It is an easy equation and for it to balance out spending needs to be drastically cut. But, all of this, for our markets with leaders showing promise we may have seen one giant shakeout.
Stocks Shake Off Insider Trading Probes to Close at the Highs
November 22, 2010 | Comments Off
The NASDAQ notches gains on volume as market leaders continue to show strength
The euphoric reaction Sunday evening to the Irish bailout news did not last very long. Futures continued to erode their gains as the open neared. Buyers initially were able to prop up the market, but sellers quickly pushed stocks lower as insider trading raids from the Feds scared the market. NYSE volume ran lower, but the comparison comes on the back of Friday’s inflated figure from options expiry. On the other hand, the NASDAQ had volume running higher most of the day. After mid-day the market found buyers and pushed all the indexes higher by the close. The NASDAQ, our big index leaders showed tremendous strength and a big accumulation day.
Reversing Course Stocks End the Day off the Highs but with Big Gains
November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
Better than expected jobless claim figures and a big jump in Philadelphia Fed index pushed stocks higher. Volume rose across the board as traders rushed to get back into stocks. Late day selling did knock stocks off their highs of the day, but gains were plentiful and solid. Today’s action does go a long way in to bring back the current uptrend. Given the gains and volume it is highly probable the rally will continue.
The index I focus on is the NASDAQ and second would be the S&P 500. Outside of these indexes there really isn’t any other index I want to pay attention to. The Dow Jones Industrial average is an ancient index and using this index to put the market in correction is not something I would put much stock into. Recently, the Dow had 6 distribution days yet the NASDAQ had only suffered 3 days worth while the S&P 500 had 4. The leading indexes, NASDAQ and S&P 500 didn’t have the heavy distribution you normally see at a market top. If we do see distribution over the next few days it would signal major weakness, but for now the uptrend still lives.
Many are comparing our recent market with the April highs. Why not, it is recent history and we all tend to think history repeats itself. The major difference is the February through April run came off a 3 week 8% decline in the market. Our recent uptrend came off the back of a longer and deeper correction. Thus, the probability of a 5% pullback and the uptrend remaining intact is high. Perhaps we do roll back over, but until we get full sell signals in our stocks and the NASDAQ/S&P 500 pile on the distribution this uptrend will continue.
Late Day Volatility Brings Excitement as the Market Awaits GM’s IPO
November 18, 2010 | Comments Off
Market leaders did little to inspire, but we held Tuesday’s low
The market did very little to calm the nerves of anxious bulls as the Dow closed slightly lower while the S&P 500 closed just higher. Volume ran lower across the board as the market was able to hold off from moving past Tuesday’s low. Closing slightly higher the NASDAQ fared better, but the index ran into a brick wall in the last hour as sellers slammed the index. A wild ride in the last hour made the day interesting and kept traders on their toes. We did see the market close off their lows, but overall the market lacked an impressive rebound after Tuesday’s heavy volume selling.
Stocks Tumble in Heavy Trade As Fears over Economic Conditions Grow
November 17, 2010 | Comments Off
European Debt Crisis 2.0 and Chinese Inflation strike fear in the market.
“If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, does it make a sound?”
There were plenty of traders around to see the market make take a dive to close lower (NASDAQ) for the fourth straight day. Volume jumped across the board as traders feared the worse in the European Debt crisis 2.0 and Chinese worries over inflation. Late day selling tried to collapse the market, but buyers were able to push stocks off the lows of the session. Despite the last ditch effort the market still closed near session lows.
Investors Business Daily put the market into correction mode after signaling the market in correction. IBD has had a streak of bad luck when putting the market into correction mode. After putting the market in correction we saw the July rally and again in September. While leading stocks have been beat up pretty good after a few days worth of selling they still are holding their moving averages. Remember, taking profits, working a position is a wise strategy and if you failed to take profits on the way up you will not forget in the next rally.
Volume Slides, but Late Day Sellers Push the Market to the Day’s Low
November 16, 2010 | Comments Off
Merger Monday fails to spark buyers
Late day weakness left a sour taste in traders’ mouths as late day sellers closed out the market near session lows. Mixed economic data got the day started with a better than expected Advance Retail Sales figures surprised the market. However, a very disappointing Empire Manufacturing report did not help ease traders’ minds about the economic recovery. Volume ran light throughout the day with the exception of the early morning gap where the NASDAQ experienced volume running higher than Friday levels. At the end of the day we were able to hold Friday’s lows, but the late day selling suggests we have further to go on the downside.
