The last two weeks has been some of the most volatile trading in the last few years, but certainly not some of the worst times. The $VIX made fresh five year highs (“fear index”) recently as well. While the daily charts of the major indexes appear fragmented and broken from a technical standpoint, the weekly…
Everyone who participates in day trading has their own perspective, setups, indicators, and rules they use that work for them. However, there are some common points that are watched by a majority of intraday traders, and it is imperative to know what they are observing and how price reacts to those key levels. I like…
Did you know you could develop a simple trading strategy that returns winning trades 80% of the time that uses random entries?! It actually CAN be done. For those of you who are still reading, a second question that comes up is whether or not this strategy is profitable – the answer is “sometimes.” This…
All major US Indexes fell precipitously today, with the Dow, S&P, and Russell falling close to 3% in one day, while the Nasdaq fell 2%. As indicated yesterday, there were at least three sources of overhead resistance that the market – or buyers – had to overcome to lift the major indexes. As today’s action…
The markets are in a precarious position right now, from a basic level technical analysis overview. How so? First, we have had a large volatility impulse down which has made new momentum lows. We are now experiencing a ‘counterswing’ up that is being met with potential resistance overhead, which must be overcome (or ignored) by…
Where the major indexes stand currently, we are experiencing an orderly, yet rapid, pullback to established support zones. Recall that as a market rises, it undergoes pullbacks to shake out excesses and allow opportunities for latecomers to establish new positions, or current traders to establish larger positions. Markets pullback as a result of orderly profit…
After yesterday’s market decline, so many bloggers provided their thoughts on what will happen next, either from a sentiment standpoint or a historical standpoint. I wanted to highlight a few of these posts for deeper study: Dr. Steenbarger not only provides a commentary of his own, but he provides excellent links that I highly recommend…
Caterpillar: Caterpillar (CAT) recently pulled back (sharply, might I add) to the rising 20 moving average and found (temporary) support. It’s still on a down day (currently) with a nasty gap, but aggressive trend traders (and swing traders) could have (or still can) establish a position here with a tight stop should the average be…
A reader informed me I failed to include the Dow chart in the recent chart analysis so here is today’ s Dow Jones action – the Dow has held up the strongest in the recent environment, perhaps because of capital flowing into larger capitalized securities. The Russell (small cap) is still showing relative weakness. We…
I found the following quote by Ralph W. Emerson inspiring: Success To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world…