I describe the market action before the opening bell and after the close and discuss set-ups for the next day.
Last month was the worst June since the Depression – the Dow fell 10% in one month alone. Let’s look at the structure of the monthly index charts to see what their story tells us about the possible future. Dow Jones: The key feature of this chart is that price has closed beneath the rising…
Today’s action slammed both bulls and bears… more than once! It was another rough trading day, which can be expected during the summer months of low (relative) volume. Let’s view some of the price structure trades that could have been taken, in an effort to familiarize ourselves and trade more appropriately next time. Let’s use…
This looks bad for the bulls. The Dow Jones Index broke its 2008 closing low today, and has broken its 2008 lows made in January. The overall trend is down, and momentum appears to be accelerating. The roughly 14% rally off the March lows has now been confirmed as a “Bear Market Rally,” in which…
As evidenced by today’s intraday price action, you’d think the market either had schizophrenia or was potentially bi-polar. Once the decision to hold interest rates unchanged at 2%, the market swung sharply four times before settling down for the close. Was there any chance of profit in this volatilty? Let’s look. The NASDAQ QQQQ ETF:…
Today’s decision will be more about tone than action – about words than a policy decision. The Fed is expected to keep overnight rates locked at 2%, though some may begin to discuss the threat of inflation on the economy, and may be trying to “jawbone” or threaten action if inflation numbers continue to be…
What is the Arc of Opportunity, you might ask? It’s reflective of the smooth, even transition that’s occurred recently in the Dow Jones Index. You could name it whatever you like, actually, such as the “Arc of Shame,” “Arc of Buying and Selling,” “Arc of Transition” or whatever seems catchy to you. Let’s look at…
Valmont Industries (VMI) has been a steadily rising stock until recently, when bad news destroyed the tranquility of the recent rise. Let’s look at the charts for some clues and educational lessons. First, the stock broke above its downtrending moving averages in late March (double arrows), signaling strength in the stock. The breakout from consolidation…
What have your favorite sectors returned so far? Let’s take a look at Sector SPDR performance both for the month of June so far and the year 2008 so far. For the month of June: The Financial sector returned the worst performance for June, dropping almost 13% so far. The only sector to post a…
What do you do when you have a rough day trading the markets? What does a rough day look like? Today was a rough day for me, as my style of ‘scalping’ momentum trading, which relies heavily on impulse and moving averages, totally fell flat today in the DIA – the market I trade most…
Today’s price action was in some ways similar to a trend day, but the price action wasn’t as clean as expected. Let’s look at some of the key trades we could have taken in today’s market price structure. 5-minute chart: DIA First, the market began with an overnight gap of less than 100 points in…