Market Will Finish Up For 2015 – Barely. Asset Managers Will Paint the Tape
Posted 9:30 AM ET - The market is just chopping around and I don't have much to add. The Dow is 100 points from going into positive territory for the year and Asset Managers will "paint the tape". We are likely to see positive price action the next 2 days and I will day trade from the long side.
Window dressing will spark some intraday moves and this is a good environment for day trading.
You have to be patient in this market and it is important to enter the trades well. When you get a nice move, take profits. We can't expect any sustained moves when we are day trading because we don't have market momentum to fuel the stock. Corporate news is also very light at year end and there is nothing to drive the price.
I trade one pattern and I teach it in my chat room. When all of the elements are in place, my probability of success is very high. Only trades that fit the pattern can be posted in the chat room. This keeps us laser focused and every member knows the basis for the trade. We use my platform and a handful of targeted searches to find this pattern. If you are a day trader or an option trader, take the one-week free trial and you'll see exactly how we do it. We make money every day.
This trading pattern is also well-suited for swing trading, but we don't have a trending market. The S&P 500 is up one day and down the next. This is type of price action is not conducive for overnight positions. Last week, we also saw a huge drop that breached major moving averages and horizontal support. For that reason, I'm not a big fan of selling credit spreads. In a light volume environment, we can see big moves.
Typically I would not hesitate to sell put premium into year-end. Seasonal strength floats the market and Asset Managers are bidding for stock. That is not the case this year. We've seen periods of heavy selling and the S&P 500 will be lucky to finish the year with a gain.
Focus on day trading. The early rally today will push all stocks higher and I will spend the first 30 minutes trying to identify the "Real McCoy's". Many stocks will look like they want to run and the rally will quickly fizzle.
Relative strength is the key. I want to see stocks that moved higher and that continue to march when the market rally stalls. In particular, I look for price compression and a horizontal breakout on a 5 minute chart.
Once I am in a trade, I wait for a nice "pop", I have my targets set and my offers are working. I sell into strength and I let other traders reach for my limit price. I rarely adjust my targets in this type of environment. I am NOT scalping nickels and dimes; I am looking for a $.50-$.70 move. Normally, I would be looking for $1-$2 moves.
If you are not a day trader I suggest staying sidelined the rest of the week. Trading activity will return next week and we will get official PMI's on Monday. All eyes will be on China's activity and we should see nice movement.
If you are a day trader, take the one-week free trial - see you in the chat room. Click Pete and make sure to say “hi”. This is a very difficult trading environment. If you can make money on days like this, you can make money any time.
This type of guerilla trading sharpens your skills. When we do get a nice market movement, it's like shooting fish in a barrel.
Keep your size small and reduce your trade count. Look for a few good trades and call it a day.
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