interesting Index segment - Ex tech Comparable ETF QQXT- breaking out -low volume- QQQ's still below prior highs. Will look it over -Thanks for posting .
Understanding- currency, yield curve, - still haven't got a handle on how to understand this- or how the markets may react- Just points out how much I have to learn-despite following stocks for a long while- Thanks .
Yeah, youre a better , more active trader than I, its just an explanation and you cant make money off of that. Do what you do. Good luck.
Sometimes- less active is really the Better approach- Ask the majority of professional & active fund managers. It remains to be determined if my increased activity will be productive for me in the months ahead. I appreciate you taking the time for the explanation- Feel free to share - That's how we all learn. Thanks for your input.
I was filled on TAN as it gapped higher at the open- Bought 30 @ $49.47- partial position entry QQXT moving nicely higher this lunch hour. Autodidact was correct- bullish- thanks for the suggestion I will take a position in this momentum move in the next few minutes- It will be in a separate account than the ib account- that I can access from here. Just filled 50 $42.87 12:22 $40.75 looks to be just below the prior swing lows . Initial disaster stop is $2.12 below my entry- or 4.9%. As I allow my entry stops to be a bit wider- to be outside of intraday volatility- and just getting touched on a down spike- only seeing the trade rebound higher going into the close- I will still expect to tighten stops on some or all of the trade on a sign of weakness- The goal is to not get taken out at every minor market quiver- but to not let a decline take away decent profits or become an unnecessarily larger loss- Raising a partial position stop higher on weakness- Like I did on PJP last week- Part of the position sold, the rest held- but the trade was already in net profitable territory for both stops- It's more difficult on the initial entry to have that turn immediately against you to have the discipline to take that quick -early -in-the- trade loss, but that's why I have to always be willing to determine - at the time of entry- where the level my stop will start at. Using this entry as that example- My 5% or so Stop is just setting the disaster stop- I will raise the stop if I see a weakness that I am concerned about-
Thurs 4.23.15 With the overall markets up, Time to go with the tide-Not sit on the beach....OK, If a rip tide shows- don't wade in too deep. I don't know what will cause a knee jerk market sell-off - but I think it's worth following the trends on the charts- until they turn- Finally- 15 years in the making the NAS played catch-up to it's past highs. XBI moved higher today- I lowered my Buy-stop and increased my order size-Buy-stop-lmt 15- $237-$238.53 $10 trail stop- puts me below the prior swing low on the entry. PJP- I'll try to get a fill back on the 15 shares I sold- Yes- that is overweight- Buy-stop $80.25 - $81.05 The EEM chart looks good - but past resistance highs are not far away- $44.50- $45 from Sept 2014. I'm not comfortable with 3x leverage, but the EDC seems to mirror the recent movements- with 15% or so upside to the equivilent resistance- This leveraged play also has good daily volume. I reduced the position size - Buy-stop 30 shares $30.50 - $31.50 with the disaster stop $27.50.
I enjoy reading your musings in this very thoughtful journal. A couple of links you might find interesting. You know what they say about markets making the headlines. http://www.bangkokpost.com/business...om-nightmare-over-as-nasdaq-retakes-2000-high And this piece from earlier. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-a-buying-binge-during-friday-s-market-plunge
Hi Just- thanks for posting the links- and the walk back in time. The Article Indeed brings back some -UGH- Tech memories - of trading in that bubble era and my final initiation into how quickly things can decline-and how much money one can give back in a market decline - blink or two-or three- Allow me to look back when.... The article reminds me- How I didn't understand I was in an overvalued bubble -I had only been trading for myself for a relatively short period of time- 1-2 years- Didn't have any experience of a declining market to fall back on...Trading was easy- You bought what was mentioned/highlighted on CNBC- That was the trading plan- Made a lot of steady profits-for a short while- Those were some really exciting times back then- I had no clue what the guy on the other end of the phone line was talking about after several vacation days home & buying and selling stocks (in my mother's account at that!) said i had to cover my margin purchases- I had made profits on all the trades but he wanted me to put more money in or they would not allow me to keep all the profits i had made.... I would also prefer to recollect the 1 day excitement of trailing a stock stop-loss from $9 to $48- yes-a buying frenzy - all in one day- Another "success" story to recollect- BUT... The end of that era's peaking chapter was when pullbacks were no longer buying opportunities...Ultimately led to greater declines- - Smart money was exiting- and the Retail Investor was still wading in..........waving flags that all was clear - But - The Tide was going out- Let me add the Insult to the Injury- I may have told this before - But it is worth repeating to those that have not been trading prior to 2007.,and have not experienced a significant market decline/sell-off- WE are well overdue- but propped up by Fed interpretation of their rate policy. Back in the bubble: - after losing a considerable % of my starting account, I went-discouraged- to a seminar that had a professional advising us to put our money - for safe keeping- into a company that had Billions of dollars of profits on their balance sheet- and suggested to not look at it for years to come. This was a knowledgeable professional giving profound guidance to those of us that had lost our way- and a lot of dollars. I don't think I paid $250.00 per share for SUNW at that time-Bought it much lower at a "Value" but several years later I woke up and was happy to sell it and take the remainder at $4.00 or so. I think I had bought at $8 - Just a 50% loss needing a 100% gain to get back to break even. What had been a market leader in it's technology- got overbought- it's technology got replaced- and - while it managed to keep a presence- it was no longer a market leader- and would never regain that prominance. It was replaced by new technology, and never regained it's market dominance- http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/18/su...hnology-enterprise-tech-sun-microsystems.html Telecom was a big market segment- CSCO was the gorilla- some $75.00 a share- I remeber bragging I got out of it at $65 or so- Thinking I was a smart trader.....Actually- the early exit was indeed the best exit- The question becomes- when is it prudent to step in to a market momentum move, and when should one be selling into it? We have no way to make that determination- unless we do it with hindsight- The optomotrist I go to tell me that hindsight is 20-20 and is usually Spot-on. LOL- Which brings me full circle to tonight - My positions mostly declined from yesterday- but the markets closed a slight bit higher- Yes, I need to find time this weekend to "evaluate" Thanks for posting- and the opportunity for some recollection!
A number of interruptions in this late Friday pm attempt to post & REVIEW TRADES. Will find time this weekend to play catch-up Trades I was filled on : EDC, XBI, PJP today all ended up lower today- but still are active- I will review my positions over this weekend, and my new entries- and stops- EDC 30 @ 30.79 xbi 15- $37.07 pjp 15 $80.27
SOME EDC CHARTS- The Fill was using a higher buy-stop order with price right at the recent high- Demand pushed the price up higher- This is a leveraged ETF- follows the EEM. The wider the time frame one views, one can get a different perspective for a sell target, as well as a stop-loss target. The larger time frame chart shows a multi year sideways trend- What can be seen on a weekly chart going back 4 years, is that EDC has hit similar bottom lows- over the years on pullbacks- but the EEM has not had the depth of pullback lows- EDC may be fine as a short term momentum play- but -like most leveraged ETF's they do not perform the same as the underlying over time.