One of the top questions people ask me is this: âwhen you look at charts, do you start the intra-day action for technical purposes at the 9:30AM official open or do you include pre and post hours trading on your charts?â The answer is two-fold. First, there old saw about those not learning from history are doomed to repeat history. Therefore, one should always know what a stock did in the pre and post hours. This is because a day trader involved with a volatile stock needs to know the extremes of said stock because those boundaries can always be tested intra-day. For instance, on June 4, Lehman (LEH) opened at 29.70 (down about a point) on the NYSE and soon fell to 28.67 on the NYSE to the shock of many investors and traders who were long the stock. However, what most people did not know is that LEH traded down to 28 in the very early morning (before 8AM). Thus, there was a lot of room there for the stock to move. With that in mind, the second point is this: we tend to use the intra-day charts beginning at 9:30AM simply because this is what most other people do. Therefore, one wants to utilize oneâs strategies based upon what most eyeballs are viewing. When one looks up historical data on Yahoo on a stock, only the 9:30AM-4PM information is displayed; it is the same with most trading systems as well. So, the lesson here is this: data-wise, view what everyone else is viewing simply because moves tend to be more powerful when there are more people involved, but be aware of what the stock has done in the immediate past either before and/or after-hours because it can and often does indicate the breadth of the move a stock can make. Markets were quiet through the world with Asia ostensibly flat and European bourses up a fraction of 1%. Oil is bouncing nicely, up 3% or so. Everything else is quiet. And âquietâ is the word that should be in play unfortunately for day traders today as well. Same theme as yesterdayâ¦there is no belief in the government machinations yet sellers seem tired. So, look for a somewhat slow day againâ¦off-hand, itâd seem with futures belted last night that there should be a little sell-off by mid-morning (30-60 Dow points). However, if financials and tech hold despite HPQâs terrible numbers, the opposite will occur- a short covering bounce of 30-60 Dow points. Reiterating- Please understand that if the ideas do not get to the hoped for set-ups cited below, more often than not, one should not blindly trade the symbol next to said idea. If the whole story is not there - If something is good, assume either a short thru unchanged or an A-B-A2 based on direction of the market unless specified. If something is bad, assume either a buy thru unchanged or an A-B-A2 (preferably to the downside in a downside market and the upside in an upside market) based on direction of the market unless specified- Good- The following stocks have good news and/or a strong technical pattern PCLN- terrific earnings AAP- great earnings AEM- decent earnings and mentioned on âMad Moneyâ WFMI- good earnings SNPS- good earnings DBRN- decent earnings NBL- good earnings WPI- great earnings Bad-The following stocks have bad news and/or a weak technical pattern IBOC- closed near low CRA- closed near low after posting bad earnings RIMM- closed near low; stock has been crushed in recent days CSE- closed near low PBT- closed near low BAC, C- among big banks strongly lower after-hours BIDU- missed slightly on next quarter outlook BMRN- terrible earnings NILE â warned badly TRN- poor earningsâ LDK- warned on outlook NTRI- warned on outlook WMB- bad earnings Earnings: THURS FEB 19 BEFORE AGP APA B CPA CTL CVS DSX EXPE GG GGB GLBL HOS HRL IDA LTM NBL NEM PDCO PDE POOL PQ RGC RS S SFY SLW SSP TTC WMB WPI XTO THURS FEB 19 AFTER ANH BUCY CEC CECO CENX CQB CYH HME INTU JCOM KND MYL OIS OSIP RIO RRGB SPN TSO UNTD WMGI WOOF WRE Good luck today. Erik R. Kolodny
Erik, take a look at GVA. looking for it to hit the 32.50 area. nice infrastructure play and ready to make a move. PCLN is good as well but i will buy when it bases and put in a TIGHT STOP. but who knows. GVA is definitely my play and on my watch list. EXPO is as well to a certain extent but the mojo is with GVA. TRADER2000
looking at the GVA chart again;i think that 200 dma at around 35 will be a magnet. perhaps not today but 35 is imminent.