Timing really is everything, you know. Everything. This is particularly true when it comes to trading. When doing a trade, one must utilize precise disciplined timing. Rather than guessing at potential action or trying to âjump in early.â Letâs give two examples from Friday the 24th. Around 11:46AM-11:54AM on Friday morning, MMM was trading in a very tight range between 55.89 and 55.99. The goal if momentum trading is to buy the thing on the good news at the new high of 56. Had anyone bought it between 55.90ish and 55.99 for the seven minute period preceding 11:54AM, he/she would likely have lost money because the stock dove quickly on the 11:54AM bar back down to 55.91. Yet, naturally when the stock touched 56, it popped 12 cents within one minute. If one properly executed the trade, he/she would have earned the quick pop by buying it at 56 rather than trying to assume itâd go and get a jump on the game. Example 2: At 1:23PM on Friday, BBT was ticking at its high of 24. With bank stocks on their highs, it seemed as if BBT should continue to soldier higher. There were approximately 40000 shares on the offer at 24. The goal is to buy the thing as the offering is disbursed as close to the end of the elimination of the offering just before the stock notches up yet fast enough to make sure one is in. A fine balance. Well, the instant the stock ticked 24, I decided it was gonna go and overeagerly hit the âbuy buttonâ for 2,000 shares at 24. We all know what happened next. The stock stopped trading at 24 which indicated that buying interest just wasnât there and the second any selling pressure entered, it was going to decline. Sure enough, I ended up selling at 23.97 for a $60 loss plus ticket charges (it hit 23.48 a few minutes later). Daily epiphany: balance the eagerness and desire with prudence and precision when doing a trade. Do not guess or hope âparticularly in this fast-moving market; simply do what the action indicates and tells you to do. Markets stormed higher overnight with Asian exchanges up over 4% on average and European bourses up about 1.5% on average. Oil is quietly at a yearly high, up again as well. A short squeeze is in full effect on the banks ahead of the stress test report this afternoon; look for the banks to lead the market one way or another as the day progresses. The banks will clearly outperform the market as futures are not keeping up with the ascent of the bank stocks, but the entire sector is the key to today- if they hold, the gains will continue and if there is a breaking of the fever, watch out. Either way, it will be very fast today so use very tight stops and be well aware that the moves today will be exaggerated. A great day trading day just as yesterday was. 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 (preferably to the downside in a downside market and the upside in an upside market) based on direction of the market unless specifiedIf 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 VNDA- got approval of its Schizophrenia drug (Fanapt) from the FDA COF- rumors abounding that it will not need additional capital from the stress test WFC, BAC, JPM, GS, MS, PNC, USB, BK, STI, ZION, BOH- among the strong bank stocks to watch ahead of the test; anything can happen but these things continued to rally yesterday with many closing at or near their highs PRU- decent earnings APAC- huge gain yesterday in closing near its high ARM- closed near a high TRK- closed near a high PDO- closed near a high UPFC- closed near a high ARG, CDNS- on âMad Moneyâ last night EOG- continued its massive rally; closed near a high DM- closed near a high TEN- closed near a high AMPL- good earnings CSCO- good earnings APC- decent earnings ECLP- great earnings ATW- good earnings PAA- good earnings ANDE- great earnings CENT- decent earnings NVEC- great earnings LOCM- good earnings PXP- good earnings ATPG- decent earnings CAM- decent earnings CXW- decent earnings PCS- decent earnings TDC- decent earnings WMT- better than expected same-store sales PRGO- good earnings RDC- good earnings FTO- good earnings CVC â good earnings Bad-The following stocks have bad news and/or a weak technical pattern CECO- bad earnings SPG- doing a share offering TBSI- terrible earnings BBBB- bad earnings MELI- bad earnings OTEX- bad earnings SYMC- bad earnings KAI- bad earnings TSO- bad earnings USU- bad earnings EGLE- bad earnings ENH- bad earnings HOTT- disappointing same-store sales LCC_ doing a share offering FOE- poor earnings WW- warned on earnings outlook Earnings: THURS MAY 7 BEFORE ABV ACM ARCC ARE ATK ATN ATPG CAM CLR CSE CTCM CVC CXW DHI DTV DYN EXH FOE FTO FTR GGB GMXR HOC HRP ISIS KEG LAMR LINE LXP MFC MPW NDAQ OMG OHI PCS PRGO PXP RDC SCI SFY SLF STE TDC WEN WW THURS MAY 7 AFTER ALL ALNY ATVI BID BYI CBS CROX CSTR DCT EBS FBN FSYS GNW INT IPI IRF KFN LEAP MAA MCHP MIL MVSN NHP NVDA OIS PCR PDLI PGH PSA RAH RATE RMD SD SGMS SHO SRX SVR THG THOR VRSN WTW Good luck today. Erik R. Kolodny