I was wondering if it is time to stop swing trading for awhile until the market shows a clear direction? Or can I swing trade in any type of market?
You can swing-trade in any kind of market, sure....it all depends on your level of risk and appetite for volatility. I've passed on some GREAT swing trades over the past few weeks choosing instead to keep my cash safe. Did I feel remorse? A bit, but at least I knew my analysis was right, and had I traded would have been profitable. That said, in these current conditions, I am much more cautious entering a position than I was six months ago, and happy to sit in cash for my active trading account.
Things to keep in mind. Last weekly close was on at the high of the bar. 85% chance of being exceeded by some amount. Holiday weekend coming up. Seasonal bullish. Short term trend is up. Still a little room to the upside before strong resistance. All this says, set up's on the long side are a good bet. Keith
Just reduce your position size to the amount you feel comfortable swing trading during the volatility.
If you don't want to trade non-trending markets (as I do, and IMO is the absolutely best thing to do in the stock market), you are late by a month. Some simple technical analysis, gave a clear warning that there was no clear trend.
I stopped trying to predict the behavior of prices. Some of my most profitable trades appear unexpectedly. I just keep following my method. Daily MACD and RSI of general market averages are near the lowest values of about the preceeding 12 months. It is possible for a broad continuing rally to appear.
These should do well IMO Trend 100% =North , 0% = South Strike = Price where at Strike Expiry is expected to go through Buy and Sell = Day Trade Levels Symbol Sell Buy Strike Strike Expiry Close Trend 5 Days AAPL 139.08 125.94 135.18 9/11/07 132.25 100.00% ADBE 42.37 39.26 41.59 9/19/07 40.81 100.00% ADSK 47.51 43.50 47.71 9/15/07 45.47 99.78% AKAM 34.79 30.19 19.53 9/6/07 32.61 0.26% ALTR 24.16 22.29 24.60 9/15/07 23.18 100.00% AMAT 21.43 19.82 22.21 9/15/07 20.59 100.00% AMGN 51.60 48.02 45.84 9/15/07 49.92 63.29% AMLN 51.77 47.34 54.01 9/15/07 49.49 55.58% AMZN 85.29 73.25 85.14 9/6/07 78.65 100.00% APOL 61.77 54.80 59.05 9/11/07 58.28 99.75% ATVI 19.96 18.09 19.84 9/15/07 19 97.36% BBBY 35.74 33.45 32.85 9/19/07 34.63 99.61% BEAS 12.67 11.29 12.18 9/11/07 12 96.20% BIIB 65.34 60.71 63.43 9/15/07 62.93 99.48% BMET 46.79 44.98 45.83 10/26/07 45.77 40.77% BRCM 34.68 31.18 31.98 9/15/07 32.86 14.17% CDNS 22.19 20.77 21.53 9/19/07 21.48 96.79% CDWC 88.93 82.19 85.99 9/15/07 85.38 100.00% CELG 62.36 56.66 62.38 9/15/07 59.45 99.68% CEPH 75.79 70.65 73.78 9/15/07 73.08 100.00% CHKP 24.07 22.20 24.33 9/15/07 23.11 100.00% CHRW 51.71 46.17 50.46 9/15/07 48.8 100.00% CKFR 48.49 43.33 51.89 9/11/07 45.95 6.62% CMCSA 26.69 24.96 25.68 9/19/07 25.84 99.94% COST 62.99 59.23 64.32 9/19/07 61.03 18.57% CSCO 32.34 29.95 31.86 9/15/07 31.1 100.00% CTAS 36.58 34.45 36.80 9/19/07 35.58 100.00% CTSH 75.92 69.65 68.67 9/15/07 72.79 7.85% CTXS 38.01 34.06 36.50 9/15/07 36 32.74% DELL 28.79 26.48 27.46 9/19/07 27.59 100.00% DISCA 25.64 23.61 25.04 9/15/07 24.55 100.00% DISH 43.04 40.02 41.17 9/15/07 41.46 100.00% EBAY 35.14 32.10 37.04 9/15/07 33.54 100.00% ERIC 37.60 34.71 37.22 9/15/07 36.17 99.97% ERTS 54.95 50.27 49.59 9/15/07 52.56 29.20% ESRX 57.27 52.28 55.52 9/15/07 54.74 92.71% EXPD 47.40 43.05 50.30 9/15/07 45.16 43.39% EXPE 31.96 29.08 31.10 9/15/07 30.42 100.00% FAST 47.66 43.56 49.92 9/11/07 45.53 100.00% FISV 49.18 46.25 49.42 9/19/07 47.73 100.00% FLEX 11.38 10.56 10.70 9/15/07 10.98 34.99% GENZ 61.51 57.44 56.65 9/19/07 59.5 97.06% GILD 38.17 35.31 38.46 9/19/07 36.73 99.96% GOOG 531.65 496.24 523.94 9/19/07 513.26 99.97% GRMN 108.40 96.23 115.04 9/11/07 101.93 79.75% IACI 28.59 26.63 23.03 9/19/07 27.64 48.78% INFY 48.70 44.60 42.88 9/15/07 46.67 26.25% INTC 25.37 23.59 24.82 9/15/07 24.45 100.00% INTU 28.58 26.07 29.06 9/11/07 27.35 80.34% ISRG 226.00 195.89 240.05 9/6/07 209.4 100.00% JNPR 34.83 31.06 35.62 9/11/07 32.86 94.98% JOYG 51.02 44.71 49.76 9/11/07 47.73 99.96% KLAC 61.04 56.12 61.37 9/15/07 58.44 100.00% LAMR 55.18 51.40 54.56 9/19/07 53.34 99.35% LBTYA 41.30 38.78 41.65 9/19/07 40 100.00% LINTA 19.62 18.07 16.44 9/15/07 18.85 97.07% LLTC 36.13 33.21 35.05 9/15/07 34.62 100.00% LOGI 28.10 25.33 24.73 9/15/07 26.69 69.19% LRCX 56.80 50.93 55.43 9/15/07 53.78 98.79% LVLT 5.37 4.72 4.33 9/11/07 5.04 2.07% MCHP 38.55 35.73 39.08 9/15/07 37.07 100.00% MICC 87.91 77.24 85.70 9/11/07 82.36 87.71% MNST 35.45 31.69 30.13 9/11/07 33.57 0.00% MRVL 16.31 14.48 15.00 9/11/07 15.39 0.26% MSFT 29.25 27.74 28.75 9/19/07 28.49 99.25% MXIM 32.53 29.80 31.53 9/15/07 31.12 99.66% NIHD 81.91 74.63 77.96 9/15/07 78.19 99.84% NTAP 30.11 26.61 19.21 9/6/07 28.4 0.00% NVDA 52.51 46.40 49.66 9/11/07 49.34 53.53% ORCL 20.56 19.17 20.00 9/19/07 19.86 100.00% PAYX 45.52 42.95 47.25 9/19/07 44.19 54.81% PCAR 86.38 78.83 85.04 9/11/07 82.45 100.00% PDCO 39.68 36.75 39.21 9/15/07 38.13 83.20% PETM 35.33 32.88 34.37 9/19/07 34.09 100.00% PTEN 22.37 20.28 22.09 9/15/07 21.32 97.75% QCOM 40.22 36.99 38.35 9/15/07 38.58 100.00% RIMM 87.46 75.60 84.84 9/6/07 81.11 67.53% ROST 27.94 25.67 27.79 9/15/07 26.77 98.97% RYAAY 40.62 36.63 35.71 9/11/07 38.61 0.04% SBUX 28.37 26.39 28.30 9/19/07 27.37 99.93% SEPR 31.29 27.40 19.09 9/6/07 29.45 0.06% SHLD 148.87 137.91 122.74 9/15/07 143.54 96.03% SIAL 47.30 44.92 49.19 9/22/07 46.12 71.19% SIRI 2.95 2.64 2.59 9/11/07 2.79 0.02% SNDK 54.94 48.74 56.18 9/11/07 51.86 82.71% SPLS 23.89 22.29 23.85 9/19/07 23.1 99.99% SUNW 5.25 4.78 4.43 9/12/07 5.01 0.00% SYMC 19.53 17.91 18.99 9/19/07 18.72 100.00% TEVA 43.29 40.64 42.74 9/19/07 41.93 87.55% TLAB 11.05 10.02 10.67 9/15/07 10.52 99.87% UAUA 47.24 41.40 37.12 9/11/07 44.24 0.01% VMED 25.28 22.54 19.62 9/11/07 23.86 95.80% VRSN 33.33 30.55 32.45 9/15/07 31.84 100.00% VRTX 39.22 34.70 35.62 9/11/07 36.89 0.01% WFMI 48.56 42.92 48.43 9/11/07 45.75 49.49% WYNN 128.54 115.34 113.10 9/11/07 121.38 0.00% XLNX 26.64 24.55 26.25 9/15/07 25.55 100.00% XMSR 12.39 10.66 9.78 9/11/07 11.49 0.00% XRAY 39.70 37.12 38.83 9/19/07 38.33 100.00% YHOO 24.23 21.93 21.43 9/11/07 23.03 19.41%
If your normal swing-trade holding period is less than 5 or 6 days then there is no reason not to trade right now. Volatility is dropping and stocks should behave fairly predictably.