Market Recap for Friday, September 4, 2015 Volatility remains the key for traders. A Volatility Index (VIX) in the 20s and 30s suggests that we not only could wake up to anything, but that we also should expect to see wild swings both higher and lower during the trading day.... READ MORE
Moving averages are lagging overlays by definition as we use historical data to determine their position on a price chart. But many traders use moving averages as support during periods of trending prices. Personally, my favorite is the 20 period EMA. Obviously, it can't guarantee us support in... READ MORE
There are plenty of technical analysts calling for the beginning of a bear market after the past couple weeks of heavy volume selling. I'm certainly open to that possibility as I always respect price support breakdowns with accelerating volume. But the story behind the scenes isn't... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, September 3, 2015 First, if you're available, be sure to join me at noon EST today for my Trading Places LIVE webinar. It's free and you can register HERE. Also, you can "subscribe" to my blog and have this morning... READ MORE
One week ago activist investor Carl Icahn disclosed that a group he belongs to owns nearly an 8.5% stake in Freeport-McMoran (FCX). Rumors suggest Icahn may seek representation on FCX's board of directors and is calling for changes in some of the Company's business... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, September 2, 2015 The bulls did not crumble on Wednesday. After a big gap down on Tuesday with the market closing at or near its lows of the day, there was the opportunity for the bears of another serious gap lower and rout on Wednesday, but... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, September 1, 2015 Off of the significant rally last week, a topping island cluster reversal pattern printed and was confirmed on Tuesday's open. This pattern, by itself, is simply a short-term reversing pattern and does not suggest a bear market is at hand.... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, August 31, 2015 Technical sellers returned on Monday as our major indices approached key resistance areas. The NASDAQ, in particular, had penetrated into its 4800-4900 resistance area and the bulls were initially rebuffed there. Eight of the nine sectors fell on Monday with energy the... READ MORE
Monday, August 31, 2015 Market Recap for Friday, August 28, 2015 Global markets were mixed on Friday, although most of the action here in the U.S. was positive, albeit on lighter Friday volume. Commodities were particularly strong, especially crude oil ($WTIC) and gold ($GOLD), but both have been long-... READ MORE
Facebook (FB), like so many internet stocks, performs its best during the month of September. There's not much of a sample size with FB since it went public just a little more than 3 years ago. However, during its last 3 Septembers, FB has averaged gaining 15.7%... READ MORE
While we cannot rule out the possibility of a sustained advance to clear technical hurdles, the first attempt today was an epic fail at or just below a critical short-term resistance zone. Given the high volume selling over the past 7-10 days and loss of key price support... READ MORE
Welcome to August. Don't look now, but September is right around the corner. Given the recent short-term price support breakdowns and explosion in the Volatility Index ($VIX), we have to be very careful as we make our way through the next month as historically the market has... READ MORE
The Dow Jones U.S. Computer Hardware Index ($DJUSCR) is testing significant price support created by the breakout in the fourth quarter of 2014 and the subsequent retracement back to that level just three months later. Recent weakness in Apple (AAPL) shares, along with other computer hardware stocks, has this... READ MORE
I have been ignoring much of the energy sector for months as their technical indications suggested weakness would continue. The energy ETF (XLE) is down over 13% in just the past six months and with crude oil unable to gain a bid, it's difficult to spend too much... READ MORE
Bears are awaiting price breakdowns in key areas of the market, but thus far they remain highly disappointed. Last week they had their chance to take down the small cap universe on two fronts and both failed. This isn't meant to say that the bulls are out of... READ MORE
After its latest quarterly earnings report, traders rushed into priceline.com (PCLN) as it surged nearly 100 dollars from 1283.99 to 1382.61 on a post-earnings gap. Patient traders, however, have seen PCLN return to its pre-earnings level as it closed on Friday at 1283.80 just... READ MORE
I generally spend a lot of time writing and talking about areas of the market showing strength. The reason? I'm a momentum trader and we're in the midst of a six year bull market. When I trade a stock, I typically would like to see immediate... READ MORE
The stock market looks ahead and based on the latest breakout in home construction stocks ($DJUSHB), apparently traders like what they see on the horizon. The 10 year treasury yield ($TNX) held key support and is bouncing. Proceeds from the sale of treasuries seems to be finding a "home&... READ MORE
There have been more and more areas of the U.S. stock market that are showing signs of slowing momentum to the upside and it's begun taking a toll on several of those areas. Over the past six months, healthcare (XLV) and consumer discretionary (XLY) have outperformed. But... READ MORE
I have been reading with much interest how the potential slowdown in China will be the next reason why the S&P 500 will tumble. But by changing a few chart settings here at StockCharts.com, you can quickly visualize the correlation between the Chinese stock market and our... READ MORE
I know many of you prefer the increased safety and diversification of ETFs over trading individual stocks. For some of you, it may simply be that you don't have time to watch over a portfolio of stocks, nor do you have the time and/or inclination to spend... READ MORE
In evaluating the likelihood of sustainable market rallies, one key relationship revolves around how consumer discretionary (XLY) stocks are performing vs. their consumer staples (XLP) counterparts. The reason is fairly simple. Consumer discretionary companies sell products that people WANT while consumer staples companies sell products that people NEED. If the... READ MORE
I've said many times before and I'll continue to repeat it - we must do our homework and then show the necessary patience and discipline to allow trades to set up for us. Part of doing homework is accumulating a number of stocks that are in bullish... READ MORE
Advances in the stock market are much more bullish and likely more sustainable if small cap stocks are outperforming their large cap counterparts. Over the past three years, we've seen very volatile relative action between the S&P 500 and Russell 2000. During periods when the Russell... READ MORE
I don't think so. I'm always a bit leery of August and September because of the historical tendency for the stock market to struggle during the late summer season. Throughout the current 6+ year bull market, the Aug-Sept period has racked up gains four out... READ MORE
Risk management is paramount to a successful trader. It sounds easy enough, but what does it mean? Well, it can mean lots of different things to different people. The easiest way to manage risk is to remain in cash. You can sleep without worrying what happened in China overnight. But... READ MORE
WFM posted underwhelming quarterly earnings results and the stock is down significantly in early action today. More importantly, however, is the longer-term price support that's being tested. WFM has not had an open or a close beneath 35.90 since early 2012 although WFM has tested this... READ MORE
The MACD is an awesome indicator, one that I use in my trading decisions every day. But there are misinterpretations at times, in my opinion, and I want to share a few of those with you. In my most recent article, "The Power of the MACD", I shared... READ MORE
There are pullbacks in uptrends and then flat out trend reversing breakdowns. We never know for sure which is which until history plays out. But Biogen's (BIIB) massive selling on Friday has all the makings of the latter. Any time a company rises more than ten fold in... READ MORE
Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc (FBHS) surged in volume today and appeared to be on its way to a breakout above closing price resistance near 48.00. FBHS actually printed an intraday high of 47.99 before reversing and finishing weak the final two hours. From the weekly chart... READ MORE
For me, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) trails only the combination of price and volume in my hierarchy of trading tools and indicators. It's THAT good. But it has one major limitation in that it only considers price action, not volume. Hence, it cannot be trusted as... READ MORE
Funny how the stock market does a complete turnaround in two weeks, isn't it? If you haven't already read my July 7th article, "Today Smells Like A Short-Term Bottom.....Maybe", go back and check it out. If you're going to short-... READ MORE
There's a reason we watch chart patterns. Earlier this week in a DITC blog article, the internet index ($DJUSNS) finally cleared 900 resistance after failing at that level on a few occasions the past 18 months. This latest attempt was different, however. Many times it gets quite frustrating... READ MORE
Just a couple months ago in early May, ATML gapped higher on big volume and hasn't looked back since. Along the way, it cleared price resistance just below 9.00 on very heavy volume and subsequently surged to 10.50 before becoming violently overbought and in need of... READ MORE
Earnings season is always full of surprises. It's a time when we usher out the old (leaders) and welcome in the new. Companies that report better-than-expected results and are trading in bullish technical patterns typically have an advantage in the weeks ahead - at least that'... READ MORE
Many traders are believing the Dow Jones U.S. Internet Index ($DJUSNS) is dead money and for the past 18 months or so, that's been mostly true. The DJUSNS has been unable to sustain a move above 900, testing that level in March 2014, September 2014, March 2015... READ MORE
Restoration Hardware (RH) engages in the retail of home furnishings. Over the past three months, the home improvement retail index ($DJUSHI), to which RH belongs, is down more than 4% while RH consolidates ahead of what could be a triple top breakout. As a result, RH is showing solid relative... READ MORE
The recent movement in CME shares back and forth is nothing but noise. The technical picture here is very solid with an uptrend in place that began in early 2013, preceding the current ascending triangle formation. During that span, CME more than doubled its stock price although its March high... READ MORE
I want to start this article from a historical perspective. I'm convinced there's much truth in the numbers. The 28th through the 6th and the 11th through the 18th are historically bullish periods of the calendar month. I believe much of this strength has to do... READ MORE
Possibly a long-term bottom. But I do respect bearish market behavior, especially during the summer months where history tells me "corrections happen". I'm watching the action closely today, however, and we're seeing significant bounces off of steep drops that have a rather distinct... READ MORE