Monday's trade - Short TNA, Long GLD

TNA formed a wide range red bar on Thursday right on the 50 EMA. Friday was a narrow range day. I was looking for a continuation of the downtrend on Monday.


Shorted TNA when price took out Friday's low. Covered partial at S2 and remaining near the round number.

GLD gapped up but I was initially looking for shorting gold because it seemed a little exnteded on the daily. Price formed 4 spinning tops and doji's just below R2 forming a bull flag. I changed my mind of shorting gold and went long above R2.

Long SLV

Nice, clean small bull flag to 9 EMA. It chopped around after my entry but finally reached R1. Exited full position there. On the 15 min. chart, 2nd bar was an IB and that convinced me to stay in the trade. Have a nice weekend everyone!

NOV, SU, GS

First bar green but with a big upper tail. 2nd bar is an inside bar which closes strong. Entry was below R2. Took partial near daily resistance of $70 and remaining near $70.50. Exited early.

Narrow range inside 2nd bar just below PDH. Put a buy order above R1. Partialled out at R2 where price consolidated and formed a bull flag. Sold remaining at 100% FE of the bull flag formed just below R2.

First trade of the day was GS short. Shorted and stopped out on the same (3rd bar).

Nov 2: TNA, GG, AAPL

TNA gapped up and retraced on low volume to the EMA's. It then formed an inside bar. Went long there. Took partial at R1. My next target was PDH but the candles were closing strong. So I decided to hold on but when price came back, I exited the balance a little below PDH.

AAPL gapped up forming a WR first bar. Price then retraced in NRB to 5 EMA. My entry was price formed a hammer. There was a better entry later - tailed, strong closing inside bar. Took partial at morning high and sold remaining when price formed a hanging man.

Consolidation near the EMA's. Went long inside the consolidation actually. Took partial near PDH. It then formed a long tailed red inverted hammer. But when price, instead of falling started to continue up, added back. I have noticed that after a long tailed hammer if price continues up at least half way the hammer, the odds of continuing upward is high. Exited entire position where indicated. Price tagged R2 later.

FFIV, SPG

FFIV was a reversal trade based on daily.

Oct 18 Trades - BIDU, FSLR

FSLR was on my WL based on daily chart. It took out PDH and then retraced to test the PDH forming a nice hammer. Entered long on the 4th bar. Took partial at R2. Price then consolidated and looked like it may go up again but it never did. Sold the remaining near 20 EMA at the EOD.

Daily chart of FSLR. 61% retrace of last leg up. Previous day candle was a tailed inside bar, closing strong.

BIDU formed a bull flag at R2. My entry was a bit early in hindsight. Took partial at 50% FE and sold remaining price took out 5 EMA on nice volume.

Daily chart - forming a base near 20 EMA after a nice move up.

Long: MON, AAPL

Like this setup. A solid bar followed by slight retracement and consolidation in the form of NRBs on 5 EMA. NRB's mostly doji's and spinning tops, all closing above 5 EMA. Entered when price formed a strong closing candle. Candles are initially smaller and gradually widens. All the candles closed strong, giving no reason to exit.

Gaps up above R2 and forms a bull flag. Candle near the 5 EMA closes strong providing an excellent entry.

Long CECO

Hope everyone was able to catch the 3 pm sell-off today. Just listing my morning trade.

I hate when the market gaps down lower and then shows strength. CECO have some nice volume coming in (daily chart) the last week. On the 15 min. chart, CECO was inside the PDR. A WRB followed by a red IB. Not a very ideal setup. 5 EMA was close to the entry price. Entered long on the break of ORH. A little consolidation followed by a strong bar closing just above the PDH. Added to my position here as it looked like a bull flag. Price expanded with very nice volume. Sold 3/4th of my position at R2. Price again consolidated. Added a little more to my position. Wasn't expecting 100% target extension. Sold near $23 level.

Commodities Strong - MOS, FCX

Agriculture stocks have been strong recently and have been undergoing correction the last couple of days. In the pre-market, $USD was weak, so I was watching commodities for a bounce.


Initially I wanted to go long AGU but the overhead EMA's were too much for me. Went long MOS on the bull flag break and exited completely near $55.40.


FCX gapped up a little and the first candle saw some selling. Found support on upsloping 5 EMA and PDH. 2nd candle bullish, closing strong. Entered long a little above the 2nd candle high. Sold completely at R2 (red dotted line).

Bull Flag - SPY; Gap Fill - CTRP

SPY gapped up on good earnings and guidance from INTC yesterday after the close. It formed a bull flag reaching the upward 5 EMA. Took partial at morning high and sold remaining near the close.


Gapped up forming a spinning top followed by a NRIB. Entered short on the 3rd bar. I did not wait for it to close below 5 EMA. After the entry it consolidated sideways and went down slowly to fill the gap.

Had 2 losers today - FCX and one other from the scan.

JOYG, SDS

First bar weak followed by an inside bar. Entered short on the break of the 2nd bar. JOYG then formed a bull flag against the PDL. Covered at S2.


SPY broke the March trend line. It formed a bear flag against PDL. I entered SDS long on the break of SDS's bull flag and sold entire position at R2.

MA Converge, Bull Flag - SPY

An exciting day. 1 hr. into the session it looked like I would not find any trade setups today but then SPY formed this lovely bull flag with MA converge. Hope all the trades are like this one everyday.



SPY gapped down big but rallied immediately. It then formed a beautiful bull flag with support from the daily pivot. Beautiful price and volume contraction when the flag was formed. All the MA's converged foreshadowing a nice expansion. Price broke out of the pattern on volume. I entered based on 5 min. chart after the breakout bar closed strong. Price reached 100% extension of the pattern. I sold half of my position on the way to book some profit. Exited remaining a little before $100.


ICE rallied with the indexes forming a WRB. The next bar met resistance at PDH and the flat 5 DMA. Wait for the price to consolidate under the 5 DMA before taking any position. It then formed cup and handle pattern. Buy limit order entry was above PDH. Exited when price met resistance from R1.

WLT, AXP, JEC

Only 3 trades today.


WLT was a nice gainer but I'm not happy with my entry. WLT rallied on the open and reached R2 where it found resistance. 2nd bar was a spinning top like candle inside the first bar. Entered on the break of 2nd bar high. Not happy with my entry because R2 (also ORH) would act as resistance again and it did. Price retraced but managed to stay above my SL. Price found resistance again at R2 the third time. On the 4th attempt, price managed to break R2 and I exited my entire position when the low of the shooting star like candle was taken out.


WR first bar closing above R2, followed by an inside bar in the tail area. My initial target was the next resistance at 32. Put a limit sell order at $31.97. Price missed the target by 2c. Exited my entire position at $31.81.


WR first bar closing above R2. 2nd bar was an almost inside bar. Price then formed a bull flag with support from the rising 5 EMA. Entered on the break of the bull flag. Price reached the $44 area and consolidated once again. I was expecting it to complete 100% FE of the pattern from here but when the 15th bar took out the low of the 14th bar, I exited my entire position.

Inside Bar - GRMN

GRMN sold on high volume on the open. 2nd & 3rd bar were inside the first bar tail area. Entered on the break of the 3rd bar low which closed very weak. Covered entire postiion a few pennies above $24 $29 mark.


AMGN sold off yesterday evening on high volume when the markets were strong on the close. Today's first 2 bars were on low volume and inside yesterday's close bar. A very risky trade because AMGN had nice support in the $66.60-66.50 area. I entered on the break of 2nd bar low, above the PDL. After the close of the 3rd bar, moved the SL to BE. 5th bar was an engulfing bar but missed my SL. Covered a few above $60, next support level.


This was a loser. ADSK gapped up and formed a bull flag. Entered on the break of 3rd bar high. Moved a few cents after my entry and formed a red spinning top. Exited the trade when the low of the 4th bar was taken out.

ISRG

Difficult day to find decent setup from my watch list. Most of the stocks made a run in the first 15-30 mins. and at that time they were far away from the 5 EMA to make an entry. ISRG was the only one that made some movement after I entered. Price contraction was like a bull flag but volume was very weird. Luckily it broke from the pattern and I exited at 50% FE measured from yesterday's last 2 bars to the break of the pattern.

Flag Day

A mixed day. What was good? I had 2 pretty decent trades in APOL and WLT. In WLT, I even added to my position which I normally do not do. Bad? because I had 2 losers and both of them were because I did not adhere to my trade guidelines. I have made those basic mistakes in the past and promised myself not to repeat them again but I did. I am really ashamed. If I don't learn from my mistakes, I will never move forward in trading. Really disappointing.
On to the winning trades.

WLT gapped down and formed a bear flag just above the PDL. Entered on the break of 3rd bar low, below PDL with an iniital target S2. Price moved again and formed another bear flag against 5 EMA. Added to my position on the break of 7th bar low.  Changed my target now to 100% FE of the 2nd bear flag measured from the top of the 4th bar to the 7th bar high. 

 APOL opened inside PDR (previous day range) and rallied after the open and moved avove PDH. It then consolidated above ORH (15 min.) forming a bull flag. Entered on the break of the bull flag. Took partial at 50% FE. I was expecting some retracement and moved the SL on remaining to BE. Price moved up nicely to reach 100% FE of the bull flag where I sold the remaining position. 

July 16 trades

Unbelievable day. I was expecting some profit taking today after the recent rally but you never know what the market has in store. Entered WLT on the break of 4th bar and got out on the 5th bar for some loss. Had another losing trade in FCX short before I went FCX long. Had some nice trades in FCX, SPY, NYX.


SPY formed a bull flag at ORH and PDH in the afternoon. Entered on the break and exited at 100% extension of the pattern.


NYX formed a base at previous resistance which now acted as support. I wanted to enter on the break of the 10th hammer and inside bar but the next bar was unable to take out the high of the hammer bar. Entered when NYX formed a doji followed by a bullish candle. Normally I would have exited at the red shooting star but since I had a nice gainer in FCX, I moved the SL to previous bar low which was never taken out.

Edited to add: This was a bit risky trade because volume was very low while the base was formed. ideally an increase in volume is preferred indicating that buyers are coming in.


Simple retracement trade when FCX formed 2 inside bars on 5 EMA support. Took partial at ORH and remaining at the end of the day. It was a painless trade after the partial because all the candles made higher lows, no reason to exit.

CELG, BIDU, AMZN

CELG sold right after the open and bounced from support (low of a couple of days before - blue broken line on the chart) and closed above S1. 2nd candle formed a reversal candle on S1. I entered early when the 3rd candle took out the close of the 2nd candle. Took partial at 20 EMA which coincided with the $46 level. Moved the remaining shares to BE to give CELG some room for retracement. After CELG found support at PDL and moved up, I moved my SL a little below PDL. Exited the remaining at 5-day EMA.

This was the most disappointing trade. BIDU opened above a previous resistance and looked quite strong. It then formed a bull flag under a previous resistance at 310 on declining volume and higher lows. 7th bar was almost an inside bar filling the tail of the 6th candle and closed strong. Entered on the close. I intended to take partial at 50% and remaining at 100% unless there was a reason to exit. But when I saw a shooting star like candle on 5 min. before the first target was reached, I panicked and exited the entire position. Very frustrating. I am not improving at all. I exit good psoitions early and hold on to the losers till they take me out. Anyway, BIDU easily reached both the targets.

This was not much of a gainer but I wanted to document this chart for future reference. Entered when AMZN formed a inside bar below R2. I wasn't expecting AMZN to move much because of overlying resistance and that the markets seemed overextended. It kindled some hope in me when it broked the ORH with a bullish candle but the next candle was a bearish engulfing candle. Exited my entire position when the low of the bearish engulging candle was taken out.

FSLR

Yesterday I asked Jamie: What are your thoughts on FSLR? It touched it's gap support the third time today on daily.

He replied: FSLR could be forming a huge bearish island reversal if it gaps down out of the base, but after three consecutive lower closes, I'd like to see it consolidate before breaking lower, otherwise it could be a head fake. Keep an eye on it.

FSLR bounced of it's support the third time yesterday and was in oversold on Stoc. 60 mins.  It was weak on the open and formed a base on daily pivot. After a head fake from the base, it closed strong. It formed a bull flag. Went long on the break of the candle indicated. My inital target was PDH but exited at S1.

GS

I was unable to watch the market the first 2 hrs. GS formed a bull flag at around noon with PDH acting as support. I did not see when the flag broke out. After 2 bars, GS formed a NR7 right below R2. Entered long on the break of NR7. There was nice volume expansion. I was expecting some nice up move but GS stalled around 38% FE of the bull flag. Exited my entire position on the break of 2 doji.