Archive for October, 2009
5 Ways to Handle a Draw Down
How should I handle a decline in the value of my trading account?
Great Earnings News Was Not Enough To Fuel A Breakout To New Highs. Heavy Price Action!
Last Friday looked like it had the potential to be a strong day. Good news from Amazon, Microsoft, Capitol One, American Express, Ingersoll-Rand and Honeywell should have provided a bid to the action. The S&P 500 did not jump higher on the open and that was a little suspicious. As the morning progressed, profit-taking set in. Two of the last three days have been negative with heavy selling pressure. This morning, the market moved higher on news that South Korea’s GDP rose faster than expected. That provided a boost for Asian markets and it seemed we would be off to a …
Resistance Could Get Tested Today After Great Earnings. I Am Selling Put Spreads!
I am trying to get today’s comments posted before the open. Overnight earnings have been spectacular and we are likely to see a rally today. The good news spans from tech stocks to retail to credit card companies. Amazon blew estimates away and the stock is up $16 from yesterday’s close. Microsoft trounced expectations and the stock is up two dollars pre-open. That is a huge move for Microsoft. CapitalOne is up four dollars on better earnings and lower than expected delinquencies. American Express also looks solid. Ingersoll-Rand and Honeywell also beat expectations and the stock’s are indicated higher. Over 30% …
Nasty Key Reversal On Wednesday Signals Overhead Resistance!
By the end of this week, 27% of the stocks in the S&P 500 will have reported earnings. Results have been good, but that is already priced into the market. Yesterday, the S&P 500 made a new high for 2009 and an intraday reversal pushed it to a new five day low just before the close. This type of price action tells me that significant resistance is forming. We saw the same type of price action in September and that key reversal resulted in a five-day decline. The most recent dip in September was deeper than the prior two dips and …
So Much For Profit Taking. The Earnings Heading Into Tomorrow Could Add To This Breakout!
Yesterday, the market took a breather after a mixed bag of earnings. Good news from Apple, Texas Instruments and Caterpillar was not enough to upset weakness in Coca-Cola, United Technologies, Bank of New York and Zions. After the close, SanDisk, Seagate and Yahoo all posted decent numbers and the stocks traded higher. This morning, Boeing, Manpower and Wells Fargo were not bad enough to offset results from Freeport McMoRan and Morgan Stanley. Earnings are flooding in left and right and the overall result has not translated into a market move either way. In general, the news has been very good and …