Thursday evening

Surprise, the market is still a mess.

Thursday afternoon

For future reference

Thursday morning

Wednesday evening SPY

SPY 60min

Hoo boy, what a ride.  That's what Dave Landry calls "wide and loose", otherwise known as junk.  You pays your money and you takes your chances.

Wednesday afternoon

Wednesday morning

Tuesday evening

Tuesday afternoon

We started with a bounce but it faded quickly.  Ben has been unable to inspire a rally.  His message seems a bit jaded or maybe it's just me.  Until Italy gets its votes together I think Europe will struggle and with nothing to light a fire under our market I think sideways is the best we can hope for and we are likely to get a lot worse.

JMHO

Tuesday morning

Gator's Chart of the Day: GLD

Gold appears to have found some support and the GLD shows that at 151.  You can see the high volume sell off Wednesday that has been followed by 3 up days.  I don't like buying on the 3rd day and I sure don't like it on the 4th so I will watch.  I hope to see a test of that recent low and maybe I can enter on a bounce.  If not then I will probably miss the move back to test the gap at 156.60.

Monday after market ...

From the 70's

Helluva finish today.  Now what?  The Italians don't like where they've been and now they can't figure out where they are going.  Our political leaders continue to point fingers and solve nothing.

Roooooooooooll another one.  

Just like the other one.  

You've been holdin' on to it.  

And I sure would like a hit.

Monday afternoon

Europe wags the dog this morning.  Later this week it will likely be sequestration.  (I'm surprised the spell checker let that pass.  lol)

Monday morning

Gator's Chart of the Day: PANW

Palo Alto Networks is one of jojo's favorites and he's been trading around a position in it since before he started hangin' with the Algo Fighters.  If you have been following his moves you should be ahead.  I hope you told him, "Thanks!"

The last time I said something about this stock it had just completed the W pattern.  Now that level (55) has become support.  The stock is now trading almost exclusively above the 20 day average and the 50 day has turned up.  With all of the news last week about internet security and the moves that PANW, FIRE and FTNT made I think this stock should be a part of a longer term portfolio.  Buying at support and selling a quarter to a half of the position when it gets extended should be a profitable arrangement.

SPX Daily/Weekly

SPX Daily

SPX Weekly

Weekend Blog

Happy motoring

Friday afternoon - Some things defy explanation

And you thought the market is goofy ...

Europe was all red yesterday and all green today.  Checking Dan's Breadth Watch List all is green except GLD XRT and XME.  The US dollar (DXY0) has not seen these lofty levels since last August.  There is still some consistency to be found.  Washington is still bickering rather than solving problems.

Friday morning

Thursday evening

Thursday afternoon

Europe was a bust this morning.  The DAX opened down nearly 2% and traded sideways all day.  It tried for a mid-session rally but failed and sank back near the low at the close.  It's not likely our markets will move up this afternoon unless there is some pleasing surprise news ... don't hold your breath.

Algo 1000

This is the 1000th Algo Fighters post.

It seems only fitting that it should be a cat, lol.  Thanks to Josh for creating this place for us to hang out.  Thanks to all of the authors and bloggerz who contribute interesting things.  This is a great community.

Are you enjoying the ride?

Hang on.  Two more days to go ...

This market that has laughed off no news, bad news and a bickering ineffective bunch of so-called leaders in Washington for weeks now finally took a dive when Ben the Printer suggested his crew might just start getting semi-serious about maybe slowing down the liquidity pump.  Whoooooosh!  Hang on.  This ride is just getting started.

So much for secrecy ...

There is nothing to push the market higher today and with sequestration coming fast this may be a good time to retire to the cave.

Wednesday morning

Welcome to "hump day"

Tuesday Evening

 

February is traditionally the month for roses and chocolates, but this morning's report tells us that the homebuilders are feeling neglected by a old lover.

The indices all closed higher despite the news.

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday afternoon

(Thanks, Beagle)

Lots of talk today about China hacking just about anywhere they want but they assure us it's not them.  Whether you believe them or not somebody is poking at our cyberflesh and finding tender spots that will likely be exploited sooner of later.   Some tickers that should get a spotlight include: PANW CACI CSCO FTNT FIRE and there are more in the network security hardware/software business that should see good quarters and bright futures.

GOOG moved to new all-time highs this morning with an 8xx handle.  I think it moves toward 820 unless the negative talk about their customer privacy issues blows up.

Sequester talk may scare traders soon but so far it looks like 1550 is going to be tested.  JMO

Tuesday morning - Standing out of LINE

LINE Daily Chart

Since there was a bit of discussion about this one on the Monday thread (and I have nothing else in mind anyway) I'm looking at Linn Energy and tossing out my thoughts on the chart.  The stock is still in a down trend as both 50 and 200 day simple moving averages are pointing down.  Volume has been increasing and on Friday it reached about 3 times average so it may have been a capitulation day and the time to buy.  You can see the stochastic printed such a signal as the fast crossed the slow and moved above 20.

Below is a 5 minute chart covering the last 2 days of trading.

LINE 5 Minute Chart

Price is still moving down and while the tallest volume bar is the last one and it is green I'm not convinced that now is the time to jump in with both feet.  It may turn out that 35.52 was in fact the bottom.  It happened at 2:30 which has often been around the time the market begins its move up toward a strong close but I want to see a bit more indication that the sellers are done.

 

Monday Morning

                                                    Happy President's Day!!!
Our markets are closed;  the futures are trading quietly in a tight range with slight relative strength in the NQ compared to the ES.    Enjoy the break.

Weekend thread

The market remains whippy and sloppy with a slight upward bias.  This too shall pass .. eventually.  Have a great long weekend !

Friday afternoon

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

Friday morning

Thursday evening

Drag racing

Thursday afternoon - Out of control

That explains a lot.

The market seems to lack leadership today.  Maybe it's all Warren's fault for starting the day out with the HNZ deal or maybe it's the lousy numbers out of Italy or the disappointing prospects for German exports.  Whatever.  Maybe if we find the CRTL key ...

Thursday morning

Gator's Chart of the Day: NDAQ

This one surfaced on one of the scans I ran after the close on Wednesday.  I was surprised I've never looked at it before.  The view above looks like a move from a volatility squeeze but it's been in progress for over a month and yet volume has been quite high all week.  Wednesday was almost a bullish engulfing candle  and the 3 minute chart showed heavy buying into the close.  If you look at the daily chart for 9 months it gets  scary parabolic and with the SP-500 within 30 points of my target this might seem to be too much risk to enter a trade now.  I don't think so. The forward P/E is only 10 and this company can make money even with the general market tanking.

The Trade 
While an entry around 29.50 - 30 might be more comfortable I doubt it comes back down.  I think it may grind sideways but I would welcome a pullback and bounce for a better entry.  I plan to start small and add if the stock continues higher.  The initial stop would be a little under Tuesday's low of 29.93.  Once in the trade I plan to hold as long as it continues higher so I'll likely use the preceding day's low dictate my stop.

Wednesday after market

He didn't win Westminster last night
(but he should have)

Nothing very exciting today but it was encouraging for the bulls that NASDAQ and SP500 and Russell closed higher.  Most traders don't pay much attention to the DJIA as it's only 30 stocks with a lousy methodology for computing the index level.

Personally, I'm still looking for a test of 1550 on the SP500 so I have a bullish bias.

Ash Wednesday in New Orleans

Those beads were worth a flash last night.

The market started out like it wanted to test the high ground but by 10:30 it had run out of steam and headed south.  Volume is nothing special and with the higher dollar components of the DJIA in the red it's unlikely that index will be challenging multi-year levels today.

Wednesday morning

Practical factors test.  Average time = 1.48963 days

Apparently President Obama said nothing unexpected in the state of the union address.  (I confess I was asleep.)  As I scanned the futures charts early this morning there was no indication that markets were surprised.

The bead tree

The extremely rare bead tree

You may have wondered where the beads come from.  Well now you know. Revelers reveal their bountiful assets in hopes they will be awarded the fruits of the bead tree.  Tonight is the end of bead season.

Click on the picture for better resolution.

Fat Tuesday - Bourbon St.

Bourbon Street on Fat Tuesday

It's relatively calm in the daylight but you really don't want to take your underage kids into the French Quarter today.  Tomorrow they'll use fire hoses to wash the streets.

Edit: Click on the picture for much higher resolution.

Tuesday morning - No Gold for You!!!

Gator's Chart of the Day: GLD

Like the sign says ... Gold as represented by the GLD etf does not look good here.  The 200 day is just about to turn down as the 50 day dives through it.  Volume has been above average and the bars are red.  Note that the Bollinger bands have begun to spread indicating that volatility is increasing.  In this case I think that means a strong move down.  If 156 does not hold (and I don't think it will) then 153ish will be tested and if that fails 150 then 148 ...

The Trade 
If you like to short then any move down could pick up speed quickly.  If the price does move higher from here I would look for a failure at the 200 day and consider selling short at that point.  As most of you know I trade in IRAs and shorting is not permitted but I can buy puts.  That would be my strategy.  My target is a test of 148.

Monday evening

The other side of Mount Rushmore

Monday afternoon

With the Asian markets closed and volume exceeding small some traders just can't seem to get motivated.  There is always the danger of chasing a shiny object.  Be sure you really want it before you press the "I gotta have it" button.

Monday morning

Weekend Thread - Happy Chinese New Year

Sunday is Chinese New Year's Day.  I believe it is the year of the snake.  (No snarky comments about politicians.)  This is a time for renewal of spirit and positive vibes.  Since China is the most populous country on the planet that could yield some very good months ahead.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Is this how hedges work?

Action has been fairly slow so far and that's just fine with me.  I expect traders are going to want to get out as early as possible today with the weather deteriorating.

Friday morning

Thursday evening

They can't all be up days ...

Things could change this afternoon but if you're long ... well ... so far this is not a good day to look up.

Thursday Morning - High FIVE

Gator's Chart of the Day: FIVE

Five Below, Inc. is a specialty retailer.  The chart shows all trading since the company came public last July.  The lower white line marked the post earnings announcement high and the stock just closed above that level (37.85) on Wednesday.  The upper white line defines the all-time high of 40.00 and is now the next resistance level.  The next earnings date should be near the end of February but has not yet been announced.  On February 4th there was considerable insider selling that included multiple directors and the CEO.  You can check the details of those sales here.  The forward P/E is 54 so it's possible these folks had a good reason to sell but maybe not.  I think there is a trade here and it is well defined with minimum risk.

The Trade 
I would look to open the position if the stock holds 37.85 and buy as close to that level as possible.  My stop would be about 36.90 so risk is about 2.5%.  I would look to add if the stock trades above 40 and holds that level for 20+ minutes.  Since there would be nothing but blue sky above 40 and I don't want to hold through earnings I would use the previous day's low as I progressively raise stops and let the stock take me out when it tires.