Definite Change in Market Character

Today marked a change in character for the market. SPY has now convincingly mounted the 50 day moving average, the volume pattern shows accumulation, RSI is steady above 50 and the price bar is of the "breakout" variety.

I'll be looking for a pullback to initiate longs.

Trade: GLD

As noted in yesterday's Trade Report, I went short GLD @90. My stop is around $93 with an initial target in the $84-86 range.

The chart I posted Sunday night details the strategy for this trade. GLD has provided an excellent reversal trade the last 11 times stochastics have hit extreme levels.

SPY Prints Possible Reversal Candle

Believe it or not, although SPY was down almost 4 percent today, technically it was a good day. The index printed a bullish "long tail" candle on massive volume, while the Worden T2108 indicator at extreme oversold levels. Generally, this ia a clear reversal signal, at least short term.

The index recovered right after I was stopped out of the SPY trade (via SSO) and closed over 2 points above my entry . Looking back, it's easy to say I should have used a wider stop. However, my main concern was limiting risk.

While I am disappointed that I got stopped out of SSO, the X and K trades were gems. X closed up over 6 points from entry and both printed bullish candles.

Homebuilders are Hard to Ignore

It's tough to ignore the strong move in residential construction, aka, homebuilders. While my head tells me to stay away, the charts tell me otherwise. For months I have been using bounces in the sector to reload shorts, but not this time. There is something different about this bounce.

Take a look at the chart of Toll Brothers. A few things jump out at me:

1. The stock is no longer trending down. Rather, we see a range bound price movements with resistance around 24.

2. RSI is improved. The mid level is acting as support, which is what happens in strong stocks.

3. OBV is improving. Volume patterns seem to be shifting from sell to buy.



I would not buy here. In a range bound market, I like to make buys at the bottom of the range or on breakout. A patient well timed entry could lead to nice profits in TOL.

Do I Have the Guts to Buy Financials?

I'm scared as hell to buy a financial, even with a small position size. However, if I didn't know the name of the company behind this chart (Morgain Stanley), I would be buying. We have price breakout over the 50 day moving average after the stock printed a bottoming long tail on heavy volume a few days ago. RSI is breaking out. Stochastics show strength. OBV is improving. This is damn near a text book reversal play.

I may enter on a small position later today.

Is the Market Speculator Really Long a Homebuilder?

I've been very busy, so I haven't had a chance to update my trades. As stated in the comments section this morning, I unloaded a bunch of shorts and entered a few longs. I would like to add some more shorts on bounce.

My bias is still to the down side, but I don't want to give up the big gains I've already made. I am keeping a few shorts in case we go down more before we bounce.


A lot of you have e-mailed in shock over my long position in HOV (posted entry in comments section), a homebuilder. Todd S. asked a question is representative of most of the emails I received: WTF are you short a homie when you have been shorting the shit out of the sector over the past year?

Good question Todd. Fundamentally, and longer term, I still don't like the sector. I agree with most that credit and housing problems aren't going away any time soon. However, as a technician who lives and dies by trading accumulation and distribution patterns, I cannot ignore what is going on in the sector. Take a look at the HOV chart:



Key points:
1. Strong breakout over downtrend line and 50 day moving average.

2. Distribution pattern shows accumulation during run up, with strong volume on up days and low volume on pullback.

3. RSI divergence (see orange dotted line on price and RSI) shows strong relative momentum.

These three factors lead me to believe we have a short term reversal in play. I expect to see a retest of the recent high. Not sure if we'll get a breakout at the high, but retesting the high alone would give us a 30 percent gain.

Some have pointed out that I may have entered early. The 50 day moving average is at 7.63, so I do understand the criticism. Maybe I could have waited for more of a pullback. Normally I would. The reason I did not is that I am expecting a bit of a market bounce in the coming days. Lately homies have been leading the market bounces, so it makes sense to enter now. I have a decent risk to reward at 2:1.

Mastercard's Bullish Reversal

MA (Mastercard) has been on my bearish short watchlist every since it broke down below the 50 day moving average on heavy volume. However, the stock's technical pattern made a 180 degree reversal in one day, with today's 28 point gain that easily put it back over the moving average and close to making a 50 day high. I'd like to see a bit of consolidation to digest today's gains and enter on a low volume pullback or breakout to new highs.