Today was a prime example of why I have been saying to take profits quickly lately. Traders are getting spooked easily lately and any Fed speech, Yield Curve BS, Iran headline, terror alert rumor, and job and oil numbers are moving the markets one way or the other. I have been trying to keep trades limited to mornings and afternoons. I entered three swing trades as noted in today's earlier post and was stopped out of one (ISIL) and the other two reversed to near my buy points(POWI and PWEI). I decided to give PWEI and POWI the benefit of the doubt because they are in hot sectors and they both have PWandI in the name ;) . I saw a lot of hammers yesterday and today I saw a lot of gravestone doji's. This tells me I am probably better off playing golf tomorrow rather then trading. Lot's of charts today so let's get to it.

I blew it on my natural gas call a couple weeks ago and I'm gun shy about shorting energy stocks now, as they are quickly becoming oversold. But the following few charts are worth watching.
CLB has triple support here, so if it's gonna bounce it would be here. If it fails, it is a solid short.
GRP is a mutual fund darling, and they may be heading out the door. Failed to hold 50 sma and if the trendline breaks there is some room to fall.
OIS is holding the line, but dipped below and todays rally failed miserably.
A reader asked me to analyze DESC. I would not take a position either way right now. My analysis is on the chart.
MIND is right at support. Watch for a break either way.
BNT looks like a short to me. This is one of the many stocks that were looking like longs that failed.
CTRN is worth watching as two trendlines broke down.
GILD is another long that broke down. This is a sign that markets are deteriorating.
And now for the few longs left. Chips are holding up although SMH looked bad today. I daytraded MRVL today for over 1 point and noticed that it didn't want to give up it's gains. Chart is improving.
PETS followed through as I suspected it would. I think we may get another day or two up.
SWSI is having a battle right here. It had a false breakdown and a false breakout. Watch for the next move.
VLCM looks like it started a breakout and then it died down when the markets reversed. Watch to see if it follows through tomorrow.

Lot's to digest here. If anyone has questions for me on my charts feel free to leave a comment.
Good Luck,

DT

Market Internals look decent today and I see some decent movers on the day. I have lightened up on a few things, but did initiate the following positions.

Indices had a good day today, but there was a lot of stuff being sold too. For some reason I am seeing a lot of IBD 100 stocks getting hammered. IWM was up today but a lot of small and midcaps were down. Tomorrow will be interesting to see if we get follow through or if people take their profits and run. Here are a few charts.

PETS has been consolidating in a tight range since the earnings breakout.


AIZ reports earnings in the AM. They dipped back in the triangle but rebounded off the trendline.
ADAM had a nice move and is challenging it's high.
DGIN looks like a short to me if the markets are weak tomorrow.
ISIL is not giving up any ground lately.
DIET may of bottomed and could head back over 8.
PARL had a breakout day and closed above resistance. Should follow through in the coming days.
POWI looks like it will breakout of a pennant if semi's are strong tomorrow.


Also, keep an eye on ABAX and SBUX tomorrow. SBUX got a pump from Cramer tonight.
Good Luck,
DT

I was out all day so I didn't get a good feel for how weak the market was today, but do see a lot of technical damage on most indices and etf's. Markets a getting oversold, and we may get a bounce as soon as tomorow. Looks like people were happy with CSCO earnings and they were up AH. A quick look showed a lot tech's up in sympathy, so we should at least get a strong opening on the nasdaq. I will be looking to BRCM, FFIV, and MRVL for day trade opportunities tomorrow. Here are some other charts that may be interesting tomorrow.

MNST has been holding a lot of the breakout gains, and although I expected a further pullback, we may not get it.
FFIV may get a boost from CSCO.
OXPS got a Cramer pump last night and was trading over 30. I will wait for a pullback tomorrow and see if an opportunity for a trade arises.
MRVL was at 68 AH. They are sitting on support and about to meet a rising trendline.
CTXS has pulled back to near the ascending trendline. They were profiled on Wednesday's IBD.

Keep in mind that the indices are damaged right now. If you get a good move in your favor, it wouldn't hurt to take some off the table. We are not breaking all resistance overnight, so you will get opportunities to get back in if a stock shows continued strength.
Good Luck,

DT

VPHM hasn't broken resistance yet, but it looks like it may. They have cleared the gap resistance which should serve as support now. They had positive news but the overall market weighed down on them. Keep an eye on the resistance lines the next few days.

The weekly chart shows VPHM may of cleared a level of resistance and is consolidating that move.

Here are VPHM's IBD ratings.
Here is VPHM's short position.

Please do your own DD as the above is only my opinion.
Good Luck,

DT

Here are some charts to consider. Congrats to those that played CKCM with me. Nice breakout today and may just be starting the run. Others in my portfolio that looked good today were SBUX,REDF, and EGY. Keep an eye on most of the stocks from last nights post as a few are looking like they will move higher.

Also, please click on one or two ad's if you like what you see on my blog. I appreciate the support.

BNT has consolidated above the breakout point and is starting defend support.
GLG:Not to crazy about gold in the very near term, but this stock is acting well.
TRE may be worth playing if GOLD takes off in the next few days and TRE hold support.
FFIV is trading tightly near a breakout point. Maybe CISCO earnings will push it (or kill the sector all together).
GILD: Still holding above breakout area and meeting the ascending trendline.
GOL: Ticked a little higher today.
INFA: Consolidating into a bull flag.
MRVL: Still probing for support here, but may be ready.
I also posted an update earlier which can be found below.
Good Luck,

DT

We are having some interesting action in a few "market leaders". Sometime's when market leaders falter, it could be a signal of a market top. Think back to the weeks leading up to aapl, goog and even hans earnings. Analysts didn't have enough good things to say about them, with upgrades and increased price targets. I want you to stop and think about something. Why does an analyst upgrade a stock or increase the target? If they don't own the stock or are buying more, why would the upgrade it? This would just increase the price they have to pay for it. They need buyers to unload their shares, so they upgrade it. Sometimes, there are other institutions that are buying, and sometimes the upgrading institution just wants to pare down the position and the stock chugs along. However, in January, everyone was pumping aapl and goog. If that many instituions felt that strongly about them, then why did they let them slip past the 50 sma (typically a buying point for institutions) so easily. Some people say, well earnings were disappointing, but the name of the game in the stock market is percieved future earnings, not past. Some institutions are worried about the near term future, and decided to lock in their substantial gains. If institutions that typically scarf up shares of market leaders at the 50sma are now letting them slide by, then there certainly is a danger of a market top. However, there is a debate to who the true market leaders are. Some would say the small and even mid caps have been the true market leaders. This could certainly still be the case and we may just be having a rotation take place in a few stocks. The IWM etf is still looking decent, and the SP600 is in much better shape then the other indices. If we are indeed rotating market leaders, then a case has to be made for who the replacements will be. I have listed some charts of possible market leaders moving forward, and interestingly, chip stocks are what's been being bought on dips. Look at AMD, NVDA, and BRCM's charts for proof. The key point here is to not be blind to the possible rocky road ahead. No one can call an exact market top or bottom consistently, but when there are warning signs, it makes sense to be cautious. Here are the charts of the stocks mentioned.






Good Luck,

DT

keep an eye out for another post tonight with a few charts.

The markets are at a crossroads right now. I am seeing conflicting signals in the indices so I am tightening my stops and I will keep my trades shorter in time frame. I still don't feel it's time to go predominantly short, but I am seeing some more short setups. Here are some interesting charts from this weekends scans.

Keep an eye onQSSI for a breakout. There is a chance it pulls back and forms a triangle.
ABAX is showing an aversion to dropping below the breakout point. It's a buy if it makes a higher high in my opinion.
PETS is pulling out of a quick bull pennant and may be good for a 2-3 day swing.
Nice bull pennant on SWSI. Wait for the break of the trendline.
ANTP is forming a very loose pennant type consolidation base, and could have a breakout. With the base this sloppy, I would be quick to lock in profits.
SNTO broke out of a nice triangle and is pulling back to test breakout area. Keep an eye for a bounce.
Is AAPL still a market leader. We will soon find out. It is looking pretty weak and is setting up for another test of support. Keep an eye on it for a bounce or breakdown.
DIETS is consolidating substantial gains, and formed a nice hammer. May be ready for a little bounce.
MMUS is a chart I highlighted a few days ago as a possible cup and handle base forming. I think this is the bottom of the handle (61.8% retrace) and that it will resume the uptrend here. Watch for a breakdownnear previous pivot low.
TALX had defended the 50 day sma aggresively twice in the past few weeks, but failed to do so again. Now we have a broken trendline. This could be headed toward 200sma.
ARD is sitting right on support. Watch for a break to either side.
PEET is right at top of channel and struggling to overcome resistance. Could be headed lower if it fails to hold SMA's.

If you're looking for more charts, swing by Roberto's Nasdaqtrader blog (link on my sidebar). He posted a bunch of charts this weekend.
Good Luck,

DT