Day Trading Thoughts For Thurs. May 7

erikrkolodny

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Timing really is everything, you know. Everything. This is particularly true when it comes to trading. When doing a trade, one must utilize precise disciplined timing. Rather than guessing at potential action or trying to ‘jump in early.’ Let’s give two examples from Friday the 24th. Around 11:46AM-11:54AM on Friday morning, MMM was trading in a very tight range between 55.89 and 55.99. The goal if momentum trading is to buy the thing on the good news at the new high of 56. Had anyone bought it between 55.90ish and 55.99 for the seven minute period preceding 11:54AM, he/she would likely have lost money because the stock dove quickly on the 11:54AM bar back down to 55.91. Yet, naturally when the stock touched 56, it popped 12 cents within one minute. If one properly executed the trade, he/she would have earned the quick pop by buying it at 56 rather than trying to assume it’d go and get a jump on the game. Example 2: At 1:23PM on Friday, BBT was ticking at its high of 24. With bank stocks on their highs, it seemed as if BBT should continue to soldier higher. There were approximately 40000 shares on the offer at 24. The goal is to buy the thing as the offering is disbursed as close to the end of the elimination of the offering just before the stock notches up yet fast enough to make sure one is in. A fine balance. Well, the instant the stock ticked 24, I decided it was gonna go and overeagerly hit the ‘buy button’ for 2,000 shares at 24. We all know what happened next. The stock stopped trading at 24 which indicated that buying interest just wasn’t there and the second any selling pressure entered, it was going to decline. Sure enough, I ended up selling at 23.97 for a $60 loss plus ticket charges (it hit 23.48 a few minutes later). Daily epiphany: balance the eagerness and desire with prudence and precision when doing a trade. Do not guess or hope –particularly in this fast-moving market; simply do what the action indicates and tells you to do.

Markets stormed higher overnight with Asian exchanges up over 4% on average and European bourses up about 1.5% on average. Oil is quietly at a yearly high, up again as well. A short squeeze is in full effect on the banks ahead of the stress test report this afternoon; look for the banks to lead the market one way or another as the day progresses. The banks will clearly outperform the market as futures are not keeping up with the ascent of the bank stocks, but the entire sector is the key to today- if they hold, the gains will continue and if there is a breaking of the fever, watch out. Either way, it will be very fast today so use very tight stops and be well aware that the moves today will be exaggerated. A great day trading day just as yesterday was.

Reiterating-
Please understand that if the ideas do not get to the hoped for set-ups cited below, more often than not, one should not blindly trade the symbol next to said idea.
If the whole story is not there -
If something is good, assume either a short thru unchanged or an A-B-A2 (preferably to the downside in a downside market and the upside in an upside market) based on direction of the market unless specifiedIf something is bad, assume either a buy thru unchanged or an A-B-A2 (preferably to the downside in a downside market and the upside in an upside market) based on direction of the market unless specified-



Good- The following stocks have good news and/or a strong technical pattern

VNDA- got approval of its Schizophrenia drug (Fanapt) from the FDA

COF- rumors abounding that it will not need additional capital from the stress test

WFC, BAC, JPM, GS, MS, PNC, USB, BK, STI, ZION, BOH- among the strong bank stocks to watch ahead of the test; anything can happen but these things continued to rally yesterday with many closing at or near their highs

PRU- decent earnings

APAC- huge gain yesterday in closing near its high

ARM- closed near a high

TRK- closed near a high

PDO- closed near a high

UPFC- closed near a high

ARG, CDNS- on “Mad Money” last night

EOG- continued its massive rally; closed near a high

DM- closed near a high

TEN- closed near a high

AMPL- good earnings

CSCO- good earnings

APC- decent earnings

ECLP- great earnings

ATW- good earnings

PAA- good earnings

ANDE- great earnings

CENT- decent earnings

NVEC- great earnings

LOCM- good earnings

PXP- good earnings

ATPG- decent earnings

CAM- decent earnings

CXW- decent earnings

PCS- decent earnings

TDC- decent earnings

WMT- better than expected same-store sales

PRGO- good earnings

RDC- good earnings

FTO- good earnings

CVC – good earnings

Bad-The following stocks have bad news and/or a weak technical pattern

CECO- bad earnings

SPG- doing a share offering

TBSI- terrible earnings

BBBB- bad earnings

MELI- bad earnings

OTEX- bad earnings

SYMC- bad earnings

KAI- bad earnings

TSO- bad earnings

USU- bad earnings

EGLE- bad earnings

ENH- bad earnings

HOTT- disappointing same-store sales

LCC_ doing a share offering

FOE- poor earnings

WW- warned on earnings outlook




Earnings:

THURS MAY 7 BEFORE

ABV ACM ARCC

ARE ATK ATN

ATPG CAM CLR

CSE CTCM CVC

CXW DHI DTV

DYN EXH FOE

FTO FTR GGB

GMXR HOC HRP

ISIS KEG LAMR

LINE LXP MFC

MPW NDAQ OMG

OHI PCS PRGO

PXP RDC SCI

SFY SLF STE

TDC WEN WW

THURS MAY 7 AFTER

ALL ALNY ATVI

BID BYI CBS

CROX CSTR DCT

EBS FBN FSYS

GNW INT IPI

IRF KFN LEAP

MAA MCHP MIL

MVSN NHP NVDA

OIS PCR PDLI

PGH PSA RAH

RATE RMD SD

SGMS SHO SRX

SVR THG THOR

VRSN WTW


Good luck today.


Erik R. Kolodny
 
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