Quote from Laissez Faire:
Sector ETFs are losing steam (5 in the red now), TICK is dipping below zero and we`re making lower highs.
Short @ 1281. Stop @ 1283.
Covered @ 1279.
This short was for me such a high probability trade, that I almost switched to my live account. But since I`m on a forced break and earning my right to get back to live trading, I remained disciplined
When we have a clearly defined range like today, we can assume that the market will break out of the range one way or the other. The process now is to gauge the odds for either direction.
I did not believe we would go higher today, when I sat down a few hours after the open. Why?
- We tested multi-week highs @1283,50, exceeding yesterday`s high by one tick, in the pre-market, but this level was rejected and the market opened lower within the value area formed yesterday. Resistance @ 1283 was tested after market open, but did not budge.
- We had three market moving news releases before the market open and the market did not move much on the news either way.
Since we were at high levels and I did not see anything to push the market higher, I started looking for signs of a break to the downside.
When I first opened my charts around 1100 AM ET, I saw that most sector ETFs where in the green, although not very strongly.
The NYSE TICK was oscillating around zero. Both signs of a range market.
When the sectors one by one started going into the red and the NYSE TICK started dipping below zero, I was getting confident about a short. The price action also confirmed weakness (or lack of strength) when we had three lower highs in a row.
And that`s what lead me to place my short @ 1281
+3 points on the trade and that`s it for the day.
In addition to my boring log I post each day, I`ll attach my sector ETF screen and the NYSE TICK.
PS: A big thanks to Brett Steenbarger, which has shared his use of sectors and TICK to gauge market strength/weakness on his great blog.
Regards,
LF