Trades 15/Feb/2008

Watchlist for today : BBD,BBY,BTU,CMG,CNX,GLW,HNZ,JRCC,KFT,MEE,MGM,PCLN, SOLF,SONO,UBS,WFMI

HNZ (gap up)


First candle was green WRB showing bullishness. We then move up outside the OR high over the next two candles. Next we have a clean retracement towards the EMA and we are staying above the OR high. The 7th is a strong candle closing near its high. This is our trigger.
Note that we are entering outside the OR and the Fib Ext is relatively close. So if you refuse the trade on these criteria, I wouldn't argue with that.

Entry: 44.74 Stop: 44.42
Fib Ext: 44.98
1R= 45.06 2R=45.38 3R=45.70

The next candle after entry was green and rising, so we still ok. I closed half at Fib Ext and moved my stop to breakeven, which is where I was stopped out. In summary a small gain. But that's ok.

CNX (gap down)


First candle red and decent range. The 2nd is dragonfly ish and weak with upper wick. Also it is at bottom portion of first candle. This is our trigger. See how the next candle (3rd) closed below the OR low, adding some confidence to our trade.

Entry: 76.80 Stop: 77.52
Fib Ext: 74.56
1R= 76.08 2R=75.36 3R=74.64

I closed half at Fib Ext and moved stop on the rest to 2R. Once the price moved below $74.00 I moved my stop to Fib Ext, where I wa stopped out later. Trying to balance getting the best out of a trade and leaving it room to move is tough. On the whole, happy with this trade (one of my best).

BBD (Gap down)


First candle is red and decent range. The 2nd is red inverted hammer-like and closed near its lows. It also closed below the OR. This is our trigger.

Entry: 26.72 Stop: 27.02
Fib Ext: 26.26
1R= 26.42 2R=26.12 3R=25.82

The candle after our entry provides first indication that the trade may not go our way. Longtail indicating bullish. However we are still below the OR low, so I'll stay in at that point. The next candle (4th) is also bullish and it closes green. Taking these two candles into account, I moved my stop to just above the OR Low (stop is now at 26.83). Then stopped out on next candle.

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Now here are a couple of charts which came up in my post market analysis. These are stocks which I had on my WL, but I didn't trade. In effect looking for missed opportunities and maybe adding to my experience so that I don't miss them again.

BTU (Gap down)


First candle is bullish (green longish tail) , so not near top of my WL. But then see how the next set of candles are all red, and they trend down nicely with the EMA above providing cover. The candles 5 and 6 are bearish with longish wicks. The 7th candle is NR7 and bearish but still within the OR. The 8th candle is red hanging man which pierces the OR low and closes above it. You can make a case for either the 7th or 8th candles as your trigger candle, especially if we take into account the previous price action.

So why didn't I trade it ?
Well the simple answer is that I wasn't watching it at the time and was involved in a couple of other trades where I was adjusting stops etc. By the time i came to look at it, the 9th candle was advanced and had crossed the OR and the whole number 55.00, so it was too late.

PCLN (Gap Up)


First candle is bullish and WRB and closes virtually at its high. I was watching this at the time. Then we have a retrace cleanly to the EMA where it prints a couple of NR candles bouncing off the ema. The 7th bar is NR7 and green and off the ema. I didn't enter here because we are still inside the OR and I wanted to see how the next candle would react. The next candle was a green hammer which crossed the OR high. This is the possible trigger candle.

So why didn't I trade it ? The hammer range (IMO) was too wide ($1.69) to set the stop level.
It does mean that I would trade less shares, so perhaps something to mull over ?

Hope you found this post useful.