Trades 26/Sep/2008

Initial Watchlist:
ACN,AAPL,BHP,BTU,CHL,DRYS,DVN,GLW,IBN,IGT,IPI
LDK,MON,MOS,NNN,NTRI,OXY,PBR,RIMM,RIO,SJM,TRA

Busy...Busy...Busy today with a lot going on. Managed to get up to 5 trades...still haven't got to the dizzy heights of 6 as per 00nr7 , but I'll keep trying :-)

BHP (gap down)

After gap down we have upwards movement but candles are still bearish with long wicks. We don't get very far before it turns down and follows ema down and breaks OR on 7th. The 8th is a NR3 and NR7 pullback. This is our short trigger.

Entry: 57.95 Stop:58.41
Fib Ext: 57.08
1R=57.49 2R=57.03 3R=56.57

We move down nicely after entry past 1R. I moved partial stop to this 1R level and left the rest to run. The stock bounces though and we are stopped out for 1R on partial and rest at breakeven.

IPI (gap down)

First candle is bearish, we then recover back up to the ema. In addition the $30 level was providing strong resistance. The 4th is a hanging man NR3 off the ema and staying below the $30 level. This is our short trigger.

Entry: 29.60 Stop: 30.10
Fib Ext: 27.32
1R=29.10 2R=28.60 3R=28.10

After a few more attempts to breach $30, we get the fall we are looking for as the price falls nicely down with the ema. We take partial at 1R as it is approaching the whole number and also the OR low so there is a possibility of bounce here. The 2nd half closed at the $1 gain level which was around 2R. A nice gain on this one.

LDK (gap down)

First candle moderatley bullish but then after testing previous day's low we get a big fall back to the OR. Candles 3, 4 and 5 form the pullback we want. The 5th is a Nr7 hanging man type doji which confirms OR as resistance. This is our trigger for short.

Entry: 35.21 Stop: 35.61
Fib Ext: 34.42
1R=34.81 2R=34.41 3R=34.01

The next candle looks promising as we get to 1R, but that is as far as it goes. We bounce back strongly and are stopped out at breakeven.

MOS (gap down)

First candle weak. The 2nd crosses OR and we fall strongly. The pullback begins on the 6th candle. The 8th is NR3, NR7 which is off the OR confirming it as resistance. This is our trigger candle for a short.

Entry: 75.77 Stop: 76.55
Fib Ext: 72.95
1R=74.99 2R=74.21 3R=73.43

The candle after entry promises much and we move down nicely. We take partial at $1 gain and leave rest to run. This remainder turns back as the stock recovers and closes for breakeven on the 2nd half of the trade.

TRA (gap down)

First candle weak, and we break thru the OR on the 3rd. We get the pullback from the 6th and 7th candles. The 7th is NR7 off the ema and inverted hammer like. This is our short trigger.

Entry: 30.47 Stop: 31.07
Fib Ext: 28.09
1R=29.87 2R=29.27 3R=28.67

The stock moves down nicely as we pass 1R and thru the important $30 level. We take partial at 2R which is over a $1 gain and leave the rest to run with stop above $30. Was hoping that it would fall further after retracing up to $30. But this level didn't hold as resistance and we are stopped out on remainder for a minor gain.

So overall, a very good day with 4 winners and 1 breakeven. Also some $1 gainers which is always nice. Some of my entries were maybe a bit more aggressive today, but I was also using decade numbers ($30 for example) as additional pointers. In addition I changed my taking of profits slightly, again using decade numbers but also using some trailing stops. This was something I've been thinking about recently, due to market volatility. So for example trying to bank some profits after 1R has been passed in case it comes back and stops us out for break even.