Technical Trader subscribers click here to download the complete report.
This Friday’s screens had 50 buys and 16 sells. This was a big reversal from the previous Friday’s 17 bullish and 145 bearish signals. That was a big number that indicated downside thrust. The week before that was also lopsided on the sell side, a precursor to last week’s broad selloff.
The current number now suggests a reaction rally.
1380 stocks met the initial screening criteria in the current screen. 4.7% of them rendered signals on Friday, which is normal. 3.6% of the stocks that met the minimum criteria had buy signals. This isn’t enough to indicate a big broad based move, but there are 4 days to go this week where anything is possible.
Last week, I added 4 shorts to the list. I set one of the existing buys to be closed out last Monday. Two others hit stop prices and were closed out from the tracking list at the stop prices. These theoretical trades are shown on the table below (subscriber version only).
I was underwhelmed with the setups on the charts that rendered signals this week. I only found one buy and no shorts that I liked enough to put on the list, as shown on the table below (subscriber version only).
In total, this will bring the list to 12 open picks, of which all but the one new pick are shorts. I’ve added stops to 4 of those picks.
I continue to view stops, particularly trailing stops, mostly as a mechanism for closing out picks that I want to close out. I don’t like them for protection because they just as often get picked off on trades that turn into winners. So I’m willing to roll the dice on the rest this week. I’ll decide week to week whether to pull the plug, protect, or keep rolling.
As of Friday, the average gain of open picks and those closed last week was +8.1% with an average holding period of 18 days. This was a strong performance compared to recent weeks, especially so given the rotten market action. The list was on the right side of that. The previous week the list had an average gain of +2.2% with an average holding period of 20 days.
The table and charts of open picks are below (subscriber version only).
Table (subscriber version only)
Charts (subscriber version only)
Technical Trader subscribers click here to download the complete report.
The strategy and tactics opinions expressed in this report illustrate one particular approach to trading. No representation is made that it is the best approach, or even suitable for any particular investor.
These picks are illustrative and theoretical. Nothing in this report is meant as individual investment advice and you should not construe it as such. Trade at your own risk.
