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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

A few trades

Posted by Tom C.

I wanted to post some charts this morning, but my software is down. JCI was a good "u-turn" setup yesterday. Looking at my trade log, I entered on a break of the 6th bar high. If you plot Fibonacci lines over the opening range of the morning, you will see this setup occurred just above the 50% level of the morning's high to low. JCI provided another great example of price stalling out at a whole number ($30), and if I remember correctly it printed several bars at that level giving you a great signal and plenty of chances to close a profitable position.

I have not had many shorts this week, but noted CSIQ was a great setup; my broker did not have shares to borrow but it is still a good chart to study - similar to one posted in the comments of Friday's post by a reader. Price gapped down and fell the first 30 minutes and then pulled back into resistance before turning back down. I was looking to enter on a break of the 13th bar low, but again my broker did not have shares to borrow.

I will try to post charts when my software is up and running.

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4 comments:

Jared said...

Hey Tom,

This might be an odd question, but when you're looking at your watchlist to find a good setup, do you look at the stock before the entry bar finishes forming (i.e. 10:08 EST, 10:19 EST), or after it finishes forming (10:10 EST, 10:20 EST) on a 10 min chart?

And if there are several great setups all lining up at the same time and bar, how do you enter 3-4 of them before they run off?

Thanks,

J

Tom C. said...

Jared - I only take a setup after the bar completes. Otherwise, you are guessing and working with incomplete information...what it looks like 8 minutes in may not be close to what it is when it completes.

Regarding taking setups, X used to say "I miss more than I take" and that is true with me as well. Unless you are fully automated, you will miss setups. And, my style of trading can't be fully automated so I have to make sure I am taking the best options. The good news is, there is never a lack of setups over any given week!

Anonymous said...

Hi Tom, a question regarding the setup in CSIQ. I notice that it is very close to ORL. would it be a concern to you? Thanks,

Song

Tom C. said...

Song, while there is always a chance at reversal at the ORL (or ORH), I liked the setup because it was the third attempt at that level, and given the overall weakness the odds were in favor that it would break through.