Chrib's Trades

Bringing you a promising trade idea each trading day

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Trade Ideas for 07/02/09

The bulls again managed to break the prior day's high in the S&P, making it 6 days in a row, but just by a hair and with no follow-through. Can they make it 7 in a row? Tomorrow's the last trading day of the week, as markets break for July 4th. I don't see it being a high-volume day. We bought LWSN today.

Current Holdings
Ticker Basis Closing
Price
Perf. Sell-Stop Add'l Exit Guideline Chart
NVAX 2.62 2.88 +9.9% 2.62 N/A Chart
LWSN 5.64 5.75 +2.0% 5.54 N/A Chart


A couple long, a couple short for tomorrow.

New Trade Ideas
Ticker Entry Exit A Exit C Chart
PJC (Piper Jaffray) 45.01 43.49 N/A Chart
ABAT (Advanced Battery) 4.11 3.84 N/A Chart
SMN (Ultrashort Basic Materials) 19.22 17.91 N/A Chart
SKF (Ultrashort Financials) 42.78 40.91 N/A Chart

Please refer to "How To Trade The Ideas" (right-hand side) to read this table.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Trade Ideas for 07/01/09

The S&P made it to a two-week high in the early going, only to be soundly rejected at the 930 level, falling below the lows of the prior two days before stabilizing. Because of this downside breach, the bulls now have something to prove. They can do so by printing another higher high tomorrow or later this week. The action feels tired though, and the bears have a great opportunity to strike.

We were stopped out of DGP today and bought NVAX, which rocketed. It can certainly go higher, but as a measure of caution I recommend taking at least 25% of the position off the table at tomorrow's open.

Current Holdings
Ticker Basis Closing
Price
Perf. Sell-Stop Add'l Exit Guideline Chart
NVAX 2.62 3.28 +25.2% 2.62 Book profit on at least 25% at the open tomorrow. Chart


A bunch of ideas for tomorrow

New Trade Ideas
Ticker Entry Exit A Exit C Chart
TWM (Ultrashort Russell 2000) 43.59 41.60 N/A Chart
VXX (VIX Volatility Index Short-Term Futures ETN) 70.31 65.86 N/A Chart
ABAT (Advanced Battery) 4.11 3.84 N/A Chart
ADCT (ADC Telecomm.) 8.16 7.79 N/A Chart
LWSN (Lawson Software) 5.64 5.52 5.40 Chart

Please refer to "How To Trade The Ideas" (right-hand side) to read this table.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Trade Ideas for 06/30/09

The bears tried taking the market down early on, and when they failed, the bulls took over. Since Tuesday's low, each day has seen higher highs in the S&P versus the prior day. Over the past couple of sessions the pace of the rise has slowed, but I'm not sure how to read it. While the bulls have been winning the battles the past week, overall they haven't gotten very far; at the same time this could be the prelude to a more powerful up move. We sold the last of our shorts today, SCC for a profit.

Current Holdings
Ticker Basis Closing
Price
Perf. Sell-Stop Add'l Exit Guideline Chart
DGP 20.26 20.11 -0.7% 19.64 N/A Chart


Mostly longs for tomorrow.

New Trade Ideas
Ticker Entry Exit A Exit C Chart
NVAX (Novavax) 2.62 2.42 N/A Chart
CPSL (China Precision Steel) 2.73 2.49 N/A Chart
LWSN (Lawson Software) 5.64 5.40 N/A Chart
SDS (Ultrashort S&P 500) 56.16 54.31 N/A Chart

Please refer to "How To Trade The Ideas" (right-hand side) to read this table.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Trade Ideas for 06/29/09

From a low early Tuesday to a high late Friday, this market managed a sustained bounce off the golden cross (where the 50-day moving average crosses above the 200-day). Nevertheless, with respect to the S&P, Friday was a down day, and this week was a down week—the first time we've had two consecutive down weeks since the March rally began. So a bit ambiguous as to what type of market we have right now.

If the medium-term trend has changed to a downtrend, then this bounce is in keeping with the way declines unfold, and next week should see resumption of the downward course. At the same time, the action from the high on June 11 until Tuesday's low is not out of character as a correction within a larger uptrend. It's up to the market to show us which way it'll go. For now, setups in the inverse ETFs don't have great risk-to-reward profiles, so if the market is set to go down next week, I hope it'll give us a better setup to get aboard. Friday SRS was stopped out for a loss, and we bought DGP.

Current Holdings
Ticker Basis Closing
Price
Perf. Sell-Stop Add'l Exit Guideline Chart
SCC 61.84 63.51 +2.7% 62.62 N/A Chart
DGP 20.26 20.24 -0.1% 19.64 N/A Chart


For Monday, a few long-side charts that look good, and one of the less-bad setups in an inverse ETF.

New Trade Ideas
Ticker Entry Exit A Exit C Chart
HMIN (Home Inns and Hotels) 16.68 15.99 15.64 Chart
YGE (Yingli Green Energy) 14.07 12.99 N/A Chart
BVF (Biovail) 13.76 13.46 N/A Chart
SKF (Ultrashort Financials) 45.17 41.69 N/A Chart

Please refer to "How To Trade The Ideas" (right-hand side) to read this table.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Trade Ideas for 06/26/09

A very weird session the past day. Overnight S&P futures rocketed to 3-day highs, then fell back to such an extent that the S&P opened near the prior close. Whereupon the market shot back up to the overnight highs and surpassed them, closing near the high of the day.

A rally of today's magnitude so soon after the largest decline in three months (-70 S&P points from June 11-23) does not mean the downtrend is over. A head-and-shoulders top, for example, features those very characteristics. However, it does put the bears on notice. Should this rally continue for another 10 points or so, the pattern shifts in favor of the bulls.

We were stopped out of DUG and QID today, the former for a nice gain.

Current Holdings
Ticker Basis Closing
Price
Perf. Sell-Stop Add'l Exit Guideline Chart
SCC 61.84 63.07 +2.0% 62.62 N/A Chart
SRS 21.51 20.45 -4.9% 20.12 N/A Chart


Some long picks for tomorrow to balance out the bearish bias.

New Trade Ideas
Ticker Entry Exit A Exit C Chart
RBY (Rubicon Minerals) 3.29 3.11 2.89 Chart
DGP (Gold Double Long) 20.26 19.95 19.64 Chart
BRCD (Brocade) 8.02 7.49 N/A Chart
SKF (Ultrashort Financials) 46.62 42.58 N/A Chart

Please refer to "How To Trade The Ideas" (right-hand side) to read this table.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Trade Ideas for 06/25/09

A huge morning rally lost steam by mid-day, and then the market fell even more steeply once the Fed announcement was made. Still, most averages, with the glaring exception of the Dow, closed in the green for the day. The Dow's exception is glaring because that average is supposed to house the market leaders, and leaders lead. We were stopped out of SMN today.

Current Holdings
Ticker Basis Closing
Price
Perf. Sell-Stop Add'l Exit Guideline Chart
DUG 16.54 19.47 +17.7% 18.62 N/A Chart
SCC 61.84 66.69 +7.8% 62.62 N/A Chart
QID 32.81 33.50 +2.1% 32.19 N/A Chart
SRS 21.51 21.00 -2.4% 20.12 N/A Chart


Staying biased to the short side. SCC is a re-up; if elected, set the sell-stop for all shares to 65.39 (or the low of the day, whichever is lower).

New Trade Ideas
Ticker Entry Exit A Exit C Chart
SKF (Ultrashort Financials) 46.62 43.12 N/A Chart
SDS (Ultrashort S&P 500) 59.39 56.49 N/A Chart
TWM (Ultrashort Russell 2000) 46.36 43.97 N/A Chart
SCC (Ultrashort Consumer Services) 68.01 65.39 N/A Chart

Please refer to "How To Trade The Ideas" (right-hand side) to read this table.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Trade Ideas for 06/24/09

Narrow range consolidation today to follow yesterday's drop. The chart of the S&P now features a golden cross, the 50-day moving average crossing above the 200-day, but with the cross and both averages above today's high, it might have occurred under more auspicious circumstances.

Having now closed twice consecutively below the 50-day moving average (without having closed once below since late March), I'm going to continue looking for more bearishness in this market.

Current Holdings
Ticker Basis Closing
Price
Perf. Sell-Stop Add'l Exit Guideline Chart
DUG 16.54 19.67 +18.9% 18.62 N/A Chart
SCC 61.84 67.70 +9.5% 62.62 N/A Chart
QID 32.81 34.59 +5.4% 32.19 N/A Chart
SMN 19.86 20.65 +4.0% 19.49 N/A Chart
SRS 21.51 21.84 +1.5% 20.12 N/A Chart


Some more short-biased ideas for tomorrow. At 2:15 PM ET, the Fed is expected to make its decision on short-term interest rates and general remarks on the economy. We might have a very slow day until that announcement is made.

New Trade Ideas
Ticker Entry Exit A Exit C Chart
VXX (VIX Short-Term Futures ETN) 80.28 77.16 75.49 Chart
SKF (Ultrashort Financials) 46.62 44.57 41.59 Chart
SCO (Ultrashort Crude Oil) 18.76 17.21 N/A Chart

Please refer to "How To Trade The Ideas" (right-hand side) to read this table.