There's not a whole lot new to say as the range-bound trading continues. The Nasdaq and S&P closed very close to where they went out on Tuesday. So the bulls can be happy that they've been able to hold on to the gains made on Tuesday's light volume rally. But while those indices are range-bound I'm starting to see some stocks make new closing highs for the year. Those stocks are across a lot of sectors but some large cap techs, like AAPL, GOOG & RIMM, really jumped out to me. So it wouldn't surprise me to see the QQQQ follow suit. The true test will be whether the broader indices can also make new 2009 highs. For now I'm doubtful...
No changes
| Trend | Nasdaq | S&P 500 | Russell 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long-Term | Lat | Down | Down |
| Intermediate | Up | Up | Up |
| Short-term | Up(+) | Up(+) | Up(+) |
(+) Indicates an upward reclassification today
(-) Indicates a downward reclassification today
Lat Indicates a Lateral trend
*** I'm simply using the indices' relations to their 200, 50 and 10-day moving averages to tell me the long, intermediate and short-term trends, respectively.
Trader Mike,
I'm in a reading / learning / very small R investing for practice phase of swing trading. So far, I have only entered into long positions, which brings me to my very basic question...
How do you execute a short transaction? What is your preferred method? In other words, do you buy puts...write some sort of option contract...etc? And how do you set up a stop-loss order for a short position?
Any thoughts / guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Rookie Mike
Mike,
I don't trade options. I just short the actual stock. To enter a stop loss for a short, you could use some kind of "buy stop" order. Check this out -- http://tradermike.net/2007/06/how_to_use_a_stop_limit_order_to_cover_a_short_position/ -- or Google "buy stop order".
Depending on your trading system, it may be simpler than that. Some systems just allow you to enter an order to close your current position. The software will figure out if it needs to buy or sell.
Thank you for the response to my question. Love the site.
Mike,
I'm watching GOOG RIMM AAPL and all I see is s nice top formation there, those are not continuation formations. What that holds in store for the nasdaq is anyones guess, but it reduces the possibilility of an upside breakout.