Thursday, May 6, 2010

Silent night

Disciplined investing is one thing. Phil Town pounded the table about the bottom last March (2009), imploring anyone who would listen via CNBC that it was the time to get in. (He pushed hard on AAPL, wisely so, and it's run from 78 to 272 since.


Timing. All about timing. But disciplined trading is another facet, and it's harder for some to learn than others. So I'm going to continue, as one of those whose nature is more intuitive than scientific, to hammer and hammer away at these impurities in my approach.


Even with discipline, of course, there's no guarantee. I enjoy checking the candlestick chart reading at American Bulls, but what pops out more than anything is how certain stocks just haven't been read well there.


The dollar index, UUP, has been a rough read via candlesticks. Even more difficult with VXX. Not a shock, but still intriguing. ETFs are never going to be read as well as regular stocks.


Holding a moderate position in VXX overnight might be crazy to some traders. But I intend to sell in premarket before the jobs report. There's very little chance of the chaos in Greece or elsewhere softening overnight, and especially after the tumult in the American market today. I would've preferred a price at the 50% retrace (26.97). I held out as long as I could after hours; no go. At 27.40, I'm in at a level better than the 38% retrace (27.62), but I'm not going to overthink this. It's an overnight trade and I'm out before the jobs report in tomorrow's premarket.


I had a premarket/overnight plan last week with IMAX, but that floundered when I slept through premarket (2 to 3:30 am). That won't be happening this time, not with trusty Mr. Red Bull here to help.

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