Friday, February 3, 2012

JOBS JOBS JOBS

Hi Folks,

Today's jobs number was quite the surprise. It helped push the NASDAQ to an 11 year high. I have heard that those of you who "Follow by Email" are not getting the emails in a timely manner. That is my I decided to add the follow by Twitter button on page. I will Tweet my trades and summarize them in this blog. If you choose to follow me on Twitter, you can receive a text from Twitter when I post on Twitter. Just go to your list of people you are following, find me and in the drop down click the "Turn on mobile notifications" and when I Tweet you will get a text.

Today I sold TBT. I mentioned it on Tuesday afternoons blog. At the time, TBT was trading at 18.15. Sold it this morning at 19.30. I still own the March 21 calls. I bought those for .16 and they closed at .36 today. I still think we have more upside in TBT. If we make another push higher in TBT early next week, I should have triple(.48) on those calls and will probably sell at least half the position.

Thanks and Good Trading,

Tim

MONTHLY JOBS NUMBER TODAY

Hi Folks,

Today it's all about the jobs number at 8:30. This should move the market. Economists are growing more positive about the economy and consensus seems to be improving on the jobs numbers. I hope we are not setting up for a disappointment here.

I am still cautious here but not bearish on the markets. I added Twitter to this page if you want to follow by Twitter. I will be using Twitter to give live trades starting next week and will post the results here on the blog.

Thanks and Good Trading

Tim

Thursday, February 2, 2012

GROWING MORE CAUTIOUS

Hi Folks,

I am growing more cautious on the market short term. The moving averages on the 30, 60 and 120 charts are flattened or flattening. The 4 hour is still not flattening and did bounce off the first touch of the 34 MA as I had mentioned in my post a few days ago. There still is room on the upside and I am not long term bearish yet but that can change. I will be looking for short term trade setups today and will post if I find one worth mentioning.

Thanks and Good Trading,

Tim

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

TRADING TODAYS ACTION

Hi Folks,

Today we have a few economic releases. We have the ADP Employment Report, ISM Manufacturing and Construction Spending. For day traders, most of the action occurs in 2 time frames during the day. Around 10:00 am - 11:00 am you usually see a nice move. This is usually due to an economic number being released. The most common times for these release during the trading day are 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. So from 2:00 pm to the close is the other time for a lot of action.

So how to you use this? I generally have an opinion on the direction or trend we are in. In simple terms if my bias says buy dips as it has been recently, I buy the dips around 11:00 and reassess later in the day. There is a lot more to it but just wanted to give you a little insight into how I generally frame my day.

Thanks and Good Trading,

Tim

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

TBT

Hi Folks,

I am getting long TBT right now through options. I am buying the March 21 Calls at .17. I'll keep you posted. I am looking to sell these before March expiration for $3. We will see and I will keep you posted.

Thanks and Good Trading,

Tim

MOVING AVERAGES

Hi Folks,

I figured I would explain what I mean about the moving averages flattening while waiting for a trade set up. I recommend using 2 moving averages on your chart. People choose many different periods. Through trial and error and eventually the advice of a friend I use the 34 and the 81 period for my charts. Many use the basic 50 and 200. I like to see the 34 MA start to roll over and flatten out before looking for a short in a general uptrend. The exception to this is when the stock is well above the 34 but still trending higher. I use these same MA's on all time frames.

On the 30 and 60 minute charts, the MA's are flattened out now but the longer term( the 2 hour and 4 hour) are not flattend out yet. This is the first touch of the uptrending 34 on the 4 hour so I expect a bounce off of it. However the setup for a short is getting closer.

Thanks and Good Trading,

Tim

Monday, January 30, 2012

CHANGING FORMAT

Hi Folks,

I have been asked to focus more on the short term trades. So I am going to be giving my opinions on individual stocks and ETFs on a short term basis for daytrading as well as my longer term views. So in order to follow these it is important that you type your email in the "Follow By Email" box above.

Thanks and Good Trading,

Tim