Today’s Trading Lesson…
Trading is a challenge because what we want isn’t possible. We want certainty.
We seek certainty in a situation that has no structure. The stock market can do anything. Up, down or sideways at any time. We know this and yet we still seek control.
Each trade manipulates our self-image. If we make money we feel smart and successful. If we lose we search for reasons to escape the failure.
As days and weeks go by, our emotions get stretched with each result. Good trade, bad trade, good trade, bad trade. Each trade gets more exhausting. Doubt starts to creep in.
As we struggle, common problems occur: we hesitate on entries and we exit winners too soon. We have too many shares on losing trades, and too few shares on the winners. We focus on the problems but never realize they are merely symptoms of the real issue.
The more we trade, the more confused we get. The challenge to be profitable becomes an obsession, a burning desire to learn what’s missing.
A lucky few eventually discover the answer…
On the Tape Today...
$BABA 1-25-17
BABA | Alibaba Group Hldg showed strong earnings yesterday. Looking for follow through today despite another higher opening. The game plan for today: a buy-stop above the high of the first 30 minute candlestick. Looking for a swing trade to the $107.75 level. Stop loss.50 below today's low.
FSLR | First Solar broke a short-term trend yesterday, is well-offered and showed relative weakness. Planning a $32.25 sell-stop with a target to cover @ $29.25
Stock Market Today: Heatmap of the S&P 500
$SP 500 1-25-17
Stock Market Today 1-25-17 | Wednesday Edition
Trump To Sign Executive Orders Restricting Immigration, Order Mexican Border Wall
Having taken on the Keystone pipeline and America’s struggling manufacturing sector in a flurry of executive actions on Tuesday, moments ago Reuters reported, citing several congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter, that on Wednesday Donald Trump will sign several executive orders restricting immigration.
Facebook, Amazon Hit Buy Points; Apple, Alphabet Still In The Zone
Among the closely watched FANG-plus-Apple stocks, Facebook (FB) and Amazon.com (AMZN) cleared technical buy points on Tuesday, but in light volume.
The two internet giants are components of FANG (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix (NFLX) and Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL)). Many investors add Apple (AAPL) to this list for a FANG+ group of tech leaders.
Starbucks has asked Satya Nadella to join its board
Starbucks is tapping up Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to join its board of directors. The coffee giant announced it will put Nadella forward along with two other nominees at its annual meeting in March.
Trump Is Squeezing Detroit at the Worst Possible Time
President Donald Trump is asking U.S. automakers to invest in domestic manufacturing at a bad time.
Car sales have gained for seven-straight years after the U.S. auto bailouts and the financial crisis, a streak that’s close to running out of gas. That’s a recipe for trouble facing companies wary of undoing the painful but necessary steps they took to shut dozens of factories across the country, before and during a more than $70 billion government bailout.
Old Tech Vs. New Tech: Which Will Be Better Investments For 2017?
Old tech versus new tech is a debate that saw a breath of new life in 2016 as investors weighed the resurgence of mature companies like International Business Machines Corp.IBM— up 40 percent over the past 52 weeks — with the market dominance of relative newcomers such as NVIDIA Corporation NVDA — the best performing stock of 2016.
Thanks, Amazon! Now indie bookstores are booming
Print is dead? Long live print! Amazon AMZN, +0.58% may have conquered the book-selling market, but word nerds are finding their way back to indie bookstores.
Even as the internet superstore sinks its claws into America’s literary capital with its first brick and mortar Big Apple bookstore this spring, bookworms will tell you that paper books and the community around them are alive and kicking.
Netflix and CBS Try to Shake Up Reality TV
On Sunday, CBS got the news it wanted for its new reality show, “Hunted.”
With the aid of a muscular lead-in from an N.F.L. playoff game, the show had nearly 12 million viewers and the highest ratings for the premiere of a reality TV series since “The X-Factor” in 2011. Now comes the hard part.
Staying on the Right Side of the Market
Let’s start with a moment of review:
The NYSE TICK ($TICK) is the number of stocks trading on upticks minus the number trading on downticks on a high frequency basis. (It’s updated about every second on my platform).
The Second Largest Bubble in 100 Years
How big is the current stock bubble?
How about the second-biggest stock bubble of the past 100 years! That’s the conclusion of veteran market technician Erik McCurdy, senior market technician for Prometheus Market Insight.
Tape Reading the SPY ETF
$SPY shows again why you don’t fight the order flow. Having a bias gives you conviction. Identifying the institutions and joining them, creates winning traders. Attempting to trade every turn is difficult, if not impossible. Especially in this day of algorithms.
Pick a side, then pick a spot.
The trading range continues but it appears the stock market wants to breach the all-time highs. What scares me is the significance given to the DJIA 20,000 level. It means nothing other than a headline.
Looking for one more day of buying, but not ready to initiate a new swing trade long. I’m still in day trade mode, or looking to hold two obvious well-bid days in a row.
$SPY 1-25-17
Las Vegas Sands (LVS) Q4 Earnings: A Beat in the Cards?
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS – Free Report) is slated to report fourth-quarter 2016 numbers on Jan 25, after market close. We expect the casino operator to beat expectations.
In the last reported quarter, Las Vegas Sands posted a 22.03% positive earnings surprise. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.
What to Expect When Las Vegas Sands Posts Fourth-Quarter Earnings
Las Vegas Sands (LVS) shares were up slightly in afternoon trading Tuesday to $55.63, ahead of the release of the company’s fourth quarter earnings results after Wednesday’s closing bell.
Analysts on average are expecting the company to report earnings of $0.65 per share on revenue of $3.12 billion, according to data compiled by FactSet. Those totals would be slightly ahead of the $0.62 per share on revenue of $2.86 billion the company reported in the year ago quarter.
$LVS 1-25-17 Before Earnings
Stocks to Trade 1-25-17 | Wednesday Edition
Short-Term Trading Momentum:
Bullish Momentum: ATI, TECK, MOS, LNG, WDC, CF, DD, LYB, AVGO, CC, HAL, IBM, NSC, STT, ADBE, STI, SWKS, YELP, LW
Bearish Momentum: bmy, fslr, ions
Quarterly Order Flow:
Bullish Stocks to Trade: WDC, LYB, AVGO, BABA, IBM, NSC, ADBE, SWKS, NVDA, NFLX, BA, KMX, CLVS, UNP, WDAY, ADSK, FB, HD
Bearish Stocks to Trade: fslr, bmy, jnj, gild, oxy, tjx, xom, qcom, kss, tgt, mnk, jwn, dg
2x Normal Volume: QCOM, BABA, ATI, AA, AET, AVGO
Inside days: qcom, xom, teva, dal, jblu, pypl, tgt, aal, uaa, lvs, mcd, kss, ual, hon, bbby, cah