Trading Ideas

02Oct11:11 amEST

Catch and No Release

Biotechnology stocks, gauging the IBB and XBI sector ETFs, have been weak for a while now, even before growth stocks and then the major indices began to buckle of late.  Thus, even as the Dow is off by 400 points here, when we see XBI flipping green this morning after its latest dive lower on unusually heavy sell volume for a week and a half...

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01Oct3:29 pmEST

So Close You Can Almost Taste It

Quick note into the bell here as the Nasdaq tries to offset small cap damage today: Note how exhausted the U.S. Dollar looks today, clearly short-term overbought on the UUP ETF daily chart (UUP is simply the U.S. Dollar versus a basket of developed economies' currencies).  As you know, the Dollar and gold often have an inverse relationship, but...

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01Oct11:07 amEST

Manufactured Chop

Weak ISM manufacturing data figures to have been the culprit to reverse a strong open in the IWM as well as the market at-large this morning. As I write this, the small caps are now slightly in the red on the day, setting up another test of mettle in terms of whether dip-buyers have the gumption to step back into what remains a notably choppy...

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30Sep10:32 amEST

In Need of a Magic Boost

It remains to be seen whether Wall Street will adhere to its old adage to, "Sell Rosh Hashanah, Buy Yom Kippur," this year, something we fleshed out in more detail for Members over the weekend. But with a modest bounce going this morning as I write this, the third quarter of trading may very well go out with a whimper today after seemingly...

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27Sep10:18 amEST

Waiting for Things to Align Better

Another opening fade in both the small caps and especially the Nasdaq drives home the message just how choppy and indecisive the current market truly is. As we have been noting, this could be an "all of the above" function of end of month/quarter gamesmanship by fund managers, swirling headlines, shaking out bullish sentiment, or simply a...

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26Sep3:21 pmEST

Slow and Steady is Losing the Race

The small caps housed in the IWM ETF seem to be at a do-or-die area right now, as illustrated on the IWM hourly chart, updated below. On the one hand, the smalls have pulled back off their rally throughout early-to-mid September in a fairly orderly manner. In and of itself, that seems to be bullish, as we noted a while back.  But sooner or...

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26Sep10:44 amEST

Already Baked Into the Bowl

With the House passing the cannabis-banking bill, or the "SAFE Banking Act," on Wednesday, hope for pot stocks to regain their old form seemed realistic. However, as one of our Members noted this morning, we have the likes of ACB APHA CGC CRON TLRY acting sluggishly, at best. Perhaps the good news was already baked into the cake (packed into...

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25Sep12:05 pmEST

Stairs Up, Down, Left, Right

Another upbeat China trade war deal rumor sent stocks higher earlier this morning after a rather soft open for tech. To be sure, the lack of participation by software growth names continues to be a sore spot for bulls, especially a stock like COUP down 7% after holding up well compared to its peers for a while now.  Despite the Dow up...

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24Sep5:58 pmEST

Stock Market Recap 09/24/19 {Video}

The following video is a brief, condensed version of the Stock Market Recap which I present each evening to members of Market Chess Subscription Services. In the longer version, I offer tons of actionable trade ideas, educational content, and in-depth objective analysis across all markets. If you enjoy my videos and blog posts, then please...

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24Sep11:06 amEST

Staying Relevant

With only a few more sessions left in the third quarter of trading, it is worth revisiting some downtrodden former glamorous market growth leaders. Specifically, Netflix, Roku, and Square have all taken on the chin in recent weeks and months. In the case of NFLX the damage started with seemingly innocuous pullbacks in July. With respect to SQ,...

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23Sep12:55 pmEST

Midday Analysis 09/23/19 {Video}

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20Sep11:00 amEST

Summer Into Fall, Make the Call

Today marks the last trading day of summer, with autumn in the Northern Hemisphere beginning on  Monday, September 23rd.  Although the post-Labor Day phase has been in gear for a few weeks now, and the Fed meeting is in the rear view mirror, stocks are still searching for a more definitive clue as to whether or not they should sustain a...

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16Sep10:24 amEST

Saber, Rattle, and Roll

In the wake of the Saudi Arabia oil attack (with fingers being pointed at Iran for saber rattling), stocks are mostly soft albeit with IWM holding green as I write this. Still, beyond the initial jolt in stocks overnight it appears as though we are likely in a holding pattern until after FOMC later this week.  On the matter of crude, we can see...

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13Sep3:22 pmEST

Dead Ahead of The Fed

It is a rather quiet end of the week on Wall Street, which may very well be apropos considering the potential storm next week with the much-ballyhooed FOMC. AAPL FB GOOGL are down on antitrust headlines, but note how GOOGL even today is exuding relative strength to peers. For a while now, GOOGL has had the best "FANG" chart, and that remains...

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12Sep3:16 pmEST

A Chance to Get Back Above Water

Virtually the entire energy complex has been mired in a bear market for a good while now, be it natural gas, crude oil, and especially energy stocks themselves.  In terms of gauging whether he worst is over, why not look at one of largest firms in the world and largest holding by market cap in the XLE ETF, Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM)? Exxon...

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12Sep10:50 amEST

Détente from the Horror Show

Putting political opinions to one side, we know that whichever side you are on regarding the China/U.S. trade war there is no denying the increased, random overnight volatility we have seen in the market because of it for a good while now.  But with President Trump delaying China tariffs as a good will gesture amid more rumblings of a trade...

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11Sep5:28 pmEST

Stock Market Recap 09/11/19 {Video}

The following video is a brief, condensed version of the Stock Market Recap which I present each evening to members of Market Chess Subscription Services. In the longer version, I offer tons of actionable trade ideas, educational content, and in-depth objective analysis across all markets. If you enjoy my videos and blog posts, then please...

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11Sep11:17 amEST

No True Victories on 9/11

It is tough to imagine that the beaten-down software and indeed many growth titles will immediately snapback to new highs in a single session or two, and perhaps not even before the FOMC one week from today. Having said that, with one of the more prominent growth security/software plays Zscaler (ZS) collapsing 25% this morning after earnings,...

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10Sep3:45 pmEST

A Tale of Two Pullbacks

Another session of glaring weakness in the Nasdaq, combined with abrupt, heavy bouts of selling in winning consumer discretionary stocks (e.g. CMG SHAK WING) likely outweighs any progress made by both small caps and lagging sectors beginning to show signs of life.  Moreover, the morning bounce attempts in suddenly-oversold software growth...

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10Sep10:47 amEST

Kosmos Drinking Some Milkshakes

Despite crude oil's bounce over the last few sessions, it remains tough to find strong energy charts which withstood the barrage of that sector's bear market (for all intents and purposes) since October 2018. As a result, we have not focused much at all on long ideas in most energy-related stocks both on this website and inside the service for...

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