Sloppy setup

• Market gapped down but found support. 1st 15m bar was low of day
• Steady buying all day, but hard to find nice setups
• NSC was my first trade but turned into a scratch trade
• NFLX was not a great setup, almost stopped me out.
• Tight stops give great risk/reward ratios but the entry has to be right
• Entry 102.76 SL 102.60
• Exit1, just below high of day: 103.10
• Exit 2: after 1 min avalanche: 103.37
• Result: 2.1 R+4.8R=6.9/2=3.45R
• No other trades for me.

Strong stock with a nice 1 min base

• Source: $ gainers list
• Nice breakout after a 60 min consolidation period
• Daily was extended, so was higher risk, but the intraday chart was so nice, I took the trade anyway
• Entry @102.06, SL 101.40
• Target1 @ 103.45
• Exit rest just before round number resistance (105) at 104.87
• Usually I do not exit the second half before  the trailing stop is hit, but 105 seemed strong resistance to me.
• I was scanning like crazy but could not find any other nice long setups. This made me expect a larger intraday correction, so I was not to eager to take any new setups after this trade.
• The expected larger intraday correction took off just after 1400 hours when the 5 min avalanche broke.
• No other trades today

Not many daytrade setups today, at least setups I could find. Was not focussed and had other things going on at the same time, so that might have been a reason.

Did find JWN and that was the only trade for today.

Very nice base near the high of the day

• Entry 41.04, just below previous days high (blue line)
• Initial stoploss: 40.94, but could have been even tighter. However if the stop is less then 10 cts I usually use 10 cts anyway
• Took half off at 41.24, 2R.
• Right after that I set the stop to breakeven
• Trailed the stop on the 5 min chart, jsut below the swings and the sma 20
• Sold the rest 5 minutes before the close at 41.31
• Result: 2R+ 2.7R=4.7R/2=2.35R

Often there is not that much happening on a friday in the markets. Especially if the market is very extended on a daily basis.

Today was no exception. The only trade I did was PACR and frankly I could not find much else. I had KR on my list because it held up so well and was watching POT and IPI. Only IPI had a setup but I skipped it. Would have worked, though. Not feeling bad about it, because you can never catch them all and it was a high risk environment and PACR  worked out great

• PACR showed up on the yearly high list
• Had a nice run the past weeks but was consolidating for a few days
• It gapped up slightly today but ran from the open and took a first breather after 10 am
• Price formed a shallow 1 min CnH
• Entry was on the break of the handle, below high of the day
• Entry 40.80, SL 40.66
• Was aiming for equal move but as momentum was slower on this second move I took half off @ 41.06, just below the 1 min base
• Set the stop on the rest to breakeven
• PACR gave several new entry spots before the second run came, but I did not buy more
• Instead I trailed the rest behind the 5 min pivots or the sma 5/20, whatever is lower
• Stopped out on the rest at 41.49
• Reward: 26 ct + 69 ct = 95 ct
• RW/R: 95/14=6,7 R
• No other trades

must come down and vice versa? NTRI was one of the top gainers in 2009 and it broke down really hard this year. After what seems to be an exhaustion gap in the beginning of march it showed up on my gainers list. I don’t know what the news was, but clearly there was a pleasant surprise. It ran up hard but finally offered a beautiful opportunity to enter. It was a pleasant surprise in a choppy market where most of the strong stock seem very extended and offer less opportunity.

Beautiful 1 min cup and handle pattern

• NTRI shows up in gainers list early
• It took until 11.00 to correct for the first time
• The next hour it formed a beautiful 1 min cup and handle pattern
• Entry @ 17.04, SL @16.95
• As it moved up a lot I was conservative in my first target, just an equal move from the 1 min flag (right side of the cup and handle
• Exit1@ 17.30
• I put the stop on the rest to breakeven and was hoping for a larger equal move though that was very ambitious
• Despite my doubts second target was reached 1 hour later
• Exit2@17.95
• Result: 26 ct + 91 ct = 117 ct /2 =58 ct or 5.8R for the trade
• Other trades: DNR; 1R, VECO -1R on a lousy entry

1 min reverse head and shoulder and a 30 min dummy

• In a choppy market it helps to pick a stock with a great daily chart
• FRO had a clean breakout on the daily chart after a consolidation area
• The breakout was on big volume
• The stock ran from the open for three 30 min bars
• It pulled back gently during the next three bars
• Switch to 1 min chart and watch for momentum change
• Just before the breakout at 13:00 it had formed a 1 min reverse head and shoulders
• Entry @ 29.82, SL @ 29.72 (based on the pivot on the 1 min chart)
• Equal move was target but seemed a bit out of reach so trailed the first half on 1 min chart
• Exit half @ 30.15
• Exit rest 5 minutes before the close: @30.33
• Result 33 ct + 51 ct / 2 = 42 ct
• RW/R: 4.2R

Skipped HLX because it was not the first day of the move and lost 1R on HRBN, that was too extended already.

Traded two breakouts for today. The first was ARO. It had a nice daily, but was very extended intraday when I entered and I got stopped out for a loss. What was I thinking?

The other one was HRBN. It gapped up slightly to a new 20 day high and offered a great intraday pattern. Something Toni Hansen calls a D-pattern. I entered right above that pattern. Even on an otherwise boring day in the markets there are really nice breakouts during earnings season. Here is the trade…

Nice intraday pattern

• Slight gap up and new 20 day high on earnings news
• Great daily chart (fresh breakout after consolidation, no resistance near)
• Great intradaypattern (D-pattern)
• Entry slightly above ideal level @ 20.61 SL@20.45
• First target at equal move: 21.18
• Second half sold 5 minutes before the close
• Result: 2.7 + 3.9/2= 3,3 R
• Result for the day 2.3R

Had other business to attend to so no trades today. Does not look like I missed much.

I have a love and hate relationship with PCLN. Once in a while it offers great profit, only to take it back, r by r. Today again I had a losing trade  in PCLN. But I was able to compensate for it with a nice 30 min dummy setup, that worked out great.

There was not a lot of movement in the market all day. After the gap up it stayed pretty much in range.

The 30 min dummy setup was a reverse head and shoulder on the 1 min chart

• PCX gapped up slightly on high volume and made a 20 day high
• Daily chart looks like it has room to move up
• PCX had a great run in the morning but pulled back gently for about an hour
• The 6th 30 min candlestick was a hammer
• The dummy bar was in fact a nice 1 min head and shoulder pattern
• Entry at 19.30 with a 10 ct stop
• Exit 1 at 19.50 =2R
• Exit 2 after an avalanche on the 1 min chart @ 20.30
• Result: 2R + 10R=12R/2=6R on the trade
• There was also the 1.1 R loss on PCLN
• 4.9R for the day
• No other trades

I had a hard time finding nice setups today. There were a few good daily charts with intraday momentum, but I did not trust most of them so I passed.

One of them was PCLN, from my watchlist. It had a tiny 1 min bull flag after the first 10 minutes of trading but it was not ideal. Despite my doubts it ran all day.

Another one was APKT, nice 1 min base at 10:50. Passed on it too. The one I did take was PLL, a fresh gap up after a daily consolidation.

1 min base after a gap up

• Market tone was positive for most of the day
• PLL had a nice daily consolidation before today’s gap up
• After the gap up, PLL stayed in range until after 10:00
• Just before the breakout to a new daily high it formed a tiny bull flag
• Entered on the break of that flag, just before price made a new high
• Entry was at 40.87
• Closed half the position at 2R (41.28)
• Was planning to trail the second half on the 5 min swings, but momentum slowed
• The second leg on the 5 min chart went further but at a slower pace, so I thought it might correct more than I’d like
• Decided to trail behind 5 min bars, got stopped out below the tiny inside bar just after 11:40: exit @ 41.67
• Result: 2R + 4R/2=3R.