frankz

Some traders live by rules or sayings that they've read in books without really knowing if the person actually follows the rules they preach.  Or if it was something that was said years ago that may no longer apply today due to a different market environment, a change of strategy etc...  One saying that gets thrown around a lot by traders is "losers average losers", this is a rule that legendary trader Paul Tudor Jones preached many years ago.If you fast forward to today and take a look at his holdings via the great site hedgemind.com you can clearly see [...]

Today's long swing set ups; $SEAS $ERX $HLX $KEG $CXDC $HOS $WFT $NXPI $BITA $GWPH.The Process;Every morning I go through a few of my scans to find buy candidates for the day.  Depending on the current state of the market the size of the list will vary, usually its no more than 50 names.  My process is based on market structure not on beliefs or myths of what works– or what doesn’t work.  They are certain behavioral patterns that have been around for 100 years that are based on market structure, these behavioral patterns are recognizable, observable, and quantifiable.  On [...]

There is no doubt that my favorite set up is a stock that has been trading in a range for a long time, have written numerous blog posts about this type of set up.  In my experience they tend to lead to big moves once they come out of the range.Carbo Ceramics ($CRR) is an oil and gas equipment company that has been trading in a range for 6 months between roughly $31.50-$43.00.   I'm always intrigued by bases because a prolong period of contraction normally leads to a prolonged period of expansion, and the longer the base the better it [...]

If you are in the stock picking business it pays to continuously do your homework.  From the way I view things we went from not having any quality swing set ups to having quite a few.  The media tends to over hype the moves of the SP500 when the action underneath the surface tells you a lot more and what is really happening.$AMCX $AGU $QEPM $ABC $GTI $GTN $CCIH $NXPI $BAS $WFT $CRR are the stocks on my watchlist today for long swing trades.The Process;Every morning I go through a few of my scans to find buy candidates for the [...]

Papa Johns (PZZA) has been trading in a range for 5 months between $60-$65.  On the back of its earnings report (5/5/15) the stock is now exiting the top end of the base, this is now a fresh breakout. PAPA Johns reported first quarter earnings of $.55 cents compared to $.45 cents in 2014 an increase of 22.2%. First quarter revenues were $432.3 million, a 7.7% increase from the first quarter of 2014.  They also increased their earnings per share guidance for 2015.From a technical perspective the measure move of the base is $5, this gives us an initial target [...]

DirecTv (DTV) and Solar City (SCTY) are two stocks that have been basing for a long time.  DTV traded between roughly between $83-$88 for 1 year, SCTY traded between $47.75-$57.50 for 7 months.  Both stocks are trading above their respective bases.I'm always intrigued by bases because a prolong period of contraction normally leads to a prolonged period of expansion, and the longer the base the better it is.  What happens in the base is that the buyers and sellers find equilibrium, the sellers for the most part are done selling and or the buyers are taking in all the supply. [...]

$AMZN $DNKN $GPRO all reacted extremely well after they reported their most recent earnings. By well I mean that they were up 4% or more after the report on volume 3 times their 50 day volume average. Amazon was up 14% after their earnings release, Dunkin +7.9%, GoPro +12.6%., all 3 companies reported in the Middle of April.Since their earnings release these stocks have all digested the initial earnings pop by pulling back, this when the opportunity lies.  When a stock makes a significant move on relatively heavy volume after their earnings report one can assume that the street was caught by surprise [...]

$MBLY $JCP $SPLK $EJ $SFY $APA $ERX $SN $TUBE $OAS $VNET $SFXE $GS $DATA $NMBL are today's swing ideas.The Process;Every morning I go through a few of my scans to find buy candidates for the day.  Depending on the current state of the market the size of the list will vary, usually its no more than 50 names.  My process is based on market structure not on beliefs or myths of what works– or what doesn’t work.  They are certain behavioral patterns that have been around for 100 years that are based on market structure, these behavioral patterns are recognizable, [...]

The mining sector has been dead money for a long time except for a few 1-5 day rallies.  However some mining stocks specifically Barrick Gold $ABX might be turning the corner.  Barrick Gold right now is in the process of coming out of a 7 month trading range after being under constant distribution for months.I'm always intrigued by multi-month bases of stocks near their 52 week lows.  Normally a prolong period of contraction leads to a prolong period of expansion.  ABX has traded roughly between $10.30 and $13.30 for 7 months.  What happens in the base is that the buyers [...]

Many market participants say that you can’t chart the VIX, they have valid reasons and justifications that I won’t get into. However, since January 2013 every time the VIX got the $12 dollar level it has bounced, there is no denying that as you can see from the chart below. The purpose of technical analysis is not predict the future, it gives you a road map on what to expect based on what has happened in the past. If one believes this is actionable the question becomes; how and with what instrument can we take advantage of this.  Historically the VIX [...]