Steve's Trading Diary

Steve's Trading Diary - August 2009

8/25 Bought OMN on the positive trading on Tuesday. It had a Doji type day, which makes our decision very simple. If it opens positive on Wednesday, you can still buy it aggressively. This stock is showing a very nice chart. 8/26 It consolidated back to the T-line but came back up and closed right where it opened. This can be bought on a positive open on Thursday. 8/27 This should be closed out on Friday on a weak open. It needs to open higher and trade higher immediately to stay in it. 8/28 It should have been closed as it closed below the T-line.

8/24 Bought MICC on the positive trading on Monday. It stayed above the 20 day moving average. It needs to open positive and trade positive on Tuesday to stay in it. Otherwise, it will probably come back at least to the T-line where it may support. We want to see it get up to the $75 level. If it does, we would buy it aggressively at that level. 8/25 It held up above the T-line. We're still looking for it to break out, especially above the $75 area. We don't want to see it close back below the T-line. 8/26 It's still staying right above the T-line. Continue to hold but only give it about one more day. It needs to pop to the upside to stay in it. 8/27 Look to buy this one aggressively on a positive open. If it opens lower on Friday close out the position. 8/28 It should have been closed out. Any time you see a Hammer type signal with the stochastics rolling over, the chart is telling you that it needs to open positive the next day. This one opened lower and traded lower and should have been closed out.

8/24 Bought ZUMZ. It opened positive but immediately started trading off. However, it did close above the halfway point of Friday's bullish candle. We need to see a positive open and positive trading to stay in it. Otherwise, it may be coming back to test the T-line as support. 8/25 It's still in an uptrend. It can be bought on a positive open on Wednesday. That would show that the J-Hook pattern was still in progress. 8/26 It pulled back and closed at about the halfway point of Friday's bullish candle. If it opens lower on Thursday, close out the position and see what it does when it hits the T-line. 8/27 This should be closed out on Friday if it closes below the T-line. 8/28 It should have been closed out with five days of lower trading and with it closing below the T-line on Friday.

8/31 MTG was not bought on Monday. It's coming out of a Fry Pan Bottom pattern but opened lower. It came down and tested the T-line and bounced back up. It's still coming out of a Fry Pan bottom Pattern so if it opens and trades higher, especially if it comes up through Friday's high, it can still be bought. It could still break out into a nice trade.

8/31 MHK was not bought on Monday but if you bought it, you can continue to hold it. It can still be bought if it comes up through Monday's high. Be ready to buy this on any positive trading.

8/31 KMT was not bought. It opened lower but stayed above the T-line. This now becomes a possible shorting opportunity if it opens weaker on Tuesday. It's forming an Evening Star type signal.

8/28 Bought LEAP on the positive trading. It didn't do anything very exciting on Friday. It can still be bought if it trades back up through Friday's high at the $17.91 area. That would be confirming the bullish action coming up from the T-line. If you own it, continue to own it. If you don't own it, be ready to buy it at anything above $17.91. 8/31 It should have been closed out as it closed below the T-line on Monday. It can be bought on the next buy signal.

8/27 Bought NDN. It opened higher, came down and supported on the 20 day moving average, and came back up again. If you didn't buy it on Thursday be ready to buy it on a positive open on Friday. 8/28 It waffled back a little. If it shows strength on Monday, you can be a buyer. After two days of consolidation the next strong move is likely to occur. 8/31 It should have been closed out as it closed below the T-line on Monday. It needed to open higher and trade higher to stay in it.

8/28 Bought BKD on the positive trading. It acted well. It can still be bought on a positive open after Friday's Doji. Use a close below Friday's low of $16.06 as your stop. 8/31 It pulled back but formed a Doji. It can be bought aggressively on a positive open on Tuesday. If it opens weaker, we don't want to see it close below the T-line. 9/1 It should have been closed out as it closed below the T-line on Tuesday. Now it can be shorted on any weakness on Wednesday.

8/28 Bought XIDE on the positive open. Continue to hold as long as it doesn't close below the T-line. We expect it to move sideways as the T-line catches up before it pops to the upside again. 8/31 It's still moving sideways. It needs to open higher and trade higher to stay in it. This is the time when we need to see a Morning Star signal at the end of the flat trading area. 9/1 It should have been closed out as it closed below the T-line on Tuesday.

8/26 Bought CHS on the positive open. It continued higher. It's confirming the J-Hook pattern with the Kicker signal as the instigator. 8/27 It showed some profit-taking on Thursday. It doesn't look like the stochastics are in the overbought area yet. Still use a close below the T-line as your stop. 8/28 It didn't do anything exciting. It's still in an uptrend. Continue to hold. Use the T-line as your stop. 8/31 It needs to open higher and trade higher to stay in it. If it trades below the T-line on Tuesday you will probably want to come out of the position. 9/1 It should have been closed out as it closed below the T-line on Tuesday.

8/25 Bought HMA. It held up well on Tuesday and traded positive. Buy it aggressively if you see it break out above Tuesday's high of $7.01. 8/26 It pulled back to the T-line. It needs to open higher and trade higher to stay in it. If it opens lower on Thursday, close out the position immediately. That would tell us the recent highs were acting as resistance. 8/27 This can be bought aggressively on a positive open on Friday after Thursday's Booster type signal. 8/28 It still stayed up above the T-line. Continue to hold. 8/31 It stayed up above the T-line. Continue to hold. Be ready to buy this again on positive trading. 9/1 It should have been closed out as it closed below the T-line on Tuesday.

8/24 Bought FITB. It formed a Bearish Engulfing signal but it's not in the overbought area. It stayed up above the T-line. It needs to open positive and trade positive on Tuesday to stay in it. If it closes below the T-line, it will probably sag back down to the 20 day moving average, which would coincide with the trading channel. 8/25 It stayed above the T-line and formed a Doji. This showed that the selling of Monday had stopped. If it opens positive on Wednesday, you can be a buyer. 8/26 It used the T-line again at support. It can still be bought on positive trading on Thursday. 8/27 Continue to hold as long as it closes above the T-line. It still looks like it's in an uptrending channel. 8/28 Continue to hold. As a matter of fact, this one can be bought on a positive open. We're looking for wave three to the upside to start. 8/31 Continue to hold. It's still moving up nicely. 9/1 For traders, it should have been closed out as it closed below the T-line on Tuesday.

8/21 Bought ADI. It moved positive, came back down to the T-line, and moved back up by the end of the day. It could have been bought anywhere in the positive trading area. It's still being influenced by the previous Belt Hold signal. 8/24 It showed some profit-taking but it was nothing to change the upward trend. We may see more profit-taking until the T-line catches up. It's still working off the effects of the previous Belt Hold signal. 8/25 It's still holding up. Continue to hold. 8/26 It's still moving up off the Belt Hold signal. Remember that the trajectory is usually pretty strong after a Belt Hold signal. 8/27 It's still in an uptrend after the Belt Hold signal. It bounced off the T-line on Thursday. Continue to hold. 8/28 It's still moving positive after the Belt Hold signal. Continue to hold. Use the T-line as your stop. 8/31 It traded indecisively and closed just below the T-line. Give it one more day. It needs to open flat and trade higher. If it opens lower and starts trading down, close out the position. 9/1 It should have been closed out as it closed below the T-line on Tuesday.

8/21 Bought EXPE. It consolidated all the way back to the T-line but closed at the top end of the trading range. It can still be bought on a positive open on Monday. 8/24 It opened and immediately traded off. It supported at the T-line but it needs to stay above the T-line on Tuesday to stay in it. 8/25 It stayed above the T-line on Tuesday. Be ready to buy it again if it breaks out through the recent high levels. 8/26 It's starting to fizzle here at the resistance area. It needs to open higher and trade higher to stay in it. If it opens lower, close out some of the position and see what it does at the T-line. 8/27 It's still in an uptrend and is staying above the T-line. Continue to hold. 8/28 It's still in a nice uptrend. The stochastics are not quite into the overbought area. Look for it to open higher. If it opens higher it can be bought aggressively. It could be breaking out from this level. 8/31 It's staying up above the T-line. Continue to hold. Use the T-line as your stop. 9/1 It should have been closed out as it closed below the T-line on Tuesday.

8/20 Bought FOE on the positive trading. It can still be bought on positive trading on Friday. It's forming a J-Hook pattern. We don't want to see it close below the T-line. 8/21 It could have been bought again on Friday. It can still be bought on a positive open on Monday, especially if it breaks out through the recent highs. 8/24 It formed a Doji/Shooting Star at the same level where it topped out before. It definitely needs to have a positive open. If it opens weaker on Tuesday, take off half the position immediately. If it closes lower, take off the other half. It needs to open and start trading higher immediately.8/25 It's still in a slow uptrend. Continue to hold. 8/26 It's still in a nice steady uptrend. Continue to hold. 8/27 If this opens positive on Friday, it can be bought aggressively. After the consolidation, if it breaks out through the recent high levels the bulls will be back in there with strength. 8/28 It's still moving higher. Continue to hold. Use the T-line as your stop. 8/31 It tested the T-line and held up. Continue to hold. 9/1 It should have been closed out as it closed below the T-line on Tuesday. Now it can be shorted on further weakness after the Bearish Harami/Doji followed by the weakness.

8/19 Bought CX as it came back up through the previous day's close. It opened right near the T-line. It had a nice move. Continue to hold. Remember, a Belt Hold signal usually wipes out the sellers, so there shouldn't be many sellers in the way for the next move up. 8/20 It continues to move up nicely. Continue to hold. At this point we don't want to see it close more than halfway down Thursday's bullish candle. 8/21 It started backing off. Continue to hold but if it opens lower on Monday, start taking profits. It might be coming back to test the T-line. 8/24 It showed some profit-taking. At least some of the position should have been stopped out as it came down through Friday's close. It might be moving sideways until the T-line catches up. If you have any of your position left, it needs to open higher and trade higher to continue to hold. If it opens weaker and starts trading down, close out the rest of your position and see what it does when it reaches the T-line. 8/25 It traded up a little bit. It's chart is still indicating that it may move sideways until the T-line catches up. If it opens positive on Wednesday, it can be bought aggressively. 8/26 It's still moving up nicely. It can still be bought on a positive open. That would tell us the consolidation is over in the uptrend is still in progress. Notice how the stock started moving up pretty strong after the Belt Hold signal. 8/27 This can still be bought on a positive open. It's using the T-line as support. 8/28 It might be getting a little bit toppy. At this point we don't want to see it close lower on Monday. If it does, it's probably coming back to test the T-line. You might want to take some profits on a lower close on Monday. 8/31 It's still using the T-line as support. Continue to hold as long as it doesn't close below the T-line. 9/1 It should have been closed out as it closed below the T-line on Tuesday.

8/18 Bought NLY. This is a perfect example of a J-Hook pattern. It bounced off the 34 day moving average and has now come up through the 20 day moving average and the T-line. Continue to buy this one on strength. 8/19 It opened lower and came right back up. It can still be bought on a positive open on Thursday. 8/20 It moved up nicely on Thursday. Continue to hold. It's forming a nice J-Hook pattern. 8/21 It continues to move up nicely. It looks like it's trying to break out through the recent highs. 8/24 It did some consolidation on Monday but it was nothing to change the upward trend. We'd like to see it open positive and trade positive on Tuesday. 8/25 It traded indecisively on Tuesday and didn't show any great selling pressure. We don't want to see it trade back below the halfway point of Friday's bullish candle. That would show that it opened lower after a Doji and started heading down. If it does open positive, it can be bought again. 8/26 It's consolidating and isn't doing anything in a decisive manner. We're expecting a J-Hook pattern to form. 8/27 This can be bought on a positive open. It formed a Hammer type signal and used the T-line as support. Remember that this is paying about a 14% dividend yield at this level. 8/28 Continue to hold as long as it closes above the T-line. 8/31 It closed right on the T-line and formed a Doji. It needs to open positive and trade positive to stay in it. 9/1 It should have been closed out as it was trading lower or when it closed below the T-line on Tuesday.

8/17 Bought CLNE. It hasn't been able to close back below the T-line. Even though gapped down on Monday, it came right back up again. Continue to hold as long as it doesn't close below the T-line. 8/18 It still stayed up above the T-line. Continue to hold. Use the T-line as your stop. 8/19 If you didn't close it out on Wednesday on the weak open, be ready to close it out if it opens weaker on Thursday. It needs to open higher and trade higher to stay in it. 8/20 It continued to move up on Thursday. It can still be bought on positive trading. 8/21 This can still be held since it's staying above the T-line. It can be bought aggressively on a positive open on Monday. 8/24 It needs to get some juice in it pretty soon. Give it one more day but definitely close it out if it closes below the T-line. It needs to show some strength to tell us the Bulls are still in control. 8/25 It's still moving up after the previous big Belt Hold type signal. As long as it stays above the T-line, continue holding it. 8/26 It can be bought on a positive open on Thursday. It still has good upside potential. 8/27 It broke out nicely ever since the formation of the Belt Hold type signal. Continue to hold this until you see a sell signal. 8/28 It's still in an uptrend. At this point use a close below the halfway point of Thursday's large bullish candle and Friday's low at the $12 range as your stop. That would tell us the profit-taking had started. 8/31 It's consolidating but is doing it indecisively. If it opens positive on Tuesday, it can be bought immediately. 9/1 It should have been closed out as it closed below the T-line on Tuesday.

8/20 Bought RL. It didn't do anything inspirational on Thursday. If you bought it on the positive trading, you're all right since it closed above the T-line. If it opens positive on Friday, you can still be a buyer. We don't want to see it close below the T-line. 8/21 It's still hanging in there. It needs to have a positive open on Monday to continue to hold. We don't want to see it close below the T-line. 8/24 It should have been closed out on Monday on the weakness. It's sitting on the 20 day moving average. It can be bought but not until it comes back up through the recent highs at around the $68 area.

8/11 Bought CROX on the positive trading on Tuesday. This is exactly what we expected after a gap up from a Fry Pan Bottom pattern. There was a consolidation day and now the Bulls are back in control. 8/12 It's still moving up nicely. Continue to hold. Use the T-line as your stop. 8/17 It gapped down but bounced up off the T-line. The only way to keep holding this is to see it open higher and trade higher on Tuesday. If it starts trading below the T-line, close out the position. 8/18 It held up above the T-line. It can be bought on a positive open on Wednesday. 8/19 We're reiterating this as a buy for Thursday after the J-Hook type pattern. 8/20 This could have been bought again on Thursday. It can still be bought on a positive open on Friday as long as it stays above the T-line. 8/21 It formed a Shooting Star signal. It needs to open higher and trade higher on Monday to continue to hold. Otherwise, traders will want to watch to see if it comes back to test the T-line. 8/24 Even though it opened higher it should have been stopped out with it coming back down through Friday's close. Notice that it formed a Tweezer Top. It has been stopped out but we would buy it back if it shows any strength and stays above the T-line.

8/25 Bought TESO as it opened positive, but it should have been closed out as it closed below the halfway point of Monday's bullish candle.

8/26 MTXX was not bought. It opened and traded lower on Wednesday and came right back down to the T-line. This can still be bought if it comes back up through Wednesday's open of $8.10. That would tell us the Bulls are still in control.

8/26 BC was not bought. It opened lower and came back down to test the T-line before bouncing back up. It can still be bought if it comes back up through the recent high levels at around the $9.75 area. That would tell us it was breaking out.

8/27 BEAT was not bought on Thursday but it does have the potential to break out, so if comes back up through Wednesday's high you will want to be a buyer.

8/27 VNDA was not bought on Thursday but can be bought on Friday if it comes back up through Wednesday's close.

8/17 Bought SAY. It closed below the T-line on Monday. After the little Hammer signal and the gap down, it should have been closed out. If you didn't close it out on Monday, it should be closed out on a weaker open on Tuesday. The only way to keep holding it would be to see a positive open on Tuesday and positive trading from there.

8/12 Bought JAZZ on the positive open on Wednesday. Even though it backed off most of the day, it still gapped up off a flat trading area bouncing off the T-line. We're looking for the profit-taking to be over. It can be bought on any positive trading on Thursday. 8/17 This should have been closed out on Monday with it closing below the T-line. Although it formed a Doji, it should have been closed out. It can always be bought back if it closes back up above the T-line.

8/11 Bought SAPE on Tuesday on the positive trading. It's working nicely after the Belt Hold signal. Notice how it used to the T-line as support. This can still be bought on a positive open on Wednesday. Remember, the Belt Hold signal tells us the sellers have been eliminated. There should be a good strong uptrend from here. 8/12 It's still moving up after the Belt Hold signal. Use the T-line as your stop. 8/17 It closed below the T-line. This one is tentative even though it had a positive trading day. If you closed it out, be prepared to buy it back on another day where it closes up above the T-line.

PCX - 8/7 If you bought this on Thursday, continue to hold it as long as it stays above the T-line. It can be bought on Monday on any positive trading. 8/11 It needed to open higher and trade higher. It closed right on the T-line. This should probably be closed out immediately if it opens lower on Wednesday. It shouldn't trade below the T-line. 8/12 It did come back up and close above the T-line. It needs one more day. Continue to hold but if it opens below Wednesday's open of $8.88, close out the position. 8/17 This should have been closed out after the Dark Cloud gap down.

8/18 TZA was not bought because it opened lower on Tuesday. However, it can be bought if it comes up through Monday's high.

8/18 RVBD was not shorted because it opened flat and traded higher on Tuesday.

8/19 CENX was not bought since it opened lower. However, it stayed above the T-line. If it opens positive on Thursday, you can be buying it.

8/11 BCRX was not bought. It needed to open higher and start trading higher, which it didn't do. The stochastics are still heading down. You can probably leave this one alone for awhile.

8/7 Bought ZUMZ on the positive open on Friday. It continued to move higher. Continue to hold. It's in a nice Fry Pan Bottom breakout. 8/10 It traded up and then came back down and formed a Gravestone Doji on Monday. If it starts trading back below the T-line on Tuesday, you'll want to close out this position. It definitely needs to hold at the T-line. It needs to open higher and trade higher on Tuesday to continue to hold. 8/11 It should have been closed out on Tuesday with a closing more than halfway down Friday's bullish candle.

8/12 CMP was not shorted. It opened a little bit lower but started trading up. We decided not to short this because of the overall strength of the markets.

CSUN - 8/7 This has shown some weakness after it was bought on Thursday. But continue to hold it as long as it doesn't close below the T-line. 8/11 It opened lower but closed above the T-line. Be ready to close this one out if it closes below the T-line. 8/12 It should have been closed out on Wednesday as it traded below the T-line.