Steve's Trading Diary - February 2010
2/19 Bought MTX on the positive trading on Friday. Notice how it used the 20 day moving average as support. This can be bought aggressively on a positive open on Monday. That would probably mean it would have another big day to the upside. Right now use the T-line as your stop. 2/22 It continued to move up, although not very much. This is the type of set-up where it could have a big pop to the upside fairly soon after consolidating for a couple of days. 2/23 It held up reasonably well until the very end of the day. If you didn't close it out, it needs to open positive and trade positive immediately on Wednesday to stay in it. 2/24 It held at the T-line and came back up nicely. It can still be bought aggressively if it trades positive on Thursday. 2/25 It opened lower but came right back up again. This can still be bought on positive trading on Friday. 2/26 It used the T-line support. Continue to hold. If it opens positive, you'll probably want to be buying it aggressively. Use the T-line as your stop. 3/1 It continued higher. Look for it to move up to the 50 day moving average. 3/2 One third of the position should have been sold when it hit the 50 day moving average. Use the halfway point of Tuesday's candle as your stop. It shouldn't come back down through there. If it does, it's telling us the 50 day moving average is acting as resistance and we should close out the remaining part of the position. 3/3 It came up through the 50 day moving average. It's still forming a Rounded Bottom pattern. Continue to hold until you see a sell signal. 3/4 It's still consistently moving up. Stay long. At this point use any trading below Thursday's low of $51.85 as your stop. It shouldn't come back down through that level. 3/5 It continued higher. Continue to hold. We're still anticipating a test of the previous high levels. It's in the overbought area so use any trading below Friday's low of $52.35 as your stop. 3/8 It might be getting a little bit toppy. We wouldn't want to see it open below Friday's open at the $52.60 level. Use that level as your stop. 3/9 It consolidated a little bit on Tuesday. It formed a Shooting Star/Doji on Monday but Tuesday's trading didn't show any significant selling. We may see some more sideways trading until the T-line catches up. At this point use Tuesday's low of $52.70 as your stop. If it comes back down through there, it tells us it could come down hard to test the T-line versus moving sideways. 3/10 It consolidated but did it indecisively. Use any trading below Wednesday's low of $52.40 as your stop. It should trade sideways and eventually curl back up. 3/11 It came down to the T-line and came back up. It needs to open positive to stay in it. If it opens lower and trades down, close out the position. 3/12 It formed a nice J-Hook pattern. It can be bought on any positive trading on Monday coming out of the J-Hook pattern. 3/15 It's still holding up above the T-line. It's barely touching it and using it as support. This can be bought on any positive trading. 3/16 It's still moving up nicely. Continue to hold. 3/17 It popped up after coming down and hitting the T-line. Continue to hold. It's probably starting wave three. 3/18 It's getting a little bit toppy. Use the T-line as your stop. 3/26 It should have been closed out as it closed below the T-line last Thursday.
2/24 Bought ZLC on Wednesday on the gap up open. Buy this on a positive open again on Thursday. 2/25 It gapped down after the Doji that had gapped up the previous day. It's not anywhere near the overbought area so give it another day. If it stays above the 50 day moving average, it can still be bought. 2/26 It stayed above the T-line but closed below the 50 day moving average. It needs to open positive and trade positive to stay in it on Monday. 3/1 It still stayed up above the T-line but it now needs to open positive and come back up above the 50 day moving average to stay in it. 3/2 It formed a Hammer and stayed above the T-line. If it trades positive, you will want to be buying it aggressively. It will be forming a J-Hook pattern. We don't want to see it close back below the T-line. 3/3 It came up nicely on Wednesday and stayed up above the T-line. We're reiterating this as a buy on a positive open on Thursday. 3/4 It started the day higher but stayed above the T-line on Thursday. We're still looking for strong move to break this out to the upside. 3/5 It was reiterated as a buy and can still be bought on a positive open coming out of the J-Hook pattern. The next target is the 200 day moving average. 3/8 It consolidated a little bit. We'd like to see it open positive. If it comes up through the $2.90 level, it can be bought aggressively. That would tell us the Bulls are definitely in control. 3/9 It can still be bought on a positive open. If it breaks out through the recent high levels, the next target should be at the 200 day moving average. Use the T-line as your stop. 3/10 It moved up nicely and gapped up through the recent high levels. We're seeing a nice chart pattern setting up. We're still targeting the 200 day moving average. 3/11 It consolidated and formed a Bearish Harami. It's getting near the overbought area. It needs to open and trade higher to stay in it. If it opens and trades lower, it needs to stay above the T-line. It's now close enough to the T-line where it could come down, bounce off the T-line, and come back up. If it closes below the T-line, you will want to come out of the position. 3/12 It's doing somewhat of a Pennant formation. If it opens positive on Monday, it's still a buy and would be heading for the 200 day moving average. We don't want to see this trade at all back below the T-line. 3/15 It needs to stay above the T-line to keep holding it. 3/16 It had a strong percentage move up on Tuesday. It's heading toward the 200 day moving average. 3/17 It's still in a nice, steady uptrend. Continue to hold until you see a definite sell signal. 3/18 It traded indecisively. It might be moving sideways or slightly lower until the T-line catches up. 3/26 It closed just below the T-line with an indecisive signal. It needs to open higher and trade higher to stay in it. If it opens lower on Monday, close out the position. 3/29 It should have been closed out on Monday as it traded back below the T-line after Friday's Spinning Top.
2/8 Bought BEBE on Monday as it traded above the Friday's Doji. That told us that the profit-taking from Friday was over. Continue to buy this. Use the 200 day moving average as your stop. 2/9 Continue to buy this one after the gap up. It's still running strong. 2/10 It continued to move up higher. Continue to hold. 2/11 It continues to move higher. At this point we don't want to see it trade back below Thursday's open of $7.45. 2/12 It continues to move higher. It got a little bit scary on Friday but immediately started moving right back up. Continue to hold. 2/16 It broke out to the upside in the overbought area. Start using your logical spots for taking profits. If it opens higher, we don't want to see it come back down through the previous day's close. If it opens lower, take some profits from at least half your position. We've already had a strong move in this one. 2/17 It formed a Doji in the overbought area. If you didn't take profits at this level, definitely use any trading back below Wednesday's low of $8.21 as your stop. Notice the distance away from the T-line. It could move sideways or backwards down toward the T-line if it opens weaker. It needs to open positive and trade positive to stay in this long position. 2/19 It's getting toppy. If it opens lower, especially if it comes down through Thursday's low, close out the position. It has formed three Doji signals. It needs to open positive and trade positive to stay in the position. 2/22 It formed a Bearish Engulfing signal and an Inverted Cradle pattern. The only way to stay in this one is for it to open positive and trade positive. If it opens lower, close out the position immediately. 2/23 It hasn't confirmed yet. It didn't close below the T-line. Continue to hold but it needs to open positive and trade positive on Wednesday to stay in it. 2/24 It's still above the T-line. It could form a J-Hook type pattern. 2/25 It closed just barely above the T-line but it can be bought if it opens positive on Friday. 2/26 It moved up nicely. We are reiterating this as another buy on a positive open on Monday. That would tell us the J-Hook pattern is now breaking out. 3/1 It can be bought aggressively if it opens positive on Tuesday after Monday's Doji. Notice that it's not quite in the overbought area. It should still be in an uptrend. 3/2 It opened on the T-line and came back up. It's still in a bullish mode. It's staying above the T-line. Continue to buy this if it opens positive on Wednesday. 3/3 It still traded up. It's trying to break out of the congestion area. If it does, it should have a good run up to the $10 area. 3/4 It's still moving up. It can still be bought on any positive trading after Thursday's Doji. 3/5 It moved up nicely. Continue to hold and use the T-line as your stop. 3/8 It formed a Doji on Monday in the overbought area. It needs to have a positive open. Use the T-line as your stop. 3/9 It had a scary day where it gapped down but because of the benefits of candlestick signals we saw that once it opened, it moved up and started forming a green candle. It should be bought aggressively on a positive open on Wednesday after Tuesday's Belt Hold type signal. 3/10 It's still moving up nicely after Tuesday's Belt Hold signal. If it opens positive on Wednesday, you will want to be a buyer. 3/11 It's still moving up steadily. Continue to hold. 3/12 It's still in an uptrend. Continue to hold. At this point use Friday's low of $8.94 as your stop. If it comes down to that level, it tells us the profit-taking has started. 3/15 It's still in a nice, steady uptrend. Continue to hold. 3/16 It's still in an uptrend. Continue to hold. The last Belt Hold signal gave it more strength. 3/17 It formed a Shooting Star signal after a Doji. If it opens lower on Thursday, take profits and watch to see what it does when it hits the T-line. 3/18 It opened lower and came right back up again. It's using the T-line as support. Continue to hold as long as it doesn't close below the T-line. 3/26 It's still staying above the T-line. Continue to hold. 3/29 It stayed above the T-line. Continue to hold. 3/30 It closed indecisively below the T-line. If it opens lower on Wednesday, close out the position. It needs to open higher and trade higher to stay in it. 3/31 It should have been closed out immediately on Wednesday as it opened lower and started trading down. It needed to open higher and trade higher to stay in it.2/25 Bought APL. It traded down most of the day but came back up at the end of the day and traded positive. This can still be bought on any positive trading on Friday. 2/26 It traded higher. However, it formed a Shooting Star signal in the overbought condition. If it opens lower on Monday, close out the position immediately. At that point it would probably come back and test the T-line. 3/1 It had another Shooting Star type day. It needed to open higher and trade higher, which it did, but another Shooting Star signal means that if it opens lower at all on Tuesday, the position should be closed out. It still needs to open positive and trade positive to stay in it. 3/2 It's getting a little bit toppy. Continue to hold but if it trades back below Tuesday's low of $13.02, close out the position. 3/3 It's probably moving sideways and waiting for the T-line to catch up. Use the T-line as your stop. 3/4 It moved up nicely after moving sideways until it got to the T-line. Continue to hold. Still use the T-line as your stop. 3/5 It didn't do anything other than show a little profit-taking after Thursday's strong move. Continue to hold. At this point use any trading below Friday's low of $13.96 as your stop. 3/8 It continues to move in an upward direction. It formed somewhat of a Hanging Man signal on Monday so it might be getting a little bit toppy. At this point we don't want to see it trade back below Monday's low of $14.08. 3/9 It needs to trade flat or positive on Wednesday. If it opens weaker, you might want to take profits just in case it comes back to the T-line and doesn't hold. 3/10 It's moving sideways. Continue to hold as long as it stays above the T-line. If it trades below the T-line, it would tell us the sellers are now taking control. It formed a Doji at the end of a flat trading area. It will probably move in the direction of how it opens on Thursday after the Doji. 3/11 It stayed above the T-line and formed a little Morning Star signal. It's at a resistance level. If it opens positive, it can be bought on a day trade basis. 3/12 It's still staying above the T-line. Continue to hold as long as it doesn't close below the T-line. 3/15 it's still in an uptrend. Continue to hold. We don't want to see it close below the T-line. 3/16 It's getting boring and it needs to pop from here but don't keep holding it if it closes below the T-line. 3/17 It needs to trade positive on Thursday after hitting the T-line on Wednesday. It's starting to slow down a little bit at this level. If it starts trading below the T-line, you will want to close out the position. 3/18 It should have been closed out on Thursday with it closing below the T-line. It can also be shorted if it opens weaker on Friday.
2/26 EXM was not bought. It opened lower on Friday and stayed down most of the day, but it closed above where it opened. If it comes back up through the $6.00 level on Monday, you will want to be a buyer. It would still be confirming the previous gap up from the Doji.
2/26 NZ was not shorted. It didn't confirm on the short side but it came up and came right back down. If it trades below $9.00, it can still be shorted.
2/26 Shorted AVAV on the weakness. It can still be shorted if it trades at all back below $24 on Monday. We wouldn't want to see it trade back up above Friday's high of $24.59. It needs to open weaker and trade lower to stay in it. 3/1 It should have been covered on Monday as it traded positive above Monday's close. This one is now closed out.
2/23 Shorted WDC. After the Evening Star signal it opened lower and traded lower all day. Continue to stay short with the possibility of the 200 day moving average being the next target. 2/24 Its still in a downtrend. Continue to stay short. We're still anticipating the 200 day moving average as being the next target in spite of the market moving up. At this point use the halfway point of Wednesday's bearish candle at around the $39.95 level as your stop. 2/25 It had a nice down-day but came back up and closed at the top end of the trading range. Be ready to cover this if it opens positive on Friday. 2/26 It didn't show any strength on Friday. Continue to stay short. At this point use any trading above Friday's high of $39.16 as your stop. 3/1 It should have been closed out early on Monday as it came up through the high of the previous day, which meant the Bulls were participating. Now you may want to watch this to see if it forms a Double Bottom. It can be bought on positive trading on Tuesday.
2/23 Bought DEER. It opened a little bit lower but started moving up immediately and was still moving up in that first 20 minutes when the Dow was trading up 25 to 30 points, and it didn't pull back when the market reversed. This is a case where you can obviously see the relative strength since the stock remained strong when the market was going the other way. Continue to hold. At this point we don't want to see it close more than halfway down Tuesday's bullish candle. 2/24 It consolidated on Wednesday but didn't do anything to stop the uptrend. However, it needs to get through the 50 day moving average again on Thursday. This can still be bought if it comes up through the $11.20 level. 2/25 It came up nicely. It started off trading lower, but couldn't get below the previous day's low, and then came back up. Continue to hold. 2/26 It continued to move up nicely. Continue to hold and use Friday's open of $11.12 as your stop. It shouldn't come back down below that level. 3/1 It moved up nicely on Monday. Continue to hold until you see a sell signal. It gapped up and formed a Spinning Top but it's not in the overbought area yet. 3/2 A good place to put a stop was at Monday's low. If it came back down through there, it meant the Bears were in control. It should have been closed out on Tuesday with the Bearish Engulfing signal.
2/26 Bought BPZ on the positive trading on Friday's open. It pulled back, used the T-line as support, and came back up. This can still be bought on a positive open on Monday. We don't want to see it close back below the 50 day moving average at the $7.62 level. We'd like to see it open higher and trade higher, which would confirm the J-Hook pattern. 3/1 It's still moving up nicely coming out of a J-Hook pattern. Continue to hold. We're anticipating that it will move up to the $10 range. 3/2 It formed a Dark Cloud signal. It may be fizzling out. It needs to open positive and trade positive. If it opens lower and trades back below Monday's low, close out the position. It shouldn't be selling off here. 3/3 It did open higher but traded below the low of the previous day. It should have been closed out. It shouldn't have been trading down. It should have been trading positive to continue the uptrend.
2/9 Bought OSIS on the positive trading on Tuesday. It came up through the T-line. This can still be bought on a positive open on Wednesday, at anything above $27.30. Continue to use the T-line as your stop. Notice how it has broken out through the T-line and the downtrending channel. 2/10 It moved up nicely. It used the T-line as support and closed right near the 20 day moving average. It needs to break through that level to continue its run and move back up to the recent highs. Use a close below the T-line as your stop. 2/11 It moved up nicely. Continue to hold. Use the T-line as your stop. 2/12 It backed off but didn't form a sell signal. It traded just above the T-line. It has to open higher and trade higher to stay in it. 2/16 It opened positive and traded positive, which it needed to do to stay above the T-line. Buy this aggressively on a positive open on Wednesday. 2/17 It's still in a possible J-Hook pattern. It also needs to open positive on Thursday to stay in it. If it opens positive, you will probably want to be an aggressive buyer. 2/18 It acted well. It's forming a little J-Hook pattern. Be ready to buy this on a positive open. Use the T-line as your stop. 2/19 It's consolidating. It needs to open positive and trade positive on Monday. If it comes down through the T-line, close out the position. 2/22 It's still moving up nicely. Continue to hold. We definitely don't want to see it close below the T-line. 2/23 Continue to hold as long as it stays above the T-line. It's not doing anything wonderful but it didn't close below the T-line. 2/24 It's still above the T-line. Continue to hold. We're looking for a good strong breakout to the upside. 2/25 Whether or not you got stopped out early in the morning, this would be a situation where you would buy it back at the end of the day when it formed a Bullish Engulfing signal following a Doji. 2/26 It came up nicely. If it opens positive on Monday, it can be bought immediately. It would probably be moving up to test the recent highs. 3/1 It's getting a little bit weak but it's still an uptrend. Use Friday's low as your stop at around the $30.40 level. 3/2 It traded weaker on Tuesday after some previous Doji signals at the top. Half of the position should have been closed out. If it opens lower on Wednesday, close out the other half. It needs to open higher and trade higher to stay in it. 3/3 It's still pulling back but formed a Doji on Wednesday. If you closed it out, that's fine. Just be ready to buy it on a positive open on Thursday.2/23 APWR was not bought on Tuesday because it traded lower most of the day. However, it can still be bought if it comes up through the $14 area on Wednesday.
2/24 EBIX was not shorted. It opened higher and traded higher. It can still be shorted if it comes back down through Wednesday's low at the $14.80 level.
2/24 KLAC was not shorted. It opened higher and traded higher. It can still be shorted if it comes back down through Tuesday's low at the $20.80 level. It could still be setting up an Inverted J-Hook pattern.
2/23 Shorted IOC as it opened lower on Tuesday and started trading down. Even though it closed up near the high end of the trading range, continue to stay short. At this point we don't want to see it trade positive on Wednesday. It needs to open lower and start trading lower immediately. 2/24 It should have been covered as it opened positive on Wednesday. It didn't show any strength so it can be re-shorted if it comes back down through Wednesday's low at the $61.50 level. If it comes back down through there, it's still in a downtrend and is heading for the 200 day moving average.
2/25 PVTB was not bought on Thursday but it stayed in the same trading range. We're still looking for this to break out. If it breaks out through the recent highs at around the $13.30 area, buy it aggressively. That would be starting a J-Hook type pattern.
2/25 SAPE was not bought. It gapped down and came back up. It's forming a nice chart but it will have to be considered at a later time.

