Ho-Humming Along with Hover Hand Breakouts

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This trading session is turning out to be quite boring and ho-hum which, all things considered, is probably constructive for many charts. We have seen a powerful advance by the bulls to start 2012, and a pause here would likely give charts a chance to reset. Even those stocks that were on the cusp of breaking out today, such as X and VHC, are not finding the energy to go on and carry out the big moves. In other words, the breakouts today are of the “hover hand” variety, such as what the gentleman in the photo above is doing.

When that is the case, it is usually best to not force trades out of boredom nor because of a fear of missing out on profits. So long as the original technical thesis for my longs remains intact, I am inclined to be a holder of my current positions more than anything else. Just because the market needs a pause does not necessarily mean that it is correct to become a bear, by any stretch of the imagination especially for swing traders. As I write this, I see that even some of the best performers today, RBCN and VECO, are fading a bit.

Indeed, we may be due for a few sessions of dead money, which is fine by me.