Questions from readers- Monitors, Chart Stacking, and Chart Selection for Day Traders
This one is from ZenProfit. I kind of get these same questions on StockTwits etc, so I figured I’d use this.
How is your trading monitor(s) set up?
– I use one monitor now. The other two I use for YouTube and Twitter … gets boring sometimes.
Do you have these charts stacked one over the other?
-Yes
How do you decide which chart(s) to put on your monitor(s) on any one day?
-I usually make a post the evening before outlining my strategy or what I’m expecting to trade. Whatever I cover there is what stocks I’ll watch intraday. I strongly suggest people use this approach. It’s a waste of time to search for stocks during the day, so I’d rather be prepared and let the trade come to me. But by default, I’ll always have SPX DJI NDX, VIX, and FAZ/FAS stacked on the hourly. I also have TradeIdeas program running, but I use that to screen for higher-volume moves in sectors.
Hope this helps!
-gio-
Week Ends in Nonsense …how fitting.
-220 to the 0 back to -100.
Today was the definition of volatility. And it wasn’t that choppy kind of volatility… it was the kind that lets you jump on and off a trend with higher rates of success.
The VIX-to-market correlation worked very well today. There was panic this morning, and when there’s panic, I usually get a good sense of the tape. I went into this tape looking for a relief rally, and I got it. Its good to be prepared and just let the trade come to you…
Did you catch those VIX revesals? I went long when the VIX reversed, plus FAS under 4 just seemed wrong. Seemed like way too much intraday panic. After I saw the VIX starting to create flags lower, I knew this time the bears were panic covering. I called green on the Dow at around -130, and we did get green… for like 10 seconds! LOL. What a stupid market. Oh well. I think today was a warning shot for the bears.
So anyway, today was yet another “rare-day-trading day”:
- VIX reversal
- BAC reversal
- FAS… we had over 30% to play with in that move!
Go Mac go!
Alohaz,
-gio-
… pictures in video are of Kauai. You know, the island that Jurassic Park was filmed on.
Comments »Scary looking flag in past 4-days. How will this nasty week close?
Apparently it looks as if the bulls were not fully shaken out yet, despite Tuesday’s big drop and Thursday’s continuation. It’s no wonder then why the VIX is holding back and why the market has been consolidating off the lows all week. The VIX SHOULD be moving up, however there’s still some hope on the tape and if you’re a bull, that is not good news for you. Betting long on a bear flag is a tough game to play.
The action in the past 4 days does not look healthy for the market. I drew lines showing that if indeed the VIX was holding itself back due to stupidity, then if it “catches up” with the market, I can see the next flag down happening… and since that will put us at new lows, that makes it even more frightening since we have no immediate support levels to gauge the fall. I actually don’t want another flag lower, but the way it looks sure appears likely.
However…
… if the VIX manages to erase that spike we had this past Tuesday, then we could rally quite strong. In fact, the market is due for a short squeeze very soon, and tomorrow’s close (final few hours) is where I will be looking.
Right now the correct side continues to be the short side. But on this bear-controlled tape, I would be very cautious of a relief rally. So stay away from entering new shorts here, and think about exiting some shorts on morning gaps.
Long, medium, and short term I am bearish, but I’m trading the bull-side for the next few days on the very very short term. With options expiring this weekend, it just makes sense to expect nonsense.
Comments »Thunder Thursday!
Except, it came from the left. I was expecting it to come from the right. This morning the VIX-SPX correlation was screwed. I’ll chart that later.
Ragin is right… market can’t squeeze w/o BAC going up. It tried to, and when it did I actually got a good trade on FAS. However, when that reversed down and the VIX reversed up, it was time to bail.
Despite today’s drop in the market, and Yahoo Finance’s doom and gloom headlines, I still think it was a soft sell-off. It’s just so strange to see the VIX red and the big 3 SPX/DJI/NDX all trend down the entire day. Maybe it was because everyone expected a relief-rally today, and so the smart money dumped everything in the morning.
Comments »Notes for Thursday… VIX vs Dow vs FAS/FAZ
Looking for a “Thunder Thursday.” But this time, I’ll be trying for a thunder from the right.
Keeping this one simple…
Despite Wednesday’s tape translating into a “flag” pattern off of Tuesday’s drop, I think it will be a little difficult for Bears to push this one lower than Tuesday’s lows. Therefore, I’m waiting for this setup:
- Market breaks out of wedge to upside + VIX breaks down and falls below that multi-day channel. I’ve noted some strange action happening in the VIX everytime it test the bottom of the channel.
- I haven’t made up my mind how to play this bullish intraday setup. I’d short FAZ, but lately it has no shares to short. So, I’ll take FAS above 6, since there’s a pretty large gap above.
- I’m a little afraid of those solid support/resistance lines (see the green arrows), and I expect the market to reverse there if it does attempt to fill the gap.
And of course, there is plan B. Flip the charts, and play FAZ. That means, I’ll be looking for VIX to move back towards the top of the channel, while Dow/SPX breaks below channel. HOWEVER, if VIX reverses back down, ie, can’t breakout back to the 50-51 level, then a squeeze at the close is likely. So, if we get the same tape we got Wednesday, I’ll just wait for the close before doing anything.
Right now my modem is down, so I’m actually connected to the internet by using my BlackBerry as a modem. It’s such a cool trick. Geeks rule the world!
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