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Monthly Archives: April 2014

04-14-2014 Trading Journal

Market bounced back today but it was actually a closed call.

SPY_Daily

In the latter half of the day, the $SPY literally gave back most of the gain to end at even for the day until the last hour rally brought the price back up to where it was opened at.  While there was a bounce, we are definitely not out of the woods yet.  Price barely closed above the 89 MA line and the resistance at $184.xx can be quite formidable.  If price cannot take out the $184 resistance to the upside, price may collapse from there.  Therefore, caution is the way to go at current market climate.

Even with the gapped up open, there were still a lot of stocks bleeding red on my quote list. Therefore, I began to watch the price action to see if today was a bull trap.  I was eyeing on buying back some $TZA if price could bounce at some point.  By mid-day, $TZA began to climb and I bought a starter position when it took out the intra-day pivot high.  As price continued upward, I added more.

I also bought some $FAZ as well.

Then I closed my eyes to get some rest and woke up five minutes before market closed.  Whoa! $TZA gave back quite a bit of gain and I immediately sold half of my position.  I also sold half of $FAZ before the closing bell rang.

Today rally was not very decisive despite a gap-up open.  We would find out if today was a dead cat bounce in the next few days.

Seeing that $TZA was climbing, I decided to sell my starter position on $SEED so that I’m only holding two stocks on the long side.

I also ventured into $NUGT later in the day but the sudden drop in price shook me out of the position with a small losses.

While I gave back gain on $TZA and taking a small hit on $FAZ, my port actually went up a bit today ’cause neither $LRAD nor $SVBL needed to be hedged due to their closing on a positive side.

Current holdings:

LRAD, SVBL, TZA, FAZ and 57% cash.

From my other account:

$FITX had a small bounce today which was actually a strong day giving that most cannabis stocks were turning negative.

FITX_daily

See how the price bounced off the 79 & 89 MA lines?  Also, both 79 & 89 MA lines are now merged together into one.  This could be a powerful support and the probability for continued bounce is good from here.  Currently holding $FITX only.

My 2 cents.

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04-11-2014 Trading Journal

Market continued to drop further down today.

SPY_Daily

It didn’t bode well that price penetrated the 89 MA line to the downside.

I did something based on “wishful” thinking that prompted me to sell out $TZA and $FAZ in the morning.  I was giving the market too much “hope” for a Friday bounce. At least, it looked bouncy after the gap down open.  I was envisioning today as the day with market opened down and then closed 100 points higher.

Thus, I placed a stop on my $TZA and $FAZ below the opening range in case my scenario turned out to be true.  Well, the market made a half-heart attempt to bounce that took out my stop but there weren’t enough juice to keep the ball rolling upward. Market eventually fell back down and $TZA rallied the rest of the day.

Due to my “bullish” sentiment in the morning, I used up the free cash to buy $GWPH, $SEED, and $KNDI.  With the lion shares of cash still tied up in the three-days settlement, I had no cash to buy back the $TZA.  Oh well…

However, all was not lost in the hedging department.  While $LRAD was falling like all other stocks, $SVBL came to the rescue by rallying 9%.

SVBL_weekly

Above is the weekly chart of $SVBL.  Notice that the lower band of the Bollinger band is actually turning up.  Stochastic momentum indicator below is also turning back up from the lower range.  Perhaps, this one may rally next week.

Thanks to gain on $SVBL, it was enough to offset losses on $LRAD.  Gain on $TZA and $FAZ helped offset the losses on $GWPH.  Yeah, I bought too much $GWPH… I also sold $GWPH to cut losses in the afternoon.

Thus my week ended practically unchanged despite another week of water-falling price action on both DOW and Nasdaq.

Current holdings:

LRAD, SVBL,SEED and 67% cash.

My other account:

$FITX gave back the bounce from yesterday.  I’m still holding ’cause we are not that faraway from the completion of the Lakeshore facility for Health Canada to inspect.  We may hear something by the end of the month.  Meanwhile, I just need to take the heat and wait it out.

My 2 cents.

 

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04-10-2014 Trading Journal

Well, the market finally broke thru the support that it couldn’t do for three times.  Only this time, the fourth time is a charm…

SPY_Daily

Today became the day I was expecting to happen yesterday.  Although I was one day late, it didn’t stop me for jumping back into the $TZA train.

After the market opened and I saw it struggling to stay afloat, I immediately bought a starter position on $TZA and waited to see what happened.  It wasn’t a smooth sales.  My $TZA position were yoyo-ing b/w green and red until price finally broke thru the opening range to the upside.  I immediately added more and continued to add as intra-day highs were taken out again and again.  By the time I was done adding, I bought the full position as yesterday plus more.  I also bought back $FAZ.

The reason I had no qualm buying back $TZA and $FAZ ’cause I expected this bounce might not hold.  Seeing the DOW was tanking, I began to liquidate my swing trade position to stop the bleeding by selling $SVA first.  Later on, I sold $SEED when I saw the large bids made available.  It wasn’t a great price but if I wanted out, I couldn’t complain.

At first. $NUGT opened higher and stayed high even when DOW was initially falling off the cliff; thus, I did not sell to lock in profit.  I placed a stop where my breakeven point was and was stopped out not long after.

By day close, $TZA was banging its head against the 89 MA line.

TZA_daily

Knowing the power of the 79 & 89 MA lines, I decided to sell half of my $TZA and $FAZ near the close to lock in gain.  I’m always mindful of a gap open against my positions. And I can always buy them back the next day if price continues to the upside.  Yesterday was a perfect example of why I had no qualm unloading my $TZA position to take losses ’cause I knew I could always buy them back the next day if circumstances changed to reflect my directional bias..

Due to my non-hesitation in buying back $TZA and $FAZ, I was able to generate gain as a hedge to offset the losses from $LRAD, $SVBL, $SEED, and $SVA.  It was another perfect hedge, the port remained unchanged once again.

Current holdings:

LRAD, SVBL, TZA, FAZ and 59% cash.

From my other account:

First, I was glad I sold $MCIG yesterday to lock in gain.  However, I was not so lucky with $FITX.  Of all things, one of the most popular cannabis stock $PHOT was suspended from trading by SEC.  At first, I thought the drop was normal giving the DOW was waterfalling; but the speed of the $FITX fall baffled me.  And when I scrolled down to look at the other cannabis stocks, I realized $PHOT trading was suspended.

With that realization, I decided to unload my $FITX position as well just to be safe.  It was tough to take a big hit on the position but the uncertainty of $PHOT investigation spilling over to $FITX was unsettling.

In about an hour before market close, Bill from $FITX gave investors a brief summary of how everything was still in good shape and that $PHOT investigation should not affect $FITX since they started this Lakeshore project way before a deal was struck with $PHOT.

Giving the assurance from $FITX, I decided to buy back 75% of my shares as a premium price ’cause price rallied hard not long after the statement.  Oh well, today was the 2nd time I had to buy back in $FITX at a premium.  I’m sure that if price took off due to $FITX success, I would look back at today premium as an insignificant issue.

Trading spotlight–> the moment you let go of the angst of paying premium to buy back your shares after selling your shares to either cut losses or lock in profit, you will find the freedom to sell your position as your trading plan dictates.  It took me awhile to understand this lesson but I finally get it.

My 2 cents.

 

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04-09-2014 Trading Journal

Market had another strong bounce today.

SPY_Daily

However, the strong bounce only became evidence in the latter half of the day. Price is now near the top range of the previous consolidation range.

In the morning after the open, although price was higher, it wasn’t very convincing.  As a result, I sold my swing trade positions $GWPH to lock in profit; sold $CARA with very small gain, closed out $NUGT with a small gain (gave back a lot of gain from yesterday) due to lower open.

I also bought a starter position on $TZA and $FAZ to see if the market would drop later in the day.

Nope.

Due to my not paying close attention during the day, I had to close out my $TZA and $FAZ at a larger losses than I had planned for. Regardless, when I found out $TZA and $FAZ had fallen hard, I sold for losses without hesitation.  If I made a mistake of not paying attention, I should not try to compound the mistake by “wishing” for a bounce to reduce my losses.  Sell and move on.  Good thing I did ’cause the market rallied hard to the close which would have costed me more losses if I hadn’t sold.

With the market rallying hard, I bought back $NUGT looking for more bounce in the week.

NUGT_daily

From the look of the chart, $NUGT looks good for a continuing rally.

$SVA looks good for a bounce off the 79 & 89 MA lines so I bought back some position.

sva_daily

Love that green solid bar that used the 79 & 89 MA lines at the launching pad. I will add more if price takes out today high tomorrow.

Next, I added more $SEED.

seed_daily

$SEED mirrored $SVA on the bounce off the 79 & 89 MA lines.  I’ve been watching $SEED closely ’cause I don’t want to miss any sudden rally due to China’s decision on the GM seeds offered by $SEED.  An approval will pop this one up like a rocket launch in a high school science project.  But in a general market correction, everything goes down regardless of how compelling the story is; thus my being in and out for safety reason. Now, let’s see if this one can climb back up to $3.00.

I missed out on the continuing rally of $GWPH after I sold for smaller profit in the morning.  $GWPH rallied hard after I sold.. oh well, playing safe had its cost; but it definitely worth it and I’ll do it again if I feel/sense a market collapse in the horizon..

Despite my larger than planned losses on $TZA and $FAZ, my port bounced back today thanks to rallies from $LRAD and $SEED.

Current holdings:

LRAD, SVBL, SEED, NUGT, SVA and 52% cash.  Despite the waterfall market last week and this Monday, I am able to maintain the 12% gain for the year.

From the other account:

$MCIG continued to rally hard and barely took out the resistance level at $0.80xx.

MCIG_daily

If you look at the daily chart closely, you can see the head and shoulder pattern.  Both the left and right shoulder have a $0.80xx price level which prove to be a difficult resistance to break thru.  As a result, I sold my position to lock in gain,(or should I say ‘recover my earlier losses plus some’).

$FITX was getting hit today due to an article regarding the issue of a “barn” size.  Apparently, someone at the city council had decided the size of the barn doesn’t fit the definition.  To me, it is just political maneuver trying to get $FITX to pay a higher taxes to the city.  Hey, the way I look at it, it is a non-issue and price will bounce back once $FITX works it out with the city council.  Still holding long and strong.

My 2 cents.

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04-08-2014 Trading Journal

Market finally bounced today!

SPY_Daily

Wow! Did you see that price bounced off the 79 MA line?  Magical!

The morning didn’t exactly started out with a big bang going straight up, the bear actually tried to push the bull head under the water but only succeeded for about half-an-hour. The bull, after having suffered a moment of weakness with the bear’s taunting, finally realized that it could use its horn to gore the bear stomach.  Ouchwee… the bear let go of the bull and the bull bounced right back up.

Sensing the bull attack, I started to buy back starter position on $CARA and $SEED.

CARA_daily

The chart above shows that $CARA could bounce from here.  I like to see price takes out the resistance around $20.50ish.

Since I’ve been eyeing $GWPH, the surprised lower open gave me an opportunity to buy back some on the cheap.

GWPH_daily

The green bar after a near doji bar could be a formation of a bottom.  The next few days will be telling.

I like the higher open of $NUGT and added a bit more.

NUGT_daily

Price closed above the high of two trading days ago and is looking good for the next leg up to take out the 89 MA line. See how the 5 MA line is turning up along with the stochastic indicator below.

Thanks to the gain from $GWPH, $NUGT, and $CARA, my port was able to reduce the bleeding from $LRAD and $SVBL.  Ironically, the two new buys acted as a hedge instead of the $TZA which I sold yesterday.

Current holdings:

LRAD, SVBL, GWPH, NUGT, SEED, CARA and 55% cash.

From my other account:

$MCIG made a dramatic come-back today.

MCIG_daily

I knew that if yesterday high was taken out, price would go higher.  Glad I bought my shares back yesterday even though I got stopped out earlier in the day.

$FITX remained defensive but that is expected giving that the facility is still in the process of being completed.

My 2 cents.

 

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04-07-2014 Trading Journal

The market continued on downward from the starting gate, with the exception of a small bounce inside the hour after the open, price followed the waterfall pattern all the way to the close.

SPY_Daily

$SPY is now trading near the heavy supports (79 & 89 MA lines, lower range of consolidation area–> near the previous two pivot lows in 3/14 and 3/27 respectively).

Due to that bounce that failed near the close, I decided to close my $TZA and $FAZ to lock in the gain.

Why?

At first, I thought I would hold for tomorrow; but then I noticed the falling prices for many of the momo stocks had been “decelerated”.  In other words, while they were still down for the day, the percentage down was less than that of last week.  Also, $TZA and $FAZ are not known to be trending vehicle.  From my history of trading, I gave back gain in $TZA for holding too long more than I could count.  They had a tendency to gap down against me if I over-stayed the position.  Thus, taking this lesson, I decided to take the money and run to break the old pattern.

If market continues to fall tomorrow, I can always buy $TZA back…

How did I start my day?

Let’s see, I added to $FAZ after the open to flow with the upward momentum.  I did not want to add to $TZA since I already had a large position.  Adding more would be over-weighting my port that a sudden rally on the DOW would put my port in a precarious position.

Next, I bought $NUGT since the chart looked good for a bounce.

NUGT_daily

Price was trading above the 5 MA line and it gave me the confidence to buy a starter position. If it drops below the 5 MA line tomorrow, I’ll be out.  If it bounces higher, I’ll add more.

As mentioned above, by day end, I closed both $TZA and $FAZ to lock in gain.

Because both $LRAD and $SVBL did not drop much, the gains on both $TZA and $FAZ more than offset the losses that I ended up with a small gain in my port.

Current holdings:

LRAD, SVBL, NUGT and 66% cash.

From my other account:

$MCIG was struggling with the support @ $0.60 so I put a stop just below 0.60 and was stopped out in no time.  Price proceeded to waterfall all the way to $0.50 and consolidated there for about half-an-hour.  Seeing that price did not go any further down (come on now, at $0.50, $MCIG was down 20%, so I saw little risk for price to go any further down); thus I started buying some of my shares back.  I paid b/w $0.50 and $0.535 to buy back about 70% of my shares.  I used the 30% to add more $FITX when it was trading at low $0.73.

MCIG_daily

As you can see on the $MCIG chart above, price showed a very nice hammer candlestick pattern.  Did you see the tail coming close to the 89 MA line. If price takes out the high of today hammer candlestick, $MCIG may bounce from here.

$FITX also recovered nicely from the day sell-off.

FITX_daily

Did you see how the Bollinger band began to form a narrow range around the consolidation area?  Any significant price movement that closes either above or below the Bollinger band will be big alert to future price trend.  I like to think that price will close above the Bollinger band simply because I believe $FITX will complete the facility with such high standard that Health Canada will simply approve the license.

My 2 cents.

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04-04-2014 Trading Journal

Today the market played a cruel joke by opening higher to make another new historical high that lasted for about two hours before collapsing into a waterfall pattern.

SPY_Daily

It was a blood bath through and through.  Although I did not know if it would drop today I was certainly prepared for it.

At first, the higher open had me questioning my wisdom of holding the $TZA position coming in from the morning.  Then I remember the old saying, “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!”.  This was related to the incident from the last time I bought $TZA back in late March when I closed my position at breakeven due to higher open and then had to watch the market turned south for the next four days without me on board.  Thus, with this recent memory, I decided to give this one a bit more time before I closed the position to cut losses.

Thanks goodness I waited.

When price began to fall, I added more $TZA.  I also bought back $FAZ to increase the hedging positions.

That’s correct, I didn’t buy $TZA or $FAZ to make net gain, I bought them to offset any potential losses I might incur due to my holding $LRAD and $SVBL.  I held a lot of shares on these two positions and they are not exactly very liquid.

$GWPH was taking water and began to sink.  After seeing it was $2 against me, I dumped it without hesitation to cut my losses.  Good thing I did ’cause price dropped more than $2 bucks for the day.

I also sold $SEED to take small losses while I was at it since I expected most stocks would get hit with sell signals in a general down market.  For those who got the selling bug, the infection could easily spread to other stocks in the portfolio.   However, by day close, I could see $SEED bounced back up like a coiled spring.  I may have to buy it back Monday if the underlying bullish tone is still strong.

Thanks to my previous action of playing safe, I was able to escape today blood bath with only a small scratch.  The gain on my $TZA offset the losses on $LRAD; and the gain from $FAZ was able to knock off a chunk of the losses from $GWPH and $SEED.  The result was a small losses overall for today bearish action.

Current holdings:

LRAD, TZA, SVBL, FAZ and 44% cash.

From my other account:

I decided not to sell any of my cannabis stocks (both $FITX and $MCIG) during today bear attack due to the upcoming catalysts on both stocks.  $FITX will soon complete all requirements to seek Health Canada approval for a license and $MCIG will soon launch the sales of Vita-cig in late April.  I do not want to be without shares for these two major catalytic events.

My 2 cents.

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04-03-2014 Trading Journal

Market couldn’t make up its mind about being a down day today; it tried to go down but last hour rally brought it back to neutral zone.

SPY_daily

As you can see, price is still right at the resistance point of previous high. Tomorrow job report will determine the final outcome.  A breakout to make new historical high or a breakdown for a possible bear market.

Due to the initial downdraft of the market, I added to $TZA and $FAZ.

TZA_daily

As you can see, $TZA had a nice bounce and it served the purpose of hedging my portfolio since $LRAD was in negative territory.

FAZ_daily

$FAZ didn’t have the same bounce due to the late rally by the close.  Thus, my close stop at breakeven was hit and I was stopped out.  I chose to put a stop on $FAZ and not on $TZA ’cause I didn’t want to be too over-weighted on short ETF due to the job report tomorrow.  I can handle $TZA going against me but not both.

While most of the stock lists on my quote machines were in red, $SEED was showing resiliency in green.  Thus, I bought back 25% of my original size for a possible bounce.

seed_daily

I like the fact that the 5 MA line is now pointing up.  If price bounces from here, I’ll continue to add.

I’ve wanted to buy $GWPH when I found out about the stock but did not want to chase its high price; thus recent correction had given me the opportunity to buy some today.

GWPH_daily

Did you see how price formed a near “doji” bar right at the 79 & 89 MA lines?  Seeing the support there, I bought a position looking for a bounce.

Thanks to gain on $TZA, I was able to hedge against the downdraft of $LRAD; thus my port was a solid breakeven for the day.

Current holdings:

LRAD, TZA, SVBL, GWPH, SEED and 42% cash.

From my other account:

$MCIG took another tumble and the chart did not look good at all.

MCIG_daily

See how price close below the 79 & 89 MA lines?  Despite the poor chart outlook, I’m still holding this one for the fundamental story.  $MCIG will be launching the vita-cig in late April and any good feedback on this launch will drive the price up.  They are also looking into vaping alcohol.  Is it even possible?  Well, if people can sniff glue to get high, I guess you can sniff the “alcoholic vapor” to get drunk as well…  ok.. not sniff, but to inhale thru the mouth using $MCIG alcohol vapor-stick- same principle whether you inhale thru the nose or the mouth..  I’ve to give $MCIG points for creativity.  And if this alcohol idea can gain even a small traction, lo and behold, the sky is the limit.  Now, you know why I’m holding this one waiting for the fire-cracker to start cracking…

$FITX remained neutral waiting for the facility to be complete and the approval of license from Health Canada.  As far as I’m concerned, $FITX will get the license so I’m still holding.

My 2 cents.

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04-02-2014 Trading Journal

The market was beating around the bushes all day deciding whether to go up or down until closing time when it closed higher.

SPY_Daily

Price now is hitting against the resistance of the previous high for the 3rd time.  How it behaves next two days will provide clue on how commit this bull is.  Whether the phrase “3rd time is a charm” is meant for the bull or the bear remains to be seen.

Due to the indecisive behavior of the market during the day, I decided to jump the gun and take the safety approach by closing out positions to reduce my portfolio risk.

Seeing that $CARA was having a hard time staying above $20.00 after reaching as high as $20.70, I decided to close my positions to lock in gain.  I started hitting the bids piece by piece slightly under $20 and was happy to get out without dropping the price.

CARA_daily

Another reason I sold $CARA was because price crossed the resistance at $20.40 established in 3/19 and fell off. Because of the small float and lack of liquidity, I took the opportunity to sell when there were strong bids to take my sales.  Yes, I may miss the rally from here but that is the price I’ve to take for playing safe.

I also sold the followings:

  •  $SVA to cut losses
  •  $SEED to lock in gain
  •  $AMRN to cut losses

To hedge against my other two remaining positions ($LRAD and $SVBL), I bought $TZA and $FAZ.

Thanks to gain on $CARA today, it offset most of the losses from $LRAD, $AMRN, and $SVA.  Thus, my port was almost breakeven for the day.

Current holdings:

LRAD, SVBL, TZA, FAZ and 48% cash.

From my other account:

$MCIG took a small tumble and gave back yesterday gain while $FITX remained neutral.  Not much to write about.  Still holding long and strong.

My 2 cents.

 

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04-01-2014 Trading Journal

Market broke out of the consolidation range and headed higher.

SPY_daily

This definitely looked good for the rest of the week.  The next resistance is the previous high established in March 21st which when you think about it is not that long ago.  How price reacts to the old high will be telling…

$KNDI opened lower due to Cramer’s warning of “sell, sell, sell…”

Regardless of whether Cramer is right or wrong on his analysis of $KNDI, the last thing I wanted to do is to stand against his selling recommendation.   Thus, I sold in the morning not long after the open to cut my losses.  Although if I waited a bit longer, I could sell at close to breakeven; but one would never know if price would continue on a big waterfall or bounce, so it’s pointless to regret any action of cutting losses.

Next, with the free-cash made available from the three-day settlement, I added to $SVA, $SEED, and $AMRN.

$AMRN spiked up due to news of a co-promotion agreement with Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc.  Hey, at this point, any co-working relationship with any pharmaceuticals is a plus. Thus I added more.

AMRN_daily

Notice price opened higher and closed around the same area.  I like to see price takes out the previous high of $1.97 and then $2.00 from there.  Perhaps, just perhaps, I may be able to recover my previous losses on $AMRN; however, I’m not holding my breath for this.

$SEED took out yesterday high and I added more; but price closed below yesterday high.  I’m still holding my added shares.

$SVA opened higher and I added more as well.

SVA_daily

Chart looked good so far with today price closed higher than the 5 MA line.  I like to see price takes out last Friday high.

Meanwhile, $CARA continued upward and put my position back in positive territory.

cara_daily

$CARA next resistance is the last pivot high of $20.40 established on 03/19/2014.

Despite a down day on $SVBL, my port continued to move up another notch thanks to $CARA, $AMRN, and $SVA.

Current holdings:

LRAD, SVBL, CARA, SEED, AMRN, SVA and 27% cash.

From my other account:

While $FITX ended the day slightly negative, $MCIG had a good bounce day.

MCIG_daily

I like the fact that price $MCIG price closed higher than the highs of the last five trading days.  Looking good so far.

My 2 cents.

 

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