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Topic of the Week
TODAY'S ACTION for Wednesday
Rick's Picks for Wednesday
The update to yesterday’s forecast caught the top of an entirely unremarkable session that was all noise and zero conviction. If and when this trading vehicle breaks out, look for confirmation of a 1097.50 rally target by way of a stall at 1074.50, its midpoint sibling. Alternatively, it would take a print at 1057.25 to turn the hourly chart bearish.
I’ll stick with the 1029.10 rally target flagged in yesterday’ s update, although a leisurely buy on a pullback to the 1012.70 midpoint associated with that number does not appear to be forthcoming. The print at 1029.10 would be a big deal, since, as noted here earlier, it would surpass a high at 1028.00 from July of 2008, refreshing the bullish impulse on the weekly chart. That high is no less relevant because it occurred in thin trading, by the way. To the contrary, it is all the more legitimate as an “external” peak because it was recorded by the December futures, not by a continuous contract.
There are no DJIA patterns that I particularly like, but the whimsical rule-breaker shown in the chart will do in a pinch. I’ve decided to legitimize it because of the oscillations around the 9290 midpoint pivot, and also because the most recent phase of bear-rally hysteria launched from a low not far beneath it. Anyway, the bottom line is a Hidden Pivot target at 10493. Although I wouldn’t try to go short the world at that price, I’m pretty confident about using it as the first number above 10000 where I might believe a top could form. One thing we can be nearly certain of is that 10000 itself will show no particular stopping power. If such an occurrence were even remotely possible, the stock market would cease to be the engaging carnival that it is. At 10493, however, Dow 11000 would be a glimmer in bulls’ eyes — and Kudlow’s wet dream.
With a rally target at 553.87, the little arse bandit hasn’t given us much in the way of Hidden Pivots to bottom-fish. Nevertheless, we can attempt it this morning if the stock pulls back to 497.19 in the first 15 minutes, bringing the December 550 calls (GOPLY) into bargain range. You should try to buy one of them for around 9.10, using a stop-loss at 496.99. With the stock in such a strong rally, it will probably be easier to try and enter with-the-trend on camouflage; so if you are familiar with the technique, you should try to buy the call on the first ABC rally from near 497.19. ______ UPDATE: We can return to this trade if and when GOOG shows a little more gumption, but for now, cancel the order.
The leaps have been opportunistic, powered by short-covering whenever the mood is right. Most of the time these days, however, the futures are taking mincing steps in both directions, creating a challenging environment for profit-seekers in the middle hours of the day. One thing to notice, however, is that the rallies, particularly in this vehicle, and whether weak or powerful, seldom proceed from the first signaled entry point. Instead, the ‘money trades’ launch from a second or third point-C lows of ABCD patterns, and they do it with such repetitious reliability that one can practically discard the first signaled entry opportunities routinely. This is the kind of price action we might expect when ‘everyone’ thinks that stocks will move higher on a given day. ‘Everyone’ can be right, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they can make money easily. For your interest today, I am including a chart that shows a modest rally target at 1895.00. I’m guessing it will be easier to get short there with a tight stop than to get long for the ride to it. However, because the futures will be in record territory at that point, we shouldn’t want to impede their progress too aggressively.
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Since March 20, when GDXJ was trading for around $40, I have been looking for a potentially important low at 34.00. More recently, I revised that target to exactly 33.76, a ‘Hidden Pivot support’. Yesterday it came within a single penny of nailing the exact low of a vicious swoon. The low may or may not prove to be the last gasp of a correction that has been in progress for the last five weeks, but it stood to be an opportune place to try bottom-fishing. In that regard, quite a few subscribers reported getting aboard at or near the low, and so I’ve established a tracking position for their further guidance. It consists of 200 shares with a cost basis of 33.58. The price takes into account an initial purchase of 400 shares for 33.79, then the taking of a partial profit on half the position at 34.00. The bounce so far has hit 34.90, meaning GDXJ has trampolined $1.14 cents since hitting my three-week-old target. For now, traders should stop themselves out of the position if GDXJ breaches two prior lows on the 5-minute chart without an upward correction. As of this moment, that would imply placing the stop at 34.37 (and remember: it must be exceeded by an unbroken, downtrending leg). You should also offer a round lot (or half of the remaining position, whichever is greater) to close for 36.80, good-till-canceled. _______ UPDATE (11:38 p.m. ET): The herky-jerky spasms in the first 90 minutes altered our stop-loss so that it would have taken a 34.07 print to stop us out — 23 cents beneath the actual low. I’ll now suggest raising the bar by using an impulse leg-based stop-loss on the 30-minute chart. That would imply a fall today touching 34.29. Please note, however, that the stop could change if zig-zag action early in the session creates any distinctive new lows on the intraday charts. Our target for the next profit-taking interval is still 36.80.
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We don’t pay much attention to this vehicle other than at key turning points, but the short-term pattern shown looks like a lay-up for traders who see futures contracts as no more than bouncing dots on a chart, waiting to be exploited. There are actually two trade possibilities here: 1) a ‘camouflage’ short as USM slips below the 132^13 midpoint; 2) and a very tightly stopped long from within a tick or two of the 131^17 target. Good luck! Please report any fills in the chat room so that I can establish a tracking position for your further guidance. ______ UPDATE (3:17 p.m. ET): The short was tricky to initiate, but once aboard, your reward came quickly with a drop to a so-far low at 131^26. As noted above, the short should be covered and reversed near 131^17. ______ UPDATE (April 6, 3:57 p.m.): The low of Friday’s violent price swings was 131^21 — not quite close enough to have gotten you long easily. Although this could prove to be an important low for the short- to intermediate term, under the circumstances I’ll assume no subscribers were filled. _______ UPDATE (April 11, 1:03 a.m.): Next important stop on the way higher: 135^17. _______ UPDATE (April 20, 11:10 p.m. ET): Last week’s fleeting stab to 135^10 came within less than a quarter-point of my target — close enough for us to consider it fulfilled. It took the futures more than a month to get there, so we should expect this correction-or-worse to last for at least a week or so before bulls attempt to push T-Bonds to new recovery highs.
SIDE BETS for Wednesday
December Silver appears to be consolidating above a Hidden Pivot midpoint at 17.150, and a close above it today would likely clinch a push to its ‘D’ sibling, 17.775 (or 18.155 if any higher). Night owls could try bottom-fishing at 17.175 using a three-tick stop-loss.
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Of Green Shoots and Broken Windows
by Rick Ackerman on September 23, 2009 4:12 am GMT · 6 comments
Our memory stumbles whenever we try to recall any recent sightings of “green shoots” that would support the officially promoted illusion of a U.S. economy in recovery. Actually, this vision is more of a hallucination than an illusion, since one’s mind needs to venture beyond the pale of rationality, light years beyond the fringe of statistical evidence, to conjure up supposed signs of sustainable growth. Does “recovery” square with the reality that you, personally, see all around you? Indeed, whatever picture the government and the news media want us to see will be unconvincing at best, since a » Read the full article