Rick Ackerman

I pay scant attention to head-and-shoulders patterns, since they tend to be everywhere you look for them. However, the shapeliness of the one that has been developing in this stock for the last five months (see inset) deserves at least a passing mention, since, if you go by the textbook, it would appear to put a lid on the ballistic rally from August's 845 low. My hunch is that the pattern will be aborted by a push above early August's 909.71 peak, creating a powerfully bullish impulse leg on the daily chart. If so, bull spreads targeted on 1000 seem like a promising play. Accordingly, I'll suggest entering a good-till-canceled spread order -- four November 1000-1010 call spreads @ 0.60, contingent on the stock trading 895.00 or higher.  If you can leg it on for 0.20 or less you, raise the position size to 16. _______ UPDATE (September 25):  The head-and-shoulders pattern that I dissed earlier this month in the tout above has only grown more comely and compelling since. Even so, I still think the stock is bound for $1000. Accordingly, we'll continue to bid for the spread, but paying less:   0.25 for sixteen of them, good till week's end and contingent on GOOG trading 882 or higher.

The Dow bettered yesterday's 15312 rally target by 14 points, but what was even more impressive is that it did so with little help from some Nasdaq bellwethers that struggled to stay above water. (Apple, down $30 intraday, was prominent among them.) What this suggests is that the Indoos are building momentum for a 540-point shot to the next important Hidden Pivot target, 15864. What would clinch it? Check out my DJIA update for details.

The Smart Money's egregiously misplaced faith in Marissa Mayer has taken on a life of its own, giving us a possible shot at the juiciest shorting opportunity we've seen in a long while. We've been cautious about diving in prematurely, but we should remain so for the moment as the stock continues its push toward the outermost fringe of sanity. Technically speaking, that would imply an exhaustion spike to the 32.83 target shown. Camouflageurs can take a shot shorting the 29.83 midpoint resistance (see inset), but my gut feeling is that the stock will pop through it and head for the wild blue yonder in the weeks ahead. _______ UPDATE (September 24): The stock has plummeted from a 31.10 high that fell well shy of my 32.83 target. However, it is likely to pick up at least some support if and when it comes down to the 29.76 midpoint pivot associated with that number.  We'll back away for the moment, since I'd rather be shorting this dog on strength rather than weakness.  ________ UPDATE (11:35 a.m. EDT):  The Crime Syndicate allowed the stock to go no lower than 30.02 before goosing it into the ionosphere this morning. Since the original 32.83 target is once again in play, we'll let the stock finish this rampage before we short it aggressively as originally planned. ______ UPDATE (September 26, 1:30 a.m.): With yesterday's 32.03 high, YHOO inched closer to our target.  If the stock is trading within a dime of it today or tomorrow, bid 0.75 for eight December 28 puts.  This is a guesstimate that could prove too stingy, but I'll update here and in the chat room with further guidance if the puts are trading beyond our reach. _______ UPDATE (12:24 a.m. EDT):  A presumptive last-gasp rally has crushed put prices,

With Wall Street visualizing Whirled Peas and the transformation of the Middle East into a boring oasis of stability, gold has somehow managed to hold its own.  Even so, the breach of the 1366.90 midpoint support shown in the chart has put the burden of proof on bulls for now, since it portends more downside over the near term to as low as 1338.80, the 'D' target of the pattern. (Note: You can bottom-fish there with a tight stop-loss.) Alternatively, the most bullish thing that could happen would be for the futures to reverse direction and create a bullish impulse leg on the 'hourly' by pushing above the 1400.00 peak recorded last Thursday.  Less decisive but encouraging nonetheless would be a pop exceeding the 1380.30 'external' peak made yesterday on the way down. _______ UPDATE (9:52 a.m. EDT): Last night's $37 takedown exceeded my 1338.80 target by nearly 13 points, activating a new correction target at 1319.80 (A=1434.00 on 8/28, daily chart) that lies about $6 beneath the so-far low.  You can bottom-fish there as well with a tight stop-loss, perhaps emboldened by the fact that the futures took their biggest bounce overnight -- a $6.30 move -- from exactly 1338.00.  If you are concerned that this nasty selloff is something worse than a correction, check out this pattern on the weekly chart to be reassured that it is not: A=1271.80 on 8/9; B=1434.00 on 8/30; and C, still informed=(prospectively) 1319.80. ______ UPDATE (September 13, 1:08 a.m. EDT): Gold's ups and downs have been very precisely predictable lately. Yesterday, for one, the futures bottomed at exactly 1320.40 -- 0.60 from the target proffered above -- then rallied $10, so some subscribers may have caught a nice ride. The bullish tide has receded by nearly $8 since (see inset, a fresh

I've used a Dow chart to get an idea of how much pain may be visited on bears before this silly, Whirled Peas rally sevens out.  The immediate answer is: 120 points.  However, if the 15312 midpoint pivot that corresponds to that number gets demolished, we should brace for more upside to at least 15864. That would be congruent with some of the fanciful numbers I've projected for rallies in Amazon, Tesla, Google and a few others.  I mention this so that those who have bought puts in DIA as I advised don't have illusions about making a big score. _______ UPDATE (September 12, 12:16 a.m. EDT): Yesterday's 135-point rally exceeded my 15312 benchmark by 14 points -- probably not sufficient to clinch a bull rampage to 15864.  Before we throw in the towel on sanity, let's stipulate that the Dow must close above the lower number for two consecutive weekly bars, or trade more than 50 points above it intraday, before we infer that bulls are hellbent on 15864. _______ UPDATE (September 16, 1:36 a.m. EDT): With Sunday night's Yellen-related hysteria, it looks as though the Dow will be halfway to the 15864 target before the day is over.

Wall Street seems positively excited about the prospect of appeasing Assad and letting the whole mess simmer until the next time. If so, the world will not have breathed such an ostentatious sigh of relief since Hitler and Stalin shook hands in 1939. More likely is that, after Assad and 'the rebels' have half-finished their fight to the death, we'll be dealing with Hezbollah and al Qaeda, and whatever hellacious weapons of war they eventually will come to possess. For our part, we've shorted the market nonetheless, buying Diamond out-of-the-money puts yesterday for small change. This was low-hanging fruit for lazy traders, since it entailed a straight limit bid for the options, nothing fancy. Subscribers who went for this easy play should consider hitting the intermediate slopes, spreading off our 'suicide' bets against the trend with some of the bull plays I've proffered recently. They included a call spread in AMZN (October 330-335) that subscribers reported filling as low as 0.26, and a 'camo' trade in the E-Mini S&P that would be worth $1250 to anyone who followed the visual instruction contained in the chart tied to Monday's tout.  For an idea of how high this mania could take the broad averages no matter what you and I think, check out my tout for the Dow Industrials.

Amazon appears bound for at least 327.15, assuming it can blow past the 303.55 midpoint pivot of the pattern shown today or tomorrow. The initial buy signal was tripped at 291.74, so camouflage traders should bring an aggressively bullish bias to the task of getting long. Notice that even on the hourly chart, there's a nice string of external peaks you can use for that purpose. If you'd prefer to use options, I'll recommend buying the October 330-335 call spread eight times for 0.35 cents. Your bid should be contingent on the stock trading 298.50 or higher.  Please let me know in the chat room if you fill the order so that I can establish a tracking position for your further guidance. _______ UPDATE (12:09 p.m.):  The spread, currently reflected at 0.21 bid / 0.46 asked, has lost some juice with the start of the new week.  Accordingly, I'll recommend lowering our bid to 0.26, contingent on the stock trading 298.20 or higher. _______ UPDATE (September 12, 1:43 p.m. EDT): The stock's moderate climb has pushed the spread slightly out of reach, so I'll suggest raising your bid to 0.30, provided AMZN is trading 299.00 or higher.  It was quoted at 0.25 / 0.34 on Wednesday's closing marks.  If price dips below 0.29, revert to the 0.26 bid. ______ UPDATE (September 13): Traders reported a truckload of fills at 0.26 yesterday, so consider the position official. _______ UPDATE (September 18, 3:43 p.m. EDT): Let's offer half (four) of the AMZN Oct 330-335 calls spreads to close for 0.80, g-t-c. With the stock at 312.53 at the moment, the spread is currently trading around 0.75/0.78.

We gave the Diamonds wide berth yesterday, deploying a lowball bid for some DIA put options.  With a new rally target in mind, I've adjusted my recommendation so that we can try once again to pick a top without betting the farm.  This rally reeks of distribution, but we need not fear it as long as we are mindful of its potential.

Friday's chicken-hearted price action could set up a low-risk buying opportunity in the E-Mini S&Ps if they trace out a path Monday morning similar to the one shown in the chart accompanying today's tout. Sunday night-owls should check it out, since the opportunity could come and go quickly if it comes at all.