Instead of “Sell in May”, it is “Snooze in May”

But more to the extent that the market is simply lacking the participants for big moves. There has only been one move so far this month that was in excess of 1%. But really, this market has been extremely flat since March. Nonetheless though, we are still sitting at all-time highs and poised for new highs yet again today.

You kind of get that feel that we are once again setting up for, at some point, another surprise sell-off like what we saw on 5/17. Maybe that is just paranoia, but there is little right now that is keeping prices elevated and plenty of headline risk that can emerge to take down this market as well. 

stock market today

I added a short position yesterday. That now makes my portfolio 80% long 20% short (4 longs, 1 short). I did so once the market started showing some weakness yesterday by opening a position in IWM. This is more of an insurance play for me as May has been a good month of trading and if the market does decide to roll over, I want to already have a starter position in place. The key though is finding setups with solid risk/reward. I don’t want to hedge my position with a short play that if it winds up being a loser costs me 5 or 6% against the portfolio. Instead if I am wrong, I am only down 1.5% on the actual trade itself, while the rest of my long positions should make up for the loss 3x to 4x that amount. 

Speaking of the Russell Index, it is by far the worst of all the indices, and thus the reason for why I am short it right now. There is declining resistance that it simply just can’t seem to break through. The S&P 500 on the other hand, continues to hold up well, and with yesterday’s so-called “sell-off”, the 5-day moving average was tested and held and looks to bounce higher today. 

Oh, and by the way, the volume on SPY yesterday was less than the half day of trading back on December 23rd. 

S&P 500 Chart

snooze in may

Current Stock Trading Portfolio Balance: 

  • 4 Long Positions, 1 Short Position

Recent Stock Trade Notables:

  • SPXU: Long at 16.60, closed at 16.98 for a 2.3% profit.
  • JP Morgan Chase (JPM): Long at 87.84, closed at 85.98 for a 2.1% loss.
  • Micron Technology (MU): Long at $29.00, closed at 28.04 for a 3.3% loss.
  • Alibaba Group (BABA): Long at $116.25, closed at $124.09 for a 6.7% profit. 
  • Southwest Airlines (LUV): Long at $58.35, closed at 57.23 for a 1.9% loss.  
  • Broadcom (AVGO): Long at $223.63, closed at $228.65 for a 2.2% profit. 
  • Workday (WDAY): Long at 86.00, closed at 90.32 for a 5% profit. 
  • Univar (UNVR): Long at $30.96, closed at $32.20 for a 4% profit.
  • Alibaba Group (BABA): Long at $111.91, closed at $115.48 for a 3.2% profit. 
  • Redhat (RHT): Long at $85.21, closed at $87.21 foor a 2.4% profit. 
  • Darling Ingredients (DAR): Long at $15.19, closed at $14.90 for a 1.9% loss. 
  • Apple (AAPL): Long at $143.82, closed at $147.11 for a 2.3% profit.
  • Teradyne (TER): Long at $31.16, closed at $33.03 for a 6.0% profit.
  • UPRO: Long at $92.75, closed at $94.78 for a 2.2% profit. 
  • Murphy Oil (MUR): Long at $28.69, closed at $27.89 for a 2.7% loss.
  • Las Vegas Sands (LVS): Long at $57.24, closed at $56.53 for a 1.2% loss.  
  • UPRO: Long at $91.94, closed at $96.54 for a 5.0% profit.
  • Alibaba Group (BABA): Long at $105.736, closed at $108.22 for a 2.4% profit. 
  • Facebook (FB): Long at $134.27, Closed at $139.23 for a 3.7% profit. 
  • CDW Corp (CDW): Long at $58.65, closed at $58.91 for a 2.7% loss. 
  • Redhat (RHT): Long at $82.41, Closed at $83.53 for a 1.4% profit. 
  • Ambarella (AMBA): Long at $57.15, Closed at $55.52 for a 2.8% loss. 
  • Alibaba Group (BABA): Long at $104.73, closed at $106.05 for a 1.3% profit. 
  • Broadcom (AVGO): Long at $218.63, Closed at $222.71 for a 1.9% profit. 
  • American Airlines (AAL): Short at $44.76, Closed at $44.03 for a 1.6% profit.
  • UPRO  (Day-Tade): Long at $95.35, closed at $96.50 for a 1.2% profit.
  • OZRK: Long at $56.12, closed at $54.69 for a 2.5% loss. 
  • FNSR: Long at $34.25, closed at $34.70 for a 1.3% profit. 
  • UPRO  (Day-Tade): Long at $96.92, closed at $98.03 for a 1.2% profit. 
  • JP Morgan Chase (JPM): Long at $87.21, closed at $89.67 for a 2.8% profit. 
  • Chevron (CVX): Short at $110.03, covered at $111.85 for a 1.6% loss. 
  • Flex Technologies (FLEX): Long at $15.62, closed at $16.57 for a 6.1% profit. 
  • Baidu (BIDU): Long at $174.70, closed at $187.00 for a 7.0% profit. 
  • Ollie’s Bargain Outlet: Long at 33.20, closed at $32.50 for a 2.1% loss. 
  • Corning (GLW): Long at $26.98, closed at $27.45 for a 1.7% profit. 
  • Illinois Tool Works (ITW): Long at $127.74, closed at $129.86 for a 1.7% profit. 
  • Marriott Int’l (MAR): Long at $86.16, closed at $87.51 for a 1.6% profit.