My Swing Trading Approach

I added two trades to the portfolio yesterday. I may sit on the sidelines today if the market doesn’t show enough strength to get this market rolling again today. 

Indicators

• VIX – Sold the morning strength. I expect to see more of this in the days ahead. 
• T2108 (% of stocks trading below their 40-day moving average): Barely any movement, with a 1.5% rise to 69%. Still showing stocks, overall, lack the enthusiasm you would expect in this kind of rally. 
• Moving averages (SPX): Trading above all the major moving averages. 
• RELATED: Patterns to Profits: An Intro Trading Course

Industries to Watch Today

All ten sectors traded higher yesterday, but it was Energy that broke out of its bull flag pattern, and Healthcare, with is parabolic rise, that did the best. Communication Services with a monster rally unfolding. Utilities continues to struggle, and Basic Materials keeps trading in a sideways manner. 

My Market Sentiment

There is little to be added here in the way of market analysis, when it essentially goes up each and every day. The breadth remains a concern, as there are a lot of stocks not in on this current rally. Always be on the lookout for broad-based profit taking, by continuously raising stops on profitable positions.  

S&P 500 Technical Analysis

Current Stock Trading Portfolio Balance

• 6 long positions

Recent Stock Trade Notables:

• Hess (HES): Long at 48.50, sold at 53.42 for a 10.1% profit. 
• Splunk (SPLK): Long at 83.11, sold at 88.10 for a 6% profit.
• Nvidia (NVDA): Long at 227.10, sold at 221.32 for a 2.5% loss.  
• Square (SQ): Long at 40.41, sold at 41.16 for a 1.9% profit.
• Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB): Long at 30.92, sold at 31.80 for a 2.9% profit.
• US Steel (X): Long at 35.38, sold at 36.90 for a 4.3% profit. 

See my entire swing-trading past performance here.