My Swing Trading Approach

We have the S&P 500 stuck in a 10-day trading range. I am keeping a neutral portfolio until it can determine a direction coming out of the range. At that point I’ll either get more bearish or more bullish, depending on the direction that the market takes. 

Indicators

VIX – Same story every day, and for five days straight – pop then drop. 

T2108 (% of stocks trading below their 40-day moving average) – 9% drop yesterday showing some notable deterioration in stocks trading above their 40-day moving average. 

Moving averages: 5/10 remain on top of  each other, but the same comments from yesterday’s swing trading strategy report applies: A negative finish will confirm the 5/10 bearish crossover. 

Industries to Watch Today

Financials – Still the industry I am watching the closest. 

Technology riding the Apple wave. Could see more of that today. 

Energy There is good and bad in this sector. Not crazy about trading it at the moment. 

Defense – Still very strong even with Boeing (BA) pulling back in recent days. 

Biotech I would have thought we would have see a bounce before now. None yet. Possible today, but I’m not liking the biotech stocks as a whole. 

RELATED: Stocks to Watch: FITB, JPM and WYNN

My Market Sentiment

Market actually is demonstrating a willingness to sell off, but the dip buyers continues to defy the will of the market. Not negating a market sell-off but simply delaying it, and likely making it worse as a result. 

Large caps > Small caps.

S&P 500 Technical Analysis

Current Stock Trading Portfolio Balance: 

• 2 long positions, 2 short positions

Recent Stock Trade Notables:

• Salesforce (CRM): Long at $90.86, closed at $89.43 for a 1.5% loss. 
• Autodesk (ADSK): Long at $106.45, closed at $111.34 for a 4.6% profit.
• Bank of America (BAC): Long at $23.99, closed at $24.23 for a 1% profit. 
• IBB: Long at $313.18, closed at $324.25 for a 3.5% profit. 
• SPXU: Long at $14.82, closed at $14.58 for a 1.6% loss. 
• Alibaba Group (BABA): Long at $143.65, closed at $150.40 for a 4.7% profit. 
• American Airlines (AAL): Long at $49.26, closed at $51.84 for a 5.2% profit
• Intel (INTC) Short at $35.21, covered at $34.46 for a 2.1% profit. 
• Nvdia (NVDA): Long at $155.57, closed at $157.53 for a 1.3% profit. 
• IBB: Long at $298.24, closed at $303.74 for a 1.8% profit. 
• SPXU: Long at $15.68, closed at $15.25 for a 2.7% loss. 
• Whirlpool (WHR): Long at $190.46, closed at $195.19 for a 2.5% profit. 
• Ferrari (RACE): Long at $84.60, closed at $89.93 for a 6.3% profit. 
• Amazon (AMZN): Long at $964.70, closed at $1001.23 for a 3.8% profit. 
• American Airlines (AAL): Long at $49.18, closed at $50.62 for a 2.9% profit
• Alibaba Group (BABA): Long at $124.95, closed at $137.51 for a 10.1% profit. 
• Starbucks (SBUX): Long at $61.78, closed at $63.68 for a 3.1% profit.
• Western Digital (WDC): Long at $91.24, closed at $89.29 for a 2.1% loss. 
• Broadcom (AVGO): Long at $236.65, closed at $241.15 for a 2% profit.
• 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. 

See my entire swing-trading past performance here.