Jun 19, 2007

Not feeling the love

Not sure about the rest of you guys, but the setups just haven't been there the last couple of days. I was long RSH and short MCHP but the gains - and the charts - were not much to look at so I'm not posting.
 
Trading can be very boring on days like today. But the dramatic pose by the hamster did make me laugh.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I traded MCHP too... On 15 minutes chart, I entered on 10th bar, on a break of 9th bar's low. Both 9th and 8th bar are NR7, and then I exit on the beginning of 12th bar, think it's not going anyway, and X said, if it stale at the ORL, exit... right after I exit, it drops... and keep going with about 3R profit... Now I look back the chart, Jamie said that the bigger the gap, the longer consolidation.


Same thing happened with BBY also.

Not sure if it's only me... I recently find out my winners mostly come out from the trading after 11:00 AM ET.

-DT

TJ said...

Feels like the summer doldrums. The market looked promising on the open with the gap down, but by midmorning it recaptured its lower PP and we spent most of the rest of the day within that NR dead zone that we've been in for three days straight.

I'm relying more on PP trades these days, but even those can troublesome if they don't setup with a NRB.

DT, The wider gaps are usually more reliable, but they do need a longer consolidation period. I was also looking at those weak semi stocks (ISIL, LRCX, NVDA) trading in sympathy with MCHP on the open, and most of them ended up being gap fades.

andryuschenko said...

Hey 00NR7.

Great posts and blog. Thanks so much. Can you please explain how do you determine if the candle is a narrow bar 7?

Tom T. said...

OONR7 - I feel relieved to find that the recent problems with setups are a shared experience and not because I am doing something wrong. What did you think about SPN - it seems similar to your TASR trade - the retracement and minimal gap up above OR yielded a good gain. I did not trade this because I am so busy looking at others that are approaching OR high that I forget to look at those that touch the lower fib levels before consolidating at the top end - Tom T.

Anonymous said...

from 24/7 news, Trade Ideas premkt scan, briefing: 12 highest priced stocks: btu bby flir acas mnst mchp uaua lnet prgs cmed yhoo. Put them on 16 charts and dummy trade 1 min-30 min. I'm forcing myself to not cruise for set ups. There's smething there for everybody!

Rudy said...

I agree, today was not your classic trader x gap-up momo set-ups. However, check out Jamie's blog for some OR b/o trades other than gap-up set-ups

I believe as traders we must have the ability to trade "any" stock, long or short, gaps or no gaps. The tape should be the only one telling the tail, and thereby driving our decision making.

And the story of the tape was lond and clear this am, for example:

This morning stocks gap down and then faded quickly, as it mostly does.

As I monitored my watch list, I saw many stocks gap down and moving lower. However, a few bars later, I did notice the following: some reactions were orderly (not sloppy, wide and loose), with contracting bars (coiled spring phenomenon), carving out a bullish engulfing c/stick bot, ralling strongly, and b/o of OR high and filling gap. I watched as they consolidated above the OR high b/o pivot point and closed above rising 5ema.

The $64k question - what was the tape telling me?:
* orderly pullback with contracting bars
* Bullish engulfing c/stick bottom reversal bar
* fast recovery from the morning gap breakdown
* b/o of OR high and filling gap
* an orderly pullback to rising 5ema
* 5ema was in a steep uptrend (45-90 degree angle)and not extended
* 2nd higher low "darvas" boxing pattern
* yet another bullish engulfing c/stick bottom reversal bar
* followed by an NRB = stop loss < -$.30,

What else do I need to know?.

Of course, Jamie was not waiting for a second opinion, and that is why he is such a great trader.

My 2 cents, Rudy

OONR7 said...

@DT: I took MCHP off the 5-min chart, intraday fib. levels on a break of the 10am candle. Not my ideal entry, but it was an nr7 with slightly increased volume with the low right below the 38% fib. level.

@jamie: this will be my first summer as a daytrader with a real 'strategy'. So, it will be interesting to see how I perform. I am realizing that the entries need to be great and the stop losses should allow for some extra breathing room.

@alex: NR7 is simply the narrowest range candle of the last 7 candles. The range of each candle is the low/high spread. NR7s at the end of consolidation periods could lead to breakout opportunities. I used to trade exclusively with NR7 entries (hence the name oonr7) but I became very narrow-mind with my trading opportunities. However... I did that so that I could concentrate on one type of setup (as X recommends) until I can recognize other patterns. I've just recently started implementing the NR7s again on my charts.

@tom t: SPN didn't show up on my scan because there doesn't appear to be a gap from the previous close. That huge down first bar would've made me nervous going long. But, there was a nice long entry on the 5-min chart at 10:40 candle. However, I don't think I would've taken it because it was the 4th up bar in a row and I would worry that the price would stall at this level.
I am finding 'slam dunk' opportunities few and far between lately.

@bl: I like your thinking. And that's a good way to eliminate the 'clutter'. Yeah, there will be trades that you miss... but you'll also be able to focus in on the trades in your watchlist and better understand the price movements.

@rudy: Yes, Jamie is DA MAN. I'm trying to incorporate his weekly momo watchlist technique and follow those stocks. I can't incorporate everything Jamie does because frankly, what I'm doing right now is giving me great results. But... in times like today and yesterday, it's good to have a list of trending stocks to search for a good entry (whether it gaps up or not).
As always, thanks for your great commentary and insight.

Rudy said...

Oh you are very welcomed. I am curious to know exactly how you are currently day trading. Perhaps when you find the time you can summarize your trading system in a clear, well defined manner so it will help us in our educational development. Thanks, Rudy

Anonymous said...

00nr7, here is my final offer to hack away at the mulitude of choices: news from briefing(Jamie), 24/87 ONLY: hans yhoo lyts shfl grow frpt. Ample entries on 1,5,10,15 and there is only 6! OR 52 wk hi >18: ftek jaso bwld crox loop rgnc. BTW, I'm venting all this stuff for my own evolvement and others who wrestle with the similar problems. Anything over 8 stocks for me is too much.

OONR7 said...

thanks bl... are you entering in all those 'ample' entries? :)

OONR7 said...

Rudy... I may just do that but I pretty much follow a lot of what Trader X uses, but intraday and with more focus on the fib. levels.
All my are pretty much the same so you should see a pattern in everything I post (bullet points). I'm also a little hesitant to reveal everything because a lot of what I practice today comes from the information contained in the tradethemove.com materials (which costs $125), and I'd hate to sell them short as it's a really good product. Honestly, that really did change my trading for the better. That, and switching to the 5-min timeframe helped me have a greater understanding of patterns.

Anonymous said...

oonr7, no. I am finding my and trying to cut down the list to manageable size. I might end up just using Briefing premkt and 24/7.com news and let it go at that. And read blogs like yours and Jamie's. Thanks, BL

OONR7 said...

bl... keep the info coming my friend.