Swing trading... lessons learned...

[B.J]

Webs, thanks. You're doing great yourself!

Billy Joe, you bring a good point. What I do is swing trade in my IRA. In order to do that, I cannot buy with proceeds that I've sold within the last three days. To counter that, I leave 1/3-1/2 of my total port in cash, so that I can turn quickly. So if it looks like I'm not too diversified (5 stocks), it's over 2/3, making it more like 8, projecting over the full balance.

[ParkTwain]

"What I do is swing trade in my IRA. In order to do that, I cannot buy with proceeds that I've sold within the last three days."


Well, you CAN make a new buy using the proceeds of the previous sell without breaking any rules, but you would be penalized under SEC rules if you SELL your second buy before the proceeds from the first sell have cleared.

[B.J]

True Park, but I prefer allowing myself the flexibility to exit quickly if I am wrong, or locking in a bundle of cash on a rapid advance within a day or two.

[B.J]

May end up proving wrong, but sold ABLE. It's been dropping rather rapidly since hitting it's high in the mid 18's. Sold 16.74, total gain 21%. Perhaps I'll keep watching it.

[B.J]

Bye bye ERS...

My under 10 stop kicks in. Whether or not it rebounds, I stuck to my guns.

Sold at 9.78 for 45% profit. I've done worse.

[casinoboy3]

Hey... a quick question that probably doesn't belong in this thread... but anyway... If I enter a limit order to buy a stock before the market opens, and the stock opens at a lower amount then what my limit was... does the order get filled at market value or limit value? Thanks...

[skiracer]

You'll get it at the price it opens at even though it opened lower than the price you placed the limit order. It works to your benefit in that way. Good for you.

[casinoboy3]

You'll get it at the price it opens at even though it opened lower than the price you placed the limit order. It works to your benefit in that way. Good for you.

Cool.....thanks!

[B.J]

Closed IPII also. Wasn't liking yesterday's reversal in addition to Tuesday's. One or the other, fine, but repeated reversals give me no confidence.

22.50 sell. 8.5% profit.

[spikefader]

B.J. Nice trading this year! Enjoying the thread.

[B.J]

Thanks for stopping by Spike! Been doing well since Spring time and I have you and the rest of the folks on here to thank for it. Don't be a stranger!

[dmk112]

Has anyone read the Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns by Thomas Bulkowski? It's really good... Got it several months ago and I have learned alot from it. It lists and explains almost every pattern out there and even tell you the statistics on it (e.g. failure rate, average rise, etc) The pattern that has really been abundant in the last several weeks is the Bump and reverasals (BARR). Here are some stats on it:

Appearance: Looks like a frying pan with the handle on the left following a trendline down until a large decline enuses
Failure rate: 19%
Failure rate if waited for upside breakout: 9%
Avg. Rise: 37%

Basically you draw a trend line on a stock that has been falling for the past serveral weeks or months and if there is a phase when the stock runs away from the usual trend this is the 'run' and if this happens and the stock comes back and pierces the trendline this is a buy signal.

Even poor old DHB has shown this pattern and if bought using this you would have a nice gain since then.

[skiracer]

Very good book. Have been using it for sometime and rely on it all the time.

[Runner]

DMK it is amazing how lines play into the game of support and resistance. Very good technique you mention. Oh the lines are not always horizontal as many think... Key as you mention is the volume pulse.

[B.J]

Nice post, DMK. The Encyclopedia is definitely tops on my list of books. I need to get off my azz and get over to B&N. Lately almost all of my free time has gone directly into landscaping.

Yesterday, I filled a buy order (9.60) for Sterling Construction (STV). Kind of an odd conglomerate, one subsidiary a Houston based construction outfit, and the other is involved in distribution of lawn products and automotive accessories. IBD RS 97/EPS 97. Moving recently on contract awards. Beginning to support the mid to high 9 area.