Today is Monday July 19th and we saw some pretty good moves today, on S&P but just consolidated after Fridays selloff.

The Dow Jones was up about 55 point, the NASDAQ up around 19 and the S&P futures flat. We moved sideways as the end result but had a nice sell off around 30 minutes after the open. I saw that one coming and picked up 3 points, 5.50 points and 8 points on the last part of my trade. Just the one trade for me today. I am trying to trade the early market hours and today was a good reward. I normally would have missed that move and had to come in scalping a bit here and there. The move I entered, looked like it had everything I wanted in a big move, and there you have it. I do like to scale out of trade often, but don’t do it every time. If you trade multiple contracts, scaling out, releases some of the pressure associated with having the trade on. It gives you stamina to stay with the rest of the trade, as it could jump up against you and take half of your gains back in a flash. Covering into weakness (short) is a way to lock in the profit at some of its better fills.

The downside is that you could have had more if in fact you waited, but I often would rather take a piece of move when I have the advantage, even if it keeps going. I was able to pick the bottom of the move as you can see in the screen shot. I always like it when a plan comes together. The market turned up just after my out and the last signal long was a sustained move. I likely would have skipped it, as the downtrend was looking pretty solid. More basing could have persuaded me to change my mind, but we did not get that and I was gone.

I have been looking for the market to get to 1050 and as low as 1040, but with today’s lows coming in at 1057, and seeing how things are shaping up on the charts, I would have to leave the possibility open that we have seen the low. I only say that, so as not to taken by surprise and see the market move up without me spotting the real sustained move. The confirmation will not happen until 1090 S&P, but after that price, you will start the beginning of a sustained bull move to the upside. It does not usually matter much for me to catch the bottom, as I am  just watching and identifying   the larger turning point in the market.

I see things that are saying, we could go up from here. To me, this is healthy, because, the worst thing a trader can do is have strong preconceived opinions of the market and loose your objectivity. If you only say, this market is going down, you will not see when it is going to turn and will not be able to trade it, even if everything says that this is a great long trade. Your mind is a powerful thing and is often the main reason why traders struggle much more than they have to. Making repeated mistakes and not being objective, is one of the worst things a trader can do for his confidence.

So, take each trade on its own merit. Tell your self to look at both sides of the market and don’t get fixed on any one idea or outcome. The chart will talk to you if you know the language.

If anyone has questions or needs a little advise off the record, just email me and I will do what I can for you. If you have a stock that you would like to see the turning points on, just let me know, and in what time frame you prefer to see it in, weekly, daily, hourly, 5 minutes, 1 minute, tick chart, volume chart, range chart, what ever you use. Also, if you want a free copy of my branded E-Book, “The Power of Concentration”. It is available for the asking. I won’t be pounding you in-box with this or that. Just trying to help. All I ask is that if you get the book and or anything else I might send you, to send me a reply letting me know that you received it and that’s it.

Enjoy the summer, and get some fresh air. Vince.