ShadowTraderPro Swing Trader for June 11, 2009

The ShadowTraderPro Swing Trader is your every morning dose of market reality brought to you from the resident geniuses at ShadowTrader. Overseen by Chief Equity Strategist, Peter Reznicek, each issue contains a full report on the prior day's action, including market internals, technicals, and what sectors were hot and cold. Each issue also includes the ShadowTraderPro Model Portfolio, which updates members on what stock plays STPro is currently engaged in officially, as well as provide a daily list of long and short setups for more self-directed traders and investors.

To get the most out of your subscription, please read our Swing Trader User's Guide

If you have any questions or comments regarding commentary or plays in this newsletter, please email to swingtrader@shadowtrader.net.

The Big Picture


Good Morning, Traders. We pared down some of our long exposure today as the markets sold off pretty heavy from a gap up which did not hold. Similar to the example given in the ShadowTrader Video Weekly of June 7th, the $TICK readings at the open were less than stellar and as such could not provide the impetus needed to support a double-digit gap up in the ES futures. For those of you unawares, the NYSE $TICK measures how many stocks on the New York Stock Exchange are currently trading on an uptick (ie: the last print was higher than the previous) versus a downtick (ie: the last print was lower than the previous). Let's take a look-see together at this interesting "third internal" when compared against the ES futures.



In the photographs above, you can clearly see the large gap in the ES futures overnight, causing them to open sharply higher on Wednesday morning. In order for double digit gaps to 'hold' and continue higher, the cash market (the actual stocks in the S&P) has to trade very strong and also gap up in order for their "future value" (the futures) to be in line with the stock prices. The market internals such as $TICK clearly show us that although at the moment of open, the futures were pricing in much higher stock prices than Tuesday's close, in reality the stocks themselves that actually make up the index were not all moving up en masse. If they were, then there would have been a much stronger $TICK reading within the first few 5 minute bars. A good extra tip is to watch the high spike of the first 5 minute tick, if this number is less than 500 and the futures are gapping up sharply, they are pretty certain to fall soon.

Generally, you would need to see a strong $TICK spike up into the +1,000 area and preferably, the majority of the $TICK action above zero in order for the gap to sustain itself. When you see that the internals are actually divergent from what the futures are doing, you should be thinking of a fade (trading opposite the gap) and you should put your shopping list for swing trading longs back in your pocket for the time being, because you will probably get better prices a little later on.

As far as the broad market is concerned, same chop - different day. We are still maintaining inside of a tight range. Remember that as discussed in last nights report, whenever there are areas of consolidation, sharp movements always follow as pressure gets built up and then released. We still think that this release should be to the upside as the SPY is now trading well above its 200 day moving average. We'll continue to keep it close to the vest as usual.

Under The Hood

When we say "under the hood" we mean market internals, ie: what was really happening behind the scenes. ShadowTraders who listen to our daily broadcast every day live on the thinkorswim platform know that all closing figures on the major averages should only be interpreted in the context of market internals. Look for convergences and divergences in the breadth, a/d line, and trin figures below to either confirm or cast doubt on what all those talking heads on TV are telling you.

Dow Jones Industrial Average8739.02-24.04-0.27%
S&P 500939.15-3.28-0.35%
Nasdaq Composite1853.08-7.05-0.38%
Nasdaq 1001495.27-6.28-0.42%
Russell 2000523.71-4.22-0.80%
Spot Gold953.6-1.00-0.10%
Crude Oil71.26+1.25+1.79%
NYSE Overall Volume1,220,393Kn/a +0.15%
Nasdaq Overall Volume2,375,555Kn/a +0.10%
NYSE Breadth0.73 : 1Negative
Nasdaq Breadth0.83 : 1Negative
NYSE Breadth Ratio42.08
Nasdaq Breadth Ratio45.32
NYSE Advancers/Decliners-270
Nasdaq Advancers/Decliners-583
NYSE Trin1.15
Nasdaq Trin0.78
$VIX28.46+0.19
ES Pivot Points for Thursday
R3 975.17
R2 962.83
R1 951.67
Pivot 939.33
S1 928.17
S2 915.83
S3 904.67
Strongest Groups: Utilities Oil Services Software
Weakest Groups: Broker/Dealer Biotechnology Home Construction

Heads Up

Up and coming economic and corporate data that may move markets this week:

Today - 05/11/2009
08:30 am EST - Retail Sales
08:30 am EST - Initial Claims
10:00 am EST - Business Inventories
Reporting earnings today: ARST, CHDX, CIDM, CPY, DLM, FNSR, GLBC, HRLY, HOKU,
LULU, MDZ, NSM, NOOF, OCLS, RGEN, SCHS

Friday - 05/12/2009
8:30 am EST - Export Prices
8:30 am EST - Import Prices
9:55 am EST - Michigan Sentiment
Reporting earnings today: DUCK, MSB

Monday - 05/15/2009
08:30 am EST - NY Empire Manufacturing Index
09:00 am EST - Net Long-Term TIC Flows
02:00 pm EST - Treasury Budget
02:00 pm EST - Fed's Beige Book
Reporting earnings today: CPST, CWST, CASY, CMRO, LZB, COOL, NTSC, SURG, SYUT,

Bulls and Bears

This section is for self-directed traders and investors who like to "do it themselves". Every trading day, Bulls and Bears will list long and short equity setups with defined entries and stops. Note: A listing in this section does NOT necessarily mean that the stock will end up as a part of the ShadowTraderPro Model Portfolio. Plays listed here change daily and are not managed or tracked by ShadowTrader unless traded via e-mail alert.

Long Ideas
 Symbol Trigger Price Stop Price Notes
MVSN 22.69 21.99 Double bottom pullback at trendline support
UTHR 85.04 81.76 Break over horizontal resistance of shelf
MHS 44.96 43.86 Pullback to major support
Short Ideas
 Symbol Trigger Price Stop Price Notes
None

ShadowTrader Model Portfolio

The matrix below shows all current ShadowTrader Pro plays in the Model Portfolio. The Model Portfolio contains only those plays that are sent out in real-time via email. Bulls and Bears plays above are not actively managed or tracked. Current open positions are on top, with positions that were closed in the current calendar week on the bottom. Closed positions are moved out of the matrix on Monday mornings and posted in our performance page here.

To get the most out of your subscription and for detailed instructions on how to structure your own portfolio, read our Swing Trader User's Guide

 OPEN POSITIONS - week of 06/08 - 06/012
sym dir size date
entered
entry
price
date
closed
exit
price
target stop status mark
to
market
p&l
points
p&l
capital
capital
commit
WFC long 200 06/05 25.40 n/a n/a 30.50 23.00 open 24.91 (0.49) ($98) $5,080
  Closed above 20 day MA on 06/08
V long 50 06/04 69.10 n/a n/a 77.80 67.00 open 69.27 0.17 $9 $3,455
  Tightened stop on 06/09 just under low of daily ascending trendline
MA long 50 06/04 169.05 n/a n/a 189.15 159.00 open 173.60 4.55 $227 $8,453
  OBV remains in an uptrend while price staying above 200 day MA
GLD long 75 06/08 93.52 n/a n/a 100.00 89.00 open 93.86 0.34 $26 $7,014
  Purchased shares on pullback within pennies of 38.2% Fibonacci retracement
 CLOSED POSITIONS week of 06/08 - 06/012
sym dir size date
entered
entry
price
date
closed
exit
price
target stop status mark
to
market
p&l
points
p&l
capital
capital
commit
V long 50 06/04 69.10 06/09 69.04 77.80 64.75 closed n/a (0.06) ($3) $0.00
  Cut half of position to reduce exposure to potential failure of breakout
GS long 75 06/04 146.60 06/10 146.65 160.50 139.50 closed n/a 0.05 $4 $0.00
  Scratched trade at breakeven as GS pulled back into sideways range
  TOTALS: 375 open shares (open capital committed doesn't include closed trades) $24,002

Click here for year to date Model Portfolio Performance - 2009

Click here for Model Portfolio Performance - 2008
All content © 2009 by ShadowTrader Technologies, LLC. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer and Waiver of Claims: Disclaimer and Waiver of Claims: The ShadowTraderPro Swing Trader is a newsletter service, designed as supplemental material for the ShadowTraderPro Newsletter subscription service and it is not intended to be a stand alone newsletter. The risk of loss in the trading of any securities products can be substantial. The strategies mentioned here are active trading strategies, therefore you should carefully consider whether such trading is suitable for you in light of your personal investment objectives and financial resources. This material is for information purposes only and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities. Past performance of any trades mentioned never guarantees future results.

Securities and options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. See the characteristics and risks of standardized options.