Monday, May 18, 2009

Cup & Handle - STT, AAPL, JPM

STT from the Trade-Ideas pre-market scanner, formed a cup & handle just prior to market open. This is a little riskier because it involves buying the open, so size it accordingly. I took a partial at R2 (dotted red line) which was close enough to the measured move target 100% FE and in line with round$ number. Then it carved out an IB in the upper shadow of the OR, so I was confident we could go higher. Exit balance at 150% FE.

After STT carved out a lower high, I was watching for a shorting opp. - NRIB was good for a retracement back to the rising 20 EMA.

AAPL formed a perfect C&H at the base of the ORH (entry as price takes out $124.00). It made a fast move to the middle ground between the 62% FE and R2 then stalled. I took a partial and then we consolidated at length before, finally taking out R2 and the full extension. After all that consolidation, I thought we might go higher, but not enough momentum.


JPM, another C&H pattern, stalled at the 38% FE so I moved my stop just below the whole $ level. It didn't retest the base, but took forever to form a second base. Worth the wait!

The C&H pattern should BO on an uptick in volume. JPM was suspect because of the minor uptick on BO.

6 comments:

Day Tradr said...

Excellent trades Jim. What a way to come back!

Day Tradr

TJ said...

Thanks Day Tradr,

Yeah, feels good!

Anonymous said...

Jamie,

That was a sweet return to trading! What do you make of the weak volume for a "trend" day?

TJ said...

Thanks Jim,

Yeah, volume was light. Not sure why, except maybe some were gun shy given the hammering of the Nikkei overnight. Look at a 24 hour view of ES futures. Price tagged support at 875 late last night, reversed, and moved steadily higher from there. Goldman adding BAC to conviction buy list really gave financials a boost.

john said...

I had prepared a several posts for your first day back:

"Don't worry Jamie, it'll come back to you."

"It's like riding a bike - give it time."

"We've all had days like that - it's to be expected."

"We all get a bit rusty if we don't trade every day."

But noooooo

TJ said...

LOL,

Thanks John,

I was quite anxious to get back in the game. Even managed to get up an hour earlier than usual to prepare.