The reality of it all...

We had a nice rally yesterday with a dismal attempt at a late day rally today. The reality is...

What is going to make this market move higher??

Trading and/or investing right now is pure gambling if you position yourself long. You would have better odds (and a lot more fun) if you simply went to Vegas and placed bets on a whim.



Our staff is out next week on vacation and we will leave you with the following trades:

way out of the money April index (QQQQ, IWM, SPY, & DIA) puts. That is the ONLY trade we will have in our portfolio as we look forward to returning after next week.

Trade well,
Trader D

BLASTOFF

Well, as expected the market rallied bigtime today. Hopefully none of the ITM'ers got caught too short. The DZZ (gold short ETF) mentioned late last week performed very well today as did most of the ultra's. We shall wait till tomorrow to see if we can get a good old fashioned bear market rally follow through.

Trade well,
Trader D

Unlucky 7

Today marked the seventh down day in a row. We are extremely oversold and due for a bounce. What that "bounce" may look like is anyone's guess but tighten up all stops on your shorts and puts. Get ready for CRAZY 8 tomorrow :)

Trade well,
Trader D

Early Monday morning update

We are not going to chase GEOY as it gapped up at the opening a whopping 10%. Keep an eye on the Gold ultrashort DZZ if this market can hold on to it's gains.

Trade well,
Trader D

Satellite headed to orbit....or 23?

The market is very risky here to pick either way. We noticed a small satellite imaging company that has a great chart (and cool website too). See for yourself below.



Trade well,
Trader D

Don't be fooled

We are witnessing a dramatic surge in the market today with 1 1/2 hours to go. Remember that it is options expiration day and the market is known for huge swings as investors try to manage their positions. Don't get too excited here..

Trade well,
Trader D

No Surprise....

Trade well,
trader D

So go the financials...

So goes the market. Until the financials stop getting decimated on a daily basis...this market ain't gonna do a thang. So, today ITM brings you SKF - the ultra short financial ETF. Day traders LOVE this security as it moves an average of 18 points a day. let us repeat..18 points a day!

The chart shows that we are on the upper end of the channel (width = 100 points). We are not saying it is about to reverse but watch it closely as we head further into overbought territory.

Trade well,
Trader D

Dead Cat Bounce

As we sit and watch the market head lower into the depths...we all know that we are subject to the short term phenomenom of the "DEAD CAT BOUNCE".

From WIKI:

A dead cat bounce is a figurative term used by traders in the finance industry to describe a pattern wherein a spectacular decline in the price of a stock is immediately followed by a moderate and temporary rise before resuming its downward movement, with the connotation that the rise was not an indication of improving circumstances in the fundamentals of the stock. It is derived from the notion that "even a dead cat will bounce if it falls from a great height".

The following chart shows the tremendous surge in Gold (highlighted by the ETF):

An easy way to play a bounce in the market would be to take a position in the DZZ - Ultra Short Gold ETN (we will get into a discussion about ETF's Vs. ETN's at a later time):

Trade well,
Trader D

Dismal Statistics

Here are todays:

52 week high Vs. Low list:

Record Price High: NYSE 11 Stocks NASDAQ 1 Stocks AMEX 2 Stocks
Record Price Low: NYSE 255 Stocks NASDAQ 209 Stocks AMEX 57 Stocks

Gap up Vs. Gap down:

Gap Up: NYSE 21 Stocks NASDAQ 3 Stocks AMEX 28 Stocks
Gap Down: NYSE 703 Stocks NASDAQ 168 Stocks AMEX 120 Stocks


Trade well,
Trader D

UGLY & WOUNDED

Looks like we are headed to test the 7500 level.



Be careful and trade well,
Trader D

MMMMMMMD

Trade well,
Trader D

No reason to get excited..

In the words of the Honorable Robert Zimmerman...

Yes, very good close on decent volume. No, it's not time to get excited about the market. Let's let things play out and remain patient. ITM'ers are patient people.

Trade well,
trader D

The waiting is the hardest part

We are waiting patiently to trade. The market (as always) is at a critical juncture. The chart of the VIX below measures "FEAR". Simply put, we break to the upside and investors continue to sell. A break below, and fears subside.



Trade well,
Trader D

Bad, Bad, Bad

Fortunately our trading portfolio included some out of the money index puts we always have on as a hedge. We were down less than a half percent today. There is no reason to believe we are headed higher until we see the proof in the pudding.

Trade well,
Trader D

Final Hour

Heading into the home stretch and things look....not so good.


Trade well,
Trader D

History

History shows that markets bottom when individuals "puke up" their stocks and give up. Is this that moment in time?

Trade well,
Trader D

ABYSS

The VIX is spiking. Let's look for a positive close. Or else.

STRENGTH

If this market can show STRENGTH through the latest government "plans" to help the economy, then I believe we may have formed a bottom. As we have noticed over the last week with all of the bad news the market has shown resilience. Let's keep our stops in place and look towards the possibility of brighter days .

Trade well,

Trader D

Sunny Week ahead ????

We have a lot of economic news coming out this week and the markets are looking brighter. We NEED to continue to be aware of the risks. Let me repeat:

WE NEED TO BE AWARE OF THE RISKS.

Let's move on:


You will see by the first chart below, SOLR broke out last week and doubled:




















The following charts have the same setups for a possible huge (enormous actually) move upward. They are all in the same pattern and the horizontal blue line is the price target for each stock:

Trade well,
Trader D

Taking profits

We are taking the profits on the following trades:

MOS +13%
IPI +5%
POT +16%
AGU +10%

Not bad for 2 days

Trade well,
Trader D

Heading towards the close

What a fantastic day for the longs and especially the fertilizer stocks mentioned on yesterdays posting.

We are taking a small put position here on Amazon (AMZN). The price action is looking tired as volume slows to a trickle, the stochs are at the top, and the MACD is at it's average high. We like the risk to reward...

Trade well,
Trader D

Bulls in charge

As we mentioned yesterday. In the face of adversity, this market is acting very strong.

Trade well,

Trader D

Nitrogen + Potash + Phosphate = Profits

I want to thank my good friend John for mentioning the great looking charts in the fertilizer sector.

Before we hit the charts, let's take a second to review what is going on:

1) the market is brutally difficult to make consistent profits
2) the Financials continue to deteriorate
3) Obama and his gang have yet to outline a solid plan to aid the financial crisis
4) For some reason...the market is hanging in there.


so, let's move on to some positive looking charts and assume things are looking up!

The following charts all show a clear upward progression that with a little help from the market could really clear the way for some huge profits. This sector was one of the best last year and who knows what will lead the market in the future but let's see if we can break resistance. Notice in all cases that after a prolonged period of time, the 50 day EMA has flattened out.

Trade well,

Trader D

Small losses, Big profits

We are going to take a small loss on the APOL trade. The overall point of investing is to cut your losses short and let your winners ride. This market does not reward those who "hope for the best".

Trade well,
trader D

HIGHER Education

Buying a small call position on Apollo Group (APOL)



















Here is the market leader in the online education group - ESI:



















Trade well,
Trader D

Simple is as simple does

Here is todays (intraday) chart on the DOW. We went down, then up, then down, then up, then down, then up, then down. Where did it get us from the opening? nowhere.

We gapped down and down is where the momentum remains.

2 year olds and technical analysis

Below is the 1 year chart of the DOW. A 2 year old can read this chart. Be careful

Trade well,
Trader D