Momentum Trader Report: 08/31/09

China’s crash put pressure on the markets this morning, as the indexes gapped down but pared their losses by the end of the day. The biggest loser being the NASDAQ, down -.91%. The indexes escaped without any real technical damage, so once again, the bears had an opportunity to take control but didn’t.

I had a fantastic move in a trigger from Friday. I thought if any, it would have been MTG, but it was KFN which at one point was up over +26% today.

I had another move in a stock which triggered on the 8/20/09, SAY.  This one was going nowhere, but as you can see from the chart, there was no reason to sell it either. The payoff came today, it closed up over +21%.

I got stopped out of a couple of positions today, but was more impressed with how some stock held up.  Recent triggers such as BCRX and STEC held up well. In fact, BCRX looks like it’s getting ready for another move.

Missed Opportunities

I had some missed opportunities recently that would have had huge payoffs today. These happened to be in 2 big movers today, which I recently had on the Watchlist, but removed them. I didn’t catch either of these as they broke out.

I posted a chart of SVA in the 8/18/09 post and had it on my Watchlist. I removed it the next day after it sold off.  As seen in this chart,  I missed out on massive gains.

I had been watching ETFC for awhile, adding it to the Watchlist on 08/02/09.  It had a high volume sell off shortly after that, and I removed it. It has been on the move over the last couple of days, another huge opportunity missed.

I try to find good stocks that are starting to look frisky. I tend to be a bit early in some of these movers, and sometimes miss out on the big party, either by removing them from my watchlist too soon, or buying and selling too early. I plan to be more diligent in watching those stocks that shook me out, or that I removed from the Watchlist.

Trade Ideas for 09/01/09:

I still plan to swing trade (smaller positions, wider stops), but that may change depending on the market action in the next day or two. I expect things to get more challenging in September. I am still finding some good looking long setups though, and will play them for now.

Good luck and good trading!