Swing Trading Strategies & Stock Picks Since 2003

The market up-trend is in place and I am almost 100% invested on the long side in my trading IRA.  I am also largely invested in mutual funds in  my university pension. This is the time to ride the train and not to fight it.  No one knows when the up-trend will end.  The idea is to ride it and have sufficient stop losses in place to exit if the trend should convincingly reverse. The GMI is at 5 of 6, having been at 6 at Thursday’s close.  There were less than 100 new highs (74) in my universe of 4,000 stocks on Friday, bringing it down to 5.  I suspect we will be back to 6 this week.  Meanwhile, 84% of the Nasdaq 100 stocks had their MACD close above its signal line, a nice show of strength.  The Worden T2108 Indicator is at 88%, near the top of the range it typically reaches.  But it can stay above 80% for months.

There are so many growth stocks breaking out that it is now much harder to determine the true leaders.  I have been buying call options on QLD (Nasdaq 100 ultra long ETF) and selling cash secured puts on a lot of strong stocks.  If these stocks stay flat or continue rising, the puts I sold will expire worthless on August 21st, giving me a nice portfolio gain for the month. Among the stocks on my IBD100 lists that hit a new high on Friday are:  PWRD, FUQI, JJSF, CPLA, MFE, LZ, PCLN, ABAX, and INFY.

• gmi: 5
• gmi-r: 9
• t2108: 88