Score another big win with Big Cap Tech as the NASDAQ 100 led the market with the best gains across the major indexes. Volume was lower across the board, but it was AAPL along with AMZN pushing the index higher. BA helped keep the Dow in negative territory as the company deals with the 737-Max issues. Overall, not a terrible session for the broader market as we head into another earnings season. Earnings are at all-time highs and expectations are for this trend to continue. We shall see how the market reacts to all the earnings news and we will be well prepared for anything the market will try and throw at us. It is important to make sure you have your position sizes in check and know where your exits are. Most do not have a clue and continue to trade with a gambler’s mentality. Trade a solid plan and continue to block out the noise.
There are plenty of stocks setting up for new buy points, but it will be interesting to see whether or not earnings season will be the fuel to this uptrend’s fire. It really is anyone’s best guess at this point. What we do know is that this market continues to be a crazy environment and we continue to push higher. This situation has not changed and until it does expect this market to continue to push higher regardless of what most will think. Ignore the noise and trade on price. Cut your losses quickly and ride your winners. There is nothing new in this market only the participants change.
With earnings season you must be aware of any new signals and when the company reports. Taking a trade the day of earnings is not wise as we have seen many of these trades blow up in trader’s faces. This goes for your current positions too. A stock you have very little cushion in and a large position most definitely needs to be curtailed. Know your open risk and we do see where stocks will move more than 10% after reporting earnings. It is a crap shoot and there is no predicting what way a stock will move. Reg FD really has created this environment. Right, wrong, or indifferent we can only trade what is given and not what we think should happen. Manage your risk properly and you will succeed. Most do not comprehend this and ruin their portfolio.
We hope you had a great weekend and a great week of trading.
