I know it seems too simple, but I avoided all of the large market down-trends since 2000 with a few rules like those in the chart. I also look at whether the 30 week average is rising or falling. Here is SP500 at the recent top and the 2000 top and bottom in 2003.
I am incensed by pundits quoting studies implying not to exit the market because you could miss the best days, when the same studies show one did far better by missing the worst days. Don't be scared into staying in a declining market, unless you have years to recoup losses.
One of the most important lessons to learn about the stock market is that the set ups that work wonderfully in an uptrend fail miserably in a downtrend.
The key to successful trading is to use a set-up that indicates a stock will move IMMEDIATELY in a certain direction and to then exit ASAP if it doesn't. The challenge is to thoroughly learn the set-up that works for you.
I teach my students: If you are in the middle of a street and and you see a truck heading towards you at high speed, you don’t say I know the driver or it always stops there or I think it will stop. No, you get the hell out of the way. That is what you have to do with stocks.
Take losses quickly. Your first loss is your smallest loss. Use a set up that indicates your stock should move up immediately and if it doesn’t, you were wrong and take your loss. I say to myself, “every loss brings me closer to the next gain.”
There are many books showing successful breakouts. We need books showing failed breakouts to remind people that set ups often fail and they must be prepared to recognize it and to exit quickly.
Buy only stocks breaking out to all time highs. If a stock that has declined a lot can overcome all of the selling from people who bought at higher levels, that is a screaming buy signal.
Did you ever consider how many financial professionals telling you to stay invested in the market and to stay the course earn their living based on how much of your money remains invested through them? Think about it.
I am dismayed by the number of people still suggesting stocks to purchase. Do they also try to stop the tide from coming in? I have been mainly on the sidelines since last November. The great traders all say there is a time to stay out, see how beautifully Nicolas Darvas put it:
In the 1960s I purchased Nicolas Darvas’ book, How I made $2 million… That book set me on the path of learning profitable trading. I assign that book to my students on the first day of class. Many successful traders praise that book.
Darvas said that he bought stocks trading at all time highs—no exceptions. After a big market decline the new leaders will break out to all-time highs. Forget the old leaders that are way down from their highs, until/if they climb back to new highs.
Many are buying “bargain” stocks way down from their highs, hoping they will recover. The very successful trader, Nicolas Darvas, bought only stocks breaking out to all time highs. Look for the new leaders in the new high list.
Darvas made his fortune trading after the Dow broke the 1929 top (a GLB) 25 years later and went on to all-time highs. Traders do best when indexes are trading at all-time highs, as in the 90s and last year. Hold index funds in a bear market and wait years for them to recover?
The market bottoms when most people give up on looking for one. How many people expected the pandemic induced rout to bottom in March 2020? Right now too many people are looking for bargains or to buy the dip.
I blog and tweet about what I have learned trading/investing over the past 50+ years in order to empower others, not to boast or to feed my ego. Big egos harm one's trading and relationships.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Stan Weinstein for the first-ever
@TraderLion_
Podcast🎙️
Don't Miss This!
🗝️Topics:
✅Stage Analysis
✅Ideal Buy Points for Investors & Traders
✅Position Management
✅Market and Group Analysis
👍Like and Retweet! 🔁
One of the best short chapters on how to trade using CAN SLIM appears in the "Stock Investment as a Treasure Hunt" interview with David Ryan,
@dryan310
, in the book, Market Wizards, by Jack Schwager. All my students read it, yellow markings are mine for emphasis.
I am sorry that my blog post on November 23 was eerily correct. My only goal is to teach others what I have learned from the market the past 50+ years. I hope some of my readers went to cash back then when I did.
How do you know a truck is bearing down on you? The market or the stock is in a Weinstein Stage 4 decline. It is that easy. Hold nothing in a Stage 4 decline. It has helped me to avoid every bear market. I get back in at Stage 2.
21 stocks from recent IBD/MarketSmith lists that reached an ATH today 30%+ above average volume, sorted by v today/avg 50 day vol. Note earnings dates.
$QQQ topped on 11/22/2021. One of the reasons I exited the market then was this spreadsheet showing that the number of new yearly lows rocketed higher as QQQ rose to a top. Timing the market is easier if you know the market's highs and lows!
CNBC article today about Cathie Wood shows what happens when one falls in love with a company’s concept but ignores the technicals. Her ETF did great when the companies and the ETF were in Stage II up-trends, but most have been in Stage IV down-trends for months.Wait for Stage II
Blog post: Day 25 of $QQQ short term up-trend; I started this blog in 2006 to share with people what I was doing in the market, having escaped the 2000 market carnage and later, that in 2008. I am concerned by what I see right now. See my blog for detail…
In the 60s I read the book by Nicolas Darvas and in the 80s I subscribed to Investor's Daily and read William O'neil's book. These classics made a HUGE difference in my ability to prosper in the stock market. THANK YOU TO WON. Rest in peace.
Blog Post: I’M back! 8 the day of $QQQ short term up-trend; GMI=Green but I do not know the day it changed; Dont’t listen to the pundits who opine the market is going to crash; no expert, but the market’s movement will tell us if a decline is likely a…
@davidfaber
,
@StanWeinstein13
It is beyond me how anyone got caught holding META. Stage Analysis is the first strategy I teach my undergraduates. DO NOT HOLD ANYTHING BELOW ITS DECLINING 30 WK AVG-- PRICE LEADS FUNDAMENTALS. All should have exited at end of 2021.
I received so much positive feedback from my prior tweet that I just published a blog post explaining a short term set-up I have developed as it applies to $GNRC and $DGII.
When Darvas published his second book in 1962, Wall Street:The Other Las Vegas, Barrons refused to advertise it even though his first book put them on the map. He compared a brokerage firm to a casino. This quote summarizes his take on the stock market after making his fortune:
I greatly enjoyed presenting at the first annual TraderLion conference. I will post some charts showing the usefulness of the black dot indicator on my blog Sunday night. Be sure to catch my longer presentation at the Long Island stock traders meet up this Wednesday night.
This is a very interesting interview with a money manager who understands that you don’t stay in the market all the time and you don’t fight the tide in a bear market.This is worth watching multiple times.His approach using the 200 day moving average is similar to stage analysis.
My interview with
@dvandenbord
, Senior Portfolio Manager at Revere Asset Management is out now!
We went through his entire process and he shared the results of several studies he’s done about bear markets and the 200 day SMA
In an attempt to be "objective" and not miss a market bottom, I think many of O'Neil's adherents are ignoring the tremendous subjective qualities he mentions below in defining a follow-though day.
Blog post: 25th day of $QQQ short term down-trend; if a growth stock trader cannot go to the sidelines during a QQQ down-trend, that person is addicted to the rush of the market rather than making money.
@RichardMoglen
Any stock that can come through 2022 at an all-time high, is showing amazing relative strength. Those are the types of stocks I focus on. Stay away from the fallen angels that may never recover.
Look at any stock that has gone up and you can find loads of trendlines and set ups that worked. What no one talks about is the percentage of the times any specific set up actually works. It is likely to be low and varies according to the market’s trend. Cut all losses quickly.
That is why I buy green line breakouts, GLB. These are stocks that have advanced to an all-time high rest for at least three months, except for IPOs, and then break out to an all-time high again. That has been the formation behind many of the greatest winning stocks.
While I remain 100% cash in my trading accounts, in a down market it is much easier to find the possible next market leaders among the few stocks holding up near their ATHs. I only buy once a new market up-trend is evident. Sign up for my free blog at:
On Wednesday, I bought three stocks that passed my oversold bounce set-up and placed stops below the low of the bounce. All three are up today: $NET, $BILL, $AFRM, demonstrating tremendous relative strength. If a bounce fails in coming days, I am stopped out – – no emotion.
I have been thinking about what are the characteristics of a good technical setup. Take a look at these and maybe suggest other useful conditions. I will introduce these to my fall undergraduate class.
Blog post: 30 week average of $QQQ just starting to curve down; typically happens at the BEGINNING of a significant decline; Register for my AAII webinar below.
When I hear everyone saying this is the worst inflation since 1990, I can’t help thinking about the great stock market advance we had in the decade of the 90s.
Blog Post: Day 1 of new $QQQ short term down-trend and GMI=3. Many fallen angels, $SMCI, $AAPL, $CMG; Buying $SQQQ now; Buying $TQQQ on Day 1 of the recent $QQQ short term up-trend would have produced +40% and beaten almost all individual stocks….
Learning how to trade successfully is a long difficult process. With zero commissions there is a new way to learn how to trade. Buy only one share at a time. If you can’t do well buying one share you won’t do well buying 100+ shares at a time.
Computer died, no blog post tonight. $QQQ short term trend remains down and things could get really bad. Will post over the weekend. Cash is a position.
Martin Zweig had it right. Never fight the Fed. Rising rates will slow the economy and suck the money out of the equity markets. We boomers may once again be able to earn a decent amount from safer income based investments.
The light gray line in these charts is the weekly close. The first early warning sign is a weekly close below the 30 week average. That is very rare in a Stage 2 up-trend and I become very defensive when that happens.
Thanks to
@Irusha
and
@AlissaCoram
from IBD for teaching my undergraduate class on Friday how to use IBD and MarketSmith. They may make the recording of their presentation available to the public. They are an awesome team. Thanks also to
@markminervini
for opening the door.
Two famous Wall Street sayings: a bull market makes everyone look like a genius; it’s only when the tide goes out that you find out who’s swimming naked.
While the indexes are near their recent lows, fewer U.S. stocks are hitting new lows the past 5 days. This suggests stocks are holding up better than the indexes. See recent new highs, all-time highs and new lows below. In 2020 decline there was a day with 2800 new 52 week lows.
It has been my impression that stocks often go into a post earnings release slump and bottom out just before the next quarter’s earnings are to be released. This assumes most earnings will be up. See you in October.
Blog Post: Day 28 of $QQQ short term down-trend; GMI=0 and Red; I exited in November and do not have to catch the bottom, I can wait patiently for the signs of a new up-trend
The NASDAQ Composite had a GLB (green line break-out) to an ATH in June, 2020 and then went on to hit an ATH (all-time high) each month until November, 2021 when it formed a new Green Line top.The most money is made on the long side when the indexes are hitting ATHs.Monthly chart
Blog post: With the GMI on a Red signal since January 10, I see no reason to hold any stocks on the long side. $QQQ has been in a short term down-trend since January 6; Cash is king!
Blog Post: The market is strong with many growth stocks setting up; Here are 13 stocks that have all doubled over the past year, reached an ATH on Friday, and 9 of them met my criteria for a weekly green bar setup, indicated by the last column. See weekl…
Blog post: 32nd day of $QQQ short term up-trend; Key to success in market is to have an objective, defined set-up that implies an immediate move up, then if it fails to move rapidly as predicted exit quickly with a small loss; I teach my students several…
Blog Post: Day 30 of $QQQ short term up-trend; If one had bought $TQQQ on Day 1 of the $QQQ short term up-trend (on 4/28/23) and held it, by Friday it had advanced 29.6% and would have beaten all but 6 of the Nasdaq 100 stocks, see my analysis and a lis…
It is easy and misleading to show just the set ups that worked on an advancing stock. The point is that many of the stocks one buys don’t turn out to be advancing stocks.Expect failed set ups and have an exit strategy ready at the time you buy.
Blog Post: The decline in $SPY is small compared with those in 2000 and 2008, and the monthly stochastic is nowhere as oversold as occurred at major bottoms, see monthly chart
Blog Post: $QQQ and $SPY closed back below their 10 week averages; GMI remains Red; Cash is king but there are 25 stocks trading at ATHs that passed my WeeklyGreenBar scan: $SRE, $NEM, I describe scan here
Blog post: Day 14 of $QQQ short term up-trend; $TQQQ strategy beats most stocks again; Since 10/18, TQQQ + 21.7%, beating 98% of Nasdaq100 stocks, and 99% of S&P500 stocks
Blog post: IBD declares new market up-trend after follow through day; but the GMI remains= 0, $QQQ is in a Stage 4 down-trend and a daily BWR down-trend, see GMMA chart of the 2020 bottom
Blog Post: Day 9 of $QQQ short term down-trend; 21 US new highs, 79 lows and 4 at ATH; I am 100% cash; My adapted GMMA daily charts tell the short term story; when the RWB pattern disappears, I exit; see example charts of $QQQ,$DIA,$SPY,$NVDA,$TSLA
@davidfaber
,
@StanWeinstein13
It is beyond me how anyone got caught holding META. Stage Analysis is the first strategy I teach my undergraduates. DO NOT HOLD ANYTHING BELOW ITS DECLINING 30 WK AVG-- PRICE LEADS FUNDAMENTALS. All should have exited at end of 2021.
This slide from my class shows the most important quote from Nicolas Darvas. He and William O'Neil made their fortunes trading stocks hitting a series of all-time highs. Focus on stocks breaking out to all-time highs, no bottom fishing and no stocks way down from their all-time
Blog post: Jesse Livermore said: “Finally there came the awful day of reckoning for the bulls and the optimists and the wishful thinkers and those vast hordes that, dreading the pain of a small loss at the beginning, were now about to suffer total amputa…
Blog Post: Day 16 of $QQQ short term up-trend; Buy $TQQQ on day 1 of this up-trend and it advanced through Friday, +29.5%, beating all but 4 of the Nasdaq 100 stocks and all but 3 of the S&P500 stocks–same incredible results again! See chart
The world wide Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 to 1920 was followed by the roaring 20s and a phenomenal stock market advance. Of course that did not end well.
Blog post: First day of $QQQ short term up-trend; more confident to trade with it if/when it reaches 5th day; Since 2006 about 40% of new QQQ short term up-trends ended before Day 5
Blog Post: 1,011 new yearly lows for US stocks on Thursday; I am so sorry for those well meaning but uninformed people who did not exit this market more than 9 months ago when the technicals signaled trouble. This quote from Jesse Livermore says it all.