Tuesday's Prospects

On Monday, Oct. 6:

Of 1,248 stocks and exchange-traded funds in my analytical universe, six broke beyond their 20-day price channels, three in either direction. This is one of the smallest sets of breakouts that I've ever seen.

No symbols survived my initial screening.

No symbols from my supplemental list of innovative companies broke above their 20-day price channels.

I shall do further analysis of the surviving symbols on Tuesday, Oct. 7.

With no surviving symbols there can be no further analysis. I'll spend my day in study as I draft rules for very short term volatility trades.

The next round of earnings will begin Oct. 8 with the announcement by AA. Under the exclusion rule that forbids me from opening new positions in stocks within 30 days of an earnings announcement, increasing numbers of symbols will be removed from my prospective trades list during initial screening.

First-round survivors: Regular rules

The lists are sorted in descending order by average yield. Regular rules means that confirmation will require trading above the 20-day price channel breakout level.

Bull (none)

Bear (none)

Innovators (bull) (none)

First-round survivors: Earnings or dividend rules

The lists are sorted in descending order by average yield. Rules for a breakout immediately following an earnings announcement require that confirmation on the following trading day, Reset Day, require that the price be beyond the Reset-Day 20-day price channel. A breakout following a stock going ex-dividend must be confirmed on the fifth trading day after ex-dividend day.

Bull (none)

Bear (none)

Methodology

The stocks in my analytical universe all have analyst coverage through the stock-ranking company Zacks Investment Research. Not all of the exchange-traded funds are so covered.

I screen the symbols for historical odds of a profitable signal in the direction of the breakout for the past 12 months.

For symbols whose odds of success are greater than 50%, I next screen for the absence of an earnings announcement within the next 30 days.

For bear signals, I also screen to ensure the ability to do a trade because of the presence of options, without yet passing judgment on whether those options are liquid enough to support a trade.

I sort by the results in descending order by the average yield on signals in the direction of the breakout in preparation for the second round of analysis after the opening bell.

-- Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, Oct. 7, 2014

References

My trading rules can be read here. And the classic Turtle Trading rules on which my rules are based can be read here.

Elliott wave analysis tracks patterns in price movements. The principal practitioner of Elliott wave analysis is Robert Prechter at Elliott Wave International. His book, Elliott Wave Principle, is a must-read for people interested in this form of analysis, as is his most recent publication, Visual Guide to Elliott Wave Trading. 

Several web sites summarize Elliott wave theory, among them, Investopedia, StockCharts and Wikipedia.

Disclaimer

Tim Bovee, Private Trader tracks the analysis and trades of a private trader for his own accounts. Nothing in this blog constitutes a recommendation to buy or sell stocks, options or any other financial instrument. The only purpose of this blog is to provide education and entertainment.

No trader is ever 100 percent successful in his or her trades. Trading in the stock and option markets is risky and uncertain. Each trader must make trading decision decisions for his or her own account, and take responsibility for the consequences.

License



All content on Tim Bovee, Private Trader by Timothy K. Bovee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Based on a work at www.timbovee.com.T