Lines In The Sand

I was looking at my charts tonight and felt the needs to spell out some important ‘must not go zones’ for the next few trading days:

Looking at the wave pattern which started on March 6th it’s pretty obvious that we could easily count this as a motive wave. So, at this point we have three possible scenarios:

Blue: We are done consolidating and will now drop into Minor 5 of Intermediate (5). Target is the 610 - 635 region.

Orange: We just completed {a} of Minor 4 of Intermediate (5) and are now dropping into {b} until about the 710 region (700 max), followed by a push into 780 - 790. We must not breach that zone and foremost of all we must not breach 804.35, which is the bottom of 1 of (5). If we do breach that zone we are most likely in the green scenario:

Green: We completed Minor 5 of Intermediate (5) and thus Primary {1} on March 6th. We also completed, or are close to completing Minor 1 of Intermediate (A) of Primary {2}. We will also descend into 710 but to complete 2 of (A), which will be followed by a monster rally into 3 of (A). There is a faint possibility that we don’t even drop from here and directly proceed upwards and not stop until we touch 780, but based on what I’m seeing in my momentum indicators I do not give this scenario a lot of credence.

In terms of probabilities I would probably give Blue 40%, Orange 40%, and Green 20% as of tonight. Of course as the tape unfolds I will follow up with updates - unfortunately there is no scenario that I would give a clear preference (50% or higher) at this point.

There you have it rats - Mrs. Evil has been waiting with dinner for 30 minutes now and it’s probably already cold. But based on the comments I received tonight (some of them a bit emotional) I needed to make sure you rats are up to speed.

I personally will play it very small going forward until we either see a clear sign that we drop from here or that we are nearing the point of no return.

See you on the other side.

Cheers,

Mole

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 8:46 pm and is filed under Market Outlook. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Ryan
    Hey thanks for your help. I'll incorporate that in my rules. So open interest is more important than the options volume then??
  • The russel broke through its support line on the channel it was playing yesterday.... lookin good for the short play imo

    http://yfrog.com/0932749959j
  • vix still poppin
  • NEW POST! :-)
  • Vardoger
  • Ryan
    Hey, I have a "Noob" question for y'all... when trading options what is a reasonable volume and open interest number to have as a minimum?? thanks! sorry for the dumb question...
  • fuzzygreysocks
    My initial gut-response was that it depends upon whatever stock or ETF it was you're buying options on, as one security may have a wildly different open interest & daily volume than another.
    However, upon a second moment's thought, none of that means diddly.

    #1 : What is the bid/ask (B/A) spread?
    Who gives a sh!t how many other people are looking at whatever it is your looking at?
    Maybe everyone else is stupid.
    P!ss on 'em.
    If the market makers wanna put a ten cent B/A spread on a fifty cent option that's their business.
    If that's cool with you - fine.
    If not - then you walk.
    You just gotta keep in mind that your fifty cent option just took a 25% cut the moment you bought it.
    It literally has to gain 25% just to break even:
    $0.40 Bid
    x 1.25 (25% gain)
    = $0.50 Congratulations! You're even with the Ask you paid!

    A ten cent B/A spread on a five dollar option ain't diddly, percentage-wise.
    Take a look at the B/A spreads on SKF. LOL! They're nuts!

    Always think of the B/A spread as a percentage of the option's price that your paying versus what you can turn right around and sell for.

    #2 - options under $3 usually have penny increment B/As, over $3 and they're nickel increments.
    This is why I typically work with SPY options a dollar or two Out of The Money, OTM. A penny or two sucks up a smaller percentage of the price than a nickel will.
  • I like to see a minimum of 200 open interest or else it's hard to get in and out. I prefer much more, but no less than that.
  • Eric_in_SFL
  • MaxPainMan
    umm... is this crazy or what!?
    http://xpositions.blogspot.com/

    i think i'm waaaay out of my league here.....
  • yeah and he's sitting 40 points in the red with 100 ES contracts.... I'd be ready to jump out a window if that was me lol
  • JohnyWalker
    those chappies are up 500% for the year , but like you i could not take that pain.
  • de3600
    and faz at 65
  • nice sheet!
  • MaxPainMan
    that's Sol's performance... from xtrends...
  • wow very nice!
  • Zeusmith
    Gold strong again; spiot wants to make another run at $940
  • finalbull
    hi- mole
    thanks again, i bought some faz at 45 based on your ew analysis on spx. can you do some ew on azo may be your touch kill the bustared. thanks for all you do for us leeches.
  • Long SKF and FAZ definitely a bull on those right now :0) Mole, I signed up for zero, but haven't received an email yet, does it take a while to get a verification? thanks
  • BigHouse(Aka Mr Vix)
    Bernanke to be on CBS '60 Minutes' news show Sunday: CBS
  • I don't see convincing selling presure...perhaps we're embarking on (b) or Orange??

    Gonna make some breakfast
  • I don't know. Looks like a slow drip to me. These are pretty demoralizing for longs and day traders usually run them into the close. If that happens this time it will leave a pretty ugly daily candle (bearish belt hold as I indicated below). Given the overbought condition and sentiment a daily sell signal will be pretty significant.
  • katzo7
    Went out and bought some more KY. But do not think I will need it anymore.
    MACD broke zero line on 10 min.
  • its lunchtime, no volume right now so itd be tough to make a call either way. from what I saw earlier though i think we're going to be further red today
  • Vardoger
    VIX just broke through first trendline resistance. Next stop ~44. Breadth just turned negative. SPX- we are now below the 38.2% fib from the 845 top at ~746. The 23.6% is my target at ~716 spx. I have fibs from the 666 move up at 737, 723, and the 50% at 712.5
  • I am drawing the fibs off the ES, but my numbers are close. Your 23.6 looks good (mine is at 711.50) which was an area of support on 3/10 and 3/11. My 50% retracement from low to high is at about 710... a great place to look for an 'ambush' trade long. For that to work, it must not go below the 61.8%, which is at about 699 on the ES -- I am using the 30 min chart. Another thing -- we filled several gaps on the way up, and our high was just above one from 2/27.

    Just looking at the rise from yesterday, the 50% retracement is at about 733 on the ES, which is about where the 200sma lies. II also have a fib extension in this area.
  • Joe8888
    But as of right now! that 60 minute chart on TZA, doesn't look bullish yet.

    W e may have to go down first, we will see.
  • thunda72
    We're comin' up on the channel here in SPY. Let's see what happens.... i'm in calls and puts but leaning long.
  • BigHouse(Aka Mr Vix)
    Looks like spx and eur/usd are following 100%
  • Mr. L
    And it looks like it's real overbought by stochs and mclellan

    http://www.screencast.com/t/ZpoinKqgHMX
  • prozor7
    $TRIN jump from 0.83 to 1.13
  • I am just filling it out, I hope I fully understand it , but I will learn quickly. Hats off to Mole for his fabulous charting!!
  • I think the buying is short covering for the most part.... which doesnt look good for the immediate long side, however there are many signs pointing to a move higher so this is really kinda weird. i'm mostly hedged here but if there is a pop i'll get out of my hedge.

    first retracement level @ 737
  • HardTimes
    FAZ is strengthening more without a corresponding drop in XLF, somebody is bidding...
  • HardTimes
    Never mind me, I'm looking at two different things and one was lagging way behind. Sorry.
  • GeoMay22
    Just so you know.. FAZ and XLF don't follow the same index either
  • Joe8888
    Look at the volume on TNA 2 hours inn , already 8 million shares

    Man, noone wants to miss this rally.Amazing

    TZA 1 million, no interest in being short here.!
  • pricey
    Are you looking to enter tza here or are you currently in? I am long faz right now
  • Joe8888
    i own and bought more TZA, and willing to wait ti'll next week , if i have to.
  • pricey
    I'm doing the same with FAZ and will look to add TZA as well
  • it looks we're either at the iv of C still with a wave v to push the index a bit higher, or wave iv of A... in either case we should go down afterwards...
  • MaxPainMan
    damn this! i want to see some DISORDERLY selling
  • idrincwater
    Dennis Gartman on Currencies Today (Focus on the YEN):

    THE FOREX MARKET HAS BECOME
    UNCOMMONLY VOLATILE over the
    course of the past twenty hours with the US dollar
    rising sharply relative to the Japanese Yen and even
    more sharply relative to the Swiss franc, whilst it has
    fallen quite sharply relative the EUR, the British pound
    sterling and the non-US dollars. The violence with
    which the US dollar has moved against the Yen is
    unlike any movement we have seen in the forex market
    in a very, very long while, for we’ve watched as the
    Yen has gone from 97.60 to 95.50 to 98.50 and has
    settled back down to 98.40 as we finish… moving
    multiple big figures in inordinately short spans of time
    in a market where one “big figure” is a very large move
    indeed. We’ve not seen random violence such as this
    in the forex market since the heady and frightening
    days during the Russian and Emerging market crises
    of more than a decade ago. This is not the sort of
    thing we like to see, and certainly it is not the sort of
    market we enjoy trading in, for the sheer randomness
    of the movements causes inordinate confusion…. And
    usually material loses. Fortunately we are on the right
    side of the market, long of “English speakers” and
    short of the Yen.
  • rhae
    I am not a currency trader and not watching pairs trades. I have been short the dollar all week following the dollar on the futures market,,, DXM9, it has been down everyday this week. However, that may be more do to traders becoming more risk adverse as they shifted money from Uncle Bucky to equities or other markets.
  • idrincwater
    weakness in dollar is contrarian to flight to safety -- means more appetite for risk.
  • Zeusmith
    I pitched todays gold shorts for no gain. I just don't like the way gold is holding up at the present time. The currency volatility in currencies makes me a little weary holding gold short.

    Obviously, i could be wrong but best not to hold any position when you dont feel comfortable.
  • Thanks - that's good to know.
  • Mr. L
    Mole? Up before the crack of noon?
  • Very funny - I get up at 6:00am and work 16 hours. How about you?
  • Eric_in_SFL
  • positive macd divergence on the 15 minute
  • Internals aren't confirming the price action


    Congratulations Wyoming!
    http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/03/phill...
  • Can you elaborate on the internals?
  • Starting to confirm now

    p.s. I like what Erik's got going on with regard to his model but his is more longer term than an internal reading
  • sure
    A/D still favors Bulls (though slightly)
    Same with Upvol-Dvol on NYSE however, Naz's Dvol exceeds that of Upvol
    TICKs are not showing strength or trend in either directio
    Naz Trin is 2.16 (bearish while NYSE trin is .88 Bullish)

    granted this may change but its what i'm seeing now
  • Eric_in_SFL
    Lots of consolidation forming right now.
  • I think we're going to break back to 750 here pretty soon, but idk theres lots of selling today
  • T_dub
    Mole,
    Have you looked into the EW count on the Nasdaq (or even XLF) ? Looks like minor 4 of intermediate 5 breaches into Minor 1.
    Of course, there is a good chance we will pullback now to 700-710, but I'm wondering if Primary 1 might have ended quietly.
    ..... unless, of course, we crash next week. LOL.

    Zigzag,
    Thanks for explaining your density charts !
    Keep us posted on what your blimp is telling you - they've been very accurate so far.

    T-dub
  • Samiam
    Sign up for Zero...where is that bro?
  • Eric_in_SFL
  • THOSE WHO DIDN’T SIGN UP FOR ZERO SHOULD SIGN UP

    NOW NOW NOW!

    THAT TOOL IS FREAKING AMAZING.

    MOLECOOL YOU DA MAN
  • Chewy
    Agree 100%. Whenever I tried to outsmart ZERO, I lost money.
  • Eric_in_SFL
    Yes I agree plus there has been a nice addition most didn't see during the free period.
  • I take it you saw that coming and have banked a bit of coin this morning :)
  • LOL I was actually short and I added when zero told me to and now I am enjoying it.
  • Heads up big guy. There's no go short signal
  • But there is one other signal. :P
  • maybe my feed is screwed up but I see a "get out" signal (the short
    Pink line), a flat Zero line, and a fully compressed "Mole"
  • jigdaddy
    nope...i see the same..
  • Look at both the chart buddy. and that's not a get out signal. that's a go short with stop signal.
  • Ok..I see where you're coming from. If you were trading based on Zero from yesterday / this wk, then the current signal is to get out (all other parts of the indicator aside).

    : )
  • Nah..You gotta take a look at the new directions....looks like Mole
    hasn't updated them on the evilsec site.
    Check out the Forum.

    Update: I just tried looking for you for but don't see them. But I can tell you with certainty, a Short Pink down signal means Exit
  • Lori
    according to the email I got:
    "Short Pink Line pointing down - Exit Longs (ignore when already short)"
  • hmmmmm......I just saw a Go Long signal....LOLOL.....who's on first....

    fuck it....i'm getting something to eat
  • Lordted
    Which forum is that? - you guys seem to be busy discussing something that isn't in Moles Evil site?

    Their is selling going on here but not much price dropping that's for sure... As stated earlier feels like a 4th wave consolidation here.... - Unless it just rolls off the perch.
  • Mole set up a Forum for Zero subscribers to trade ideas based on the indicator
  • Lordted
    Thanks BalaB.. Had my email turned off so didn't realise you replied...
  • Erikd
  • Chrys
    Erikd - do you think a test of recent XLF (5.88) and SPX (666) lows is in the works over the next month or so?
  • Erikd
    yes, today is EOW and the close will give us better indication of next week and remainder of month, todays action looks correct for the downdraft to resume now...
  • Joe8888
    Things are starting to look good for the down side here,

    Even the 60 min tails on the Transports, suggest a fall . maybe forming a right shoulder , on a inverse .
  • jabber
    Yes, and banks selling off on solid volume.
  • C.C. Rider
    Simple consolidation here before another rip higher. Shock and awe in the pm. Buy signal on the weekly BB.

    http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=$SPX&p=W&yr=0&...
  • For FAZ owners, finally tracking a new channel

    http://www.screencast.com/users/alphahorn/folde...
  • HardTimes
    FAZ and XLF both up, any meaning in a divergence there? (or actually opposite of divergence, you know what I mean)
  • FWIW, 5th wave up just stopped at the 1.618 extension of the 1st wave up from 3/9. Finally a volume spike, stochs rolling over, divergence on MacD.
  • rhae
    Good eye Riflewoman, I was watching as the SPY 3m and 8m lost support, now on 13m and waiting for it to lose support also... don't know if 60m will lose it today?

    I added some fib. ext retrace from your anchor points just in case bears get back in control

    http://screencast.com/t/iKdifjFw05
  • Calling all Candle Geniuses........

    Are we gonna paint one of those Karate Kid Death Doji Star Candles if we keep playing in the chop all day?
  • Bearish belthold
  • jabber
    What if we sell off 150, then we will print an inverted hammer.

    As fa_q implied, its only 11am, lots of time for anything to happen.
  • fa_q
    Can we at least get to lunch before we talk about EOD candle prints?
  • BigHouse(Aka Mr Vix)
    This is borring .i'm going to bed with my teddy bear. Wake me up at spx 720
  • Ed
    WHIPSAW. Wow, there are whipsaws, but that last one down and back up was fast. Good thing I didn't load up too much either way. . .

    Something has to give but we can't seem to figure out which way we want to go. The bulls seem to desperately want to punch this one higher. I don't care which way it goes - just wish I knew which way it was going (don't we all :).
  • MaxPainMan
    major indices at their daily VWAP....
    if they can't stay above it for long, we should see new lows shortly
  • jabber
    There is a head shoulders on the 1minute /es, neckline at 746, head at 755.75, building RS as I type.
  • MaxPainMan
    well... there goes the VWAP... and possibly failed right shoulder........
    :-(
  • Lordted
    This run just ended and yesterdays slogg up fells and looks like a 3rd wave... Can't past chart as don't know how !!

    Point is we could consolidate here "4th" Wave of C and then go up again for 5th and final wave of C. IMHO, for what it's worth and all that.

    Which has now put the curse on it so it won't happen LOL
  • Eric_in_SFL
    If we don't go lower than 745.75 there is still some strength to the upside.
  • choppiddy chop chop


    that's like chitty chitty bang bang only sans Dick Van Dike
  • DZZ
    IT'S FRIDAY THE 13!

    MAKE A MOVE!!!!!!!!!! :)
  • MaxPainMan
    Yen just spiked up a little bit...
    let's see if there's follow-thru
  • Blind_Squirrel
    What do you make of the Yen here?

    it has been on a yo-yo the last few weeks between 101-104.
  • idrincwater
    yen will continue to fall. it is weak against other currencies. it is the dollar's weakness that's making this continued bounce -- dollar has been even weaker here and there. once that flips, yen will continue it's demise
  • Joe8888
    Nice bottoming candle on the VIX 60 min,

    Markets should fall now.!
  • Erikd
    $VIX bouncing off of monthly support line http://screencast.com/t/przAwlIRY
  • Joe8888
    With all those Calls being purchased,, P-Call .65 under 1 for the longest time= bearish for markets.

    I t would make sense to me , if we start to sell off, soon, into Options X

    All those Call Options expire worthless, I have never seen them Payout !!!into the 20th ( with is also Spring Equinox)

    Then possible a Big Rally ,right after....IMO
  • Mr. L
    Time to get in, here it is
  • Graphite
    Ahhhhh finally gold flips negative on the day ...
  • Zeusmith
    Food for thought, but the 50-day EMA on the S&P is currently 799 and simpple 50-day MA is 816. Not too coincidentally, this coincides roughly with the red line that Moley drew stating were the S&P 'couldn't go past'. Personally, i wouldn't be shorting until we got close to that area, since these declines have lasted so long, and have been so historic. I read over at Xtrends blog how Attila is shorting FAZ like mad at 65 and whatnot and I just cringe. I also read that normal people have followed her and gone 'ALL IN" short with S&P trading at 720. thats freaking crazy!
  • Zeusmith
    Let me qualify that statement by saying I wouldn;t go 'all in short'. Just small and scalpy short.
  • Trav
    ok...how much more overbought can we get here? RSI is gettin ridiculously high and the slow stochs have been pegged for what seems like days
  • Zeusmith
    Oh we can get big time overbought since the decline has been so brutal.
  • Eric_in_SFL
    The Zone I'm watching this morning
    www.thefuturetrade.com/Resources/2009-03-13_101...
  • Joe8888
    GS ,,,Just hit a declining trendline here , along the tops, on the daily chart.
  • Transports are way up today which kinda scares me
  • Joe8888
    Vix could be putting inn a bottoming candle,,, Could this be it ?.

    waiting for the market to dump!
  • innatedc
    Check out Visa (V)...going down, market going up...
  • Mr. L
    Check out this diagonal on SPX:

    http://www.screencast.com/t/M5RxjE24gzs
  • Turns out the Markets haven't been able to put together 4 consecutive up days since December 2007....I'm liking my odds on going a little short today!
  • Eric_in_SFL
    Solely looking at consecutive closes the odds that the best trade today will be Short are 51%.
  • r0mc0ca
    waht about nov 21 to 28 in 2008 ?
  • tradingmom
    I think they don't count that week because of Thanksgiving and the shortened trading day -- but I count it!
  • Eric_in_SFL
    Not sure what you meant but looking back from just 2008 till now the odds become 83%
  • good news: 752 has rejected the ES 4 times this morning
    bad news: 752 has had to reject the ES 4 times this morning
  • yazzer
    yeah - there's a real fight there - though bearish MT and LT, I think this market wants to go up another 20 SPX points here...
  • yeah i kind of have to agree with you on that. i stupidly went full-short this morning, but now I had to hedge a little bit... too much risk here of bulls taking over. I'll unhedge at 770 and just ride it out if we get there
  • katzo7
    +1 for your excellent analysis
  • Erikd
    XLF key lines in the sand http://screencast.com/t/9tm0RcuLbv
  • Douala
    ErikD

    THANKS for the advice!

    ;-)
  • Erikd
    http://screencast.com/t/przAwlIRY  vix boucing off of monthly support
  • Lonewolf7107
    Erik,
    Are you still expecting XLF to be under 6 by next friday?

    The March FAZ 60 call are at$1. If you feel FAZ can be over 100 by next Friday, these options could be a 20 bagger.

    Thanks.
  • Erikd
    todays levels on XLF is a great risk/reward set-up to buy FAZ calls, calls are cheap with 6 days to go and one can correct there FAZ position today.JMV
  • FYI, front month FAS puts have much higher volume & open interest.....
  • Erikd
    thanks,both suffice.
  • mtst
    I guess he`s suggesting a possible bounce zone to play some safe scalping on the trade... but more pieces in the puzzle should tell more.

    Thanks for the update E. Always learning from you. :)

    Edit btw the 8.5 zone looks indeed like a nice play to load a little more FAZ- I was watching this morning and seeing E also marked that crossroad
  • Zeusmith
    Picked up 1000 shares of DZZ @ 21.95

    1500 shares total at 21.85
    stop 21.45
  • Zeusmith
    A more conservative stop I might use is break of upsloping support line at about 21.7. Excellent risk/reward trade
  • Zeusmith
    With all the headlines screaming gold $3000 in major papers like the telegraph and Financial Times, I think the old trade is crowded. I really like it longer term but feel there gotta be a big washout, at least near term, to temper these calls.
  • agree I see it going to 650$ again.... will buy gold there... patience pays
  • jabber
    Good cuz I'm holding a good amount of puts.
  • Mr. L
    Quick count on GOOG + Diagonal:

    http://www.screencast.com/t/Xq8cAlbX
  • standard_and_poor
    Morning fellow rats. Still on vacation, but just added to SLV puts and will be buying SPY puts basis spx 760-770 sparingly.
    Will report on weekend, maybe.
    Got to run.
  • yazzer
    cool - we've got the same groove on the SPYs - looking for 770-ish
  • KevieKev1
    Wow Xlf isnt parabolic for once.

    xls seems to be in a channel from 8.15 to 8.30
  • NinjaPenguin
    GS is down, unlike most financials.
  • big time fight for some direction here
  • BigHouse(Aka Mr Vix)
    If this market keeps going up today can i borrow someones KY?
  • katzo7
    Still divergences all over the place like I saw yesterday. And no to the KY, all used up.
  • Graphite
    Tell me about it, silver is like the abusive girlfriend I just can't leave.

    Please just take me back one more time baby, please!
  • Futures are already fading...went long FAZ and SKF
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