SPX, SLW And X

The Symmetrical Triangle target of 1291.18, from the May 16 breakdown, finally got MADE in yesterday's session. The 1300.26 high of the session was about a point below the bottom of the Falling Wedge that got broken on a closing basis in Friday's session.



From the weekend, on SLW:

"The facts that (1) the trend is bearish, and (2) we still have two downside targets IN PLAY in this chart (32.01 and 29.28) have me a bit cautious about any bullish expections, but we always want to be as objective as possible and try to look in both directions."

I took a chance on a countertrend rally in SLW, and bought it for 35.21 at the open. It moved up to the highs in the 35.50's, pulled back, then moved above the 35.53... 35.58...35.57 (first white arrow) highs, to 35.65 (second white arrow). That looked fine for a move higher. I was up $1,100 on the trade at that point.

Given that new high above nearby resistance, I raised my metal stop loss to 35.25, a little above my entry. The day chart is bearish, so I didn't intend to give SLW much lattitude. When the stock began to give up the gains and to come back in my face, I threw it in at 35.27 for a small gain of $150. That WASN'T what I wanted to see!

The remainder of the session was, in a word...YUK.



I still question the recent Rising Channel/Bear Flag. It isn't very well-defined, but it "looks like" and is "acting like" a Rising Channel/Bear Flag. The two downside targets on the chart remain IN PLAY.



US Steel (X) has continued down since we looked at it a month ago. The H&S Top target of 40.39 still is IN PLAY and on Friday, X completed a little Double Top, taking out 43.86 support.



There was a failed retest of the broken Double Top on Friday (first white arrow). I shorted 2,500 shares of X at 43.40 yesterday morning, after which it rallied to retest the 43.86 breakdown again (second white arrow). I almost doubled down on that retest. While we, generally, don't want to double down on a losing position, that is the ONE exception that I will make: doubling down on a losing position at resistance.

I didn't make that play, but it would have worked out very well. The high on the
session was 43.84, just below the 43.86 Double Top breakdown. I did "double down on a winning position," at 43.20, when it was apparent that there were TWO failed retests of the Double Top breakdown.

I covered late in the session, at 42.80, for a nice gain, and placed an order to re-short 2,500 shares at 43.00.



"They" like to play games with me. "They" took X up to my 43.00 price TWICE (white arrows), but only filled 100 shares. So-o annoying. Geez, don't fill me at all, if you're only going to give me 100 shares! I covered those "annoying" 100 shares in the final minute of trading, for a $4.00 gain. LOL. This is a recurring problem that I have, playing "in size" (large orders), even in very liquid stocks (a lot of shares traded), so I just have to deal with it ;)

Downside targets of 41.43 (Double Top) and 40.39 (H&S Top), still are IN PLAY for US Steel (X). Double validated resistance is at 44.03 and 43.86.


Gain on the session: $2,650