Tutorials

Because several ‘touts’ from Rick’s Picks were in play, we spent most of the session attempting to leverage real-time opportunities in three trading vehicles: Crude Oil, the E-Mini S&Ps and December Gold. Although each seemed poised to extend its respective short-term trend, we did not get a valid trading signal during our hour together, perhaps because of the ‘watched-pot’ effect. Nevertheless, our time was well-spent contemplating some of the very subtle opportunities that were available to the canny ‘camouflage’ trader.

With stocks hitting new recovery highs and T-Bonds breaking down, we took a close look at some long-term charts to see what may lie in store for investors. This lesson stresses the crucial importance of midpoint Hidden Pivots – not only for analytical purposes, but for leveraging trades in various time frames. We also digressed briefly to discuss the tactical nuances of a complex option position currently held in Apple.

Bonds and precious-metal shares have been acting differently lately, even as the Mother of All Bear Rallies continues its relentless climb. Is inflation about to surge? Could be. In any case, because T-Bonds have been in a bull market for three decades, any change would have significant implications for all other classes of investables. During this session, we looked at some key charts to determine whether we might be witnessing the beginning of a tidal change..

We looked at the charts of some popular vehicles as usual, but this session also contains a beginner-level discussion of how we can use option strategies to leverage Hidden Pivot swing points. Although an option calculator is useful for determining the fair value of puts and calls, it takes considerable expertise to use one. You'll see that there are ways of getting around this problem if you can "read" the grid of option bids and offers that comes with most trading platforms.

Notwithstanding the problems of Europe and a global economy headed into apparent recession, the charts we looked at during this session say very clearly that stocks are capable of going much higher. This came through so clearly in the QQQ chart that we segued to a Dow chart just to make sure that we weren’t hallucinating. On the trading side, we turned the lesser E-Mini S&P charts inside out looking for immediate opportunities, and there were some good ones to be found.

The markets have been a study in tedium since early spring, and so this session allowed us yet another opportunity to examine the beast in its resting state. On this particular day one could have taken one’s pick as to being long or short Gold or the E-Mini S&Ps. That in itself suggests that only very nimble traders were likely to be rewarded for their efforts. Even so, there were camouflage possibilities in gestation, and these we considered in their subtlest details. Please note that this session runs only 40 minutes due to a scheduling conflict.

With Gold and Silver futures moving energetically higher, we lingered on their charts to find a way aboard. In both cases, we looked for “timed buy-stop” set-ups because the rallies had been consolidating for long enough to be ready for a fresh leg up. From an analytical standpoint, the uptrends presented some interesting challenges, since they were occurring within the context of a larger, bearish picture that points significantly lower.

Apple is arguably the key bellwether for the U.S. stock market right now, and that’s why we are monitoring its vital signs very closely. Over the last two days, although the broad averages have fallen along with Apple shares, the stock left a bullish marker on the daily chart before it began to recede. With weak earnings reports due over the next several weeks, our gut is saying “Sell everything!” However, you’ll see in this recording why there are reasons to believe the stock market may be developing thrust for another leg up.

We came to this session with a “live” trade on in Comex Silver that provided us with a compelling vantage point to watch the trade develop in real time. This lesson will be of particular value to any trader using “camouflage” who has wondered how much we can reduce the risk in Silver futures, where $25 ticks can be punitive if one gets it even a little bit wrong. Even though this trade had everything going for it from a technical standpoint, we were nonetheless hard-pressed to find a way that we might have reduced the theoretical entry risk to our established benchmark of $70 per contract.