Saturday, June 27, 2015

How SCRUM Made My Dad A Better Investor

Over the past few years I've spent a lot of time working as a project manager and one thing I've found is that no matter what type of project you're working on - you've got to have a system to manage it all or you'll always struggle to measure success.  

About 4 months ago my dad asked me to help him fashion Investor Spotlight into something that would allow him to transfer his knowledge to other investors out there.  I've had a lot of success using SCRUM for everything from software development to marketing campaigns so I knew it would be a good fit here as well. 

Turning Practice Into Process


My first thought was to get as much of his system written down as possible and go from there!  Step 1 in documenting his system was taking a closer look at how he oriented his day to day activity.  So, we made a fresh pot of coffee, sat down at my dining room table and got cracking. I essentially interviewed him for the entire day and had him walk through his entire routine from start to finish.  I asked him questions when he started getting too technical and I made sure I understood one aspect fully before moving to the next.

Once we had written everything down, several key things jumped out:
  1. He had designed a complex (and very effective) system for picking high probability growth stocks - without even realizing it
  2. In action, his process operated as a funnel that mitigated his risk on every trade
  3. It's possible to teach this method
  4. Anyone can start using this method with only a few weeks of practice
Once we had that ironed out, we used SCRUM to start building out his mentoring services and in just a few weeks, we had his first student enrolled!  

If you're interested in learning his proven system, we can show you how it's done.  Just email us at investorspotlight@gmail.com and schedule a quick call or a lunch meeting with us.  We'll explain all of the basics and if it's a good fit, you can join our mentoring program!

How SCRUM Made My Dad a Better Investor


My dad realized one additional benefit as a result of this new approach.  He started using elements of SCRUM in his own life and, as a result, became an even better investor!  

A strong point of SCRUM is that it forces you to ask yourself is there a better way to do this? and the answer is usually yes.  Case in point, I watched my dad sit down on a Saturday afternoon and tried my best to document everything that went into his watch list building routine.  

I noticed that he took all of his notes by hand, shuffled between multiple publications, and reviewed a number of different screens and charts on his computer.  I let him finish his routine but I had already started building out a better system for him in my head.  When he was done, I switched seats with him and opened up a new spreadsheet document...

15 minutes later, he had a 21st century version of his watch list that actually allowed him to perform side by side comparisons.  He continued to perfect this new version over the next few weeks, culminating in his watch list service which takes all of that hard work from the weekend and turns it into something others can easily use too.  

Measuring Success


Transparency and accountability are both highly valued when SCRUM is involved.  This comes in handy if you have to send a progress report to your boss at the end of the week.  In my dad's case, the only person he's accountable to is himself but he applied the same logic nonetheless.  

Realizing that his new watch list process saved him a few hours on the weekend, he asked himself if there were other ways he could be maximizing his time on a daily basis.  So, we started to document his activity on a calendar and measured how successful he was with time management.  

Once we dug into it, we realized that he was spinning his wheels on some things and not spending enough time on others.  With that information in hand, we went about re-orienting his activity to keep it more results driven.  His new calendar was far more organized and even gives him free cycles during the week! 

Coming Full Circle


Thanks to SCRUM, what started as a project to help my dad get better at spreading his techniques transformed into realization of his funnel method, a better process for building his weekly watch list, and a better way to manage his time!  

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and connect with me on LinkedIn!  Consider me a resource on any project management questions you might have, I'm always happy to help!

Shiraz Hemani


Wednesday, June 24, 2015

6 Strategies To Help Every Type of Investor

This month I'm conducting a survey on different trading personas.  The responses have been pouring in over the past few days so I've decided to keep the survey open for one more week and I'll post the results next Wednesday.  If you haven't already, you can take the survey too, just sign up here!

This week, I've decided to put together a short list of 6 strategies to help every type of investor!

Strategies For Day Traders


In our examination of the sprinter we see that they tend to gravitate towards the day trader lifestyle so we'll look at 2 common strategies in that vein:

  • Momentum Day Trading
  • First Hour Trading

With momentum day trading, volume is the key.  Most momentum traders are in a position for only a few minutes or a couple of hours at most.  This type of trading doesn't require a ton of prep work but success means waking up early during the work week.  A wise momentum trader also has their finger on the pulse of big daily financial news.

First hour traders take advantage of market psychology.  On a normal day, the market is fairly boring and there aren't that many surprises.  The first few minutes of the day are basically pandemonium, though!  A well versed first hour trader can quickly analyze the first 5-10 minutes of the trading day and then takes advantage of the spikes and dips!

Strategies For Long Term Investors


Now let's consider the marathoner.  The long term investor has different motivations and, as a result, uses different strategies than a day trader might:

  • Dollar Cost Averaging
  • Dividends

Also known as the constant dollar plan, the DCA approach keeps an investor purchasing shares of a target stock on a regular schedule.  The purchases are made regardless of the actual share price but buying most of the shares on price dips is a great way to mitigate the risk of investing a large amount of money.  Dollar cost averaging is the quintessential use of the "buy low, sell high" approach.  

Dividends can be a great way to earn supplemental income on a long term investment.  This holds true even for mutual fund holders.  The other benefit of dividends is that typically they are only issued from well established companies so there is a sense of security that comes with them.  Startups and tech companies (higher risk/reward investments) rarely offer dividends because they prefer to re-invest their cash into growth or key talent and IP acquisitions.


Strategies For Growth Stock Investors


Finally, we'll look at the relay racer who prefers to get involved at a specific stage of the race.  Growth stocks have a smaller window of opportunity and the only way to find real success is to use a strategy that gets you involved during breakouts:

  • CAN SLIM
  • GARP

CAN SLIM is a rules based strategy designed by William O'Neil to help identify stocks when they are most likely to breakout. The best description of the method can be found here.  CAN SLIM is at the core of how I trade personally so I reference elements of it fairly often on my blog.  

Growth at a reasonable price (or GARP) is a less rigid approach to growth stock selection.  Created by the famed Peter Lynch, GARP keys off of the Price/Earnings growth metric to help locate companies that show earnings above the broader market but it excludes stocks that carry a high price tag.  

There are still a few days left to contribute.  If you'd like to take the survey too, just sign up here!

Happy Trading!

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

The Funnel Returns: $IBB and $XBI Survive


Where I Always Start


I spent the weekend refining my watch list by using my funnel method.  Healthcare ($XLV) and Technology ($XLK) are the leading sectors so that's where I focused all of my attention.  I started with over 200 growth stocks that showed great fundamentals and strong technicals but after applying my must haves,  I ended up with just 9 stocks worth a further review! 


In the middle of my funnel I eliminate stocks that have an impending earnings report or any sort of upcoming government action (like an FDA approval).  Given that all 9 stocks had a red flag, nothing made it through to the watch list and trade plan stage. 


Is My Process Too Strict?


If my stock selection process can't generate a single stock, you may think that it's just too strict.  You'd be right, my process is strict - but it's on purpose!  In a strong market, I typically only take 1 position at a time so I need that position to be a real rock star. If I can't find that A+ student I play a game of wait and see.  

According to IBD®, the market is in a Confirmed Uptrend but I'm still bearish. There are 12 distribution days and 2 additional stall days (I consider stalls to be distribution days too) so that is keeping me extra cautious.  One positive I'm seeing across $SPY, $QQQ, and $DJX is that all the three exponential moving averages (EMA) 8, 21 and 34 are all touching the 50 day simple moving average (SMA).  The last time this happened was on April 7th 2015 and the market took off for a 2% gain over the next 8 weeks. 

Still, I will wait for two days to get a confirmation.  For me, that confirmation would be $SPY pushing through major resistance at 213 and $QQQ passing its resistance of 111.  I also need to see volume 15% higher than what we had on Friday.


Consider Healthcare ETF's



Even though my process didn't produce a stock for me to take a position on, there are still ways to make money this week.  There are a number of stocks in Healthcare that are strong and showing growth.  Using a health care ETF is one way to participate in this leading sector. The ones I am considering are:

$IBB
$XBI

Vacation!


I'm in vacation mode right now, kicking off a trip to Europe for the next few weeks.  I'm still available if you have questions or comments though!

Happy Trading!

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Why I Work On Weekends

I've had a number of different careers over the past 50 years, each with its own lifestyle requirements.  In the 80's when I worked for the airlines, I would go stretches where my schedule kept me away from my family for days at a time.  However, being able to fly first class to places like Hawaii and Europe with my wife and children was an incredible benefit.

There are pro's and con's to any career choice and my life as a retail investor is no different!  Through a process I've developed over the years I've given myself the freedom to do little to no "work" on my investments Monday through Friday and that's what I'm going to talk about in todays post.


Why I Work On Weekends


It's been a long time since I've had a traditional 9-5 job so I'm comfortable being a little different.  As a growth stock investor, I do the bulk of my work when markets are closed.  I start updating my watch list on Friday evening, research the stocks that survived my funnel on Saturday, and formulate all of my trade plans on Sunday.  

There are 3 big reasons for why work on weekends:
  1. There's less volatility when markets are closed
  2. I have stuff to do during the week!
  3. It helps me reach my goals
Let's look at each reason in more detail.

There's Less Volatility When Markets Are Closed


I'm definitely NOT a day trader and thus, volatility is something I avoid like the plague.  I make my money by locating stocks with an impending breakout and timing my entry just right to keep the odds in my favor.  The type of analysis this requires is fairly significant so I don't want to spend time on it if the winds can suddenly shift on me.  


I Have Stuff To Do During The Week!


For any parents or grandparents out there, you know that the sun rises and sets with your precious little munchkins.  My granddaughter spent the past week at a performing arts summer camp and the coup de grace was a special performance on Friday where they get to show their friends and family what they've been working so hard on during the week.



My 5 year old granddaughter lucked out with the role of Tinkerbell 2 and had several lines (which she remembered perfectly!) and even got to show off some of her fancy dance moves (she's got some serious talent, and no I'm not biased!).  

If I was a day trader I would have missed it for sure because, the time for this spectacular display of awesomeness was 2 PM!  Doing my work over the weekend frees me up to do the things I find important during the week.  




It Helps Me Reach My Goals


I've talked a lot recently about how I keep every aspect of my day to day life as goal oriented as possible.  I have a number of goals just like anyone else and working weekends gives me the best chance to hit them.  My biggest goals aren't all that different from yours I'm sure:
  • Increase my portfolio by 50% every year
  • Take a summer vacation
  • Retirement
Knowing these are my goals, I work backwards and break them down into manageable chunks.  I orient my activity to achieving my benchmarks and I track where I spend my time and money so that I can measure both my successes and my failures!  

Using this process, I've hit my financial benchmarks so far this year which means I'm embarking on a European cruise next week with my wife.  Historically, this time of year is rough if you depend on breakouts so it made a lot of sense for me to just harvest some profits and take a break for a couple of weeks.  Plus, with the dollar so strong against the Euro right now, I feel even better about it!  


A Week In The Life of Amin


Theory and philosophy are all well and good but let's be honest, if you can't put it into action - what good is it?  That being said, here's a peek at what my typical week looks like.  In my opinion, this is time management in action!

If you'd like help in formulating your own goal oriented schedule or even if you just want to get a clearer picture on my own personal schedule, I can help you through my mentoring services.  






Happy Trading!





Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Sosnoff, Cramer, O'Neil: Who Are They?

Sosnoff, Cramer, O'Neil: Who Are They?

In a post last week we looked at the 3 different trading styles and what makes each of them tick. During the month of June I'm conducting a study to help my readers understand their trading style!  Just a reminder, the survey results will go out at the end of the month and everyone that participates will receive a free copy of my watch list!  If you would like to take part in the survey, you can sign up below:

What's Your Trading Style? Sign Up Below To Find Out!

* indicates required



In today's post we'll look at some examples of famous traders that match up with each persona!

Let's start with our Sprinter Tom Sosnoff


Tom is a successful day trader and part of the braintrust behind Thinkorswim.  Tom is also well known for his signature cap and his podcast which you can follow here. I don't trade the same way as Tom but I find his perspective as an options based day trader interesting nonetheless.

One unique aspect to me is that he includes a lot of different opinions in his show. His daughter is highly involved in the conversation and brings the perspective of a younger generation into the mix. He also likes to highlight the opinions of other team members, Tony Battista and Vonetta Logan who are successful traders in their own right.



Let's look at our Marathoner Jim Cramer


Jim is easily one of the most recognizable personalities in finance thanks to success as a hedge fund manager and his show Mad Money on CNBC.  Jim is a pretty interesting guy to top it off; he's a Harvard graduate, a best selling author, and has a passion for markets like you wouldn't believe!

Peeling back a few layers, Jim counts on Stephanie Link to manage his charity trust so that he can focus more of his time on analysis.  One thing that impresses me about him is that he's able to manage a massive watch list.  His live telecast includes Q&A from callers and no matter what company a caller asks about, he's able to rattle off all the pertinent facts and figures about that stock!

As a long term investor, Jim is a huge proponent of the buy low, sell high approach.  He also keeps a close eye on PE ratios and all of the other fundamentals with his targets.  It's important to note that his show airs at 6 which means he's still working even after markets close.  You'll never catch him off guard, he collects a massive amount of data and is able to apply it to his long term approach.  

Jim also provides a service to give full transparency behind all his trades - win, lose, or draw.  The only weakness, if there is one, is that Jim's knowledge is so vast and his system so complex that there's really no way you can learn it unless you were to follow him around every day.  Outside of the basics, there's no way for him to teach what he does.

Last But Not Least, our Relay Racer Scott O'Neil


Unlike Jim Cramer, Scott O'Neil has developed a data driven, rules based system that CAN be taught. I had the opportunity to witness his teaching style in person with my wife in Chicago and I was pretty impressed with him.

Scott's background is pretty unique.  As the son of growth stock legend William O'Neil, Scott and his siblings were exposed to successful trading from an early age.  I've tried to mimic some similar experiences in my own family with both of my children learning from the successes and failures I've experienced through over 2 decades of investing.  In fact, the youngest members of my IBD Meetup are my grand daughter, and my co-organizer's grand son!

Scott is also a strong believer in the importance of institutional behavior with growth stocks so he helped to develop the Marketsmith platform which is designed to uncover the details of their activity in the market.  With his highly analytical approach, Scott is committed to helping people succeed with emotion free trading.

The Results Are Almost In


I've had a chance to look through the responses so far and I'm already seeing some interesting trends!  Next week we'll dig through the findings of the survey so make sure to sign up and take part before it's too late.

Happy Trading!


Monday, June 15, 2015

My Targets & My Market Outlook: $CNC $AVGO $PANW $TASR

How You Can Secure Your Trades


Last week was one I won't forget for a long time!  The week started with low volume but once institutions got involved with high volume on Wednesday, the entire landscape changed.  Cash from the tech sector (XLK) and Health care (XLV) was re-invested into the Financial sector (XLF).  

Lucky for me, an option position on $GS met my profit target (104%) on Wednesday and It was closed immediately for a gain. I was also stopped out of a losing position on $NXPI (-50%) but thanks to the ratio system I use, I'm still ahead because I always keep the math in my favor.  With the way I trade, I only need to be right 30% of the time to double my money every year.  Using ratios and stops is how i secure every one of my trades!

My Market Outlook


Even though I had a lot of success last week, I'm still leaning on the bearish side this week. IBD® shows 8 distribution days with a confirmed uptrend. Howver, I also consider Friday to be a distribution day because the $SPY,$QQQ, and $DJX closed lower in volume 60% higher than the day before. 

High quality growth stocks that trade over a $100 million perday are few and far between in the current market. That reflects a major lack of commitment from the movers and shakers which leads me to be cautious.  

My Targets


As always, I prepare a watch list every weekend and develop a trade plan for any candidates that are nearing my personal entry conditions.  Here's a list of stocks that made it through my funnel this weekend.

$CNC
$AVGO
$PANW
$TASR

For a full breakdown of their health along with a side by side comparison of each stock, you can subscribe to my watch list service quickly and securely via Paypal.  For access to my trade plans for the week, sign up here.  

Happy Trading!


Wednesday, June 10, 2015

What Race are You Running?

Sprint, Marathon, Relay: What's Your Race?

In a post last week I mentioned that I'll be conducting a survey during the month of June to help my readers better understand their trading style! If you would like to take part in the survey, you can sign up here:

What's Your Trading Style? Sign Up Below To Find Out!

* indicates required


In today's post I'm going to take a closer look at the Sprinter, the Marathoner, and the Relay Racer. Keep in mind that each type of runner has a different goal in mind and, thus, they utilize different training, different equipment, and employ a different mind set. This is no different in the trading counterparts!

What's Your Race?The Sprint

In the investing world, I equate the sprinter with a day trader. Let's have a look at the most important elements of day trading.


  • Open and closes position same day
  • Uses candlestick charts
  • Not a research intensive type of investing - more technical in nature
  • Requires intuition and the ability to act impulsively
  • Requires a high level of availability during prime trading hours
  • Requires you to be comfortable with making decisions in a fast paced environment
  • $25K minimum portfolio (FCC required)
  • 95% of Day Traders lose their portfolio within 5 years
  • Broker houses don’t assume risk on your behalf


The Marathon


I think of marathoners as the long term investors,


  • Holds a position for 6 months or longer
  • Focuses on fundamentals - uses tools like Value Line, Barron’s and WSJ
  • Very research intensive type of investing - less reliant on technical analysis
  • Data centric, patience is a virtue
  • Doesn’t require daily activity during trading hours
  • Shouldn’t expect instant gratification
  • Anyone can trade this way, with a portfolio of any size
  • 75% of stocks mimic market trends so long term portfolios rarely lose value unless a bear market persists for a long period of time.  Portfolio fluctuations are usually minor and can be absorbed over the length of the position
  • Mitigating risk requires dollar cost averaging in a bear market

The Relay


The closest thing to a relayer is the growth stock investor!

  • Profit/Loss driven, length of time in the position is less important.  Holds a position until a specific profit percentage has been achieved
  • Focuses on momentum - uses tools like IBD, Market Smith
  • Somewhat research intensive type of investing - somewhat reliant on technical
  • Data driven - relies heavily on institutional behavior - you must know how to determine that
  • Requires activity outside of trading hours - not during
  • Does not expect an instant return.  Is willing to wait up to 8 weeks for their positions to mature.
  • 401(k), IRA, or cash accounts can be used for trading these stocks.
  • IBD® 50 stocks have returned 776% growth since 2003.  The S&P 500 has returned 204% over the same time period.
  • Growth stocks carry a risk of rolling over precipitously.  Requires diligent use of stops.

Wrapping Up


Next week we'll have examples of famous traders that match up with each persona! Just a reminder, the survey results will go out at the end of the month and everyone that participates will receive a free copy of my watch list!

Happy Trading!

Monday, June 8, 2015

Harvest Profits NOW!

Harvest Profits NOW!

Harvest Profits NOW!
photograph by Ryan McGuire

This time of year I make sure that I'm harvesting profits from all of my positions, as soon as they meet my trade plan profit target. Given market conditions, I've lowered my expectations even further this week. 

I firmly believe that buy high, sell higher is an ethos to live by when trading momentum stocks. By nature, growth stocks are more volatile so I know that a sharp reversal in the market can result in me losing my profit quickly. This is something that is easily avoidable if you exercise caution and use a bit of discipline.

Market Conditions


IBD® identifies "Market in Confirmed Uptrend" as the condition of the market but I see some red flags going up. My detailed analysis of the market over this weekend leads me to believe that we are headed for "Market Under Pressure" this week.

Why?  Well there are 8 distribution days, with 7 coming just in the last 9 sessions - not a great sign of a healthy patient.  You may recall that we had a "Confirmed Uptrend" just 3 weeks ago and so far this year, the market has rolled over in 3 to 5 weeks every time market health looked good. Both $SPY and $DJX  are trading below the 50 DMA.

One of the most disturbing charts that I see is the defensive sector.  $XLP is already down by 6% over the last 3 weeks. Consumers are not spending money on basic items like cigarettes, soft drinks, paper products, detergents, personal hygiene and prescription drugs. I look at Walmart ($WMT) and see it' s down by 20% this year from its all time high in January 2015. These are very disturbing signs for me so I am willing to harvest profits now stay on the sidelines.

Watch List


Although I have a bearish outlook on the market, I always prepare a watch list every weekend. The market can turn to a positive outlook within a few days so I need to be prepared to pull the trigger if and when that happens. Here are 2 stocks that made my list this week.  For a full break down of their health, you can subscribe to my watch list service:

$CNC
$CRM

I plan on trading these only within 3% of their buy point. I will wait for 2 days to get my confirmations of healthy general market conditions and I will wait for the stocks to retrace to my buy point target.  I have prepared a detailed trade plan with full entry and exit conditions which you can access with a subscription to my trade plan service.

Happy Trading!


Friday, June 5, 2015

How To #GetYourWeekendBack

Let Me Be a Resource For You 

As we all know, life as a retail investor can get pretty jam packed!  The most successful traders out there have to spend a considerable amount of time on their craft.  In my interactions I've come to learn that there are tons of smart people out there with the makings of a great trader but they often lack the time necessary to compile a proper watch list or prepare a thorough trade plan prior to placing a trade.  So I've come up with two ways to help, my watch list and virtual trade plan services!


What's In My Watch List?

We've put together a quick video that goes over the basics which you can view below:





Basically, our watch list:
  1. Includes our must-have criteria
  2. Tracks the most relevant metrics in one place
  3. Is updated every weekend and delivered on Monday morning
  4. Allows side by side comparisons when you have multiple stocks
  5. Saves you time of having to do all the research for yourself
  6. Lets you #GetYourWeekendBack!
If you're interested in a subscription for my watch list, you can purchase securely via PayPal below:




What's a Virtual Trade Plan?

Here's another quick video that walks you through a virtual trade plan:





Here are just some of the benefits in every trade plan:

  1. Includes built in links that will direct you to the Yahoo! Finance page for this stock, recent relevant news, and also the daily chart from IBD®
  2. Provides you with at-a-glance confirmation of market health.  We color code for your convenience to help you trade according to market conditions.      
  3. Provides unique entry conditions for every trade.
  4. Gives you both a minimum and maximum buy point to help you avoid getting in too early, or chasing a stock.
  5. Helps you avoid trading thin stocks. When the shares per day entry condition is met, you can be confident that institutions are supporting this stock!
  6. RS, EPS, Acc/Dist, Up/Down - all meet our must have's
  7. Comes with pre-defined exits - get your emotions out of the trade!
  8. Profit and loss recommendations are based on data and our unique perspective  
  9. We also give you the prime opportunity window with every trade plan.
  10. Save yourself countless hours every month!
To start receiving virtual trade plans, begin a subscription today!


Happy trading!

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Sprint, Marathon, or Relay Race: What's Your Trading Style?

Recapping Last Month

In May we looked at the importance of monitoring positions in order to back test your investing system.  This theme generated some excellent conversations and I'm excited to expand on it with my mentoring program later this week!  If you're interested in learning more, I have additional spaces left for this Friday's session - just let me know.

Get Better at Your Craft

Summer is a notorious time of year for growth stock investors, historically.  Some times the smartest thing to do is conserve capital and keep your trades virtual in order to shore up your weaknesses.  Before you can truly get better at your craft, you have to fully understand your trading personality.

Sprint, Marathon, or Relay Race: What's Your Trading Style?


To help you with this, I'll be conducting a multi-week study in June to see how my followers fit 3 common trading persona's.  Each persona has its own traits and follows a certain style; Sprint, Marathon, or Relay Race!  If you would like to find out which persona best fits your style, just fill out the form below:



What's Your Trading Style? Sign Up Below To Find Out!

* indicates required



Everyone that signs up will receive a survey invitation and to thank you for taking part I'll also be sending you a free copy of my watch list and a virtual trade plan.  If you happen to know any other traders or investors, please forward the link to them as well.  The more responses we can collect, the more accurate our data will be!

What's Next?

We'll present our findings on June 24th but In the mean time, I'll present the 3 persona's and go over their traits next week.  Following that, I'll show examples of famous traders and pair them up with the persona that fit them best.  Until then....


Happy Trading!






Monday, June 1, 2015

$NXPI - The Only Stock I'm Considering

Cash Is Still King

Historically, June is one of the 3 worst performing months for stocks.  With that said, I am conserving as much cash as possible and harvesting my profits right now.  I've lowered my expectations of the market so I plan to monitor things closely for the next few weeks.  Every stock (or option) trade I plan on taking this month will be low risk. My positions will also be smaller in size to help mitigate risk. 

Why I've Become So Bearish

$NXPI - The Only Stock I'm Considering
Photograph by Ryan McGuire 
Performance in the transport sector is one of the indicators of the health of the US economy and it has dropped -8% in just the past 2 months. In Oct 2014, Dec 2014 and also Feb 2015, the market traded in a tight sideways fashion along the resistance before it corrected -4% to -8%.  This dip too only 5 to 7 sessions so things can turn on a dime! 

May basically traded sideways too and even strong stocks are getting lack luster volume with their breakouts. There are 2 sectors that historically perform well in the summer months - Healthcare (XLV) and Technology (XLK).  Using this historical performance as my guide gives me a better chance to pin point winners this coming week

$NXPI - The Only Stock I'm Considering 

There is only one stock that managed to make it to my watch list this week and that's $NXPI. Typically I track several stocks simultaneously so this really demonstrates that there is a lack of quality growth stocks in the current environment. I'll also make sure to use an option strategy to help minimize my risk in this trade. My profits will be lower but I'm fine with that in these conditions! I'll use a tight stop as well, just to be sure I'm covering myself properly.  

If you're like me, you won't hesitate to harvest a profit when you hit your goal.  You also won't hesitate to cut your losses if something goes south.

Happy Trading!

 First Annual IBD National Meetup IBD held a 3 hour Virtual Meetup online on Saturday August 20th at 11.30 am. It was one of the most inform...