Out with SCSS

Well, I guess SCSS was not a good gamble and the kicker is that ITRI had a nice day. I ended up dropping SCSS and swapping it out for AAPL. I still hold NTAP,NSM, and WCC. I don't like that I have such a large exposure to tech so I will probably sell out tomorrow afternoon if the Nasdaq doesn't finally breakout.

DT

Lack of updates

Sorry for the lack of updates as I have been extremely busy with other business. I sold ITRI and SHFL on Friday and replaced them with SCSS in anticipation of an earnings run. Unfortunately I missed quite a run in SHFL today and ITRI is trading higher after hours after reporting earnings. However, I did hold SCSS for earnings and they are trading a little higher as well. I haven't sold NSM, WCC, and NTAP mostly cause I have been busy and haven't found suitable replacements. I think I may change the allocation strategy to 3 stocks vs 5 in an attempt to boost gains at the expense of more risk. I think the strategy I have been using is viable for a real world portfolio as I am up and haven't had any significant drawdowns. Hopefully SCSS keeps running and my expected Nasdaq rally materializes.


DT

Sold CTXS today

I sold CTXS today in order to lock in a nice profit. I wish I could of sold at the open, but alas, it doesn't work that way. Either way, they closed pretty weak, and although they may run, my guess is that the Doji means it will trade sideways at least. I replaced them with SHFL. SHFL chart looks good and they may challenge the 52 week high tomorrow. SHFL came up on my regular scan looking for stocks breaking consolidation bases. I will probably ignore the market all together tomorrow due to options expiration so the portfolio may remain as is for the weekend. Here is a summary of what I have:

5835 SHFL
3050 ITRI
6445 NSM
5386 NTAP
2925 WCC

I'm not setting the world on fire, but I'm up and have not had any significant drawdown. I will post an update this weekend on %'s once the site catches up with the values.


DT

New picks

I sold MFLX and CAT today. I didn't like the way MFLX was acting and I think Cramer pump of CAT may have it stagnate for a few days. CTXS popped up on one of my scans as it made a new high and I took a chance despite them reporting earnings after market. It looks like it was a good gamble as they were trading higher. I also added NSM today as the are very close to clearing resistance. Another tough choice was deciding to hold WCC over earnings tomorrow morning. I think there is a chance that smart money was moving in anticipating good earnings. Let me add that I don't take these chances with real money.


DT

No changes today

I had some business to attend to this afternoon so I didn't make any changes to the portfolio. There was a lot of stuff popping today and all 5 positions ended up higher. Let's hope for some follow through.

DT

Added MFLX and ITRI

I added MFLX and ITRI at the expense of RMBS and PLXS. I sold RMBS despite thinking it would be higher tomorrow because I wasn't sure how it would close prior to earnings and PLXS just hasn't been moving. ITRI came up in my normal scan and MFLX came up in a test scan I was working on. CAT started off strong today but sold off all day and was quite a disappointment. The funny thing is that most of these are working out great for me as day and swing trades due to being able to get out.


DT

Update charts on portfolio holdings

Here are charts on the current Squawk portfolio holdings.

PLXS hasn't really done much since it was added but it looks like it may finally do something as it touches the trendline.NTAP had a nice move Friday and I hope it is the beginning of a 3-4 day run. It will be tricky to figure out where to let it go since I can't trade it during the day.
I will not hold RMBS through earnings this week, so my hope is a quick pre earnings run to 46ish.
I am liking WCC and it looked like a nice breakout Friday before closing weak.
CATis giving me a nice target, so my hope is that it is not a head fake out of the triangle/rectangle base.

I think all of these would make decent trades right now so hopefully it shows up in the fantasy portfolio.


DT

New additions to portfolio

I decided to take profits in ADM and CSX today replacing them with WCC and RMBS. Both WCC and RMBS came up on a scan looking for new 10 day highs on strong volume. I wanted to use a longer time frame since a lot of stocks would be making 3-5 day highs after the latest pullback. I like the base that WCC is breaking out of and I think RMBS could catch a bid any day now. I will try and post some charts of the 5 holdings this weekend.

DT

Adding CAT to the portfolio

I sold MNST today as it looked like it was going to break my ascending trendline. It looks like it closed right on the line, but since we can't sell intraday, I decided to play it safe. CAT came up on one of my breakout scans today and chart looks healthy.




DT

CSX Replaces CREE

I ended up taking CSX to replace CREE. Not much time tonight to discuss the pick, but CSX was strong all day until the a pullback at the close (after I decided to buy of course). Let's hope they can follow through tomorrow.

DT

CREE is off the island

I gave CREE a chance but it is still under some pressure so I will cut my losses on them today. ADM continues to look good. A couple on my list for later are csx and shld. I'll post an update later.

DT

No changes to portfolio

I made no changes to the current portfolio. I really didn't see anything worth buying at the end of the day that hit the trade ideas scans I was using. CREE was downgraded on valuation (which is a scam in my book) and was down, but they closed OK, so i decided to keep them in.

DT

Markets are making this tough

Markets aren't treating my picks too kindly, and the sad part is that most of these have worked out great as daytrades for me. The problem is with having to buy at the closing price and not when a stock clears support. I am gonna try and mess around with creating a custom scan this weekend that shows stocks before the breakout. I ended up selling TRN and replacing it with MNST. MNST showed up on my stocks breaking out scan and were holding up until the end of the day. Hopefully, they hold above the nice ascending triangle. CREE held up well today too. I'll try and post a more thorough review of the portfolio this weekend.

DT

Today's Selection

My choices were between FLR, X, CREE, and RMBS today. I took CREE due to strength today on pullbacks. They rarely were pushed back and closed well above resistance. I removed GILD which was very disappointing today. On a side note, it's kind of lame that CNBC couldn't anticipate the amount of users they would have and are still processing yesterdays trades. Pretty Weak.

DT

Picks for Today

I ended up taking NTAP and PLXS to round out my portfolio. Both cleared resistance to hit new 52 week highs on strong volume. I liked PCU and VLO but with almost 5% moves for both and no way to get out tomorrow if they pull back, I decided to pass them up. So as it stands I am holding:

Shares Ticker
5140 PLXS
5386 NTAP
5555 ADM
3125 GILD
3508 TRN


The strategy for tomorrow will be to monitor my scans and if I see something that looks good, then I will swap it out with an existing stock always keeping my max positions at 5. It's a little strange trying to plan around the limitation of buying and selling stocks only using the closing price, so it should be interesting to see how it works out.

DT

Some names for today

These are some of the stocks I am looking to add to the Squawk Portfolio today.

LSS
PCU
NTAP
VLO
PCXS
CYMI

Nice to see ADM and TRN performing nicely. GILD is a little disappointing, but it is still holding the breakout area. I will post what I have chosen after the close.


DT

Details on first three picks

The scan I am running is looking for uptrending stocks, breaking out of consolidation bases on increased volume. I had a few to choose from today including TROW, ATHR, USG, EXP, CKFR and some others. I then looked at each chart individually and since we are using closing price, I tried to pick the ones breaking out of sound bases that weren't too extended. I'm not sure what sell rules I will use, but I have decided to hold 5 positions max, and divide the money equally among the 5 picks. I will swap out stocks as new ones come in. I plan on rotating frequently and taking small gains rather then holding out for the bigger moves. Here is my quick take on the first three.

GILD: Nice solid triangle base and they had strong volume today. Initial target looks like 69, but still not sure if I hold out for it.

ADM: I'm not as confident in ADM, although they have had some momentum lately. They cleared resistance and had pretty good volume.

TRN: I tried to get in a little early with TRN. They technically haven't cleared resistance on a highs basis, although they cleared closing resistance. Nice volume past two days.

I was tempted to bottom fish on some picks that could explode, but I want to give this strategy a fair shot. We'll see how it transpires.

If anyone else is in the contest, I would love to hear your strategy. Feel free to comment on the post so other's can see too.


DT

First Three Picks

My first three picks are GILD, ADM, and TRN. These came up on my custom consolidation break scan. I will post more on them later.

DT

Strategy

It looks like my strategy for the contest will be to run my scans at 3:30 and try and latch on to stocks closing strongly and breaking out of nice consolidation patterns. Some stocks that came up today were, JOYG, URI, TROW, BNI, and NSC.

I will post an update tomorrow when I choose my first stock(s).

DT

Welcome

I am entering the CNBC stock picking contest and my plan is to take stocks that show up on my Trade Ideas scanner and post them here. This will be a no frills blog with quick posts saying what I saw and why I took the pick. I will see how it evolves. More to come later.


DT