tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252993202011-12-14T18:45:35.256-08:00downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.comBlogger391100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1148649287198211152006-05-26T06:11:00.000-07:002006-05-26T06:14:47.213-07:00

Being that it is the last day of the contest, I decided to make a bigger gamble then normal. I put almost half the portfolio in IIIN. Although, this could easily backfire, I was basically looking for something that could return 10% in one day. Steel and materials stocks caught a bid yesterday and if it carries on to today then IIIN could squeeze some shorts. They also cleared a downtrend line I

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1148522958724027282006-05-24T19:04:00.000-07:002006-05-24T19:09:18.736-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates to the portfolio lately. I've been having to take the afternoons off lately for several reasons. The last changes made to the portfolio was to add CB and SLW on Monday. Currently the portfolio holdings are SLW, CB, KMG, and CRS. To be honest, I got whacked the past few days dropping me under breakeven for the first time since the 3rd or 4th day of the contest. I was

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1148068510993050842006-05-19T12:52:00.000-07:002006-05-19T12:55:11.006-07:00

OMC has been showing stength during the pullback but they started pulling back as the markets were finally showing some strength. I can't blame it on OPEX as they were between strike prices. I decided to get rid of them and take CRS which came up on one of my scans.DT

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1147978516542638982006-05-18T11:52:00.000-07:002006-05-18T11:55:16.553-07:00

I've been taking care of some errands today and I won't be around for the close, so I am adding FLSH now. I had raised some cash and they triggered an alert. The daily chart looks good as they pulled back on decreasing volume gently touching the 20sma.DT

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1147834029220705972006-05-16T19:43:00.000-07:002006-05-16T19:47:09.230-07:00

I sold SAFC today due to the multiple dojis at resistance. I normally would set a stop under the dojis and wait for a possible move higher, but I prefer not to take any chances due to having to sell and end of day. I added a little to CMED to replace some of the shares I took profits in last breakout. I just left the rest as cash since I wasn't seeing anything worthwhile.DT

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1147745342436151462006-05-15T19:07:00.000-07:002006-05-15T19:09:02.446-07:00

Well, MRVL was a bad choice and I replaced it with OMC at the close today. OMC didn't pullback with the markets the past few days and in fact, made a new 52 week high today. Look's like there will be a technical rally tomorrow which I may use to get out of some of the holdings.DT

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1147700991628716322006-05-15T06:47:00.000-07:002006-05-15T06:49:52.970-07:00

I forgot to update the site on Friday, but I bought MRVL as they were triggering alerts to the upside as the market was selling off. Hopefully it pays off as the portfolio took a hit on Friday. I am currently in the top 26% but my percentage gain is only about 4% overall. Still, that's not too bad considering how stable the portfolio has been and with the markets selling off pretty steeply.DT

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1147448579533630462006-05-12T08:41:00.000-07:002006-05-12T08:42:59.546-07:00

Well I guess they were late with updating the portfolio's as now I have SAFC and THE is gone. It's a good thing too since THE was down a good bit and SAFC is near unchanged. CCJ is getting hammered and I'm sure it will hurt the porfolio. Needless to say the will be gone by the end of the day.DT

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1147439269773546872006-05-12T05:27:00.000-07:002006-05-12T06:07:49.783-07:00

Not sure what happened but my THE sell and SAFC buy didn't go through yesterday.DT

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1147411520155930932006-05-11T22:24:00.000-07:002006-05-11T22:25:20.173-07:00

I did make a move replacing THE with SAFC.DT

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1147371998478115132006-05-11T11:23:00.000-07:002006-05-11T11:26:38.486-07:00

And not sure if I will add anything today either. It looks like I will sell THE after a steep reversal following a Gap to new highs. Not sure about the rest.DT

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1147213765877457712006-05-09T15:26:00.000-07:002006-05-09T15:29:25.886-07:00

Well, BIDU is sitting at 75 plus AH after closing at 61.38. While it would of been sweet to book that kind of gain, BIDU could of easily been down 20%. Still, it's worth watching tomorrow to see what happens.DT

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1147204631888752142006-05-09T12:52:00.000-07:002006-05-09T12:57:11.900-07:00

I put in the sell orders on BIDU and SINA earlier today, and BIDU started selling off prior to earnings and SINA pulled back to about unchanged. It would of been nice to lock in today higher, but that's the rules. I added KMG and CCJ about 30 minutes ago, and I'm afraid KMG is running too much. Still, it has cleared some formidable resistance and looks poised for a nice run.DT

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1147148091866953772006-05-08T21:12:00.000-07:002006-05-08T21:14:51.876-07:00

I didn't plan on selling anything today as I think my four holdings remain well positioned, but I couldn't pass up on the MAN chart this afternoon. I ended up taking partial profits on CMED,SINA, and THE to buy some MAN. I plan on selling most if not all of BIDU and SINA tomorrow since they both report after the close tomorrow.DT

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1147094020930076652006-05-08T06:10:00.000-07:002006-05-08T06:13:40.943-07:00

I was away from trading all day Friday, but I did make a move in the morning. I sold CMC to lock in some profits and placed the order for CMED. CMED reversed a little throughout the day and left a long wick. I still think it looks good though, so I will see how it plays out today.DT

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1146775400019317402006-05-04T13:37:00.000-07:002006-05-04T13:43:20.030-07:00

Well, TDW was horrible and PDE didn't look much better so I gave them both the boot. I added BIDU and THE today as two different types of plays. THE reported solid earnings and rose to just a few pennies shy of a 52 week high. If they can follow through and get some momentum players in, then it may get interesting. BIDU is not near a high, but cleared resistance at 62.50 and may be headed to low

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1146705743715070482006-05-03T18:20:00.000-07:002006-05-03T18:22:23.743-07:00

I was out all day so I didn't make any changes to the portfolio. Looks most of the holdings were pretty bad today with TDW leading the way down. I will re-evaluate the positions tomorrow to see if they are worth holding.DT

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1146599746676583882006-05-02T12:48:00.000-07:002006-05-02T12:55:46.693-07:00

I am taking full profits in MVK and selling half the CMC position while the gettin's good. I like CMC for a bigger move, but since I can't sell when I want I decided to lock in some profits. I was actually seeing a lot of good options to add for today and decided to add three positions. I added SINA, PDE, and TDW. Some of the others that are worth watching are HELX, SPW, EXPD, PTEN, NBL, CSX, and

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1146518200872044862006-05-01T14:10:00.000-07:002006-05-01T14:16:40.883-07:00

Man, what a rotten close. I had put in the orders to sell all the current holdings and swap them out with CMC and MVK, and not 2 minutes later, the indices fell apart. I would probably prefer to sit in cash but there was no way to cancel my buy orders. CMC still looks good closing at a new 52 week high, while MVK looks a little iffy. CMC showed up on one of my more strict scans, while MVK showed

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1146101063898438172006-04-26T18:22:00.000-07:002006-04-26T18:24:23.910-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1145997549143289722006-04-25T13:32:00.000-07:002006-04-25T13:39:09.160-07:00

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,

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1145566177001984382006-04-20T13:33:00.000-07:002006-04-20T13:49:37.013-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1145481201494970482006-04-19T14:08:00.000-07:002006-04-19T14:13:21.506-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1145403853812159232006-04-18T16:42:00.000-07:002006-04-18T16:44:13.823-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1145309816609225472006-04-17T14:27:00.000-07:002006-04-17T14:36:56.620-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1145239790094303132006-04-16T19:01:00.000-07:002006-04-16T19:09:50.106-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1144959846928556092006-04-13T13:19:00.000-07:002006-04-13T13:24:06.936-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1144874120150566632006-04-12T13:10:00.000-07:002006-04-12T13:35:20.156-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1144812248139384432006-04-11T20:22:00.000-07:002006-04-11T20:24:08.150-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1144781217521907942006-04-11T11:45:00.000-07:002006-04-11T11:46:57.530-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1144702115622319502006-04-10T13:45:00.000-07:002006-04-10T13:48:35.633-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1144443764944856212006-04-07T13:17:00.000-07:002006-04-07T14:02:44.953-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1144354114485872272006-04-06T13:02:00.000-07:002006-04-06T13:08:34.506-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1144270644217834402006-04-05T13:40:00.000-07:002006-04-05T13:57:24.230-07:00

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 Ticker5140 PLXS5386 NTAP5555 ADM3125 GILD3508 TRNThe

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1144264012017872752006-04-05T12:04:00.000-07:002006-04-05T12:06:52.030-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1144182204425159952006-04-04T13:10:00.000-07:002006-04-04T13:23:24.436-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1144179353623497462006-04-04T12:31:00.000-07:002006-04-04T12:35:53.640-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1144116757084707882006-04-03T19:08:00.000-07:002006-04-03T19:12:37.093-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25299320.post-1144076943494833912006-04-03T08:06:00.000-07:002006-04-03T08:09:03.493-07:00

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

downtowntraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17140040998874479581noreply@blogger.com0