Breakout Trading using Time and Sales

[amit1986]

+8 cents per share out of CS breakdown. Nice pattern on the chart, sort of like a descending triangle. Saw lots of selling pressure building and continued to fall. Got out when that changed on level 2.

Seems like today is going to be a scalping day...would really like to get my hands on a nice big swing trade.

Edit: I must add that I also exited because news was coming out at 10:00am EST.

 

[amit1986]

Also added NXY, ADM, and CELG to my watchlist.

 

[amit1986]

+4.5 cents per share out of AEO reversal. No specific chart pattern - a pure level 2 play. Stocks that run up quickly usually present good reversal trades. This one was a difficult play, hence the small gain.

 

[amit1986]

Missed a great move on AEO

 

[amit1986]

AEO is moving too fast for me to read properly, so I didn't take the corresponding breakout. If it reverses and is readable on level 2, then I may take a reversal trade.

 

[amit1986]

+18 cents per share out of AEO reversal.

 

[amit1986]

-11 cents per share out of ADM. Tried scalping its breakdown a few times, but didn't work.

 

[amit1986]

Not too bad of a morning overall. Going to take a break and then trade the afternoon session.

 

[amit1986]

Quite choppy pre-market so likely going to be a scalping day. Got the following on my watch list which could set up and provide trading opportunities:

ARMH, AXTI, CTRP, HAWK, HERO, MGM, MTW, NOK, STEC, and TTM.

 

[amit1986]

+14 cents per share AXTI breakdown to new lows. Exited when the selling pressure stopped below the $10 area, which was likely to provide some sort of retracement.

 

[amit1986]

+4 cents per share MTW breakout. Got out of that far too early, but acted on the evidence in front of my eyes, which is all one can really do

 

[amit1986]

+6 cents per share MTW reversal trade from the 50-cent level. Out of that too early as well...

 

[amit1986]

It's astonishing just how choppy the ES and NQ are...crappy day to be a futures trader, but not to bad of a day to be a stock trader.

 

[amit1986]

Nothing else happening at the moment - just too choppy. Best to just wait it out till a high probability trade presents itself. There are some commodity stocks that are moving, but I don't quite like trading them.

 

[amit1986]

Keeping an eye on RTN and LMT.

Spreads are quite wide which is a bit concerning.

 

[amit1986]

Didn't take the breakouts on either LMT nor RTN as there wasn't enough momentum.

 

[amit1986]

For those who have access to charts of U.S. stocks, check out LMT. After I mentioned it, it broke out by only a couple of cents but now its reversed significantly.

That's the power of reading bid/ask pressure on level 2 - after a lot of practice, you can spot weak breakouts and avoid market maker traps.

 

[amit1986]

Took a reversal trade on AAP which I exited for a measly 1.5 cents per share profit. It just wasn't doing what it should have been doing - it wasn't bringing more and more buyers in. After I got out, it started ticking up though.

 

[amit1986]

Generally, I find the afternoon session slightly more difficult to trade than the morning session. I've taken two trades this afternoon:

MMI: -2 cents per share
CLX: +6 cents per share

 

[aberden]

Amit, you mentioned you can spot weak breakouts and avoid market maker traps. can you explain a little bit about this, thanks for your posts.