Market Chop

As I write, the clock is nearing today's market conclusion. I have placed and exited four trades, one was profitable.

A recap of the S&P indicates a fantastic out-of-the-box run, followed by a lazy gravitational pull back to the 20 period Moving Average. Next comes an hour and a half lunch break resulting in six, 15 minute candles of going nowhere on low volume. Following that is a decline that was steeper than the morning incline. After an hour of hot selling, the bears gave up and allowed some renewed value buying. That mini-rally had the feel of a grade-school prank: "Go ahead and touch it -- I dare you." Well, of course I did and of course my final trade of the day resulted in a small loss.

On the four day chart, we see four low peaks with the fifth high still being defined. The market seems to be stuck in a range.

As I back out into larger time frames, on the 60 minute chart I can see that we have been range-bound for most of two weeks. Moving even further back to the daily chart, we see that today was pancake flat and that the market hasn't gone anywhere for two months.

So much for the buy-and-hold guys I guess. They have been without profit for the duration of this period. Over the last two months, I would have preferred risk avoidance by having my investment protected in the bank or mattress.

My day-trading pro friends love this type of market. They can see turns about to happen. They can get in and out fast enough to profit from the quick panic driven rallys and quicker sell-offs. Those guys don't have their money stuffed into the mattress, they keep it available to capitalize on all of the market moves. They are masters of nimbly going long, selling, and then going short several times each day. As indicated in their massive profits, this market is exceptional for them.

Me? I just keep loosing a little more money each day. Oops. The buy and hold guys who are even rite now seem to be doing better.