Market Recap - Russell Rolls Over Hard

Broader Market Weekly Performance:

Dow -0.00%

S&P +0.32%

Nasdaq +1.03%

Russell -2.38%

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MARKET UPDATE:

Markets overall continued their float higher this week. The Nasdaq lead the way with a +1% rise as AAPL continued to reach for the stars. The S&P posted a modest +0.3% rise and the Dow was almost exactly flat for the week.

The outlier this week was the Russell with a -2.38% nosedive. This has been the case for the last few weeks. The Russell has been consolidating underneath solid resistance while other indices have been waffling back in forth straddling their resistance areas. Ulitmately, the weak action in the Russell started the previous week and picked up speed this week with volume increasing substantially for the downside action.

The Russell has lead the other indices by 1-3 weeks for the last year so it will be interesting to see if this week's action foreshadows a roll over in the other indices.

Navigate wisely and stay profitable, my friends. Happy trading!

Autotrade Notice:

TradeKing & TradeMonster Autotrade Discontinued:

Due to continued performance issues and an overall disregard for their account holders well-being, Autotrading is no longer available with TradeKing or TradeMonster

It is unfortunate and the subscribers/clients are the ones who suffer the most. Links are provided below for more information:

--TradeKing Autotrade Discontinued Immediately

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BOOKINGALPHA UPDATE:

Monthly Trading Service Commentary:

This week I executed a new SPY Bear Call Credit Spread using March options. My timing was good as I opened the spread Thursday and Friday the market was weaker putting the new position in profitable territory almost immediately.

This week's Russell weakness worked out nicely for the existing RUT Bear Call Spread as well. The position is showing very nice profit already and may in fact be closed out this coming week to book the profit and redeploy the capital into a new position.

I continue to look at new Bear Call Spreads on the S&P (north of 1400) as well as some other index trades as they continue to float higher. The markets continue to stretch higher which makes for nice deployment of Bear Call Spreads and Bear Put Spreads.

The [continued] explosion of the QQQ higher simply got away from me eclipsing my stop loss thresholds. This insane rally has propelled the indexes to new relative highs without so much as a >1% down day all year (actually since mid December). This cannot and will not continue forever. However, that does negate the fact that I have been wrong, although I argue I have been early as strong correction will happen....someday, but nevertheless, my ass was handed to me on the Q's.

While losses are unfortunate, they are a part of trading. Looking at past trading years you will see drawdowns like this do occur and ultimately, how I prevailed. This is not a justification, merely a reminder that this situation is still within the realm of normal portfolio gyration. While it may be uncomforatable and is surely no fun, my position sizing allows for these drawdowns providng enough capital to recover. See past year's results and let them speak for themsleves. For more information please read: Generating Alpha Comes With Volatility

The Monthly Advisory continues to outperform and deliver consistent Alpha:

+8.04% YTD BookingAlpha Monthly Advisory

vs.

+8.79% YTD S&P 500

See Trading Record

Weekly Trading Service Commentary:

Wednesday this week I attempted a SPX 1395/1400 Bear Call Credit Spread as the SPY approached new recent highs. However, immediately upon releasing the Trade Alert, the market rolled over and took off to the downside. No fills occurred for my SPX spread and the order was canceled.

The existing IWM spread recovered nicely with this week's strong pullback. The spreads is in nice shape with IWM now ~1% below the short strike. If the IWM continues to pullback toward 79 (the location of the 50DMA) it will provide the opportunity to comfortably close the spread and reposition the capital.

As the market floats higher it provides additional opportunities for Bear Call Spreads and Bear Put Spreads to be deployed for nice scalps.

The Weekly Advisory continues to outperform and deliver Alpha:

+9.60% YTD BookingAlpha Weekly Advisory

vs.

+8.79% YTD S&P 500

See Trading Record

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Market Recap - Russell Rolls Over Hard