Category Archives: LABD

Biotech Short, Revisited

February 24, 2021 By in Biotech, IBB, LABD, S&P 500 1 Comment

So, the biotech short via LABD got stopped out last session.

Even though price action by its own behavior early in that session said to exit (at the highs), the position was maintained for the sake of argument.

The original stop was set at LABD 18.35, which was the 4-Hour low, noted yesterday.

Late in the session that stop was hit.

The overall sector (IBB) remains in a reversal with both daily and weekly MACD momentum indicators pointing lower.

In fact, Weekly MACD has a double bearish divergence in the histogram with MACD lines about to cross to the downside.

Putting all that together, expectation for inverse fund LABD is to head higher after yesterday’s counter-trend move.

Once stopped out (at LABD 18.33), LABD was re-established at a lower price (not advice, not a recommendation).

That entry price is on the weekly chart below:

We’ve switched to a weekly chart to show there are two other times in the past year, where LABD had three weekly up bars in a row.

Those reversals had narrow ranges and thus were quickly negated. This time it looks different.

The current bar is not complete but with the overall market (S& 500) at extremes and ratcheting lower, probabilities are high LABD will close higher for the week.

As for setting the stop on the new position, we’ll let the market decide.

Counter-trend action in the early session is usually over by 11:00 a.m. EST.

We’ll look at LABD at that time. Till then, hard (emergency) stop is located at the weekly LABD low of 15.96

Stay Tuned

Charts by StockCharts

Note:  Posts on this site are for education purposes only.  They provide one firm’s insight on the markets.  Not investment advice.  See additional disclaimer here.

Trading Tip: Trailing Stop

February 23, 2021 By in Biotech, IBB, LABD, Wyckoff 1 Comment

Here’s one method to use for a trailing stop; Have the market itself tell you were it goes.

The reason brokerage trading platforms have so many options with an endless list of indicators, is that’s what the (retail) public wants.

It has nothing to do (as usual) with what works best.

Wyckoff himself said the market defines the course of action. The “tape” as he called it, was the master for decision making and no other.

Let’s look at what the tape is saying about LABD, the 3X inverse EFT of Biotech (IBB).

The sector has already been traded profitably last week. Shown on the chart below is another entry. Also shown, is what may be the most efficient method for stop placement.

For LABD over the prior weeks, we could have extracted a large part of its move using a trailing stop based on the 4-Hour chart.

LABD itself has defined that 4-Hour looks best at this point in time.

So, that’s what we’ll do (not advice, not a recommendation). The stop will be at the nearest 4-Hour low (currently, 16.27).

At mid-session today, we’ll move it up to the next 4-Hour low and so on until stopped out.

Note:  Posts on this site are for education purposes only.  They provide one firm’s insight on the markets.  Not investment advice.  See additional disclaimer here.

Biotech Short Nets 8.2% Gain

February 20, 2021 By in Biotech, Bonds, LABD, TLT, TMF 2 Comments

At this juncture in the market, trades are only to the short side.

The one exception is the bond market.

With everything stretched to never-seen-before extremes and ready to break at any time, bonds are in position to rally.

This short-story of the biotech short actually begins with a bond loss.

Going back in time a bit; on Friday the 12th, a long position was opened in bonds via TMF. That action was documented in this post.

Then, we had the holiday weekend and the Texas freeze.

These posts are originating from a location near Ft. Worth Texas, where temperatures reached a low of -3 F.

At the office, we have backup power and physical (hard-wire) connection for internet. Both systems operated well as main power was cut repeatedly over a three-day period.

Those conditions are mentioned because at the open on Tuesday the 16th, transmission, execution and update times on trades were affected.

A potential harbinger of things to come.

Imagine a nation-wide outage where the market’s down 15-20% and still collapsing. All the while, trade platforms are locked-up with brokers inundated.

During that open on Tuesday, bonds (TLT) gapped-down which was unexpected. Inverse fund TMF was immediately down about -4.5%.

Overall, the bond market is still in position to rally. However, the open on Tuesday said ‘not yet’ and we’re not going to change the trading strategy to one of ‘hope’.

With trade execution times slow (minutes, not seconds), by the time a confirmation came in from the broker, exit on the position posted a -5.2% loss: A dent in the account for sure.

At the same time, we’re monitoring a large set of equities and markets.

So, the immediate task at hand was could that hit be mitigated quickly. Was there an opportunity in another market for gain?

The short answer was yes. It was in biotech to the downside.

Price action on the platform was slow to update. However, it was clear from what was available, shorting biotech via LABD was high probability.

That’s what happened. Entry was at LABD 14.73, about ten-minutes into the session.

Obviously, under the conditions, stress level during re-positioning was high. Temperatures in the trading office were about twenty-degrees below normal.

It’s hard to say exactly, but sometime as the last trade was being entered or confirmed, main power was cut again.

Subsequent price action on LABD was fast.

By the time we’re halfway into the session, not only has the loss been mitigated but the account is showing green. Good stuff.

The position and the account finished the trade in the green and the rest is history. Entry and exit are shown on the 15-minute chart below.

On the exit and in retrospect, the trade was held for a bit longer than it should have been as there was potential for additional upside.

When it became clear it was not to be, LABD was exited with an 8.21%, gain as noted:

Note:  Posts on this site are for education purposes only.  They provide one firm’s insight on the markets.  Not investment advice.  See additional disclaimer here.

Real Estate, Ready?

January 5, 2021 By in BIS, DRV, IBB, IYR, LABD, Positions

The real estate index IYR has been struggleing at resistance for months.  Yesterday’s action was a swift break lower to the bottom of the range.

Inverse fund DRV (3X inverse IYR) had is largest single day gain since mid-May of last year.

The weekly chart shows the four-month struggle at resistance as well as MACD bearish divergence.

IYR may attempt to test slightly higher (DRV down) during this session.

If so, we’ll be looking to position short via DRV; not advice not a recommendation.

Moving on to biotech.  Yesterday’s action was a good example of negative bias in LABD.  Even though IBB closed lower, LABD closed lower as well.

The LABD position was closed out as shown (above) and the BIS positions maintained.

Note the R-Exit value.

This represents the gain on the amount risked. If $1,000 was risked on the trade, it returned $8,540.

Update will be forthcoming if/when a DRV position is established.

Charts by StockCharts

Note:  Posts on this site are for education purposes only.  They provide one firm’s insight on the markets.  Not investment advice.  See additional disclaimer here.

Class Action

December 30, 2020 By in Biotech, BIS, IBB, LABD, Positions 1 Comment

Markets press on, new highs. However, biotech (IBB) is losing luster.

It could be just a temporary blip on the road upward.

Or, there could be something else afoot not known to the general public … and possibly not even known to professional speculators and market traders.

The video link below is to an alternate (independent) platform. One among many popping up in response to ‘adjustments’ being made by YouTube.

The video at this link is nearly an hour long.  It’s one of those things that upon viewing the entire presentation, one can never be the same.

 Viewer beware.  For those with short attentions, fast forward to Time Stamp 22:50, for the meat.

Wyckoff stated a century ago ‘the reason for a move is always revealed after the fact’; we might find if IBB reverses from here and does not look back, the link above may ultimately become the ‘reason’ for such a move.

Imagine if this presentation becomes widespread knowledge … where will biotech be then?

Of course, price action is always the final arbiter.  Positions (and stops) remain unchanged.

Note:  Posts on this site are for education purposes only.  They provide one firm’s insight on the markets.  Not investment advice.  See additional disclaimer here.

Crowded Trades

December 29, 2020 By in Biotech, BIS, GDX, IBB, LABD, Positions

Gold miner (GDX) bulls and bears have been fighting in a crowded trade since late November.

This morning’s GDX retrace up (and now down) from yesterday is a case in point. 

In such a choppy environment, inverse funds lose market value (downside bias) quickly and trades need to be avoided.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the market, biotech (IBB) has formed a top, reversed, and posted a new weekly low today.

An hourly trend-line has been formed as well (not shown). 

If it holds as (or if) IBB declines past current support (~152 area), that hourly trend is moving lower at just over -96%, annualized.

Maintaining negative trend, with declining momentum on both daily and weekly timeframes is what we’re looking for.

The objective (not advice, not a recommendation) is to move stops (shown below) and maintain the trade until stopped out or trend break.

As of this post (1:03 p.m. EST), the current price of LABD and BIS are listed in the ‘Close’ column. 

The “R-G/L” is from Dr. Van Tharp’s concept of Risk Gain/Loss.

Example:  If $1,000 of capital was “risked” (entry-to-stop) on the LABD, position, that position is now up by 6.83-R, or $6,830.

Charts by StockCharts

Note:  Posts on this site are for education purposes only.  They provide one firm’s insight on the markets.  Not investment advice.  See additional disclaimer here.

Massive Market Distortions

December 28, 2020 By in Biotech, BIS, IBB, LABD

It’s hard to describe how stretched the market really is; how ‘the euphoria is so maximized’, as quoted by David Quintieri of the Money GPS.

His latest report, delves into published articles that contain one market stretched quote after another. 

Perhaps, the most frightening is: ”This does not feel like the top”.

You can find that report at this link.  The quotes listed above and more, start around the 1:40, time stamp.

In the markets as of this post (2:08 p.m. EST), biotech (IBB) continues to erode throughout the session. 

The firm has made one LABD (3X, Inverse) and two BIS (2X, Inverse) entries this session so far. Not advice, not a recommendation.

Note the stop progression on BIS entries.

Positions are below; not advice, not a recommendation:

Note:  Posts on this site are for education purposes only.  They provide one firm’s insight on the markets.  Not investment advice.  See additional disclaimer here.

Biotech Chart Nuances

December 28, 2020 By in Biotech, BIS, IBB, LABD

It’s been a while since biotech (IBB) was on the radar.

We’re going to look at the thirty-minute chart of 2X Inverse fund BIS, to show the change in character.

The first two oval areas after each up move in BIS (IBB down), was fully retraced. Not only that, the retrace occurred on the same day.

Not so with the last oval, today.

BIS has a changed character.  The thirty-minute bar was not retraced; telling us we’re at the danger point where the risk is least.

Both the weekly and daily MACD indicators show momentum has shifted; stalled (on weekly) and has turned lower on the daily.

As far as shorting the biotech sector, any takers?  It’s not like the other crowded trades; Dow, NASDAQ, S&P, and on.

As this post is being written BIS is edging back slightly to the entry point @ BIS, 22.23.

In so doing, there may be an hourly trend line forming.  If that happens, updates will be forthcoming.

Note:  Posts on this site are for education purposes only.  They provide one firm’s insight on the markets.  Not investment advice.  See additional disclaimer here.

Trade Actions, Early Session

December 28, 2020 By in Biotech, BIS, DUG, IBB, LABD, Positions

A brief list of changes:

Exit as planned on DUST. Stop was hit

Trader’s discretionary exit on DUG:  Gain ~ 4.80%

Entered short IBB via LABD (3X inverse) and BIS (2X inverse). Not advice, not a recommendation.

The biotech sector has lost momentum. 

Weekly MACD has diverged and is now flat. Additional analysis to come.

Position table is shown below:

Charts by StockCharts

Note:  Posts on this site are for education purposes only.  They provide one firm’s insight on the markets.  Not investment advice.  See additional disclaimer here.

Before The Open: Biotech

December 8, 2020 By in Biotech, BIS, IBB, LABD, Positions

Bid/Ask spreads on Biotech (IBB) indicate a lower open.

From last night’s update, this was the expectation if we’re in the early stages of reversal.

Empirical observation over many months shows IBB, tends to move counter-trend for the first 90-minutes of trade … then resumes its original direction.

If that holds true for today (and we’re in a reversal), expect IBB to open lower and then attempt a move higher during the first hour and a half; right up to about 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. EST.

Note:  That’s empirical observation; typical market action for IBB. 

However, each day is different and price action itself has the final say.

Both accounts being managed already have significant positions (BIS & LABD) with a BIS stop @ 24.64 and LABD stop @ 27.63 in the market (not advice, not a recommendation).

Following Livermore’s approach (get in big … and do it early) the plan is to monitor price action for another opportunity. 

If somehow there’s a higher open for IBB, then we’ll wait for a lower daily low (to increase position) or be stopped out … whichever comes first.

It’s still quiet in the markets.  No one expects a major reversal.  Retail is all in (although insiders are selling en masse).

There are fundamental reasons why biotech may be about to crack (big time) but those reasons are for another report.  Here’s a preview.

Note:  Posts on this site are for education purposes only.  They provide one firm’s insight on the markets.  Not investment advice.  See additional disclaimer here.