Dave’s Trading Diary: The Big Banks Start Giving Entry Signals

This excerpt from the trading diary is for educational purposes only and is not to be interpreted as trading or investment advice. See Terms Of Use here.

Uncertainty And The Stock Market

You never know which ride will take you the furthest. This is where trading often differs from life, and why so many people find it hard to adjust their mentality to investing in the stock market.

If you study a subject in life - say you go to school to become an engineer, a salesperson, an accountant or whatever you choose, there is a very high chance that you will come out of that schooling with the skills to BE an engineer, salesperson or accountant, and that you will have a job or career in that field in the future.

But when you buy a Stock or Share in a company, no matter how much research you do, no matter how good your “Margin of Safety” is, no matter how much you believe in it or wish hope and pray, you can’t MAKE it go up or down. Once you buy a share, you’ve exhausted the actions you can take to influence the outcome, and all you can do now is wait for your signal to sell, whatever that may be.

The ride could be a long one (i.e. CAB or IMD in the portfolio right now) or the ride could be a short one (i.e. FKP or BLD in the portfolio right now).

As old Pat Hearne from “Reminiscences” said: “You can’t tell ’til you bet”. In other words, buying a stock is all you can do. The market takes care of the rest.

Welcome The Big Four Banks, Giving Entry Signals This Week

Yes that’s right, ANZ, WBC, and NAB have all made entry signals or are very close to making entry signals. Macquarie (MQG) made an entry in February and has risen nicely since. CBA is close.

See the ASX 200 Top Movers and Price Charts here.

New Buys In The Trading Diary This Week

I bought API and CSV this week myself. To be honest I was looking at CSV to be the better pick, but it turns out API is the winner so far, buying at $0.33 and currently at $0.39.

Other signals that have triggered recently are in stocks: AAD, CCL, OMH, SAI, SDL, UNS, and the banks as mentioned before.

Stocks that are close to triggering a signal are: ASZ, CBA, COH, CTX, IGO, FXL, MNC.

See the Trading Diary here.

Current Performance In The Trading Diary

Current performance continues to stand out, with IMD, CAB, ASL, MEO all over 20%. Average wins on winning trades so far are over 9%.

The average loss on losing trades so far is a tiny 2.75%. This is part of the difference that gives me a solid edge over the general market. Win more than you lose, and win more when you win. Like most things in the market this concept is simple, but not easy.

Have a great week everyone, and happy trending.

Dave McLachlan