Trade Ideas for 12/05/08

Far from clearing things up, today's action only served to make the picture more ambiguous. The market was humming along pretty well until the last hour when it fell apart. On the intraday chart it was quite a collapse, but in the context of the daily, the trading range established since Monday remained intact. Among yesterday's cup-and-handle breakouts that corrected today, none fell below the level of their handles.

One likely reason the market has yet to pick a side is tomorrow's jobs report. The data itself will be important, but the big question is whether the market will rally despite the bad news (because bad news is pretty much a given). If it can, there's a sense that the market can start to climb "the wall of worry." If it can't, a retest of the lows may be next.

Current Holdings
Ticker	Basis	Closing Price	Perf.	Sell-Stop	Additional Exit Guideline	Chart
AN	7.01	9.30	+32.7%	8.46	Consider selling on a close < 8.93	Chart
VMC	64.01	64.22	+0.3%	58.68	Consider selling on a close < 62.87	Chart
DAL	8.87	8.88	+0.1%	7.99	Consider selling on a close < 8.45	Chart
SMN	93.81	91.22	-2.8%	83.99	Consider selling on a close < 86.50	Chart

I'd wait before taking any new positions tomorrow. A volatile morning awaits.

Trade Ideas for 12/05/08

Ticker	Entry	Exit A	Exit C	Chart
ASTE (Astec)	31.36	29.16	N/A	Chart
LDK (LDK Solar)	15.01	13.29	12.49	Chart
SH (Short S&P 500)	92.47	87.19	N/A	Chart

Please refer to "How To Trade The Ideas" (right-hand side) to read this table.