All the 9s. Wed Sep 9

I was watching CNBC for a few minutes last night and one of the regulars from the trading floor, Art something, was indulging in some numerology about the 9th of the 9th, 2009. It was something along the lines of trying to pick the top of the rally. Anyway, the rally continues and after some caution early, a slight hangover maybe, the Australian market is up 30 points as we approach the end of the first hour of trading.

I've also indulged in a bit of top picking in Molopo - based on a complete looking 60 minute chart - and sold out at 132 and 133 (v 118.5). The chart looks fine on the daily, perhaps a bit stretched, but I felt the need to sell something and at least in the short term it's been a good move as the stock is back down to 130.5.

I've bought some Bly which was sucked down to 27, the level of the rights issue, but is pushing away now as the retail issue period is over. Similar stocks have been rallying hard over the same period so there could be some catch up. Long at 28.5.

11.41 Retail sales figures and housing finance fell mildly when small rises were expected indicating that rate rises may come later rather than sooner. The stimulus packages are winding back and they may not have primed the pump so much as provided a one off jump.

I'm having another go at Tpi as it has pushed past yesterday's high and it's possible that the pullback is complete. It's such a high momentum chart that it's worth another try.

I'm long some at 155.5 but that average will go up if I buy more as I'll look for sustained strength before completing the buying. It's 157.5 now.

12.44 The market has given back most of the early gains and is now up 6. I've lightened the load with a small sale in Sbm at 32 (v 24) and Mah at 67.5 (v 61.5).

3.04 The market is now down 6 although off the recent low of down 20. There were a few 60 minute sell signals earlier and I was tossing up whether to take them or not. I hedged my bets in Mah by selling just under half and ignored the short term sell in Lnc which is now down to 148. I'm really trading daily charts with help from the 60 minute and I'm trying to avoid overtrading, but it can be a hard decision to make. Here's Lnc on a 60 minute chart.

The sell signal was the break of 152 but I was looking for support at 148 to hold. It broke briefly and doesn't look brilliant but it's such a text book pattern that I'm prepared to give it some room.

4.12 Stopped out of Lnc on the match at 146 (v 148). I had sold out a third of the position for 155/156 earlier in the week. The market fell 2 points, again outperforming the region, as the US futures indicate a lower open tonight. In terms of my trading today, it was a mistake to sell Mpo and there was no rush to buy Bly. Tpi finished at 156 which was my average entry price. Not selling Lnc earlier was a misjudgement, but it's interesting that I didn't sell Lnc when I had a signal but sold Mpo when I had none. Another couple of entries for my slow learner file.
Took the example of Mpo and bought back the Sbm I'd sold at the same price of 32. Gold has held above US$1000 all day and the gold stocks are still charting well.