Neither here nor there...

The US market's uptrend came under pressure 11th Aug, correction on 24th Aug. To me, this 'uptrend' was not significant enough to position trade. IBDs ratings do not work in a trendless market. I do not yet have this crucial skill to judge the state of the market (up, down, trendless) without hindsight.

However, following IBD does work well in a bull market. The previous examples I saw were from bull of 2003-2004. Waiting for a FTD, when the (brief) corrections are over, buying stocks that did not fall would have been profitable then. I'll keep my subscription to IBD while I see if I can learn to judge the markets better.

I have done nothing since June. Zero gain, zero loss. Right now, I do not know if the current market is still in a trading range, or correcting.

I am not cut out for swing trading, especially with a full time job. Position trading is difficult as I can't judge the market. I am changing my strategy to wait for stocks to be cheap, similar to end-08 or the 2001-2002 bear market. I may have to wait another 5 years....


Resist the urge to do something....

[Update: 13th Sep 10]
There was a FTD on 1st Sept. I am still doing nothing.