The best way to position yourself Tuesday afternoon

Free After-Hours Analysis: 

Stocks rebounded Monday, reclaiming 1.2% of last week’s 5.6% decline.  There was not any obvious news driving Monday’s strength, in fact, the weekend’s international headlines were quite the opposite with portions of Europe headlined back into Covid driven lockdowns. Luckily, those overseas headlines didn’t bother U.S. investors who are far more focused on Tuesday’s election.

As I wrote last week, Monday’s contrarian strength was largely predictable and a combination of “a little too far” and “less bad than feared”.

Most likely, prices will bounce Monday morning after nothing bad happens this weekend. Buy that bounce and ride it higher through the day. But remember, volatility is off the charts and that means every bit of up is followed by a bit of down. Take profits Monday afternoon and get ready to throw the tripwires out again Tuesday morning.

As for the election, my plan is to keep limited overnight exposure and trade the next couple of days as day-trades. There is a lot of uncertainty ahead of Tuesday night/Wednesday morning’s vote counting. I’m fairly certain things will go smoothly, but this is one of those situations where it is better to be a little late than a lot early.

And to be honest, part of the reason I don’t want to hold anything over election night is because I can easily envision the market going either way Wednesday morning. We could bounce on relief of a clean election. Or we could fall on sour-grapes selling as the losing side takes their toys and goes him. Both factors will be at play Wednesday morning, I just don’t know which one will be more dominant.

But no matter what happens Wednesday morning (rally or fall), I expect stocks to do well over the last few weeks of the year and that means any near-term weakness is a buying opportunity. But as is always the case when buying a bounce, start small, get in early, keep a nearby stop, and only add to a position that is working.

If you find these posts useful, please return the favor by liking and sharing them!

Sign up for FREE Email Alerts to get profitable insights like these delivered to your inbox every evening.

What’s a good trade worth to you?
How about avoiding a loss?
For less than $1/day, receive actionable analysis and a trading plan every day during market hours

Follow Jani on Twitter @crackedmarket