Ticker&TapeThe weekly review routine
The weekend is when the market is closed and you can think clearly. A weekly review of an hour or two gives you the big picture that is hard to see in the noise of daily trading.
Start with the market
Look at the weekly charts of the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Are they above a rising 10-week line? How many distribution days are on the count? What does market breadth say: are more stocks making new highs or new lows? Decide your target exposure for the coming week before looking at any single stock.
Write a one-line summary of the market, such as "confirmed uptrend, leaders acting well, ready to add". It keeps you honest when the week gets noisy.
Check the groups
Open the industry group rankings. Which groups are moving up, which are falling? Leaders tend to come in clusters, so new strength in a group is often the first clue to the next winners. The sector rotation chart shows where money is flowing at the sector level.
Note the top groups and check whether the stocks on your watchlist belong to them. A good base in a weak group is a lower-odds trade.
Scan for new bases
Weekly charts are the best place to judge bases. Go through the stocks in Ideas and the screener and look for:
- Proper bases with tight weekly closes and volume drying up.
- A rising RS line, ideally near new highs.
- Strong earnings and sales growth.
- A clear pivot within a few percent of the current price.
Trim the watchlist
A watchlist of 100 stocks is not a watchlist. Cut it down to the 10 to 20 best setups. Remove stocks that broke down, fell below their 50-day line or are too extended. For each name you keep, write the pivot, the stop and the share count, so you can act fast during the week.
Read the Weekly report on the Research page, the Weekly Tape, to compare your list with the week's summary of the market.
Review your trades and plan the calendar
Go through last week's trades in your journal and note one lesson. Then open the Macro page and the earnings calendar and mark the big days ahead: CPI, the jobs report, an FOMC meeting, earnings for stocks you own. Decide in advance how you will handle them. When Monday comes, your plan is already written.
Common mistakes
- Skipping the weekly review and trading only from daily charts.
- Keeping a huge watchlist that you can't actually follow.
- Not checking which groups are leading before choosing stocks.
- Being surprised on Wednesday by an event that was on the calendar all weekend.
Key points
- Start with the indexes and breadth, then decide your exposure for the week.
- Use group ranks and weekly charts to find the best new bases, and trim the watchlist to the top setups.
- Review your journal and mark the week's key macro and earnings dates in advance.
Check what you learned
Answer at least 2 of 3 correctly to complete the lesson.
1. In the weekly review, what should come first?
Most stocks follow the market, so the market picture sets how aggressive you should be before you pick names.
2. You find a good base, but the stock belongs to a weak, falling industry group. How should you view it?
New strength in a group is often the first clue to the next winners. Check whether your watchlist names belong to the top groups.
3. Your watchlist has grown to 100 stocks. What does the weekly routine suggest?
A focused list with a written plan for each name lets you act fast during the week.
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