An elaboration on my methods.

Someone asked me why have I given up on NOL. Naturally, he asked this after reading my blog post on NOL last night which was a rather short blog post and quite unlike my usual style. Well, the facts were simple and brevity was appropriate.

The reason for buying more shares in NOL is no longer valid, from a technical perspective. I buy in a downtrend only when I see the building up of a positive divergence. Once that picture is negated, I stop buying. I do not throw good money after the bad.

Do not throw good money after the bad? This sounds familiar. Yes, it is conventional wisdom and I have said this at other times in my blog too. Such wisdom is also applicable to someone who is investing based purely on fundamentals. For example, my decision not to add to my remaining long position in Healthway Medical was premised on its worsening fundamentals.

So, what am I going to do with my shares in NOL now? Unlike conventional cut loss strategy which would see a certain percentage of loss given as a trigger, I prefer to cut loss on technical rebounds. This would mean at or close to resistance. This would reduce the realised loss of the trade and the likelihood of whipsaws as well.

What if a rebound did not happen? Well, remember that downtrends are rivers of hope. They are rarely one straight line downwards. However, TA is about probability and never certainty. So, herein lies the flaw in my methods. If a rebound did not happen, I could end up with more shares in my frozen portfolio. Brrr...

If you like my methods, by all means, use them. I share them freely. If you are unsure, explore the different methods out there and take your time to decide on what you are comfortable with that works. Good luck.

Related post:
NOL: Positive divergence negated.

NOL: Positive divergence negated.

NOL's positive divergence has been negated. The ADX suggests a strengthening downtrend.

After strong moves downwards, a rebound is possible and if it were to test resistance, it would be a good opportunity to reduce exposure.

Neptune Orient said to plan $200m sale of 10-year bonds
Wednesday, 08 June 2011

© 2011 - The Edge Singapore

NOL completes US$1.1b loan agreements
Thursday, 02 June 2011

© 2011 - The Edge Singapore

Golden Agriculture: Critical support at 67.5c.

Regular readers might remember that I was queueing to buy some shares of Golden Agriculture at 67.5c, having divested most of my long position not too long ago. The reason was because 67.5c was support in an uptrend which started on 6 May 2011.

Did I say "was"? Yes, I did. The uptrend which started on 6 May 2011 has been broken as price closed below the trendline support in the last two sessions.

As the ADX suggests a lack of trend, I look to the Stochastics for clues and it has been in decline. Indeed, it could decline further as volume reduced with price unable to close higher.  Price could continue to weaken. It might look like a low volume pull back but it is not pulling back to support but a break in support.

It would be better to err on the side of caution and seek guidance from the gentler uptrend which started on 23 Feb 2011. Using Fibo lines to complement this, we see supports at 66c (138.2% Fibo) and 65.5 (150%) if 67.5c should give way.

We could see the Stochastics dipping into oversold territory just like it did earlier this year in February and late April. It would be more timely to add or initiate long positions then.

Hutchison Port Holdings Trust: 86c.

Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPH) saw its unit price sinking lower today to close at 86c per unit. This is almost 15% lower than its IPO price of US$1.01 per unit not too long ago.

Just like what I did with Sabana REIT when it was newly listed, I used Fibo lines to estimate where are the critical supports for HPH and 86c is where we find the 161.8% Fibo line.

If 86c breaks, we could see price hitting 81c as the next strong support using the high of US$1.02 as 0%.

At 81c, it could be too tempting to refuse even though it is denominated in US$.

Related post:
Hutchison Port Holdings Trust: A weak debut.