I had some decent trades today in LKD, FRO, and JASO. I also caught a great trade in PEIX off the 15-minute chart. This stock was on the gap list this morning. You won’t find a better pattern. The stock gaps out of a stage 1 base with volume. The pullback stays in the top 1/3 of the move. Buy the higher high.

I stalk these oil stocks every day. It paid for me to complain about them yesterday. I bought the short signal in the OIH, by using DUG. Now DUG gave the buy signal, but I happened to be watching OIH at the time. Hitting DUG was easier than shorting OIH. Here’s a snapshot of the 5-minute at the time. Note the breakout failure, followed by 100% retracement. The lower high pivot marks the signal.

Thursday’s market made the type of move you want to see. If the bulls are truly in charge, the market will surge through resistance points. The 200 daily moving average was the last real roadblock before the Nasdaq gap of 2570-2590. The market surged through that resistance, the same way it surged over that long term trendline of 2420.

With two consecutive closes above the Nasdaq 200 dma, it sets the tone to fill that gap. That’s were it becomes a little more difficult if you’re a true day trader. The whippy action means you’re more likely to get stopped out. If you’re being really disciplined about entries you’ll find there’s less to choose from. I’m not as comfortable playing a game of momentum, but that’s what it’s become here. Sell quickly if the breakout doesn’t move.

The oil charts are a good example of the whippiness, and lack of trading setups. Here’s chart snapshots of OIH, EOG, ECA and COG. Those are difficult daily charts to trade.

I know some traders are finding good moves in the IBD top 100 stocks. I don’t subscribe, so haven’t had them on my watchlist. If you want to see some charts with nice momentum, check out DSX, GU, or SOLF below. It’s a wild ride if you’re able to get on.