Good Monday morning to you!

Here's what I'm watching today...

WLL for continued upside off Friday's strong 50 dma bounce...

NFX for follow through on Friday's strong close off a 52 week low...

SSN for a bounce off the 200 dma...

Disclosure:  I am actively trading all these names.

Mid day update:  WLL, NFX, and SSN.... yawn.

Not much going on today across oil and gas.  Dow up 120, and S&P 500 up 12...

Update:
CRK inverse head and shoulders with neckline at $17.00, looking for an upside breakout...

Disclosure: Long CRK stock

Big insider buying on WPRT at $44.30 last week- near 52 week highs.  That's a vote of confidence for the nat gas switch if I ever saw one...

CLNE is also at 52 week highs.  Already sold out for nice profits on this one, but now wishing I hadn't.  Waiting patiently for another entry...

Iranian exports dropping 300k bpd is definitely bullish for oil.  I am trading US based onshore E&P companies on the news....  NOG, TPLM, SSN, CRK

Also getting interested in HEK at these prices... good play on water treatment in various oil and gas fields...

Mid day update:  oil holding strong along with E&Ps.  Like NFX right here.  Left for dead Bakken producer with big upside.  I am long June35 Calls...

Update on NFX: good upside volume at 52 week lows...

Ok folks,  I'm back!  The past few weeks have been a little on the crazy side with other work matters and I haven't been able to focus on this blog.

What's happened since my last post?

A lot...

The S&P500 is above 1,400 and oil is flirting with $110.  What's the best trade right now?  stay tuned...

Trades for Tuesday

What I'm trading today...

Oasis (OAS) at the $30.50 level is a buy with a stop under $30.00.

Continental Resources (CLR) is a buy at $78.51 with a stop just under $76.50

Both these stocks are Bakken focused with growing production and strong revenue growth.

S&P 500 Still Holding Near Monthly Highs...

European markets are up this morning as we await January jobs data here in the US.  The past few BLS reports have been solid, and I'm thinking this one should be strong as well.  However, the Dow, Nas, and S&P 500 are all trading at monthly highs.  And more importantly, we're now approaching last years highs in all the major indexes.

That means the markets are prone to a pullback in coming weeks.  We've seen solid gains so far this year, and the odds of the markets breaking through last years highs without seeing some hefty profit taking are extremely low.

That's why I've been lightening up on longs and applying a few more hedges over the past few days...

A few energy related stocks I'm trading today:

CLNE
NOG
TPLM
LNG
DUG

Disclosure: long positions in all

Trading Psychology- Lose the fear by accepting the truth about trading...

Where does fear come from?

Of course, since this is a trading blog the fear I'm talking about is trading fear.  Every trader, from novice to experienced, to professional, knows exactly what I'm talking about.  If you haven't felt it yet, you haven't been in this game for very long.  It's the lump in your throat, the queazy feeling in your stomach, the heart palpitations, or a mixture of all the above- right before you put on a trade.

So why does this happen?  Why are traders prone to 'freak out' right before putting on a trade?

There are multiple reasons for trading fear, and we're going to cover all of them over the next few weeks.  But more importantly, we'll cover ways to overcome fear.  And it's with a simple tactic... accepting the truth about trading.

More to come on this deep subject...