LULU closed

I bought this bought this because it had a nice divergence on the MACD, when it failed to go lower-- higher lows and it got a good move after earnings.  I was targeting a close of the gap to 57.25  But the overall markets started to sell pretty hard and although LULU held well for two days into the sell, on the third day it gave back over $2.50.  I had  hoped that it would  catch a bid given its relative strength and doubled my position with a tight stop. In hindsight,  I should have waited for the broad market to wage a come back or I could have held my first position longer and looked to take partial profits at the 55 mark.

But no real regrets for this trade given the choppiness of the market. Closed the position out for $163.  Nothing to brag about but it could have turned into a loss.

Playing Defense

The market has pulled off a couple of big down days in a row. Until recently, my positions have weathered the storm pretty well.   I'm still sitting on big profits. My stops should prevent a shark bite -- a single loss greater than 2% of portfolio.  As I see it, my biggest risk is having the market take out a number of my stops in short period.

The nasdaq shows 3 big day down days. But it was encouraging that it rallied about 29 points after hitting the lows on the day.  I caught a bit of the move day trading FB for +.60 move.  I don't like to day trade but when the move stalled I figured it was better to get out than to wait to see if the move continued tomorrow as FB was beat up pretty badly over the last week.

Given the choppiness, I've reduced my HCLP position by 1/3 and my RFMD  position by 1/2.   I completely closed LULU after my attempt to buy down was taken out.  There was a reversal towards the end of the day and the position would have worked out better.  But in choppy markets it is more prudent to take profits faster.