Bounce Risk for Selling Short

Stocks that are falling rapidly often have the illusion that they will never stop falling. The panic that settles into the mindset of an investor who is watching his or her profits and capital erode overnight can overwhelm a stock’s price action. So for a brief time, the stock can behave outside of what the chart patterns would suggest was reasonable. But the higher risk is always the bounce.

Stocks can bounce without warning. Huge up days that form in a downtrend can cause significant losses for short sellers.

A stock bounces because it hits a price point where:
1. buyers are waiting to go long
2. where large-lot short sellers are preparing to exit

Monthly and yearly highs are areas where there is risk for a bounce. These bounces are often caused by small-lot investors and traders perceiving this as a good place to buy a stock that has corrected. The old adage, “buy low and sell high,” prompts the uninformed to buy as a stock is running down without understanding the dynamics of a downtrend. So they buy at monthly and yearly highs when they are called out by the various news and trading chat forums: “XYZ has hit its 52-week price, this is a good time to buy XYZ.”

Another big bounce area is far more important: the monthly lows and yearly lows. This is the price range where the wiser bargain hunters and bottom fishers lurk around. They know that low area is solid support and that a downtrending correction isn’t going to last on a strong company. Therefore, lows pose even bigger risk of bounces that actually can reverse the downtrend, especially if the steep descent has been underway for some time.

A stock may nearly pierce through a sturdy support level, reach the yearly low and then suddenly make a V-shaped short-term bottom or shift sideways depending upon the strength of the stock and company. These sudden changes of trend catch many short traders unaware and create larger losses than monthly and yearly highs.

Sideways patterns also create sturdy support levels where large bounces can occur for the rapidly falling stock. Moving averages for long-term trendlines are another area of strong support where bounce risk is high.

How to avoid bounces for selling short:

Identify each area where a stock could bounce. This includes the highs and lows of sideways action from prior years. Identify long-term moving average support on weekly charts. Identify monthly and yearly the highs and lows.

After you have identified all support areas, determine if this support will be weak, moderate, or strong. Weak support will seldom cause problems for a falling stock and usually a resting day, at best, will form. Moderate support can cause a bounce that can take out tight stop losses and strong support can potentially wipe out a wider stop loss for a bigger loss.

It is important to calculate the point gain to the lean side when selling short because bounces can occur before the support is actually touched. And do not be fooled by the falling stock that runs just beyond the support level--often a small run beyond the lowest low is just a ‘gottcha’ sell short entry for bargain hunters. This is the area where you will find the larger reversal candle patterns.

Selling short is a faster-paced trading condition. It can be more lucrative with faster profits than the upside at times, but you must have plenty of experience to watch for high-risk areas in the downtrend and a strong mental attitude that allows you to cut losses quickly.