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It's a Frustrating Time for Momentum Traders, but There Are Glimmers of Hope

Checking out a few momentum stocks that recently have lost ground shows selling may be drying up around their most recent lows.
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Tuesday was a great day for folks invested in Ford Motor (F) , Occidental Petroleum (OXY) , Deere & Co. (DE) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) , but it was miserable for growth-oriented traders looking at small-caps or tech stocks. However, we've seen this type of rotation plenty of times before. And while it's frustrating for short-term traders such as me who tend to trade momentum stocks, it's all part of the process. On a positive note, I was pleased to see selling dry up in many stocks as they tested new swing lows.

On Monday, I noted that stocks such as Unity Software (U) , CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) and DigialOcean Holdings (DOCN) looked bearish. And while they've all lost significant ground over the past few two days, I was encouraged to see selling cut off as prices dipped beneath (or close to) the December lows.

Take a look at these charts. While the trends are still bearish across multiple time frames, we can be happy that Tuesday's selling dried up around the most recent lows.

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I'll admit the rebound from Tuesday's low wasn't awe-inspiring, but at least the test of those December lows didn't attract new sellers. The first step in a possible price reversal is seeing new highs cut off buying and new lows cut off selling.

As far as short-term trading is concerned, I do expect day time frame scalpers to re-enter the market on the long side if these beaten-down growth stocks test and hold their lows from Tuesday's. Red openings that turn green are always an easy way to manage day time frame risk.

And rather than flipping through a dozen different charts, the easiest way to determine if traders are rotating back into the high-growth space for a trade is to keep an eye on the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) . If you're willing to day trade and confident in your ability to cut your risk if those December lows around $90 break (especially on a closing basis), you can look to trade ARKK long on a red open once it turns green.

At the time of publication, Byrne was long JPM.