[isatrader]

Airgas (ARG) was said to show no sign of reversing its strong Stage 2 uptrend, and it was recommended as for additional buying on a pullback towards the 80-80.50 zone. The Trader Stop Loss was given as 78.99 and the Investor Stop Loss was given as 73.99

Trader stop - on the daily chart the last pivot low was 79.05 and so the 78.99 suggested stop loss position was just below the pivot low and was placed just under the whole point. The pivot low was a minor one which is not visible on the weekly chart, so it was a very close stop loss in this case with only minor support.

Investor stop - 73.99 was the recommended level, which was below the last major swing low of 75.78, and also the previous notable swing low before that also. The 30 week MA was at 72.49 and so I would have expected it to go under that as well, but Weinstein clearly decided it needed pressing closer above the 30 week MA on this occasion, but I don't have a specific reason as to why. A possible reason could be the distance between the 10 week and 30 week MAs being extended, and also the stop also would have been below the swing high following the November 2011 breakout which would have offered further support.

ATR distance to stops - For ARG the ATR(200) was 1.389 at the time of the recommendation and so:

• 0.73% to 1.09% ATR - Trader stop range
  
• 4.33% to 4.69% ATR - Investor stop range
  

Other observations - ARG had made a Stage 2 continuation move from a two year Stage 3 range, and this recommendation was for additional buying on a pullback. Volume had been declining over the previous year and so didn't meet the requirements of the method. Relative performance versus the S&P 500 had outperformed since the Stage 2 continuation and was still well above it's zero line. There was quite a big gap between the 10 week and 30 week MA, which may have explained the higher than usual investor stop loss position. Below are the weekly and daily charts