Snowflake is a cloud computing-based data warehousing company based in Montana, named after the founders' love for winter sports. I like winter sports, and the ticker SNOW is aesthetically appealing in my portfolio.
The trade setup was straightforward. The company IPO'd in 2020 at $220, and after one quarter that saw investors take price up above $400 per share, all post-IPO gains were given back by mid-2021, and price got down to as low as $180.
Between March - July 2021, SNOW formed an inverted Head and Shoulders bottom, reflected by the blue curved drawings - a left shoulder, a "head", and a right shoulder. Once price broke above the pattern boundary, I reached a measured target of $320 by applying the width of the pattern (from $180 to $250, or $70) to the breakout level of $250.
$70 + $250 = $320
This measurement criteria is based on the works of John Magee and Robert D. Edwards in Technical Analysis of Stock Trends (5th edition, 1948). My stop-loss, the "Last Day Rule", and my limit order placement is based on teachings from my friend and active trading legend Peter L. Brandt (Diary of A Professional Commodity Trader, PeterLBrandt).
I've now covered 3/4 of this position for a gain of 28% (70/250). My maximum risk, assuming my stop loss order filled peacefully at its activation price was only 4% (10/250). The risk to reward setup at the time of entry was then (4%) to 28%, or 1 to 7.
Snowflake is probably in line for further price gains, but I have no reason to believe I have an edge at these levels.