Wall Street was set Tuesday to welcome the new year with strong opening gains, as global markets rallied and investors awaited U.S. manufacturing data as well as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting.

Investors are awaiting the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing report for December which is due at 10 a.m. Eastern time, with the manufacturing PMI expected to rise slightly from 52.7% in November. In the afternoon, at 2 p.m. Eastern, the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee will release minutes from its Dec. 13 monetary-policy meeting.

Technical analysis for today’s open trades on PZZI, RENN, HDY, QPSA, MCP, ZAGG and USAT can be found here by watching this video

In 2012  I’m adding a feature to my commentary called ‘Today’s Tip’ in which I’ll cover something about the stock market relative to the current swing trades.

Today’s Tip…

In general it’s always a good idea to stop at your entry for an even trade once your up 3-5% if you don’t lock it in and the market slips. There are times when it’s acceptable to hold your position, namely if you feel very strongly the stock will head back up and you’ve only picked up a 1/3 to 1/2 your size. Again, once you get green on a trade it’s wise to move your stop to even or better assuring that in most cases barring any really bad news you’re going to break even or better.