Are You Still Focusing on Longer Term Intraday Trades?

Hi Bella,

I just finished reading your book One Good Trade and I wanted to thank you for writing it. I am trying to learn the craft of trading, and I found it to be entertaining and educational. Toward the end of the book you mention how in 2009 and 2010 you started moving toward longer term intraday positions and even holding stocks overnight. I realize a few years have gone by so I wanted to ask you if you’re still doing this. How has your strategy changed from 2010–2013? Also, in the book you mention the need to have a playbook with different trade setups, such as the one you have compiled over the years. Is your new book The Playbook a bunch of trade setups from your playbook?

Thanks so much. Have a great rest of your weekend.

@mikebellafiore

We still concentrate on longer intraday swing trades. I was chatting with an excellent pro trader the other day, and said we are mostly teaching our traders to intraday swing trade. The pro trader responded, “What is an intraday swing trade?” An intraday swing trade is what we call a Trade2Hold. We find a stock that has had fresh news of late, so a catalyst behind it. We look for the technicals, long and short, to align. We spot areas where the tape gives us an excellent risk/reward entry and then we try and capture multiple points.

In my next book The PlayBook there are many setups which you can co-opt. The book helps you build from your strengths develop a methodology for this, and leave you with the structure to build your PlayBook. You will learn how a pro trader thinks through a trade. Interesting characters are introduced from whom you can learn, empathize with, shake your head at, and each with a specific pattern to study. It is a very honest and personal look at the state of prop trading and what we all need to do to most capitalize on the future. As always you should laugh, turn the page, while contemporaneously experiencing numerous yellow highlighter moments. My sense is it is a big, important book, that will make a significant contribution the trading community. I hope you enjoy it.

Mike Bellafiore The PlayBook, One Good Trade