A frustrated new trader stepped into my office to discuss a few specific trades from yesterday. He got wicked out of a good short in CVC and a few longs in C into the close. He was looking for some guidance. First there were a lot of things this new trader did well. He was in the right stocks. He … Read More
What You Might Learn in Your First Weeks in Trading
Below is a great example of what you might learn in your first weeks of trading. Hi Bella, Friday was my second day trading live. So far I’m up $72 on day one and up $72 on day two. I could have done much better on Friday, but I chipped back bits by bits during the mid day. I wrote … Read More
When you deserve to be screamed at as a trader
A partner looks up at his scoreboard, which tracks the performance of traders, and sees one trader particularly in the Red. And it’s getting worse. He clicks on the trader’s ID and sees an open long position 1 point out of the money. The market is broken bad below SPY 125 on the Open. What’s worse is the firm has … Read More
Traders Ask: How Do I Develop Conviction?
I have a question for you: Is conviction something you have to earn?? I know the question is almost rhetorical. But I listen to the older/experienced traders before, during, and after the market on the Virtual Trading Floor and I hear the word conviction getting thrown around a lot. Especially when I’m listening to Marc Sperling. When Sperling is doing his … Read More
A theory on why you fade when you shouldn’t
I know an excellent trader who underperformed today mainly trading PCS. He faded the weakest stock in the market and now sits frustrated, dejected and angry. Pass him on a desk and you would see his cheeks red and the scowl of a defensive end ready to rip the head off of the opposing QB. I do not mean to … Read More
Your Daily Game Plan
Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. Aristotle One our trainees sent me an email over the weekend asking me to review … Read More
One Bad Trade
I made one bad trade today in VPRT. After the trade I shook my head and remarked to Steve how amateur my trade was. I was not pleased with myself as a trader. The result of the trade? A complete chop. A two point winner. I couldn’t agree more with Steve as he summarized my bad decision-making: “That could have … Read More
No Vote, more uncertainty
Word just broke that there will be no vote on Speaker Boehner’s bill tonight. This will breed more uncertainty to the markets. This is not HardBall or Nightline so I will skip to our thoughts as a trader firstly. I will watch Asia to see how their markets react. So far they are down almost 1 percent as I write. … Read More