I started trading AAPL around 10AM this morning. I noticed it held its small gap from the Open and that each time it was dropping below 202 it would quickly recover. I also noticed that each time it popped above 202.50 that it would fail to hold the bid and drop back down. My thought process was that AAPL had … Read More
Part of Being a Successful Trader
For those of you who trade as part of a desk I’m sure you have heard expressions like these a thousand times: “I can’t believe I missed that move in XYX. I was wating for that breakout for a week!” “I got stopped out in ABC then it took off!” “I missed getting hit on the bid by a penny … Read More
The Open Today
I wasn’t feeling that great on the Open today. How you feel both physically and mentally can have a huge impact on your trading results. If you are tired you will process information less quickly and in today’s highly volatile market this will put you at a severe disadvantage. If you are feeling worn out from being tossed around in … Read More
What Type of Market Are We In?
We are in a downtrending market! What? We are in a downtrending market!! What? downtrend!!!!!! What does this mean for short term traders? Short stocks if they pop to previous support levels If the market trends up for two days then pray for a third day gap up so you can short the market!! Trade with less size as downtrending … Read More
Stock Selection
I received an email yesterday from a reader who asked if I could discuss why we choose to avoid certain stocks. What I would first like to address is the idea of stock selection in general. At SMB we have a very specific methodology to select the best stocks for intraday trading. As most who have read our blog on … Read More
Trading Our Best AM Idea – January 29, 2010
Our “Best AM Idea” that we tweet each morning as part of our morning roundup blog is a trade idea that is based on all of the information we have prior to the market’s Open. Yesterday, I suggested that FCX be bought on a pull back to 71.50. FCX has traded down about 20% since reaching a 52 week high … Read More
A Day Trader’s Dream
You couldn’t ask for anything more than AAPL provided today. A selloff that began in the premarket from 208 that ended when a large buyer began accumulating at 203.40. An uptrend that once above 208 offered more than five points of upside. And a downtrend into the close that began with a hard down move through 211 and ended from … Read More
A Missed Entry
All experienced traders understand the importance of a proper entry. Opening a position at the right price is usually the difference between a large chop and a small loss. Just ask Dov Bar about his first three entries in GS today. All small rips because the entries weren’t that great (he might say different). When he got a great entry … Read More