In September and October of 2008 the young traders on our desk put up ridiculous numbers. Their aggressive instincts were rewarded by the unusual level of volatility. But then their aggressive instincts were severely punished in the months that followed. They were slow to adapt to changing market conditions. By December of 2008 it no longer made sense to make … Read More
Your Job is Not to Make Money
What do all of these things have in common? We took down our leaderboard at our firm a few months ago. Today one of our traders left early because he got stopped out. The other day I was interviewing a candidate for our desk who defined a good trading day by how much he made or lost. What is your … Read More
Our Approach Makes the Most Sense (Really)
When I began trading in 1996 we identified the stocks we were going to trade from something called the “ticker”. This window that appeared on our trading platform identified stocks that were moving. We were taught to get long stocks that were going up and short stocks that were going down. We were momentum traders with state of the art … Read More
A Last Week in August to Remember – AIG
I wrote last week that the last week in August is historically uneventful. I went on StockTwits TV and said the same thing. I wrote in my blog “Vacation….Chop!” that you ought to take a break. I suggested that the last week in August or the first week in September are generally excellent weeks to vacation. I have some new … Read More
Optimal Trading Day
This Sunday on StockTwits TV at 8:30 PM I will be discussing an Optimal Trading Day. I will discuss how some define an Optimal Trading Day, how not to define one, and offer a suggestion as to how to define an Optimal Trading Day. What I mean by Optimal Trading Day is what is a great day for you. What … Read More
Reading the Tape with Gman: How to Read the Tape
Gman, head trader at SMB Capital, wrote an excellent article for Wall Street Cheat Sheet about Reading the Tape. Gman discusses how learning this important skill helps traders determine the buying and selling pressure in a stock and also helps traders know when to load up in a position.
SMB in TheStreet.com – AIG Shares Soar on Speculation
Mike Bellafiore, partner at SMB Capital, was cited yesterday in an article on TheStreet.com about the latest developments at AIG. You can read the full article here. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!
Vacation….Chop!
Today after the Close we talked about vacation. When to take it. What to get out of it. And why it is important. Let’s discuss. You cannot trade everyday. You will burn out. Your trading will suffer. You will make less for the year if you do not take time to recharge as opposed to trading everyday. Danny … Read More