I meet with a ton of potential future SMB prop traders. Obviously there is a great deal of interest in those who wish to trade with us. Hey that’s part of my job. Luckily for me I get to screen everyone who walks in our doors. So I enjoy most of the interviews. There have been a few two minute interviews. … Read More
XLE Levels
The past two trading days there has been tremendous price action in XLE, crude, and related equities. I am not an expert on energy but I do know that 80 and now 77 are very important levels for XLE. Below 80 and 77 and you should look for weakness in the energy stocks. Above 80 and 77 and you should look for strength. Below … Read More
Picking Your Spots
We had a long discussion about picking your spots today with our desk. How many of you who are professional day traders feel as if you over-traded today? Today was a day where that was easy to do. But let’s take a look at the last 3 hours of the trading day and particularly with LEH and FNM and discuss … Read More
A Great Day for Two New Traders
Yesterday was a great day for our prop trading desk. My partner and our head trader killed it. One of our new traders who was a former Olympic trial swimmer put up a huge day. And on and on and on. But I want to highlight two of our new traders because we can all learn from them. For those … Read More
No FNM or FRE
During our AM Call we remarked that FNM or FRE are not good stocks to trade today for new traders. There is a very high likelihood that the government will announce a bailout plan and the stocks will get halted. You do not want to be in a position on either side if they are halted. The gaming stocks, LEH, … Read More
Take Advantage of this Opportunity
Our new traders love to hear “back in the day” stories. You know the late 90’s when day traders were making 6 figures a month. What was the most you ever made in one day is a frequent question. And I tell our prop traders the story about when the Fed cut rates surprisingly intraday by 50 basis points. Now … Read More
Are You Making Money?
We teach our day trading desk, SMB Capital, in New York City to check to see which stocks they are making money in. I supposed a new prop trader reading this might say, “How could I not know that? Or that seems like a complete waste of time.” You would be surprised. The human mind is a funny thing. It does not … Read More
Go Home Flat
We teach our day traders at SMB Capital to flatten out before the Close. We do so because they are learning how to trade and are not ready to take positions for extended periods of time. At the start of your career you should learn how to trade. Not load up on a position and hope for the best. Well … Read More