Before the open we identified 55.80 as an important level in RIMM. I will let you decide how important this level was to you. But I will make an important trading point. If you love a level then you have to be willing to trade off of this level a few times. RIMM is an excellent example from today. Many … Read More
Traders Ask: When Do We Switch From Momentum to a Position Trade?
Bella, I have attached a couple plays from this week. I don’t have the the tape for them but I explain it with the arrows. I also had a quick question. Today i my worst day trading NYX. There was so much volume done in a tight range that I expected an explosive move up once the stock showed its … Read More
Turning Anger into Trading Performance
@Zmoose12 wrote an honest and excellent post about his negative March that left him sick to his stomach. I sat in my office yesterday listening to an underperforming trader share how miserable his past losses have made him feel. We have learned from The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin that we can use this anger as fuel to trigger … Read More
Loss Aversion and Irrational Focus
A passage from The Economist that may help our trading- The referee’s an anchor: A new book looks at the behavioral economics of sport “Loss aversion”, the tendency for people to care more about avoiding a loss than about making a similar-sized gain, is rife even among the greatest champions. Evidence from a huge database of near-identical putts shows that, along with … Read More
Knowing when a stock should move can be more important than picking its direction
Most traders make a whole lot about picking the direction of a stock. A very important skill talked little about is knowing when a stock should move. After you see something of the Tape you know the stock is now likely to move. We saw that a few times in PCX. Sometimes this skill is more important than actually picking … Read More
Traders Ask: How Do You Detect Overconfidence?
Hi guys After a rotten 12 months I’ve had a cracker of a month not just with the recent bull run but with the preceding drop also. This has occurred after stepping back, refining a trading entry methodology based around volume (exit and money management are already in place) and focusing on this play. Obviously I’m proud of myself, but pride … Read More
The Shake, GMan, the Newbs and ETP
50.50 was the important technical level we were hawking in ETP. Stock In Play. We have our level. ETP opens below, does tons of volume just below the level, and then holds above 50.50. Long right? Easy right? Well if only trading were that easy. Yes we want to be long. But can we stay in the long while responsibly controlling … Read More
No Excuses
I am too tired to rip through charts. This market is too hard. This market is too slow. It’s too nice out to stay for the close. I have to meet some buddies for drinks. I need a faster computer. My platform sucks. My firm doesn’t care. If only someone taught me (fill in the blank). I am not smart … Read More