Category Archive

Posting a Personal Best

Bella02/23/2010General Comments, Mike Bellafiore's (Bella's) Blogs6 Comments

We have been waiting for WFMI to explode for days. Above 34 and then 34.30 were levels to add size. During our AM meeting GMan pounded the table about buying above 34 and then 34.30. One of our developing traders did and posted a personal best. Chop Rosie! Why did we like this set up? The day after earnings WFMI … Read More

How to Make $3k in 30 Seconds

Bella02/22/2010Mike Bellafiore's (Bella's) Blogs18 Comments

Ok so I was honest and shared that I got ripped in DNDN when it dropped 16 points in 40 seconds. And I was one the chumps who got their RMBS shorts busted after a huge chop. But today the trading Gods smiled on me. There was breaking news in MIL (Millipore Corp). TMO (Thermo Fisher Scientific) it was … Read More

Breaking Your Keyboard

Bella02/20/2010Mike Bellafiore's (Bella's) Blogs, Trading Psychology14 Comments

I know that when you trade it’s best to stay calm. And busting your keyboard is not keeping cool. I get and have blogged that you make poor trading decisions when you are not in the zone. But having sat on a prop desk the past 12 years of my life I have heard and seen many smashed, broken, and … Read More

Insufficient Trader Training

Bella02/13/2010Mike Bellafiore's (Bella's) Blogs2 Comments

In our smallest office in our downtown Manhattan digs I was an actor in this conversation. “We make trading too hard,” said the new, gregarious trader. “I am not sure what you mean. Trading is about learning set ups and then mastering the fifteen subsets of each play,” I replied. “See that is where I think I go wrong. I think trading … Read More

Franchise

Bella02/10/2010Mike Bellafiore's (Bella's) Blogs2 Comments

Suppose your favorite college team recruited a promising forward. Let’s call him Franchise. Suppose you learned Franchise showed up 20 minutes before game time, dressed, did some light stretching, and then headed for a seat on the bench. Perhaps your favorite college team is covered by a terrific beat writer, sharing interesting tidbits via a team blog that reported Franchise … Read More