The most difficult thing for us to teach is when to bid and offer or sweep. To sweep means to pay the offer and potentially through the offer if you want to get long. I set my sweep key to pay the offer or through the offer by up to three cents. This is a matter of preference. Some traders … Read More
A Day on the Street
SMB offers the very best intraday equities training program on the Street. We meet hundreds of college students seeking an invitation from our desk. And many ask what it is like to trade with us. Before anyone is asked to accept an invitation we mandate that a candidate meet with traders on our desk. A candidate may ask any question … Read More
A Core
Most of the trades that intraday traders make are from move to move. We short a stock when it shows some temporary weakness and then cover when it slows into its downmove. These trades can be held for less than a second at times. But most good intraday traders also hold longer intraday positions. We hold a core position. Basically … Read More
Consolidation
My views about just trading with charts are well known on our desk. This is the most difficult way to start your trading career. This is like trading with one hand behind your back. Learning how to read the order flow is essential for most to be consistently profitable traders. Chart reading is best used to supplement reading the tape … Read More
Buying into a Pullback
EL was a good trading stock on Friday. EL traded between 24.60 and 25 for most of the Open. Then on higher intraday volume EL broke above its resistance level. EL traded up towards 26 and then stalled. Let’s discuss how to buy EL into a pullback. This is a stock I want to be long. It broke above intraday … Read More
The Cheetah and the Trader
I had an interesting conversation with a young trader from another firm today. This young trader pops into my office from time to time and talks trading. He is a very bright and competitive young man. And he is struggling. He killed it in October. But over the past two months he has dug himself a huge P&L hole. I … Read More
Trading AAPL After Hours after Jobs Announces Leave
Steve Jobs announced his leave of absence from AAPL after the Close. AAPL was halted. At 5 PM it resumed trading. Here was the news from briefing.com: Apple CEO Jobs announces medical leave of absence until the end of June (85.33 -2.38) -Update- Apple CEO Steve Jobs today sent the following email to all Apple employees: “Team, I am sure … Read More
The Shakeout
When I am trading I do the right thing. I am not concerned with my results. If a stock is a buy then I buy. If it’s a short then I get short. If my trade doesn’t work out then them’s the breaks as they say. And if I spot one of my better trading setups and it doesn’t work, … Read More