The theme for Steve Spencer’s 2012 Webinar Series will be “Do The Right Thing”. The first Webinar of the year will break down several recent trading setups and how following a higher time frame trend can make you more money and cause you less heartache. As short term traders it is easy to flip back and forth betwen 1, 5 … Read More
Nasty Is As Nasty Does
On February 7th we discussed CSTR in the AM Meeting. It was gapping higher on a better than expected earnings announcement. But the price action in the pre-market was erratic. There were no clear pre-market trends and when it moved above/below s/r levels it would quickly reverse. This is a stock that I will not touch on the Open. Stocks … Read More
I Deserved To Lose More
(post originally written February 10th 2012) We identified FSLR as an In Play stock this morning (link to story from Benzinga Pro). It was gapping lower in the pre-market to a recent support level. As a trader part of my job is to figure out what other traders and investors will do in any given situation. In the case of … Read More
Can You Tell The Difference?
There are three ways short term traders lose money: incorrect analysis, expectancy (a certain % of trades just don’t work), or making trades based on emotion (this one is a biggy for most). Take a look at the price action from GMCR and QCOM after they reported earnings. Since the initial down moves on the Open one has been a … Read More
The AMZN Trade
Here is the followup from my earlier post titled “The Value Added Tweet“. I will break down my thoughts in bullet points to move this along so I can try to get some sleep. AMZN has a history of being bought on large gap downs after earnings. Even if it doesn’t fill gaps it still is capable of having large … Read More
The Value Added Tweet
I have been on Twitter for for almost three years and have tweeted about 2,000 times. I have found Twitter to be an extension of my personality for the most part. I tend not to offer ideas unless they are well thought out and therefore feel comfortable sharing them with others. I am amazed at the almost stream of consciousness … Read More
The Blowup
As someone who has been in the trading industry for over 15 years I am familiar with many traders and firms that have “blown up” over the years. The most recent public example of this was MF Global. Billions wagered on Sovereign European debt brought MF to bankruptcy. Probably the most famous blowup of all time was LTCM, which was … Read More
Markets Change And So Must I
I received the following thoughtful email from a reader and former SMB student the other day: Steve, From your recent email: /* Simple chart set ups are just opportunities for you to consider a trade. They are not a signal to just make a trade. Skill is needed to determine when an excellent risk/reward is present. Skill is needed to … Read More