In my senior year of college, I hit the jackpot. No, I didn’t win the lottery. I did even better– I got the job I wanted in the markets. Let me repeat: *the* job. Note: the lesson is that if I can do it, then anyone can! Ever since I was 14, I knew that I wanted to be a … Read More
What’s Your Number?
If you hang around long enough in the investing or banking communities of New York or London, you’ll soon hear the infamous question: “What’s your number?”. The first time, you answer by rattling off your phone number; then you realize that the question has nothing to do with speaking on the phone. “Your number” is usually the number at which … Read More
How to Become One With Your Trading System
We’ve all heard the sad excuses after a bad run. The lame rationalizations. “I know it was through my stop, but I thought that it would come back”. “Yes, I saw the signal, but I just didn’t believe it” “I don’t know, I just froze” When someone is struggling, one way to lessen the pain is to rationalize it … Read More
Reversal Rehearsal
I have noticed recently a lot of money being made on the desk via reversal patterns. A reversal pattern is when a stock that has trended in one direction stops trending and then begins a new trend in the opposite direction. Reversal patterns can be much easier to trade than the initial trend as they usually unfold over a longer … Read More
How to Bounce Back From Failure in Trading
This is one blog post that I hope you never have to read. Why? Because it’s all about failure. The word “failure” has tons of connotations. Shame. Guilt. Disappointment. Anger. These are things that we try to avoid at all costs. If the world were perfect, you would never run into failure in your trading career. I hope that you … Read More
What Do You Do When You Hit Your Loss Limit?
Over the past 10 days, there have been two occasions where I hit my daily loss limit. Sounds like a tough stretch, but on a net basis it’s actually been positive thanks to some other good days. Mind you, I’m generally a disciplined trader, and in a dozen years of full-time trading I have broken my discipline countless times but … Read More
Trading Is All Psychology
The following news was released after the market closed. 16:31:20 FDA Panel Votes 20-2 In Favor of Approval For Vivus’ QnexaVivus, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) received excellent news on Wednesday as an FDA advisory panel has voted 20-2 in favor of approving the company’s weight-loss drug Qnexa. The panel’s decision is non-binding, but it is highly likely that the FDA will follow … Read More
Am I Trading Well?
One of the ways I evaluate my trading is by checking to see if I got back in a stock after being stopped out. As a pro trader I think risk first and profit second. Many times I will be stopped out of a position that trades through my stop price only to see it later reach my ultimate profit … Read More