The stock I was alluding to in my first post was AMZN. It had been trending up for five days and most of our trades have been on the long side. I mentioned in the morning meeting that 147 would be a 50% move since the gap up on earnings so I would like for signs of a top as … Read More
How Teaching Makes Me a Better Trader
Teaching new traders how to trade has made me a better trader. Below are five things I have learned about trading by teaching. 1) I have cemented the statistically profitable trades that work intraday. Being forced to teach others trading plays has made me recognize exactly which plays work best for me. 2) Video review with other traders increases my screen time … Read More
Focus on The Fundamentals
Wouldn’t it be great if every day you could turn on your trading platform at 9:25AM, quickly type up a few stocks, and then start trading the Open? Woudn’t it be great if every day you could buy/short 5,000 shares at some great technical level and cash out for 10K by 10:00AM? Wouldn’t it be great if the stocks you … Read More
One Good Trade
We evaluate our trading at SMB on the process. If you focus on the process instead of the result in any endeavor in life your chances at success are much greater. Too often people focus on the results. When you confuse a good outcome with good work you are bound to form bad habits that will harm you in the … Read More
“Help Me Help You”
One of the amazing benefits of being part of a prop desk is that we all make more money individually by sharing ideas. Important levels are shared via call outs on the desk, via our intraday alerts software, during video review sessions (VRS), and during our Stocks In Play call before the Open. It’s a constant battle to get those … Read More
Using Longer Term Levels Intraday
I want to discuss two stocks today that touched important longer term levels. There are several ways that an intraday trader can use an important longer term level. The first is as a price target. If a stock has been trending down recently and there is a major support level ten points lower then you can focus on trading that … Read More
Understanding Inflection Points
A core part of SMB’s trading philosophy is identifying inflection points in the stocks we trade each day. These are prices where battles take place between buyers and sellers. After a battle is over a stock will typically move very powerfully away from these prices. Sometimes stocks will touch these prices two, three, or even four times in a day. … Read More
Ya Gotta Be Flexible
As an intraday trader I need to make many adjustments during each trading session. I have to determine if a stock is a short, a long, or a no trade. I may also make adjustments in how I am entering and exiting my position. If I don’t keep an open mind it is impossible to make the adjustments necessary to … Read More