Trading is a tough profession.  Every day you need to figure out a way to make money.  During the first couple of years of your trading career it is important to be in the easiest plays.  One such play involves getting long above a recent support level in a stock.  The more recently the level was important as support the better a trade it will be for an intraday trader.  Also, it is a better trade if the stock has had a significant move off of the  price level.  Once I become aware of an important support level I will set a price alert on my platform.  If the stock gets to that price again I will make a trade.

Last week CHK was In Play because of the BP takeout rumor.  The day after it ran up to 26 there was profit taking.  In the afternoon CHK touched $22 and bounced 1 point.  I set an alert on my platform the next day for $22.10.  When CHK got to $22 I got long.  It never traded below $21.94 (my stop was below $21.85) and popped to $23.50.  I made a huge chop.  One other trader on our desk who mentioned this important level in our AM meeting also made a chop.

The next day I mentioned this trade in our AM Meeting.  I was disappointed that more traders on our desk hadn’t taken advantage of this “easy money”.  A couple of days later CHK bounced off of $22 again.  At the end of the day when I was checking our desk’s numbers it was nice to see that over 30 traders had placed a trade in CHK.

When you are a young trader who is working on developing your craft please do yourself a huge favor and don’t pass up on these great risk/reward opportunities.