It must be good to be a PhD quant for a hedge fund with plenty of money to spare. It is no secret that PhD quants get paid very well for the value they add to a fund. The funny thing is that a vast majority of these geniuses will hardly ever be good active equity traders. Yes thats right, … Read More
Talking Yourself Out of the Market
So everyday when the trading session begins in New York I pride myself in being able to gauge what kind of day it might be and base my aggression and ultimate moneymaking potential on that judgement. Some of the factors that I use to base my judgement on are the volume and potential moves of stocks that are in play. … Read More
Film Time
One great tool that is used on our desk is a screen recorder that allows us to record our trading in real time for later review and critique. This is a lot like game-time (or practice) films that any athlete is familiar with. The quote was always “the films don’t lie” as your were captured in slow motion missing that … Read More
wicked oil
I am spending my fourth of july weekend in Boston visiting my college roommate. While at a BBQ last night I got a chance to speak with a few wicked smart MIT kids. Not surprinsingly these kids have an IQ comparable to the price of oil but when it comes to the stock market most make the same mistakes as … Read More
Statistics, chocolate chip cookies and trading
If homemade chocolate chip cookies are made and I eat one, there is a 100 percent chance that I will eat many, many more. If I fade a strong stock, there is a 70 percent chance that this trade will result in a loss. Last nite we were visiting friends and our host made some chocolate chip cookies. I ate one … Read More
July 3rd Recap
Today’s holiday shortened trading day was another great day for SMB’s young traders. As I mentioned yesterday I was looking at JRCC and RIMM for potential bounces and was focused on the jobs number for a trading cue for the day. The jobs number was benign and so the market initially reacted positively. I sold my JRCC and RIMM positions … Read More
Sit In Your Seat
I am a process guy. It’s the stuff that goes into getting results that is much more important to me and as a result our prop trading desk at SMB Capital. I love to see our guys do the right things. And the past two days have been examples of our traders doing the little things necessary to trade successfully. … Read More
Market In Trouble–July 2nd
After yesterday’s strong bounce the market failed to have a second consecutive up day. There was steady selling in multiple sectors all afternoon. Tech and Energy in particular got hit hard into the close. Energy stocks were selling off despite oil setting new time highs. If the tech selloff continues tomorrow we will breach the 2008 lows and may start … Read More
