A lot of the work in trading is just sitting and watching. Yesterday the market was absolutely dead into the close. The S&P futures sat tightly in a 3 handle range.
At 3:45 EST, $MCP appeared towards the bottom of the Price Spike list of the SMB Radar. This was unusual because it hadn’t been on the list the entire day. Still, this could just be a large order causing a spike, so nothing to do but watch.
Within seconds $MCP climbed straight to the top of the list (first two arrows). This was very unusual. The radar uses volume as an input, so we know there is actual volume flowing into the stock – at a very aggressive rate. This was a gift for experienced momo traders (3 arrows indicate momo entries).
If you’re serious about trading professionally you must continue sit and watch, even when the market is dead. But you also need to know where to watch.
One Comment on “Patience Pays – $MCP”
Really good post.
I especially like the entry point arrows on the tick chart. The arrows are a great visual of a trader’s playbook IF/THEN statements in action. Entries one and two are in my book. Three is a little problematic to me, price is extended and a double top high likely IMO.
More of these types of charts and maybe a discussion of the IF/THEN logic would be very instructive!
Best,
-B