“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” You become a better trader by finding the plays that make sense to you and trading more of them with more size. “It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” It’s the thousand little things done well before the chop that make … Read More
Old School Lessons from Mike Bellafiore
Mike Bellafiore, Partner at SMB Capital, and author of One Good Trade: Inside the Highly Competitive World of Proprietary Trading was featured in the recent issue of SFO Magazine. In his article, Old School Lessons For Mastering Today’s Markets, Bella discusses what it takes to become a great trader in today’s changing market. A must read for new traders! The … Read More
Opening Range Play (MON)
On my latest StockTwits TV show, SMB University, I was asked about trading right on the Open. Often new traders struggle with this time period for two reasons: a) they miscalculate their downside risk before entering the trade b) they do not have a playbook with trades that work for the open. Well let’s try and correct some of (b) … Read More
Ten Mistakes by BP a Trader Should Never Make
1. No Exit Plan. There was no exit plan for if the rig (RIG?) exploded. Before every trade we must decide where and how we will exit BEFORE entering the trade. 2. Live to Play Another Day. It is not definitive that BP is a viable company going forward even with 6.08 Billion in quarterly profits. 1) When will the … Read More
Traders Ask: What is the Proper Exit on a Swing Trade?
Reader Alex asked: My name is Alex and I’ve been swing trading for two years. I’ve been reading SMB’s blog for a while, and really enjoy the posts on trader development. I have recently journaled a question that emerged during two of my recent short trades. I believe that this question relates to intraday trading as well. Depending on conditions … Read More
Maximizing My Weaknesses
Today I maximized my weaknesses. I found the set up that is a trading weakness for my system, traded it with size, and now sit with a P&L that represents the worst of my trading. In one sense this is quite impressive. I did not just underperform this open. I did as poorly as I possible could. Fresh news … Read More
Traders Ask: Simulation
I received this question from Reader Dhroov: I want to thank you and your team for all the time and valuable information that you put into your blog and videos. I look forward to clicking on my browsers’ “SMB’ favorites link each and every day to catch up on what you and your team are thinking and writing about. I … Read More
Traders Ask- Why Hold?
Yesterday I posted Important Intraday Resistance Level (BIDU). Tapetrader followed up with this excellent question: Bella: I have a question regarding holding BIDU. At 1pm it was the lasttime BIDU touched the 72.5 lvl. What followed was sideways consolidation for a long period of time, and some spike ups and what looks like higher highs. Even though 72.5 is a … Read More