What this new trader learned on Day 1 (166 lessons)

BellaGeneral Comments

Our new class started part I of their training this week, with the SMB Foundation. Some say, “The only way to learn how to trade is trade.” Here is some evidence contrary to that position. One trainee with past trading experience sent me his notes, without solicitation, as to what he learned on Day 1 of our training program.  He … Read More

Building your trading team

BellaGeneral Comments

Performance isn’t exclusively about skill and strategy.  In fact, one top coach leaves all of this out of his top three keys to building a team. This is interesting to us as traders, as some of us trade in teams or something like teams, for improved performance. Team Trading is part III of our training for new traders on our … Read More

There is another way to a higher PnL

BellaGeneral Comments

In this blog post, I will challenge you to find another way to a higher PnL.  We will use a trade review from a conscientious trader to teach  this principle. This is a common mistake of stunted thinking made by developing traders. It is one where human nature leads us against our self-interest. If you can learn to think differently … Read More

SMB in Singapore for InvestFair 2016

BellaGeneral Comments

Mike Bellafiore will be a Keynote Speaker in Singapore for Invest-Fair 2016. INVEST Fair is ShareInvestor’s annual flagship event in Singapore for investors and traders. Jointly collaborated with The Business Times, Singapore’s largest business publication, INVEST Fair is an unrivaled event- “the LARGEST Investment/Trading Event in Singapore!” Here is an ad from The Sunday Times (Singapore): If you are a … Read More

How this Bearish Strategy Beat the Index by 288%… Even in a Bull Market

smbcapitalSMB Options

Bearish-Butterfly-John-Locke-SMB-Options-Tribe-Income-Hedge-High-Probability

Please note: Trades discussed below are hypothetical and simulated for educational purposes only. Review the options risk disclosure. The graph below compares the Bearish Butterfly vs. the S&P 500 index. If you had traded the rule-based Bearish Butterfly Strategy for the past 5 years, you could have outperformed the index by 288% — even though the market was bullish during … Read More

Damn right we talkin about practice!

BellaGeneral Comments1 Comment

I had an informative phone chat with a counterpart of mine at a large international prop firm.  They house thousands of traders globally.  They, like us, back all of their traders.  They, like us, have their own proprietary trading technology that only firm traders can use.  They, like us, trade many different products. He, like me, trains all of the … Read More

How to trade bigger

BellaMike Bellafiore's (Bella's) Blogs1 Comment

In our recent survey we asked you for lesson ideas to include in SMBU Premium 2016. Many of your responses included topics related trading size, trading bigger, and questions like “how do I trade bigger?” Here’s the short answer: Identify your trading strengths Trade your best setups more often and with larger size as I wrote in The PlayBook Trade … Read More