Thursday March 10th was a day many traders had circled on their calendars. Often the greatest short term trading opportunities will occur on days where major economic news is announced. The monthly jobs number, quarterly GDP, FED rate decisions and ECB monetary policy fall into this category. Thursday the ECB was set to announce what steps it was planning to … Read More
TICK TICK TICK tools at this trader dinner
Last night our trading desk grabbed some Mexican and beers with our top traders for dinner. Generally we trade stocks with a news catalyst (we say Stocks In Play), but recently we have been focusing on market trades. SPY, UVXY, DWTI, OIH, SCO are products of interest. Many would assume these traders would sit around predicting the bottom in oil, … Read More
Trading Insights on Weight Watchers, McDonald’s, SPY, and American Express
Mike Bellafiore was interviewed for Benzinga Premarket Prep this week. He gave his trading thoughts on Weight Watchers, McDonald’s, SPY, American Express, MMM, ACAT, CTXS. Here is what you can learn as a trader from this discussion: The reversal trade in WTW that Mike and SMB made and he is asked about in detail The key level to watch in … Read More
My Thought Process– $SPY
In three trading days we moved from a range bound low volatility market to an environment of fear and chatter of market collapses. It is more difficult to predict price patterns when extreme volatility and fear are in play versus when the market is more subdued and market participants actions can be more easily anticipated. As traders we move into a “move to move” mentality … Read More
One Mistake Your Broker is Glad You’re Making
A common mistake that new and developing traders make in the options market is to trade strategies that involve high commissions relative to the earning potential. We often see newer options traders applying great options strategies to the wrong instruments. Option trading strategies that involve frequent management to control risk can be commission intensive. This is especially true if you’re … Read More
Today’s Trading Highlights
Here are some quick highlights from today’s trading. In the AM meeting, Steve talked about the 208 resistance level that $SPY had failed to hold above numerous times. This was a level to be short from. With the overnight session looking calm and almost strong, this flew in the face of price action at the moment. The level held once again … Read More
Expanding Volatility– $SPY $VXX
I share some thoughts on trading adjustments we make in a market with expanding volatility. Steven Spencer is the co-founder of SMB Capital and SMB University which provides trading education in stocks, options, forex and futures. He has traded professionally for 18 years. His email address is: [email protected]. no relevant positions
Shorting The SPY (And Living To Write About It)
I initiated a pre-market short in the SPY on Thursday June 5th at 193.50. I added to the position as it popped to 194 following the ECB announcement of some monetary stimulus. It was the first time I had shorted the SPY in about six weeks. The risk on the trade was about 40 cents from my average entry and … Read More