A partner looks up at his scoreboard, which tracks the performance of traders, and sees one trader particularly in the Red. And it’s getting worse. He clicks on the trader’s ID and sees an open long position 1 point out of the money. The market is broken bad below SPY 125 on the Open. What’s worse is the firm has … Read More
Traders Ask: How Do I Develop Conviction?
I have a question for you: Is conviction something you have to earn?? I know the question is almost rhetorical. But I listen to the older/experienced traders before, during, and after the market on the Virtual Trading Floor and I hear the word conviction getting thrown around a lot. Especially when I’m listening to Marc Sperling. When Sperling is doing his … Read More
A theory on why you fade when you shouldn’t
I know an excellent trader who underperformed today mainly trading PCS. He faded the weakest stock in the market and now sits frustrated, dejected and angry. Pass him on a desk and you would see his cheeks red and the scowl of a defensive end ready to rip the head off of the opposing QB. I do not mean to … Read More
Your Daily Game Plan
Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. Aristotle One our trainees sent me an email over the weekend asking me to review … Read More
One Bad Trade
I made one bad trade today in VPRT. After the trade I shook my head and remarked to Steve how amateur my trade was. I was not pleased with myself as a trader. The result of the trade? A complete chop. A two point winner. I couldn’t agree more with Steve as he summarized my bad decision-making: “That could have … Read More
A market trading day
Today was a market trading day. For new and developing traders this is a very difficult trading day to master. Normally we focus on one or two stocks that are best for us and find set ups that make sense for us. On a day like today, a market trading day, you want to apply a different technique. Let’s discuss. … Read More
I am adding JNPR to my Banned List
In One Good Trade I wrote how I hated the way SNDK traded in the mid 2000’s. You could tell me what direction GS was headed and I still might not make money. Steve during his StockTwits TV broadcast called GS “one of the worst piece of $hit intraday trading stocks.” And he went to Wharton. During our SMB AM … Read More
Lessons and Levels from today’s trading session
Besides MM I really didn’t catch anything today. I paid for information on some important levels which perhaps will pay me tomorrow. I played for BRCM to trend above 38 and then 38.20 and then 38.50. But BRCM dropped out and never really drove. I have set an alert of above 38.80 for BRCM. If it holds above here we … Read More