Archive for May 2009

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One Trick Pony

May 23rd, 2009 | By | Category: Mike Bellafiore's (Bella's) Blogs
I get too many emails from, I meet too many people who, I hear of too many stories of traders who live off of one play. Commonly this play is as follows: a trader sees a big bid and they step in front or they see a big offer and they step in front. This is my definition of scalping. This is a play that ought to be in your playbook. But it should not be your entire playbook. Let's discuss. I met with an ambitious developing trader recently unhappy with his firm. He reached out to one of our traders and some how figured out how to parlay that into a meeting with me. His records are solid for a new trader. Bright, good background, realistic learning curve, nice young man. We all liked Read more [...]

Tags: , , , Posted in Mike Bellafiore's (Bella's) Blogs | 7 comments


Anatomy of a Rip

May 21st, 2009 | By | Category: Steven Spencer (Steve's) Blogs, Trading Theory
I mentioned last week that I would blog the next time I took a rip of more than 1K.  Unfortunately,  I ripped up a lot more than that today.  There were several reasons why I took this unnecessary loss and they were all my fault.  Sometimes as a trader you will take a large loss due to market circumstances.  But the reality is that most times a trader takes a large loss it is due to trading error. My rip today was in MS.  What even makes the rip more painful is that I caught a great move off of the bottom from 10:30AM and was up a lot of money in it.  If you look at the chart below you can see that after a strong move up from 27.77 that MS was consolidating at the high of the day.  I Read more [...]

Tags: , , Posted in Steven Spencer (Steve's) Blogs, Trading Theory | No Comments »


Center of the Green

May 21st, 2009 | By | Category: Mike Bellafiore's (Bella's) Blogs
Trading is about skill development and discipline.  A huge advantage that day traders have over most is our trading skills.  Most can't grind it out and make the spread.  Most traders can't play the momentum, exit, and then flip their positions.  But we are also judged on our discipline.  And certain days call for restraint.  And we must recognize such days.  Today was one of them. When you first learn to play golf, you try and perfect the 150 yard shot.  So with a 9 iron you practice at your local range on this distance.  And finally you develop this shot.  And then you play. But not all 150 yards shots are created equal.  Sometimes the weather is perfect and your ball is in the Read more [...]

Tags: , , , Posted in Mike Bellafiore's (Bella's) Blogs | 7 comments


SMB on CNBC HALFTIME REPORT (in the studio)

May 21st, 2009 | By | Category: General Comments, Jeff Tomasulo's Blogs
Jeff Tomasulo, senior trader at SMB Capital, appeared today in the studio on CNBC's Fast Money Halftime Report. This is must see TV. Watch the clip here and leave your comments on this blog. Best of luck with your trading! Don't forget to follow us on twitter. Read more [...]

Tags: , , Posted in General Comments, Jeff Tomasulo's Blogs | No Comments »


Let It Breathe

May 20th, 2009 | By | Category: Mike Bellafiore's (Bella's) Blogs
As intraday trader we seek catalysts. By catalysts I mean something that will now make our stock move. And when we find a catalyst we then expect our stock to move immediately. But sometimes we need to let our stock breathe. Let's discuss. There was an epic battle at 42 yesterday in STT. A secondary was announced at 39. Buyers came packing some heat at 42. Sellers were ready with their hand grenades. There was a battle. Who would prevail? Time passed and a few on our desk moved on. There was a whole lot of buying and selling going on at 42 but no moving. There was a fake breakdown to 41.60. There were a few fake breakouts to 42.20. But really the stock wasn't moving. And now it was 10:30PM, Read more [...]

Tags: , , , , Posted in Mike Bellafiore's (Bella's) Blogs | 4 comments


SMB on CNBC HALFTIME REPORT

May 19th, 2009 | By | Category: General Comments, Jeff Tomasulo's Blogs
Jeff Tomasulo, senior trader at SMB Capital, appeared today on CNBC's Fast Money Halftime Report. Watch the clip here and leave your comments on this blog. Best of luck with your trading! Don't forget to follow us on twitter. Read more [...]

Tags: , , Posted in General Comments, Jeff Tomasulo's Blogs | No Comments »


Trying Too Hard

May 19th, 2009 | By | Category: General Comments
Today was one of my better days in the last week. This was not a coincidence as the stock I was trading was very in play and I was respecting the levels. My recent trading struggles have been all self-inflicted. Let's discuss. It all started with COF. COF issued their secondary offering and underwriters were trying to support the stock at that price(27.75). With COF, I was simply trying too hard. When I try too hard I take bigger size and I do not trade into my position. When this happens I am taking on more risk than I should and am not able to handle the small ticks against my price. After getting ripped up in COF, I then shorted MGM below 10.75, an important level from earnings. Trying Read more [...]

Tags: , , , Posted in General Comments | 2 comments


AOC Friday 5-1

May 19th, 2009 | By | Category: General Comments
Sharing information is very important on our desk. This helps newer traders learn more quickly and keeps more experienced traders in the know of all the major moves different stocks are making. There are two types of information that are most important to share. What the stock has been doing and how you are going to play it. In earnings season a newer trader can get overwhelmed and they lose sight of the bigger picture. The big picture for them should be to learn and observe new plays and add them to their trading skill set. A problem I have noticed is that when information is shared, traders get too excited. They now are anxious to be in the play. After all of this work figuring out what the Read more [...]

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Momentum Versus Range-bound Trading

May 18th, 2009 | By | Category: Trading Theory
Jarrett wrote: "How do you know when a stock will go from momentum/ trending nicely, to consolidating. This always get me in trouble. I will trade a stock, like IBN, from short side 32 to 30, than it traded 30, so i got short, then it bounces to 30.20 i cover, back and forth, and it turns out the stock is in a range 30-30.50. I guess i should wait for a nice break below 30, but I fear that i will miss a good entry." I think this is a great question, and one that I think all developing traders have to think about. Looking at the chart of IBN from this morning, it traded down from 32 to 30 in the first few minutes of the day. I wasn't watching it, so I'm not sure if there was a buyer that Read more [...]

Tags: , , Posted in Trading Theory | 13 comments


The Week That Was: May 11 – 15, 2009

May 17th, 2009 | By | Category: General Comments
The market finally showed some weakness this week. After closing near the rally's highs at 93, the SPY gapped down on Monday morning, never being able to hold the 92 level, then the 90 level later in the week. Although we were pretty weak on Friday, we held above the 88 level which has been a huge inflection point over the last 8 months. I suspect it will be an important level this upcoming week. I'm going to keep it light this week, as there weren't that many articles that really caught my eye. I'm also going to add that I felt like the entire week felt a little like a Summer week, especially Friday. Maybe the warm weather in NY was cause for it, people preparing for the Summer. Enjoy! This Read more [...]

Tags: , , Posted in General Comments | 2 comments


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