London’s “Whale” got harpooned. After being in the press for taking outsized positions in the credit derivatives market, it finally ended for Bruno Iksil, aka the Whale—and badly. JP Morgan’s recent multi-billion dollar trading loss caused a huge amount of angst in the financial press over its prop trading activities and risk controls. As traders, we should pay attention – … Read More
Facebook Friday And Rocket Science
Despite the fact that the fast majority of those hired by hedge funds and banks these days are literally rocket scientists (PHD’s in Physics, AstroPhysics, Mathematics etc.) trading is NOT rocket science. Of course being good at math and being able to write algorithms doesn’t prevent someone from successful market speculation it just isn’t a prerequisite. On Friday I outlined … Read More
Facebook Live
It is time to use the most overhyped IPO of the decade to share a few tips on First Day trading for an IPO. In addition to the tips below I will be broadcasting LIVE starting 5 minutes before FB begins trading and will probably continue to broadcast for another 5 minutes once trading begins. Everything written below is based … Read More
When do I move on from a stock?
It’s time to move on, time to get going What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing But under my feet, baby, grass is growing It’s time to move on, it’s time to get going Tom Petty Bella, Yesterday I got absolutely chopped up in JPM. I could not believe how much I lost in such a short amount … Read More
Expiration week and the SPXpm
This post is another in a series that we will be publishing over the next month , tracking the hypothetical performance of broken wing butterfly trades selected by Greg Loehr of Optionsbuzz.com. For those who haven’t heard of or traded the SPXpm, take a look at it. It’s an electronically traded SPX product that trades through expiration Friday afternoon and … Read More
How to Bounce Back From Failure in Trading
This is one blog post that I hope you never have to read. Why? Because it’s all about failure. The word “failure” has tons of connotations. Shame. Guilt. Disappointment. Anger. These are things that we try to avoid at all costs. If the world were perfect, you would never run into failure in your trading career. I hope that you … Read More
Play Like A Pro
It’s time for Episode 5 of When The Bell Rings. In this episode, I’ll give you some food for thought when it comes to your trading. We’ll talk about some distinct differences among traders regarding their approaches, and it should either give you some added motivation, or a boost in confidence. I hope you get a lot out of this … Read More
Four Quick Ways To Get Better At Trading
Four Quick Ways To Get Better At Trading Usually, the “quick fix” implies fixing something, but only temporarily and in a fashion that won’t help long-term. Luckily for us traders, there are several quick things that we can do that can readily improve our trading. They are quick lessons in that they don’t take much time to grasp, but their … Read More