Happy New Year! At this time of the year many traders are drafting their goals for the new year. This is a good exercise. I believe in work. I believe that progress takes time. But all progress must start with a thoughtful, and ambitious plan. I have seen mediocre traders become great. I have seen poor traders become excellent. I … Read More
That’s NOT a Short!
Yesterday one of our most improved traders was trading GS. Great stock to be in. Great job of being in when many were taking off. This talented young trader, let’s call him MROD, developed a detailed trading plan for GS. MROD saw that 80 was resistance on the longer term chart in GS, remembered that the last time it … Read More
ROH Bounce
ROH tanked on the Open yesterday. Fading it on the long side was like trying to catch a falling knife. And many of you have heard the Street expression “don’t catch a falling knife.” These tank jobs in ROH happen everyday. As we discussed during our SMB AM Meeting, it is a mistake for a new trader to try and … Read More
Holiday Trading
I did it again. I do not know what is wrong with me. I definitely have a problem. I had about 15 cookies last nite. Delicious! I just can’t stop. If I eat one then I will eat 15. I went to three XMAS parties this week. That was one too many. I did not trade very much last week. … Read More
Learning from “Outliers”
One of the great lessons of trading is how little you know. You must constantly learn. I have to admit I didn’t quite understand what a credit swap was till recently. I was in an interview with a very bright young woman who explained to me what she did as a credit derivatives trader. I didn’t get the whole thing … Read More
Build from a Base
Those who trade wish to make a lot of money. Traders are not trying to make $200 a day. They want to make much more. And often traders are ambitious. And they have rarely failed at anything they have done before. Perhaps they have been told their whole life that they were special. Most are the smartest person in most … Read More
What if I am Wrong?
I made some chops trading RIMM afterhours yesterday. More importantly I learned important levels. A ton of volume was done at 41 and 41.40 was a huge seller. Today my game plan was to aggressively buy if RIMM traded above 41.40. I was wrong. I had expected RIMM to fly after it held above 41.40. It didn’t. There was a … Read More
Push Yourself to Become Better
I read Bella’s blog on SRS, and he brings up a great point on how important it is to push yourself every day to become better. “Constant never-ending improvement.” I think Tony Robbins once said that. But the reality is the SRS, SKF, and USOs of the world are basically different opportunities for us as professional traders to make more … Read More