Like any challenging pursuit with a steep learning curve, trading requires an incredible amount of determination in order to succeed. If we are successful, there is the temptation to look back to our beginning and to shake our heads at our combination of naiveté and the youthful enthusiasm that allowed us to overcome it. While reminiscing, we can also ask ourselves: … Read More
I See Momentum Buying
I settled at my trading station wondering what to trade on this Open. RHT? BBY? AMLN? There had not yet been a price spike on the SMB Radar in health care yet but I would later ask what and where to buy for that sector. BBY showed some consistent selling at 25 so I scalped that down to 24.60 on … Read More
My Thought Process: AMLN
We received a few requests for a trade review of the AMLN trade I was tweeting during today’s Open. I’ve illustrated my key thoughts via the annotation of the chart below. Let me outline some of the “bigger picture” considerations that are not covered by the chart annotations: It was reported that AMLN received a $3.5 billion takeover bid which … Read More
Trading Equities versus Eminis
Eminis are futures contracts for various indexes, commodities and currencies. Eminis have their own trading personalities just as equities, and just as GOOG trades differently than WMT, each of the Emini contracts has their own trading personality profile. There is no *right* market to trade just as there is no one trading style that meets the needs of all traders … Read More
The Market Discriminates Against the Over-thinker and Ill-prepared
Hi Mike, Never wrote you, thought I would try. Had a question. In much of what I see, read, etc., there seems to be a focus there on recruitment and somewhat of a preference to younger people as new traders on your prop desk. PLEASE note that I am not looking for an age discrimination claim here, lol. It’s just … Read More
Is This Trader Complacent or Patient?
Bella, How do you distinguish between patience and complacency? Patience is what I call it when I’m riding a trend. Complacency is what I call it when price initially goes my way, but then retraces and eventually stops me out. This happens to me most in two cases. In these cases I feel as though more aggressively taking profits would … Read More
Introducing a new blogger: Greg Loehr
SMB is proud to announce the addition of an experienced options trader and educator to our blog, Greg Loehr, of Optionsbuzz.com. Greg has served both as a market maker on the floor of the CBOE as well as a proprietary trader for various firms prior to his founding Optionsbuzz.com. Greg has also been a repeat guest on SMB’s Options … Read More
Playing the Quarterly’s on the SPX
This post is the first 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. With the end of the quarter fast approaching there are two thoughts in my mind: quarterly window-dressing and a potential slowdown in China. For the next week, … Read More