When I woke up this morning and saw that the market was gaping down below the $99.5 in the SPY I was pumped! Finally some direction out of these dopey range market we established between 99.5 and 102 in the SPY. I came in with a short mentality as long as we were below that 99.5 level and it was … Read More
Need Some More Time Please
OK so we got some weakness with the market today. Are we starting the leg down that most have been predicting since SPY 83 (oops!). Was the news about back to school sales the catalyst? China? Rising foreclosures? The dollar? Unemployment? Government Debt? Certainly the bears have a multitude of fundamental reasons to support their thesis for a downmove. And … Read More
Can You Make it as a Retail Trader?
I received this email from a reader of our blog. I thought we could discuss: Hi, this is Ivan in NYC (Bulgarian immigrant), a regular reader of the blog. I’m a retail trader and a relative newbie. Although I can not formulate particular trading strategy just by reading the blog I enjoy reading it and find it useful. I would … Read More
Interview with SMB Head Trader Gilbert Mendez (”GMan”)
For an excellent interview, with SMB Capital Head Trader, Gilbert Mendez “GMan”, about dark pools and reading the tape, please click here.
Two Young Guns
I have spent some time the past two days talking to one of our better young traders about an issue with which he has struggled. Dove Bar, as I like to call him, is trying to figure out the best way to trade after the Open. Usually he crushes the market in the first 15-30 minutes. The majority of the … Read More
Ban Day Trading Part I
I began my professional career as a “day trader” a little over thirteen years ago. Little did I know at the time that I would one day become a strong advocate for banning myself from the market. The Institutional Day Trader First, let me offer a little bit of background information regarding “day trading” before I explain why it, other … Read More
Firms Sharing to Add Value
One of the great rewards of running a firm like SMB is the friends we have made from others firms. There are some exceptional firms and people in our field. I am certain that in ten years there will be a dozen exceptional intraday trading firms offering enormous value to their traders. Especially since the Buy and Hold strategy has … Read More
Trade2Hold AIG
It is fun to see the desk trading so well the past few weeks. June was a tough month. July was much better. And this month is starting like August of 07. And that was a great month. Today we traded AIG, the home builders, and ETF’s. And AIG offered an excellent Trade2Hold that we should discuss. AIG opened and … Read More