One morning before work about a 2 weeks ago I switched from CNBC to Fox News to get a weather update. I was a little early, since Mike Woods usually comes on at about the 8th minute of every ten in an hour (6:18, 6:28, 6:38…) and I caught their quick daily business analysis. The lady reporting was ecstatic about … Read More
Things I Liked About Last Week’s Market Action
Volume stayed pretty consistent. The lowest volume day we experienced was on Monday, which was the sell off to the bottom of the range (82). Market rallied on bad economic news. After an initial sell off right to support, momentum began to build towards the upside. And we closed at the top of the range (88). We closed above the … Read More
Some Things I’ve Been Reading This Week
Monthly jobs number not that bad. Bond yields at lows. How low can things go? A few market anomalies.
Plays Not to Be In
Yesterday I got pretty heated at some guys on our desk for being in what I call “a good play in a sucker stock” in the middle of the day. Every day for the past 2 weeks I have noticed that some guys get in plays where the risk appears to be 1 cent and the reward about 5-10 cents, … Read More
FCX–A Second Day Play
Today in the AM Meeting one of our young traders discussed trading FCX. It was In Play yesterday because of the news that they were eliminating their dividend. So our young trader who I will refer to as ALJ (I don’t do nicknames like Bella) talked about important levels that he observed while trading the stock. When we discuss a … Read More
How to Get an Edge in the Market Everyday!
There are only a few things as professional traders we have certain control over and one happens to be a critical element in the quest for consistency and success: preparation. As an athlete my entire life and now someone who is obsessed with becoming a scratch golfer, I have experienced a direct correlation between preparation and success. In my opinion, … Read More
That’s Not the Way We Do It
Today I overheard one of our new traders talking about fading GS around 71.20. GS had stopped going down. So this youngster, aka the Red Dragon, got long. And I heard what he was doing. I offered that I would prefer for him to continue trading GS on the short side until the downtrend was broken. Since apparently I just … Read More
How To Combat Overtrading!
As I sit here the night before Thanksgiving, I am reflecting on my trading over the past couple of weeks. I have realized that one major flaw has seeped into my trading. This money eating flaw is over-trading. I have been trading for close to 15 years and it amazes me that this bad habit continues to rear its ugly … Read More