There’s one thing that Bella always says: The trading day doesn’t end until 4PM. That’s especially true with markets like the one we’re currently in.On Friday, I was having a very rough day. What was even more frustrating was that I was underperforming. I could not believe that the type of day I had envisioned months ago was the day … Read More
Where is the bottom? Make a List
I got a call from a family friend anxious about his 401k a few minutes ago. There was panic on the other end of that call from an upstate suburb. When will the market bottom? How long will it take for me to make back what I lost? What the hell is going on down there? This is not an … Read More
Current Market Conditions
This is the weakest market I’ve seen since 2001-2002. Mike and I took many extended vacations in 01 as it was far more profitable to be on the golf course than trade a market that severely limited our ability to short stocks.The good news is that unlike 01 we now have the ability to trade both sides of the market. … Read More
Earnings Season Pattern Emerges?
Each earnings season I look for discernible intraday patterns to emerge. As earnings season begins in about two weeks I’m already on the lookout. Two stocks reported numbers last week that may have given me a clue as to what to expect in the coming weeks. The first stock to report that I traded was Nike. It gapped up several … Read More
Making the Adjustment
One of the things that I spoke to the desk about this past week was being prepared to make the necessary adjustments in their trading as market conditions change. Last week presented the greatest intraday volatility in US equity markets in about a decade. Our very young desk took incredible advantage of the opportunities that were presented to them. I … Read More
Movie Premiere Market Talk
Last night a few of us from our desk went to a movie short premiere, “$ Game,” written by Maureen Holohan and directed by Tom Cavanaugh. Great time and excellent short. At the after party many who I did not know but who either found out what I did or recognized me from “Wall Street Warriors” approached me to talk … Read More
Resilience
As a trader, you have to be very resilient. There are times when you go into a slump and you question your ability to make money. There are times when it’s so easy to make money that you wonder how you could ever lose money. You have to be able to weather these ups and downs, and remain sane at … Read More
Insanity
One of our new traders got ripped by a Senior Trader on our desk in the email below. I thought all of this was awesome. I loved that the new trader sought some extra help. And the advice given was spot on. As a mentor it is our job to tell the new trader the truth. Further, there are a … Read More