One trader at the firm underperformed this month. In his own words, he is in a nasty losing trading streak. He is a developing trader and working to be consistent. He actually was an SMB Training student who impressed us so much, he was hired to trade on our desk. During a one-on-one mentoring session with this trader, he quickly … Read More
CL (Crude Oil) Options Trading
March 3, 2018 Andrew Falde SMB Options Desk Trader Yesterday in the Trading Conversations webinar, I was asked for an update on the SPX Netzero Options trades. It was perfect timing because a few minutes before the webinar started, I was approved to put my largest size on the SMB Options Desk into a CL (Crude Oil) Netzero. After mentioning … Read More
If the White House walks back tariffs, then…….
Today on the desk we discussed the importance of creating a plan for if the White House walks back its pronouncement to raise tariffs on steel and aluminum. After this announcement, the markets sold off hard and there were winners and losers. One of the really fun things traders can do our desk is play with technology. Two traders could … Read More
Trade Review–WMT HD SPY
The top In Play names this morning: WMT was my focus as the lowering of FY19 guidance was potentially a very strong catalyst. Early indications from pre-market trading were many traders were attempting to dump the stock ahead larger selling that would come after the opening bell. You can see my discussion of WMT in the AM Meeting here. With … Read More
Why I Game Plan Every Day
Every morning when I arrive at SMB’s office in midtown Manhattan I have a pre-market routine. The routine serves two purposes: 1) To get me in the proper frame of mind to attack the markets and 2) Ensure that I’m in the best risk/reward stocks and setups. Here is a brief outline of my pre-market process: Login to trading platform … Read More
Recruiting traders for Teams that fit their talents
During an interview with now one our new hires, I imagined the candidate trading on one of our specific teams. I thought he could be a very good scalper. I could imagine him succeeding on Team Scalping. The candidate had a history of very fast thinking. He had done the type of thinking prior to this interview to be … Read More