Gman, head trader at SMB Capital, wrote an excellent article for Wall Street Cheat Sheet about using tape reading skills to trade into positions. Gman discusses how to use tape reading skills to have more conviction in your trades, even if stocks never get to your dream prices. You can read the full article here.
STJ- Second Day Play
Yesterday I traded STJ for most of the day. I learned that 33.60, 34.25, and 34 were important levels. Essentially STJ traded in a range for most of the afternoon yesterday 33.75-34.25. Then into the Close STJ broke down and traded down to 33. So what can we learn from yesterday to help us today? I have a play for … Read More
Using Longer Term Levels Intraday
I want to discuss two stocks today that touched important longer term levels. There are several ways that an intraday trader can use an important longer term level. The first is as a price target. If a stock has been trending down recently and there is a major support level ten points lower then you can focus on trading that … Read More
It’s Called Trading!
As part of our training process we ask our remote and in-house traders to tune into our training calls. I was trading AIG in the close and was leading the call. I received a couple of emails from some new trainees who were just confused by my style of trading. Their questions and comments are quite valid and educational so … Read More
Ten Observations From StockTwits Camp
On Friday I sat on a panel at StockTwits Camp at the NASDAQ MarketSite to discuss Reading the Tape. I was joined on the panel by @tickerville, @stevenplace and @howardlindzon. Here are my ten observations from Friday: 1 ) @stevenplace is GINORMOUS. 2 ) @tickerville is so smooth he could replace Brian Williams on NBC at any moment. 3 ) @howardlindzon has … Read More
Wow, That Was Some Bad Trading!
This morning I highlighted AIG in our Stocks In Play call before the Open. I discussed a great short entry based on the premarket price action. AIG had been trending down for over a week since it failed above 50. In today’s premarket it was below 39.80 which was the price it rallied from on September 21st. In the premarket … Read More
Good on Paper (GOP): Be Respectful
I just handed in my manuscript for One Good Trade to Wiley. I am relieved to have this behind me. During my editing process I discarded some humorous anecdotes that just did not quite fit with my book. I thought you might enjoy this one interview I had with a prospective prop trader candidate. GOP: Be Respectful This next interview occurred … Read More
Understanding Inflection Points
A core part of SMB’s trading philosophy is identifying inflection points in the stocks we trade each day. These are prices where battles take place between buyers and sellers. After a battle is over a stock will typically move very powerfully away from these prices. Sometimes stocks will touch these prices two, three, or even four times in a day. … Read More