The Power of Information Shared on the Desk

gmanGeneral Comments, Gilbert Mendez's (Gman's) Blogs7 Comments

We all have our strengths and weaknesses as traders. If you don’t know what they are for either side then you are in serious trouble friend. I know I am a good tape reader when there is good order flow in the stock. I also know what the strengths are for some of those who sit around me. And when they call stuff out that is within those lines of strength then I pay close attention. We have our Chief Technical Analyst – totally just made that title up by the way but sounds catchy, who comes up with great technical setups. We have our great momo guys who can spot places to load it before an explosive move, and then we have a shark in the penny stocks.

I was always under the impression that low priced stocks ($1-4 range) didn’t move, weren’t liquid or volatile enough to be worth watching intraday. But then I also see him flipping through hundreds of charts at night and making mini chops in these dope stocks. So I have been asking questions and finally joined the party.

Over the last couple of months I have been pikering around with some of his plays. By pikering I mean really not trying to take any big risk. I believe some made fun of me last time I showed a video for having only a couple thousand shares of some low priced stocks. But the reality is that I am just feeling things out. I am not going nuts until I get an understanding of my risk intraday and overnight. I want to find out what max size is prudent in some of these not so liquid stocks. The last thing I want to do is rip up my whole month finding things out the hard way. That’s just stupid.

We started partying with PEIX, CYCC, CTIC, CRDC, BEE, and even some under a dollar names, just to name a few. They may be low priced but they can move 25c-50c intraday – CLEANLY!!!. That is just absolutely amazing to me. I just laugh when I see some of those break outs for a 10-15% move without a single down tick. You could really put on some size on them but like I said I’m in the learning stages and not in the let’s crush every play stages…yet.

Last couple of days we have been following ATHX, some dope pharma name. That’s really all I know. Ryan was kind enough to share with me the entry and stop (just a penny away from my entry) and I couldn’t just say no to risking at least $100 bucks on the trade. I liked the chart on the daily. I wanted to put on more on but wasn’t sure what my risk was overnight and thus just decided to keep it small.

I know we were hoping for a break through 3 and maybe make a quarter on the trade. But then mother market was kind enough to push some news our side and I walked into a 90c trade this morning on some size. Talk about making a little chipper off a fellow trader’s idea. I know I owe him drinks, bella says even dinner. Couple more like this and we may be heading to Nobu.

If you sit on a desk where people constantly share information then get to know their strengths. I know over my short career I have made some really good money off information shared by others. Today was a perfect example of a day and even a month salvaged by a great and simple trading idea. Thanks
Ryan.

7 Comments on “The Power of Information Shared on the Desk”

  1. Everyone claims they make money with low priced garbage.

    Who’s losing it?

    How many pikers can there be out there?

    I think this is how the Fed gets money into the system. They lose to penny stock traders.

  2. Everyone claims they make money with low priced garbage.

    Who’s losing it?

    How many pikers can there be out there?

    I think this is how the Fed gets money into the system. They lose to penny stock traders.

  3. The problem is you can’t get shorts on these things. At least on Lightspeed.

  4. Gandor – those are my feelings exactly. My sense is that most of these companies are frauds and thus most retail traders get caught with them for the long haul and eventually lose big on them. Most of the plays I have been making force me to be big intraday when the volatility is kicking in and very light overnight trying to minimize the risk of stuff going under. It is key to know the fundamentals of these dope companies when taking them overnight. But that is why I follow someone who has done this for a while and knows so much more about real/frauds than I would ever want to know.

    Tao- yes i agree with you. I hear a lot of guys on the street make most of their money on short plays on these stocks. Unfortunately LS doesn’t have the inventory but i’ll live. There are only other 5k names out there with just as much free money..maybe not as easier 🙂

    Happy trading!

  5. Gandor – those are my feelings exactly. My sense is that most of these companies are frauds and thus most retail traders get caught with them for the long haul and eventually lose big on them. Most of the plays I have been making force me to be big intraday when the volatility is kicking in and very light overnight trying to minimize the risk of stuff going under. It is key to know the fundamentals of these dope companies when taking them overnight. But that is why I follow someone who has done this for a while and knows so much more about real/frauds than I would ever want to know.

    Tao- yes i agree with you. I hear a lot of guys on the street make most of their money on short plays on these stocks. Unfortunately LS doesn’t have the inventory but i’ll live. There are only other 5k names out there with just as much free money..maybe not as easier 🙂

    Happy trading!

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