“I never think that there’s something I can’t do, whether it’s beating my opponent one on one or practicing another hour because something about my game is just not right.”
Earvin Magic Johnson

 

Hey Bella,
Hope you are enjoying this gorgeous weather! I know you are probably being bombarded with e-mails because of your new book (which I am very much looking forward to reading) but I had a question. I know a large majority of intraday traders make most of their $ trading on the open and close. I have compiled a spread sheet of my stats from the last few months and have noticed that I actually make the least amount of $ on the open & close and make the most during mid day. Is this unusual? I know some traders who put on huge size trying to catch opening drives. This is not my strength. It usually takes me 30mins – a few hours to identify the best stocks to be in. One of my strengths is being able to fade. Most of these fade trades come late morning/mid day for me, and I am particularly good at catching these counter trend moves. I have included my stats for time of day here . What would you recommend I do to improve my skills for trading the open and close? Thanks in advance Bella!

Bella Responds:

If I had a nickel for every time one of our new traders asked me this question…… This is an important question one not discussed to my memory on this blog. As way of background this question comes from an independent trader just killing it this year. A guy totally stepping up his game to become one of us.

We become better as traders by measuring our best set ups and trading them with more size more often. On the other hand as traders we need to push ourselves to constantly get better. And we should seek to become well rounded traders. What works one month may not work the next. It is entirely possible that a future month may be only opening drive plays of opportunity.

This reminds me of a Magic story. He was a world champion. All NBA. NBA MVP. Over the summer he worked on a new hook shot. Shot hundreds everyday. And then in one game against the C’s he buried one to propel the Lakers to yet another championship.

To be a great intraday trader opening drive plays should be mastered. Trade them with very little size. Work on controlling your risk. Go search this blog as I know we have discussed many excellent opening drive patterns. Develop a playbook of these set ups that make sense to you. Focus on what you do best but try and add this play slowly to your playbook as another trading weapon.

Mike Bellafiore
Author, One Good Trade: Inside the Highly Competitive World of Proprietary Trading (Wiley Trading)