We Are All So Different

It’s funny… we had a webinar yesterday and it demonstrated how many different ways there are to look at the markets. We are intraday traders yet there are so many distinct ways to intraday trade. Trade with the trend. Fade. Scalp. Momo trade. Swing trade. Slow movers. Stocks that sprint. Moving averages. No moving averages. Charts. Some charts. Reading the Tape. What the hell is the tape? This trading thing can be all so individual.

So first up is GMan Jr. showing a trade only GMan might have the skill to master. It was a hard, nuanced, only for the big boys trade. And it was Day 24ish for this new trader. After the webinar I watched some tape with him and his trading partner and was shocked. He actually had developed the in and out trading skill of GMan. How did he do that? I am sensing he has been doing some serious tape review after the close. It was like being in a time machine back to the brilliance of Dr. Momentum from One Good Trade.

And then came Big Ben (he is a pretty big guy and this from a guy 6’2” 215, “ding”, Dan Patrick). And Big Baby Ben showed us this trade in BGS.

¨Reported Earnings ¡Net sales increased 4.6% to $141.9 million for the quarter and 2.5% to $513.3 million for the year ¡Net income increased more than 100% for the quarter to $14.3 million and 85.6% for the year to $32.4 million ¡Diluted earnings per share increased 866.7% to $0.29 for the quarter and 52.3% to $0.67 for the year ¡Adjusted diluted earnings per share* increased 100% to $0.28 for the quarter and 47.5% to $0.90 for the year ¡ EBITDA* increased 28.7% to $32.8 million for the quarter and 16.2% to $119.7 million for the year ¡The Company expects to deliver 2011 EBITDA of $123.0 million to $126.0 million.

Big Baby Ben was loping through the day and spotted a Bullish Flag Pattern. BGS could not trade above 17.40. And then it did. He got long and took off BGS near the close. “Easy, easy, Japanese-ee!”

I might point out to GMan Jr. that there are easier ways to start his trading career but not mandate he trades Big Baby Ben plays. I might hope that Big Baby Ben develops the sharp in and out trading skills of GMan and GMan Jr. but am not gonna mandate that he does. Same desk. Same training. Less than 5 weeks into their careers. So different. It’s all about finding the plays that make sense to you. But along the way we can poke fun at both.