Archive for April, 2007
Protecting the Downside in Trading
April 30, 2007 at 10:43 pm
This week’s Free Newsletter over at TheStockBandit.com discusses the topic of Protecting the Downside in Trading.
Every one of us are at times driven by the big emotions that trading the markets inevitably brings, but if we do our job and protect the downside first, the other things will take care of themselves.
When I was first starting to trade, I would always look at how much I could make on a trade. It didn’t take long to realize I needed a good exit plan, so my mentality shifted. Now I start every trade with a look at the potential for downside, and I structure my trades accordingly. So for my thoughts on the subject, stop by and check out the Free Newsletter at TheStockBandit.com.
By the way, you can sign up for the free newsletter on the Free Newsletter page at TheStockBandit.com and we’ll notify you every time one is published. An opt-in form is provided at the top of the page which puts you in full control of your email subscription at all times.
Trade well this week!
Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
Swing Trading & Day Trading Service
www.TheStockBandit.com
[tags]Stock Market, Day Trading, Stock Trading, Investing, Swing Trading[/tags]
Will the Market Rest?
April 29, 2007 at 6:25 pm
The market indexes have for the most part gotten rather extended in the short-term, with the big-cap averages leading the way. Some quality follow-through since the upside breakout has been very positive to see, but at this point the next best thing could be a rest.
Can the buyers stay away for long enough to allow some consolidation to set in? No telling for sure, but with plenty of economic news on this week’s agenda and still lots of earnings reports to roll in, this would seem to be a good opportunity.
The bulls could even keep things going with some rotation into small-caps while the big averages rest, so just because a rest seems due doesn’t mean the market needs to give much back. Be sure to check out this week’s Market View page over at TheStockBandit.com for a closer look at the indexes tonight before you start your trading week.
Trade well this week!
Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
Swing Trading & Day Trading Service
www.TheStockBandit.com
[tags]Stock Market, Day Trading, Stock Trading, Investing, Swing Trading[/tags]
CyberTrader Fully Integrating With Schwab
April 25, 2007 at 7:44 pm
I’ve been a Schwab client for about a decade now, and I’ve been trading through CyberTrader for about 4 years. CyberTrader is owned by Schwab, so it’s been no surprise to see quality customer service provided by both of them. I’ve used Schwab for my longer-term accounts and CyberTrader for my active trading accounts, but today there’s some big news I just received from CyberTrader regarding some changes coming a little later this year.
In late 2007, CyberTrader plans to fully integrate with Charles Schwab, bringing the best of both worlds together. The active trading fees will be dirt-cheap just as they currently are with CyberTrader, but some benefits will obviously come about from this integration.
CyberTrader has been the driving force for Schwab’s StreetSmart Pro platform, which is a modified version of the CyberTrader Pro platform. As a result, CyberTrader clients will be able to trade on virtually the exact same platform.
Additionally, fees will be much improved in a few areas. The Level 2 access fee at CyberTrader has been $249/month for accounts trading fewer than 40,000 shares each month, but that will drop to $10 per month at Schwab for those same accounts (it will be waived for any account with 10 trades per month). Schwab will also offer 3 free wire transfers per quarter for accounts over $100k, which is nice for us active traders who need to move funds. The account minimums will also drop, helping out the more casual traders quite a bit.
The only thing about the platform that won’t be offered (at least initially) is that StreetSmart Pro won’t offer Basket Orders, which is something that sector traders rely heavily on.
As for investment products, StreetSmart Pro won’t offer access to futures, but fixed-income vehicles and mutual funds will be available, so that’s a great way to keep everything in one place if you ask me.
The move also comes with 24/7 support and nationwide branches, so that will be great for those after-hours requests that sometime come up.
Real-time news like Briefing will still be included, which is also great.
CyberTrader is looking to make the transition easy for clients, and until late this year I’m going to stay right where I am!
Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
Swing Trading & Day Trading Service
www.TheStockBandit.com
[tags]Stock Market, Day Trading, Stock Trading, Investing, Swing Trading, CyberTrader, Charles Schwab[/tags]
Let the Charts Decide the Next Move
April 23, 2007 at 8:50 pm
This week’s Free Newsletter over at TheStockBandit.com discusses the topic of Letting the Charts Decide the Next Move.
With the market having made such a big recent move, the bears are jumping out of the woods again to call for a market top. While the odds are against them, the entire process of predicting moves is futile and should be avoided. Technical traders should be letting the charts dictate their moves, especially right now with the debate heating up about whether the bulls’ run can continue. So for my thoughts on the subject, stop by and check out the Free Newsletter at TheStockBandit.com.
By the way, you can sign up for the free newsletter on the Free Newsletter page at TheStockBandit.com and we’ll notify you every time one is published. An opt-in form is provided at the top of the page which puts you in full control of your email subscription at all times.
Trade well this week!
Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
Swing Trading & Day Trading Service
www.TheStockBandit.com
[tags]Stock Market, Day Trading, Stock Trading, Investing, Swing Trading[/tags]
Bulls on Parade
April 22, 2007 at 5:42 pm
The bulls are standing tall after last week’s impressive performance led by the DJIA’s 349-point romp. They’ve taken charge of the indexes and are riding a wave of momentum heading into this coming week, but can they keep it going?
With fears of a double top pattern starting to subside after an undeniable breakout, they currently have both hands on the steering wheel. The only question will be, at what point do they stop to refuel their tank and possibly take a rest?
The trading environment has undoubtedly improved for the intermediate-term timeframe with the trend pointing UP, so the focus going forward will be on earnings to see if they can keep the party going.
Be sure to check out this week’s Market View page over at TheStockBandit.com before you start your trading week for a rundown of the indexes as they currently stand.
Trade well this week!
Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
Swing Trading & Day Trading Service
www.TheStockBandit.com
[tags]Stock Market, Day Trading, Stock Trading, Investing, Swing Trading[/tags]
One Year Ago This Week – April 21-28, 2006
April 21, 2007 at 8:44 am
Here are a couple of posts in case you missed them from one year ago this week:
Ever wonder how much to trade? I took a look at position sizing and point to some quality links from Trader Mike.
Here are 5 great reasons why I trade on the CyberTrader Pro platform through my broker, CyberTrader.
For those looking for more links, check out these 3 spots for lots of articles related to trading the markets:
The Kirk Report – several “link posts” each week with countless links to great articles. Here’s Thursday’s link post. Charles, where do you find all of those things?!
TraderMike QuickLinks – Mike’s continually-updated list of useful links is a regular stop for me. (Thanks for sharing them with us Mike).
NYSE Trader’s Weekend Reading – JC has been putting together some excellent link collections each weekend, so be sure to check them out. His daily posts are also quite impressive as a trading journal, setting a great example with how thoroughly and objectively he evaluates not only his trading days but the trades themselves. Good stuff JC!
Enjoy your weekend and do something fun!
Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
Swing Trading & Day Trading Service
www.TheStockBandit.com
[tags]Stock Market, Day Trading, Stock Trading, Investing, Swing Trading[/tags]
Dip-Buyer Domination
April 20, 2007 at 10:36 am
The DJIA is going for its 15th up day in the last 16 sessions. That’s only 1 losing day in the last 3+ weeks! Have we seen pullbacks? Sure, but they’ve remained very shallow thanks to one phenomenon:
Dip-Buyer Domination.
There seems to have been an amazing amount of cash sitting on the sidelines just itching for virtually any downtick to put it to work in recent weeks. This has kept the market climbing steadily, while simultaneously preventing pullbacks from showing any follow through. As a result, the dip-buyers just have a ton of confidence and they will continue to do their thing until it stops working.
This morning, however, we have a sizeable upside gap which has potential to change things (at least temporarily). After a huge run recently, the market is now up far enough to finally entice some profit-taking. Those who have been buying every dip now have a possible exhaustion gap which is tempting the bulls to line their wallets and book recent gains, and who could blame them?
Technically, this is a good thing. Markets don’t move in straight lines for very long, few would argue that. But the indexes are now up far enough from their uptrend lines to allow them some room to retrace without disturbing the uptrend. That means a breather could set in without panic, and that would be very healthy for this market whether you’re a bull or a bear.
Here’s a look at the DJIA as an example:
(Click for full size.) Chart Courtesy of TeleChart.
Although the odds of a rest have improved after this morning’s gap, don’t be in a big hurry to short sell, because the dip-buyers aren’t likely to run away quickly.
Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
Swing Trading & Day Trading Service
www.TheStockBandit.com
[tags]Stock Market, Day Trading, Stock Trading, Investing, Swing Trading[/tags]
