Archive for May, 2010
Video Review of the Indexes 5-31-2010
May 29, 2010 at 7:04 pm
The indexes tacked on some minor gains last week, but the bulls really had to earn it. Prices finished at their extremes for each session prior to Friday. Gaps were both filled and created, and rallies and selloffs characterized the day to day action.
Some support is becoming evident on a closing basis, although the buyers still have a long way to go before this market can be considered out of the woods. Right now the environment is really touch-and-go, and commitment to a direction has been coming in increments of just a few hours at a time.
That means it’s a trader’s market, but it’s really favoring those with intraday timeframes at the moment.
As we head into a brand new week of trading, let’s examine some important levels in the indexes to keep an eye on in the days ahead. That will have the greatest influence on how individual stocks are going to move, so it’s where the trading week begins.
This clip was also posted over on the Trading Videos site (as always), and perhaps you’ve seen it there – but in case you didn’t, I wanted to put it here on the blog for you.
Let me highly suggest clicking the “HD” on the video player and then going full-screen for best quality.
Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you here soon with more.
Until then… Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Are you following me on Twitter yet?
Selective Memory
May 26, 2010 at 10:40 am
Trading is one of those things that really requires a selective memory.
The same kind of selective memory that I needed when I was on the dating scene. I chose to ignore the bad experiences I’d had with certain girls, and I stayed in the game long enough to find the wife of my dreams.
It’s the same kind of selective memory needed on the golf course. That bad shot from a few holes ago needs to be suppressed for this next one across the water hazard. Otherwise, you’re toast.
Some traders never develop this skill, unfortunately. They cling to the past, unwilling and unable to let it go for the sake of making that next trade. Getting faked out of a good trade last week prevents them from taking a similar setup this week, afraid it will hurt their account once again, or worse, their ego.
They have a good memory, yes, but they’re not using it in a good way.
That’s no way to trade. Clinging to memories which don’t empower you is a form of recency bias, and it can really prove costly in this game.
The Petrified Don’t Profit
Take last week, for example. The downdraft in the market left many trying to step in and get long near what they thought was the low of the dip. They were early on Wednesday and Thursday. Those who threw in the towel never took a swing at it on Friday, which provided the best rally of the week with the morning gap fill and continued climb into positive territory.
Sound familiar to you? Is this starting to ring a bell?
In a recent conversation with my friend Charles Kirk, he was telling me about some newer traders he had been working with. His delight came not only from helping them discover more about trading, but also from their attitudes in taking trades during difficult market conditions. He mentioned how the newer traders see a setup and just go for it, rather than hesitate the way some experienced traders do who are dealing with recency bias.
Love is a Choice
Love is commonly described as a feeling, but true love is really a choice. It’s a commitment to look beyond one’s faults and accept the entire person. It’s a decision. Marriages which last 40, 50, or even 60 years are based on that decision, long after superficial beauty has faded.
Having a selective memory in your trading is also a decision. It takes commitment and practice to make it a routine, but it’s worth it. Expect the best from yourself, but along the way, know that you’re going to make some mistakes. There will be headfake moves which shake you out. They aren’t fun, but they don’t have to sideline you and damage your confidence forever.
Mistakes cost money, so they’re worth learning from. However, they can also cost us opportunity if we allow the memory of them to stand in the way of taking new trades which suit our plan and which offer great potential rewards.
Look for some mistakes you made this week, learn from them, and then choose to look beyond them so they don’t cost you any opportunity.
Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Swing Trading & Day Trading Service
www.TheStockBandit.com
Are you following me on Twitter yet?
Video Review of the Indexes 5-23-2010
May 23, 2010 at 7:31 pm
The bulls did some suffering last week, there’s no question about it, but they were able to put together a modest rebound on Friday after an exhaustion gap to the downside. The relatively minor recovery seen from there constitutes, for now, a successful test of the May 6th lows.
But we sure don’t know yet whether those support zones will hold. After all, we just confirmed a lower high on the daily charts of the indexes, and that’s nothing to ignore. The short-term trends are down, but the stretched nature of the most recent pullback opens the door for some additional potential on the bounce, so stay tuned.
As we head into a brand new week of trading, let’s examine some important levels in the indexes to keep an eye on in the days ahead. That will have the greatest influence on how individual stocks are going to move, so it’s where the trading week begins.
This clip was also posted over on the Trading Videos site (as always), and perhaps you’ve seen it there – but in case you didn’t, I wanted to put it here on the blog for you.
Let me highly suggest clicking the “HD” on the video player and then going full-screen for best quality.
Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you here soon with more.
Until then… Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Are you following me on Twitter yet?
Every Day’s a Monday in Trading
May 17, 2010 at 9:06 pm
We all love a fresh start, am I right? Sometimes we just need that new beginning. Like a Monday morning diet when we’ve pigged out all weekend.
Or the opening bell after a tough stretch of trading. Both the Monday morning (for the dieter) and the opening bell (for the struggling trader) bring hope for change, so they’re quite similar. The big difference is that as a trader, we don’t have excuses to wait until next week to start taking control.
In my own personal trading, I’ve learned to make some adjustments when conditions call for it, because that’s what’s needed for different results than the frustration that only trading a single style can bring. Building your skill set takes time, but you can improve every day and experience the fresh start of a Monday whenever you want it.
This clip was also posted over on the Trading Videos site (as always), and perhaps you’ve seen it there – but in case you didn’t, I wanted to put it here on the blog for you.
Let me highly suggest clicking the “HD” on the video player and then going full-screen for best quality.
Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you here soon with more.
Until then… Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Are you following me on Twitter yet?
Video Review of the Indexes 5-16-2010
May 16, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Last week we saw the indexes make some headway, but it just didn’t feel that way. What started out with a massive upside gap on Monday and additional strength into Wednesday’s close, actually ended with plenty of downside on Thursday and Friday.
On an open-to-close basis, the week was negative, but on a Friday close-to-close basis, it was an up week. That’s just how it is when emotions are running high and volatility expands. And that’s exactly the kind of market we’re in right now.
But that is a good thing, because it means stocks are on the move in both directions, offering plenty of potential for profitable trades – if you know your stuff.
As we head into a brand new week of trading, let’s examine some important levels in the indexes to keep an eye on in the days ahead. That will have the greatest influence on how individual stocks are going to move, so it’s where the trading week begins.
This clip was also posted over on the Trading Videos site (as always), and perhaps you’ve seen it there – but in case you didn’t, I wanted to put it here on the blog for you.
Let me highly suggest clicking the “HD” on the video player and then going full-screen for best quality.
Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you here soon with more.
Until then… Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Are you following me on Twitter yet?
It’s Go Time!
May 13, 2010 at 10:12 am
Earlier this week, I apologized for my absence and explained why I’ve been so quiet on the blog for the past few months.
Today is the Day
It’s here and it’s ready for you right now.
The Advanced Trading Course I have been so hard at work creating is now up and running.
Here’s the shortcut link to learn more for those of you who are in a hurry: Advanced Trading Course.
For those of you who are curious what it involves, let me give you a quick rundown right here.
The Basic Trading Course brings beginners up to speed on all things trading, moving them beyond the buy-and-hope investor mentality and into the modern age of being a self-directed trader.
The Advanced Trading Course takes things well beyond the basics, covering all the specifics that today’s trader needs to have a handle on to compete in today’s environment.
Key timeframes like day trading, swing trading, and position trading are all covered in the course, including which conditions are ideal for each style, and a host of strategies which can be used for each of them.
For example, in the day trading segment, I show you my most profitable trading method for the past year, when and where to find those setups, and how I manage them.
That method alone was responsible for big profits I made in last week’s market mess, as I posted my best trading day in almost 2 years.
And that’s just one of the many which are covered. Here are some others…
- What my trading routine looks like
- When I employ various styles of trading
- How I track my progress
- When I know it’s time to back down my size or build it up
- Execution tactics
- How to locate trades
- Managing risk properly
- Adding to winning trades the right way
- Protecting profits
- Much more…
I’ve put everything I know into this course, so that you can access my experience and expertise.
As a full-time trader now for more than a decade, I’ve seen it all, and I’ve been fortunate enough to survive and thrive as a trader. All of the adjustments I’ve made, all the learning I’ve done, and all the mistakes I’ve endured have made me the trader I am today…and I’ve put all of it into this video-on-demand course. I literally left nothing out.
So… if you’re seeing a disconnect between your level of passion for trading and the results you’ve been getting, head over and check out the Advanced Trading Course at TheStockBanditUniversity.com.
It’ll help you understand how to approach any market conditions you face, put together the right plan of attack, and execute it like a pro.
(Around here, we refer to that as knowing how to ‘Trade Like A Bandit.’ You’ll see what I mean in the course).
Jeff White
An Open Apology
May 12, 2010 at 12:45 pm
I just crawled out of my cave. At least it feels that way. And it probably seems that way from your perspective, so I owe you an apology.
The regular articles and free videos just haven’t made it into the rotation for the past couple of months. Truth is…the free stuff goes first when there’s a time shortage.
For the past couple of months, I’ve been working my tail off on a brand new resource that has just required a lot of, well, all of my extra time. Hence the reason I haven’t been putting out very much of the great content you’ve grown accustomed to seeing here for the past 5+ years.
But there’s good news – on a couple of fronts.
Good News #1
First, that resource I’ve been working on…it’s DONE. That’s not only a relief to me to have such a huge project behind me, but it also means you’ll be able to access it this week.
To give you a little background on it, TheStockBandit University was initially just a Basic course on trading, which is ideal for beginner traders. Those who are wanting to make the transition from ‘long-term investor’ to ‘trader’ can shorten their learning curve BIG TIME through the Basic course. I’m really proud of the Basic course, and it continues to deliver for those who enroll in it.
But…that doesn’t really help many of you who have been trading for a while. The Basic course really is below the level of experience which most of you have already reached.
Well, the feedback and the response was so great from the Basic course, that it was only logical to build on it – not only to take the beginners to the next level, but to aid current traders in the areas which they struggle so much with.
Students of the Basic course now have a grasp of the fundamentals of trading, but they need more. And subscribers of my stock newsletter, readers right here on the blog, and regular viewers of the Trading Videos also have been wanting some upper-level education to get their trading to the next level.
Some higher learning.
So, a few months ago, I set out to create an Advanced Trading Course for those who are already traders, but who still aren’t getting the results they desire. Like the Basic course, the Advanced course is a video-on-demand training course which can be utilized as an ongoing resource. The difference is the content of the course, as it’s not for the beginner.
I wrote out the course plans, the lessons (merely 150 pages of single-spaced typing), hit the studio and recorded them, and the course is now ready to go live this week.
Which brings me to the second bit of good news…
Good News #2
I now have a LOT more free time to tend to the things I used to spend time on. I will again be putting out more free videos, writing more articles here on the blog, and of course providing more features to the membership at TheStockBandit.com.
For the past few months, I devoted my days to my trading and to my family. Extra time (early mornings, late nights, and weekends) I had went straight to developing curriculum for the Advanced course. But now that it’s completed, that extra time will once again be utilized for the things you came to know me for…
Quality posts.
Trade ideas.
Lessons.
Video reviews.
All the good stuff.
So, I hope you’ll accept my apology for largely being absent these past couple of months on the blog, and I hope you’ll return often and give me a chance to continue helping you.
I’ll have another post here when the Advanced Trading Course is made available to the public, so don’t disappear!
Whether you decide to register for the course (it does come with a guarantee), or you simply stick around here in hopes of finding more good stuff from me, you won’t be disappointed. Win/win!
Trade Like A Bandit!
Jeff
