Search Results for 'traders'
Round Numbers
Lots of traders (myself included) notice that stocks behave differently as they approach round numbers, like $20 for example. That’s probably due to many stops being set around those levels, both on the buy and sell side. Once a stock gets through the large buildup of orders at those whole numbers, they often see a nice pop because the resistance (of sellers, or of buyers on the downside) is now behind the stock and it’s now able to move more freely.
But have you noticed the same thing in your trading account? As your account nears a nice round number (whether it’s $10,000 or $3,000,000), do you notice some “resistance” in clearing those zones? I sure have.
Of course, once they are cleared, things seem to cruise along nicely again. The trades tend to keep producing, and the account balance climbs.
I finally realized why that is….it’s because as my account approaches a nice round number, my attention gravitates to that number rather than focusing as I should on my trades. I get to thinking about how a particular trade might impact “the number”, but that’s not what got me there to begin with.
Fortunately, my broker has a great tool which allows me to hide “the number” with a single click, and that helps a lot. It makes me turn my attention back to my open positions so that I can manage them the best way I know how. That’s what good trading is all about – managing each position well.
If you’re finding it difficult to get over the hump in your account as you reach a certain number or account highs, HIDE THE NUMBER! I’ll bet it helps you focus on your trades much better, and that alone should get you back on the right track in growing your trading account.
Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
Swing Trading & Day Trading Service
www.TheStockBandit.com
Just Buy Something!
Huge up days in the market like today have amazing power. Ordinary investors love them, because everything they own goes up. Traders sometimes hate them though, because underperformance can be common.
It almost never fails that on days when the market makes a giant move, my friends or family will inquire about how great my day was. It isn’t always what they might think. Maybe you’ve had similar experiences. Some of the best days even come when “the market” does very little, which is funny. But back to the topic….
Days of big point gains leave underperforming traders feeling like they need to JUST BUY SOMETHING so that they can participate in the move. That’s not always the solution, because if you’re a disciplined trader there are certainly days when the stocks you look at for possible trades simply don’t fit your criteria. So if you happen to underperform on a day like today, consider a couple of concepts which may help you get beyond the frustration of “missing out.”
* Walk away. It’s a choice each of us have as traders. Just shut down the PC and get out of your chair. Some days you don’t have it, so don’t force it if that’s the case. Maybe it’s you, or maybe it’s the market, but either way the bottom line is you’re not making bank. Come back and fight another day.
* Trade ETF’s. Sure they move slower than many of the high-beta names you might prefer to trade, but they are a definite solution that allows you to participate directly in large market moves. You can leverage up to offset the slower percentage moves, plus they’re liquid as can be so that makes them easy to jump into and out of.
* Be confident in tomorrow. I’ve had some great days right after major market advances like today. It’s funny, but I don’t really trade the mega-cap Dow components like many of which were leaders today. I like to trade lots of secondary stocks, and on days like today those are often an afterthought. Often times the following day, the mega-caps will cool off but traders are still just as eager to buy something. They turn to the secondary stocks, and that’s when you can knock out some nice gains.
Trade well Friday and enjoy your weekend!
Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
Swing Trading & Day Trading Service
www.TheStockBandit.com
I Wear T-Shirts to Work
The trading lifestyle can at times be demanding, but man…I sure love it. There are obvious perks of course, like unlimited potential income, but I also thoroughly enjoy some of the more subtle perks.
Like my wardrobe, for instance. Who am I trying to impress, seriously? I see these guys on CNBC sporting $2500 suits, but ironically their type is a dime a dozen. My label is Old Navy – don’t knock it. I’d rather have a unique t-shirt for a couple bucks than a big-name tailor for my imported silk suit. The other day I went into Chipotle wearing a t-shirt I bought off a clearance rack like 3 years ago with a faded iron-on decal of a 70’s muscle car on the front and I got a compliment! I don’t remember the last time I saw Dylan Ratigan tell a guest on the show that his pinstripes are sweet. Try to catch me on a day when I’m not in cargo shorts, I dare ya.
The speakers are usually on blast when I’m doing my “research.” I have no boss, and I get to call my own shots. I have no set hours. The smarter I work, the more I can get paid. My dog is next to my desk every day. I can make a fast food run anytime or go get a 44oz. Diet Coke whenever I need my caffeine fix. Shoes are optional!
You get the picture.
What I Get To Do
Don’t let the unusual perks fool you though, I work very hard. I’ve never been called lazy by anyone, probably because I didn’t give them a reason to. I am passionate about my work, and I thrive on the challenge of ongoing achievement. I get bored otherwise.
On an average day, you might find me performing a variety of tasks. I’m always stalking some trades, but due to the nature of the market, some days I am more market-focused than others. On those days when my trades don’t need as much babysitting, I’ll I focus more on my business and the educational side of what I do in the trading world.
My email inbox never seems to quit dinging at me, but I like it that way. Members and friends email me about the market, individual stocks or with funny stories. I feel no guilt when I take 2 minutes to laugh at an email loaded with pictures of redneck inventions. I post tons of messages on the forum in the member area of my site, interacting with traders, sharing insights and exchanging trading ideas. I tinker with software tools, write articles like this one you’re reading, and occasionally IM with trading buddies. I discuss ideas with my web developer.
And did I mention that I’m constantly on the lookout for trades? It is the trades that I’m most interested in during the course of the day since they’re at the heart of why I’m not under someone else’s employment to begin with.
Why I Do It
I’m an entrepreneur. I loathe the idea of working for someone else. I don’t want to be told what to do, so I work my tail off in order to keep working for myself. I don’t want a boss! Of course there are plenty of challenges and lean times, but it’s those times that really force me to grow. There’s something about putting your nose down and battling it out, whether it’s a stretch of tough trading or a lengthy to-do list which demands my attention. Once I get through it, I feel empowered and confident. I sleep better and walk a little taller. (But I don’t sleepwalk.)
When it comes to the main site at TheStockBandit.com, I started it as a hobby since the market closes at 3pm here in Texas, but I quickly realized how helpful it was to my routine to post my trading ideas each day, much like a journal of how I’m viewing and trading the market day after day. I also missed trading in an office full of traders with ideas flowing back and forth. After all, there are lots of lessons to be learned (and reminded of) when you’re interacting with other traders regularly. That’s the selfish part.
The unselfish part really boils down to the fact that I like to help other traders. I had a few very good traders help me out in my early days, and passing along some of the things I’ve learned is a good thing to do. I’ve written about 250 of these free articles for the same reason – to share insights. There’s some fulfillment in doing so.
Along the way, I have of course seen the opinions of some people who generally believe that newsletter writers are snake oil salesmen who don’t know how to trade and are just out for the money. People will think as they wish, but my response to it is that if you saw how little the website generated in terms of revenue back in the early days, you’d know that I wouldn’t have continued doing it if I wasn’t passionate about the underlying premise, which is helping traders. And these days I’m 100% confident that if you were to ask any of our subscribers about it that they would quickly verify that I’m in this to provide help as much as trade ideas for them. I don’t reply to the complex questions of members with 1-line emails or generic answers. I provide thorough help so that they “get it” by the end of a conversation.
I enjoy providing encouragement – we all need some from time to time, don’t we? And I know I’m helping traders when I point out blind spots to someone who’s unsure of what is plaguing them. Every one of us have blind spots, which means somebody’s gotta help us if we are to improve. That “Aha!” moment is great to experience. That’s why I camp out in our members-only forum every trading day. I like to share ideas and help traders who are seeking it. If that weren’t the case, I certainly wouldn’t devote the time I do to providing assistance, because nobody is forcing me to do it. I truly enjoy it and find it more fulfilling than just executing my own trades.
So there it is. Wonder no more about what I do or why I do it! To some, my routine would seem like total chaos. Every day is different, exciting and new (kinda like the Love Boat), but that’s exactly how I want it. I get to make decisions that impact both my personal wealth as well as the health of my business. I have flexibilities and freedoms that “regular” people don’t, and it suits me perfectly. It may not be for everyone, but I do my best to share it with others. Yes, I work hard, but it’s on my terms and that’s why I love my job.
Plus I get to wear t-shirts.
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]
Uptick Rule Ends, Short Selling Gets Easier
For those who have not already heard, the SEC has voted to remove the “short sale tick test”, Rule 17 CFR 240.10a-1 for all equity securities. Effective Friday, July 6, traders will be able to short all securities on an up, down, or zero tick.
WOW! All these years of having to wait for an uptick to grab a trade on the short side has finally resulted in the simple removal of the rule. This means that on Friday, short selling will be just as easy as buying a security, as the uptick rule will no longer apply. Faster fills on shorts will mean less slippage and a greater ability to add exposure on the dark side for those who are willing to trade it.
Up until now, ETF’s have been shortable on downticks, as well as select securities which were a part of the SEC’s short sale tick test. The Regulation SHO pilot program began in May 2005. It suspended all short sale price tests for a select group of over 1,000 equity securities. But now the gates will fling wide open and there will be no restrictions on what you can sell short on downticks other than if your broker has shares available to borrow.
Ironically, we just happen to be in quite a bull market with the NAZ at 52-week highs, so shorting heavily at this point may not be the solution to all your trading problems! Stay selective out there and don’t let a rule change dictate your next move. Stick with the charts and let them determine your course of action. It’s just that now when that calls for shorting a stock, it’ll be easier for you!
For more info regarding Rule 17 CFR 240.10a-1 and the SEC’s proposal to remove the rule, visit the following links:
http://www.sec.gov/news/speech/2006/spch120406ccc-10a.htm
http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2007/2007-114.htm
Trade with Discipline!
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]
U.S. Open Golf Can Help Your Trading
Last year during this same time I wrote a series on Trading and Golf to outline a number of lessons between the two games (yes, trading is a game!). So with the U.S. Open final round set to air tomorrow afternoon, no doubt it will take center stage for a great number of traders. There are a lot of similarities found when comparing the pressures of trading with the challenges golf brings, so be sure to check out some of last year’s posts (there are 18 total posts but most are brief).
And of course, to those of you who are Dads, Happy Father’s Day!
Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
Swing Trading & Day Trading Service
www.TheStockBandit.com
[tags]Golf, U.S. Open, Stock Market, Day Trading, Stock Trading, Investing, Swing Trading[/tags]
CyberTrader & Schwab Integration Update
A little while back, I discussed how CyberTrader is integrating with Schwab, and the discussion has been somewhat ongoing about what all that will mean. Lots of traders were concerned that certain things they enjoy right now with CyberTrader might not be included unless Schwab’s StreetSmart Pro were to make some improvements. Good news – here’s an update of some details I got today through an email sent by Vincent Phillips, CEO of CyberTrader addressing some of the big items of interest:
Per-share Pricing – CyberTrader’s currently published equity pricing, including per-share pricing, will be honored at Schwab for all current CyberTrader clients regardless of your assets or trading activity. Call Client Services with any questions about your pricing.
Strategy Testing Tools – The same advanced back-testing suite you currently use is already integrated within Schwab’s StreetSmart Pro® trading platform.
Saved Layouts/Watch Lists – Upon integration, your saved CyberTrader Pro layouts and watch list settings will automatically load into StreetSmart Pro. You will not have to learn how to use a new trading platform – it will look quite familiar to you.
Briefing.com Research – In addition to continuing to receive free Briefing.com and MarketEdge research, through Schwab you will also get access to proprietary content like Schwab Equity Ratings, integrated into StreetSmart Pro.
Direct-Access Orders – Schwab’s equity direct-access order-routing technology and tools were developed by CyberTrader. These tools provide clients with choices regarding where to route orders.
Advanced Order Types – In addition to currently supporting limits, stops, trailing stops and alerts with Schwab by the end of 2007 you will also have contingent order-entry capabilities to simultaneously place profit and loss order targets with your buy and sell orders.
Real-time Profit & Loss – Upon integration, you will receive streaming lot-level cost-basis data currently available in your trading platform.
Futures Data – All CyberTrader clients will receive CME® futures data through StreetSmart Pro.
Starting right out with the per-share pricing is great, although they addressed that from the very beginning. Platform-wise, I’m particularly happy to hear that the contingency orders (brackets, OTO, OCO) are still coming, and that futures data will still be available for current CT clients after the integration (since I watch them all day long).
I’ve traded with CyberTrader for several years, so I shared some of the concerns since my experience with CT has been ideal from day 1. I’ve also been a Schwab client for even longer, and I’ve never had a complaint there either. Changes in anything are not always perfect, but it looks like what’s important to me will be kept intact, and unless you’re using an API or placing basket orders, any difference between the two should be minimal. Looks like a nice list and I get the feeling they’ll keep us posted regularly going forward.
Enjoy your weekend & Happy Father’s Day!
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]
A New Look and Some Revisited Lessons
Hope you like the new look here at TheStockBandit.net – I am excited about it!
As we wrap up the weekend, here’s a few links you might find of interest from this week last year. Of course, there’s also the Market View page at TheStockBandit.com which was updated today (and every Sunday evening).
There’s no substitute for preparation in trading.
Traders who keep a detailed journal can learn a lot from their results, and StockTickr Pro is an affordable and excellent choice.
Some are odd and others are entertaining, but I’ve always found it interesting to hear the superstitions of traders.
Trade well this week!
Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
Swing Trading & Day Trading Service
www.TheStockBandit.com
