Search Results for 'traders'

The Numbers Game of Trading

This week’s Free Newsletter over at TheStockBandit.com discusses the topic of The Numbers Game of Trading.

Those of us who aren’t in the buy-and-hope crowd are traders, and it really is a numbers game. Learning to approach your trading with this mentality can have a very positive impact on not only your profitability but also your attitude as well. So be sure to stop by and read this week’s free newsletter for more thoughts on the topic.

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]

One Year Ago This Week – May 12-18, 2006

Here are a few of posts in case you missed them from one year ago this week:

We all know we need discipline to succeed as traders, but most talk of it is in relation to losses. Don’t neglect The Other Side of Discipline.

The Great Expectations Series looks at the importance of trading goals in the post Eyes on the Prize.

Adaptation is the key to survival in the wild and in the market. Another post from the Great Expectations Series discusses the Chameleon Trader.

The Great Expectations Series wrapped up with the conclusion and a review of some key points.

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]

Shifting Market Exposure

This market has made an incredible run, and we’re finally starting to see some profit-taking. However as traders, we sure don’t have to predict where things are headed as long as we let the charts be our guide. That’s great news if you’re not the owner of a crystal ball, and it also means our market exposure can shift naturally.

If you’re trading from chart patterns, your market exposure will shift naturally if the market trend begins to change. That’s a beautiful thing, because bullish patterns emerge during uptrends and bearish patterns will surface during downtrends. It means there’s no need to predict what’s going to happen next.

That’s exactly how we swing trade at TheStockBandit.com. By sticking with the best technical setups, we not only reduce our risk per trade but we also find that we’re naturally hedged at turning points and always trading in the direction of the prevailing trend.

Case in point: this week we closed out some very nice gains in long-sided trades like AKS and ONAV, and also added a little short exposure when another bearish pattern was confirmed. It’s interesting how just locating the high-quality setups and letting them confirm will shift exposure naturally when the market changes.

So remember, there’s no need to predict. There’s no need to be a rip-snorting bull or a growling bear. Just let the setups show you whether you should be long, short, or in cash!

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]

Timeframes Dictate Trading Plans

Last week at TheStockBandit.com, we caught some quick moves in a few stocks which were provided as day trading candidates. Each of them had earnings which were about to be released, which we won’t hold into, but yet their chart patterns were still very high-quality. So instead of looking for, say, a 15% move in a week or two by swing trading, we opted for the quick-hit style of a few percent. (It’s called The Stock BANDIT for a reason!)

We caught good initial moves for day trades in 3 stocks (2 longs and 1 short sale), taking the quick pops and then stepping aside. By adding up 2-3% at a time, we booked some solid gains by keeping timeframes abbreviated in these stocks which had earnings reports on the way but still had good chart setups.

I trade based on the charts, but I also incorporate the approach that each individual stock should be traded in a unique way. By evaluating not only the pattern itself, but also the stock’s personality and any scheduled news, an appropriate trading plan can be formulated which raises the odds of success (profitability).

Stocks which have already reported earnings should be given more time and room to move since there is no scheduled company-specific news to conflict with the trade.

On the contrary, a stock with earnings due out in 2 days should be kept on a pretty tight leash and not trusted very far, since the motivations of traders involved in the stock may change abruptly as the earnings release approaches. Taking the quick initial move in such stocks will still allow you to play the high-quality setups without having to take on additional (and unnecessary) risk with the potential landmine of an earnings report gap.

There will always be some news flowing into the market, but by staying aware of the scheduled news (like tomorrow’s FOMC announcement on interest rates), you can determine the right trading plan for the stocks on your radar.

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

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

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]

Day Trading: When to Take Profit

Day trading candidates are often listed in the Bandit Broadcast stock newsletter for the more active traders at TheStockBandit.com, offering some additional opportunities to grab some gains on an intraday basis. With earnings season underway, we’re still swing trading some, but right now is a good time to shorten timeframes a bit until the scheduled news passes.

While most day traders pay close attention to the price action, one of the most important indicators for short-term momentum can be found in the volume levels, particularly in relative volume. I keep a close eye on relative volume via Trade-Ideas Pro, a real-time scanner. Relative volume is the comparison between current volume levels in a stock and what the volume levels typically are for the same time of day. So for example, if XYZ is hitting highs on 2x relative volume, it is seeing twice the volume today as it typically sees for this exact time of day.

On Monday night, GROW was provided for our members as a day trade candidate in the Bandit Broadcast with a $31.50 buy point. The stock had pulled back slightly on the daily chart, but the pattern wasn’t quite clean enough to warrant a swing entry. There was a small descending trend line just overhead which was acting as resistance, and a push up through that level ($31.50) was likely to generate a quick pop to the upside. Here’s the original chart that was shown with the trade:

(Click for full size.) Chart Courtesy of TeleChart.

On Tuesday, GROW cleared the $31.50 buy point not long after the market opened, and quickly shot higher as momentum players jumped into the stock. However, the relative volume was only running right at 1 in my Trade-Ideas filter, which meant it was merely average volume. With the stock up $1.20 past my buy point (a 3.8% move) in less than 45 minutes, I decided it was time to ring the register. I posted my exit on the Bandit Bulletin trading blog for members, and moved to the sidelines with a nice chunk of change. The comment I made at the time of my exit was that it was “too good of a move not to book when volume is only average.”

That proved to be true, and I was relieved to have pocketed the profits as the day progressed, with GROW slowly fading all the way back to the trend line area by the end of the day. Timing really is everything in trading. Here’s a look at the intraday chart which shows all of Tuesday’s trading, including the gradual slide back down after our exit:

(Click for full size.) Chart Courtesy of TeleChart.

Sometimes the simplest things can be the most beneficial to watch. Trade-Ideas offers some amazing tools for day traders, and yet I seem to find ample value in the Relative Volume feature (they have several new features in the works as well). So the next time you’re catching a nice move in a short-term trade, be sure the volume is strong enough to support it. If it isn’t, you’re probably looking at the perfect time to book that gain and move back to the sidelines.

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, Trade-Ideas[/tags]