All Entries in the "Day Trading" Category
Post-Earnings Day Trading Profits
October 20, 2011 at 6:43 pm
Earnings season brings with it a host of opportunities. It includes the potential for new leadership to emerge once it’s all said and done, but in the heat of it, the price action offers some excellent chances to participate in emotional short-term moves via day trades.
Traders expect big gaps during earnings season, and quite a few roll the dice ahead of it in hopes of receiving a market gift. Fortunately though, a trader need not participate in the gap itself to do well.
The post-earnings gap is a regular occurrence for most stocks, although some make a larger move than others. The outlier moves are the ones to watch closest, as they can signal either the beginning of a new move, or an overreaction with reversal potential.
Thursday’s move in PLCM was an example of the latter, as a 30% opening gap to the downside proved to be a bit much. The stock made a huge run higher intraday, although as I’ll show in the video, catching the entire run wasn’t necessary. Instead, grabbing pieces here and there can prove quite lucrative when there’s heavy volume and high emotion present.
In this video, I’ll share with you how I profited in the stock despite feeling like I missed both the big moves (the gap and most of the upside reversal). The fact is, when a stock is in play like PLCM was, there’s opportunity for several kinds of plays along the way. And the exciting part is that this happens nearly every day during earnings season, 4 times per year.
Be sure to watch full-screen on the 720p setting for the HD version of the video.
Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Producer of The Bandit Broadcast
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Don’t Discount Daily Charts When Day Trading
August 31, 2011 at 9:16 am
The daily charts are where nearly all my trades originate. Whether I’m looking for a single-day move or one that lasts several weeks, I always at least take the daily chart into consideration.
Day traders often forget the value that the daily chart can bring. The conclusion is that it’s only suitable for swing trading or position trading, but the truth is that the daily chart can offer some good signals for entry and exit as levels are cleared or reached. Even better, those same levels can often add to your confidence in a day trade and help you stay in it.
Let me offer 3 examples from Tuesday’s session where the daily charts played important roles. On Monday night in the member area, I listed only 3 plays for Tuesday’s session, with each of them being day trade candidates. I’ll break them down one at a time with the initial setup, and then a look at Tuesday’s intraday chart where the daily level played a significant role.
First up was QIHU, which looked poised for a push higher after establishing both a higher low and a higher high in recent weeks. The pullback over the previous several sessions provided a clean descending trend line which I used as a pivot for getting long at $23.60. Here was the original setup:
QIHU pushed past that trend line and never dealt with it again, running initially almost 3% higher before pulling back but still holding above that same trend line:
Next up was GLNG, which had corrected and then settled into a multi-week narrowing consolidation pattern in the form of a symmetrical triangle. These patterns can break either way, and with a strong market and the upper trend line being challenged, I was looking long on a trend line break through $32.15:
GLNG triggered an entry as it cleared the $32.15 level, showing a nice initial pop followed by a pullback to test the breakout zone. To heighten the validity of the $32.15 level, the low of the pullback was $32.18, just 3 cents above it. From there, it ran again in the afternoon to clear the morning highs and get 4% beyond the morning trigger. Not bad for a few hours and no pain:
Last but not least was FSL, a little stock which had huge potential. It had just pulled back to test and hold the early-August closing low, and in recent days had stabilized just above that level. On Monday it saw expanding volume but only minimal progress as it edged past a descending trend line. I set a trigger for $11.25, which would be a multi-day high, to get long. Here’s a look at the pre-trade setup:
FSL triggered late in the day with a massive thrust higher once it cleared the $11.25 level, vaulting straight up to $12 to offer a very fast 6.6%. The move was fast and furious, but a quick payoff once the level was cleared:
A couple lessons from these trades…
A level is a level. Doesn’t matter if you found it on the daily chart or some other timeframe, the odds are it’s going to be evident across multiple timeframes. Recognize and respect that, because it could pay quite well. All 3 of these trades were winners, and each of them respected the level originally found on the daily chart.
Keep an open mind. Perhaps your preference for day trades is a 15-minute chart or a 30 or a 5-minute chart. That’s great. But keep an open mind about how trades might originate. Don’t resign the daily charts to something only multi-day traders consider. You’re missing out on several great opportunities per day by ignoring the daily charts.
Hopefully you found this walk-through helpful. If you want to know what I’m trading tomorrow, stop by the site and begin your trial to our stock pick service.
Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Producer of The Bandit Broadcast
Weighing Risk & Reward on Day Trades
August 30, 2011 at 8:48 am
A trader on the email list received a recent video I sent out on stops, and came back with these questions:
“Excellent video, please keep sending more. But how do you determine ‘risk reward ratio?’ Your day trading strategy points to a starting point for a stop loss at 1%, so how do you determine that it has 2-4% of upside potential?”
Great questions! Here’s how I responded…
For most stocks, a 2-4% intraday move is not out of the norm on any given day (especially lately). That’s well within the wheelhouse for most stocks I trade, whereas those without the propensity to move I simply ignore and don’t earmark as trade candidates.
When I do run across a stock that’s more volatile, I’ll cut my size in half and give it 2% from entry, and then expect a multiple of that on the top side (so I’m looking for 4-8% on the profit side to offset the risk).
As for knowing if a stock has that ability to move, for me it’s mostly a feel thing since I’ve traded so many stocks over the years and I watch the market every day, so I’m familiar with their movement to that extent. For anyone who isn’t, even applying a basic indicator such as the ATR (average true range) to a chart will give you an idea of how much that stock moves on a given day. It doesn’t have to get complicated, but that will allow you to structure your trade (or skip it entirely) based upon typical movement.
How do you determine your risk/reward?
Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Producer of The Bandit Broadcast
Elevating Your Odds
August 3, 2011 at 6:05 am
Each of us would say we want every advantage possible in our favor, regardless of the activity. But a closer look at your trades would likely reveal occasions where you didn’t quite wait for all the elements of your trading plan to come together.
Perhaps that’s out of impatience or anxiety, but we’ve all done it and either suffered diminished returns from lowering our standards or we’ve implemented some poor habits which came back to bite us later.
When it comes to daytrading, our greatest odds for success come when we combine multiple favorable conditions before placing trades. That might be locating setups which point to the same outcome on multiple timeframes, or it might be considering the overall market environment and trading in such a way that we’re not fighting that.
Go check out this post from the archives which has both a written explanation & a video showing you what I mean, because the key is to Stack the Odds for Daytrading Success.
Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Producer of The Bandit Broadcast
Don’t Let Trading Be Everything
August 2, 2011 at 2:15 am
I love trading – it’s such a challenge with multiple rewards. I look forward to it, I think about it alot, and I’m passionate about it so I work quite hard to continually improve at it.
But it’s good to constantly remind myself that trading isn’t everything.
It can’t be. There’s too much more to life than just watching numbers and letters on the screen. Trading is a means to an end, and for each of us that may be something different. What we have in common though is that we have to keep trading in perspective.
One of the ways to ensure you’re doing that is to have off-the-screen goals. Maybe you’ve got another hobby or you’re a runner or a cyclist or a golfer or you have a side business. Whatever “it” is, the good thing is that you have it. Don’t view it as a distraction – think of it as a necessary diversion.
Thinking about your trading constantly shows that it’s important to you, but it borders on obsessive and that’s not good. Inevitably, there will be tough days filled with frustration, and that’s not something worth fixating on. Being able to walk away from your desk and shift your mind to something else (once you’ve reviewed your trading session) is critical to your ability to return tomorrow mentally prepared.
Check out this post for more of my thoughts on The Importance of Off-the-Screen Goals.
Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Producer of The Bandit Broadcast
MON Day Trade Review
June 10, 2011 at 10:13 am
Lately I’ve not trusted the price action much when it comes to swing trading, and that’s largely a product of how this market has been moving. Just a couple of weeks ago we saw a late-May ramp which produced trend line breaks for several of the indexes. However, that move was quickly erased, and the market continues to correct as I type.
The sharp rally and turn-on-a-dime reversal to the downside of the past couple weeks negated most bullish patterns which were building in the charts of individual stocks, and the nonstop selloff since then has taken with it anything which looked remotely bearish. Clearly, there just hasn’t been much in the way of high-quality bases and the kinds of clean patterns I really prefer to see when swing trading.
My preference is to swing trade for overall account growth, and day trade to create cash flow. Operating on multiple timeframes allows me to not only maximize the use of my capital, but also to benefit from directional moves which don’t even have to be correlated. I may be short on a swing basis to participate in a multi-day correction, but there will be intraday bounces along the way which are worth day trading. That kind of approach works best for me, and forces me to not only stay aware of current conditions but also to keep an open mind for what could happen next.
So with little available in the way of swing setups in recent days, I’ve focused on day trading. I wanted to walk you through one of yesterday’s trades (highlighted in Wednesday’s Broadcast) and show you how finding a setup on the daily chart and then managing it via the intraday chart can benefit you.
The Setup
MON broke support in mid-May, but it proved to be a headfake and the stock turned sharply higher and tacked on a quick 10%. It pulled back early this month (along with the market), yet showed some nice relative strength by giving back only a portion of the previous move. There also was a clean descending trend line, which happened to be rather steep, marking the pace of the pullback. That offered a well-defined pivot for getting long, so I used $68.30 as my trigger for a long entry on Thursday. Here’s the setup:
The stock cleared the trend line shortly after the open on Thursday, pushing past $68.30. About an hour later, it pulled back, but held above the prior intraday low (noted below). From there, it started to creep back up, allowing me to draw a very clean uptrend line which I then used as my get-out signal. Here’s the intraday chart:
Late in the session, that uptrend line was broken to provide a technical exit and the stock slid lower into the closing bell as traders rushed to lock in profits. Here’s the chart showing the late-day break:
Takeaways from the Trade
Risk/Reward – As per my day trading strategy, my standard risk for day trades begins at 1% and is adjusted for volatility in the stock. This one required no special treatment, giving me an initial stop of 1%. As the stock trended higher in the opening hour, it made sense after a gap up open to expect that gap to hold, so I adjusted my stop to the low of the day (less than 0.5% –> even better!).
Intraday Trend – with the stock making regular higher lows intraday, it became clear that a change of that trend would warrant an exit. The emergence of a very clean uptrend line not only gave the stock a sustainable pace to rally, but also allowed for a well-defined, tight stop in case it were broken. I love finding setups on the daily chart and then trading them according to the intraday trend, and this is why.
Time of day – As the day progressed and the final hour arrived, MON made a new high by 1c as it cleared the previous high from 90 mins prior. Headfake. That break produced no follow through, which indicated that the high-level consolidation was in fact more of a battle than a rest. That alerted me to the idea of a failure at resistance, which happened soon after. The well-defined uptrend line was not far from price, so once it was broken it was clear that this was the time to ring the register and call it a trade (which traders did en masse). Grabbing a pain-free $1.60 or 2.3% isn’t bad for a few hours.
Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Producer of The Bandit Broadcast
Not a Pattern Day Trader?
May 24, 2011 at 10:19 am
The phrase ‘Pattern Day Trader’ has this negative connotation to it which scares a lot of people unnecessarily. It conjures up images of high risk or compulsive behavior, neither of which are entirely accurate.
Many traders have asked me about having the Pattern Day Trader designation out of concern that it puts them in the same light as ‘perpetual liar,’ or ‘drug addict’ or any of the corrupt individuals found on the no-fly list.
Nonsense! Don’t get spooked by a label.
The Pattern Day Trader designation is simply a category for an account, and therefore doesn’t mean you have any sort of a repetitive disorder!
What It Is
The SEC implemented this classification for accounts, and brokers are required to comply. The restrictions imposed on those without the designation are not a plot against you – your broker is simply enforcing what they’re required to do. Supposedly, the SEC put the PDT rules into effect to protect those with smaller accounts from the ‘high risks’ associated with day trading (as opposed to those ‘other’ high risks found in longer-term ‘investments’ or crossing the street at a busy intersection).
* Personally, I think attempting to pick the next MSFT and holding
hoping for decades it works out is higher risk than the astute day
trader who’s continually limiting his losses, but I digress…
The Pattern Day Trader distinction carries with it two requirements, which are that the account is a margin account, and that it maintains a $25,000 equity balance. Once those are met, you’re free to trade as often as you want, as well as have the benefit of 4:1 intraday margin at your disposal – nice for those who know how to use it.
Those without this account designation, however, have some restrictions. Primarily, they’re unable to make 4 or more round-trip trades in a 5-day period. That really cramps the style of the would-be active trader who has an account below the threshold, and it’s easy to argue that there’s HUGE risk in having your account frozen when the market is on the move.
Get Creative
If you’re one of the traders currently limited in your activity by the Pattern Day Trader restrictions, take heart. You have choices.
The most obvious is to fund your account enough to bring it past the threshold. That’s not an option for everyone, but arguably, even if you didn’t intend to fully utilize the capacity of the account (or day trading buying power which comes along with it), you’re at least free to trade as you see fit with no restrictions.
Supposing that’s not a viable option, there are others, so let’s explore a couple.
* Focus on longer timeframes. There’s nothing that says you can’t trade – only that you can’t trade very frequently! That shouldn’t prevent you from zooming out a bit on your timeframe from multi-hour trades to multi-day trades, ie: swing trading. That approach certainly has benefits – not only does it allow you to sidestep much of the intraday noise and seek out larger moves, but it will of course mean fewer transactions. The lack of churning will also cut down on commissions, which is a nice fringe benefit.
* Consider trading futures. Futures are leveraged, but for the e-mini Nasdaq 100 or S&P 500 futures contracts, margin requirements are pretty low. Futures are also not restricted to the Pattern Day Trader, so activity isn’t limited.
* Look at your options. While the Pattern Day Trader rule still applies to options, one element which many don’t consider is the turnover of capital within smaller accounts to make room for a new equity position. For example, if you’re holding a stock which you don’t necessarily want to dump, yet see another you’d rather have, most likely you’ll exit the old in favor of the new (supposing your account doesn’t have enough equity to hold them both). With options, however, smaller amounts of capital are needed to control an equity position, thus allowing you to have positions in both. Options of course expire, and there are other risk factors to consider if you have no experience trading them, but they do offer an alternative to an either-or equity stance.
The bottom line is that even if you’ve been slapped with the Pattern Day Trader designation, there are ways to be effective without simply buying and hoping. As in many endeavors, a little creativity goes a long way in trading.
Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Producer of The Bandit Broadcast
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