My Trading Room

The new website is up and running at www.slytrader.net

2005-10-31T00:01:00.000-05:00

Ok, it's official the new website is now up and running.I will no longer be posting here anymore and all new posting will be done at www.SlyTrader.net

Thanks to all that have been regular readers here and I hope that you make the transition over to the new site as we continue this journey as traders.Thanks also to TraderEyal and TraderMike for any and all help they have given me in getting started and also making the transition to my own domain.Much appreciation!I also ask those that may have me in there blogrolls kindly change they're links to me over to the new site,thanks to those that have and thanks in advance to any that will. I will still leave this site up for now until I am done moving any old material over to the new site,but any updates and new material will be done at SlyTrader.net

How Much Is Your Blog Worth?

2005-10-27T00:41:00.000-04:00

This was kind of interesting and fun.What does it mean to me?Absolutely nothing at the moment unless someone comes along and wants to buy my blog. ;-)Maybe in the year 2014 when the Google Grid comes it will mean something,when everyone is a freelance writer.Just a thought.

My blog is worth $3,951.78.
How much is your blog worth?

Lack of Volume

2005-10-25T11:04:00.000-04:00

This market seems to be holding up by a thread right now.I just don't see the volume needed to sustain this move up.I've been having some computer/dsl issues last few days so I haven't had much time to post.The new site is up and running,I'm just trying to get some of the basic material from this site on it,and then I'll start posting to the new site.I'll let everyone know when that will be,most likely next week with the other issues I have to deal with for now.

Visit the new website,home of my own domain. :-) SlyTrader.net

Thursday 10/20/05

2005-10-20T18:29:00.000-04:00

What a move right back down today in the futures and indices.A total retracement of yesterday's up move.Big moves of this type usually portend a bigger move coming,the question is in what direction.I'm hearing everything from big liquidators to options expiration,Oil,it really doesn't matter why,what matters is that as traders during the day you are on the right side of the moves.I chose to sit today's session out and get some much needed rest,as I've been under the weather with the a cold.(No not the bird flu.)Just my bi-yearly chest cold due to higher allergens in the air.I hope everyone had a good trading session,remember tommorrow is expirations so be cautious.

Wednesday Trading 10/19/05

2005-10-19T15:53:00.000-04:00

Wow,what a reversal to the upside.The S&P futures came off that low of 1174,closed the morning gap and just took off.I'll bet that surprised some shorts.I did manage to get a couple plays off to the long side there,but nothing like I should have on a 24 point swing like that.I guess eventually you have to start paying attention to some of the good news going around.

Trades Today

NEW short at 31.76 covered 31.28,30.99,30.85,30.80 for +.48,+.77,+.91,+.96

Had a few winners and losers in SYK,but they were pretty meaningless.

NEW long at 32.00 sold at 32.20,32.25,32.30 for +.20,+.25,+.30

NEW long at 32.40 sold at 32.65 for +.25

Those last two I really should have capitalized on a little better,the market was running hard and so were the stocks.All in all it was a good day.The bulls really took over on that one!I think the Oil report had a little to do with things,but that doesn't really matter now does it.Trade what you see!! Good Trading all!

Wednesday 10/19/05

2005-10-19T09:59:00.000-04:00

The S&P futures have gapped down as yesterday was a very weak close.I have to think a lot of bulls might throw in the towel here for a capitulation down,but we'll have to wait and see if we get back above the gap or not.

Trades Today

NEW short at 31.76 covered at 31.28,30.99,30.85,30.80 for +.48,+.77,+.91,+.96 That's more like it. I don't usually take trades this early,but this one was calling my name and I had to execute.The specialist showed up right above me after I entered so I had more of an escape exit than thought at first.Then the orders started coming down and as it thinned out I took my exits.Good Trading all!

I'm still working on the new website,but if you want go ahead and take a peek here: SlyTrader.net

Update:11:00am NEW made a nice reversal back up.Looked ok long at 31.35 I just didn't take it unfortunately. Oh well can't get em' all.S&P futures have filled the gap with a little help from the EIA statistics on Oil inventories which came out with a supply above consensus for crude.

Tuesday Trading 10/18/05

2005-10-18T15:59:00.000-04:00

Looks like the bulls ran out of steam or maybe they're just full of it.(just a joke)The S&P futures broke through the 1189 level to trade down to 1181.70... Not the kind of action the bulls would like to see.

Today's Trades

NEW short 32.91 covered at 32.60 +.31
HIB long 28.78 sold 28.75 -.03 (that's what I get for trying to play long)
HCA short 49.24 covered at 49.15,49.17 +.09,+.07
NEW short 32.37 covered at 32.11,32.16 +.26,+.21(that's more like it)
ASD short 36.52 covered at 36.40 +.12 (terrible exit,traded down to 36.02 with huge orders chasing down,very frustrating to let that one go)

I'd be very surprised to see anyone trying to step into this down move in the next few days.But then again the market is always full of surprises.A good shot above 1189 in the S&P futures again would get this thing back up,otherwise I'm looking for another continuation down a little further. Good Trading all!

Tuesday 10/18/05

2005-10-18T10:28:00.000-04:00

The S&P is in a range this morning of 1192.60 to 1189,we'll have to wait and see which way this thing plays out.It is options expirations week,so be cautious out there we may see a lot of whipsaw action.I've only had one trade thus far in NEW short at 32.91 covered at 32.60 for +.31 winner.I'll be light on posts this week as I'm working on the new website.Good Trading!

Friday Trading 10/14/05

2005-10-14T16:05:00.000-04:00

I had a few more trades today,but nothing significant.The SPZ5 finally got above the 1185 area and trended higher through the afternoon to close at 1191. That's what the bulls needed to see to step in,who knows how long it will last.

Todays Trades

RIO short 39.75 covered 39.75 for a flat.
RIO short 39.68 covered 39.54,39.45 for +.14,+.23 (great entry bad exit)
RIO short 38.01 covered 37.83 for +.18
RIO long 38.85 sold 38.95,38.10 for +.10,+.25 (great entry bad exit)
RIO short 39.57 covered 39.68 -.11 (ouch,but had sized down,no real damage)
RIO short 39.65 covered 39.41 for +.24
Had a few more,but they really had no effect on my day,and I have to leave. Hope everyone had a great week,and enjoy the weekend.I'm hoping to work on the new website this weekend.
Good Trading all!

One more thing...

2005-10-14T11:38:00.000-04:00

I may be starting a new website where I can actually organize the postings better than I can here on blogger.If anyone has any suggestions on names(I'll have to change the name) I'd like to hear your input,or anything else you want to suggest,if anyones intersted that is.

Todays Market 10/14/05

2005-10-14T11:29:00.000-04:00

SPZ5 futures hovering around that 1185 level that we need to get above for a short term bounce/rally.My trading has been pretty mediocre this morning.I had a great entry short on RIO covered for a flat,then re-entered short at 39.68 (the top) covered at 39.54 and 39.45 for +.14,+.23 . Then it drops even more,and I totally miss it,so I short one more time at 38.01 covered at 37.83 for +.18 . I should have captured that entire move easily,but I just wasn't focused.As traders we must leave everything else in our life at the door when we walk into our trading rooms.We'll see what the rest of the day has to offer,even though I'm up it's still frustrating to have missed all that free money. :-) Good Trading.

Thursday Trading 10/13/05

2005-10-13T16:13:00.000-04:00

I had quite a few trades today so I won't be listing them all.I shorted PII this morning at 44.21 and covered at 43.89 and 43.83 for a +.32,+.38 winner.I then went long at 44.60 and sold at 44.75 for a +.15 winner.Next was NEW long at 33.25 sold at 33.44 for a +.19 winner.Had a small loss going long in RIO for -.03, then I went long at 39.06 and sold at 39.20 and 39.25 for a +.14,+.19 winner. Long RIO at 38.57 sold at 38.75 for a +.18 winner,then short at 38.50 covered at 38.38 and 38.36 for a +.12,+.14 winner.A(agilent) caught me again today short at 30.40 covered at 30.41 and 30.50 for a -.01,-.10 loser(yeah that one pissed me off).I won't be trading A anymore,officially.Smack me if I post anything about A anymore,terrible fills on that thing now.To wrap it up I had a good day all in all,there were a few more trades here and there,just small scalps.Looks like the bulls tried to make a run at it in the late afternoon.Again unless they trade the SPZ5 above 1185 I would not expect much.

Intraday Reversal

2005-10-13T14:27:00.000-04:00

That's a fairly good intraday reversal in the indices SPZ5 made it up to about 1182.They're going to have to take this thing above 1185 to get any real interest and even then I expect it will be pretty short lived.Either way as an intraday trader you have to trade what you see.I decided to sit that little move out for now.

Todays Market

2005-10-13T13:31:00.000-04:00

Today has also offered some good trades.I've been trading PII and RIO mostly,and a little NEW and A.Had some nice winners and am trying to stay focused on trading today,so I'll try and post the trades after the close.The SPZ5 is now sitting at 1174.50,it looked like it might take off earlier,but once again failed to gain any upside,just a steady drift lower.I think this would be the 8th consecutive down day if the bulls don't step in soon.Fear begets fear as Dr. Brett Steenbarger would put it.

Trade-Ideas Software: Strategy Session: in Play en Fuego

2005-10-12T23:17:00.000-04:00

For any of the Trade-Ideas users out there.Great volume scan.
Trade-Ideas Software: Strategy Session: in Play en Fuego

Suggestions For This Blog

2005-10-12T17:39:00.000-04:00

I have been adding a couple of things to the blog lately.If anyone has any suggestions,please feel free to comment.I would like to hear your input good or bad.I realize the site can get a little cluttered with too much,but until I can get one of those invites from wordpress.com it remains on blogger and I can only do so much with that.Unfortunately I had an invite that expired on me when I was out of town for the Hurricane.

Quick Review of the day.
I hope everyone had a good trading day.I've been increasing my size these last few days and am adjusting to it,although I gave a little back in A today. I made a few more trades in RIO and had a decent day overall.Word of advice, if a stock isn't making you money and just running up shares/commisions,then leave it alone and focus on the ones that are making money.Me and old A had a little duke it out session in the afternoon,and well of course A won.RIO got me back on track though.Looks like the market just keeps dropping steadily,has not really been a large capitulation yet.

Wednesday Trading 10/12/05

2005-10-12T12:10:00.000-04:00

There are some nice moves out there today.I can't stress how important exits are.I was playing two stocks at once short NEW at 33.52 covered at 33.40, short RIO at 40.25 covered at 40.10 and 39.82. As you can see I exited NEW way to early only because I was larger in RIO.Bad reason to exit a winner.Nothing had changed in NEW and as I stated yesterday I thought NEW would go down to 33.00 and it was also trading below the 33.65 pivot point with good size behind me stepping down.I just had my focus on RIO because I had a larger position.Anyway I'll have to improve on that,and monitoring two positions at once.I get used to trading one at a time,but as every trader should do I need to step up my game.Winners were +.15,+.47,and +.10...had a small loss in A earlier for -.06 and another winner in RIO earlier for +.10 and +.18...Good Trading SPZ5 futures are trading in the 1185 to 1190 area below support.

Update: NEW finally broke down again shorted 33.03 covered 33.82 +.21

I'm very surprised this thing is still above 30.00,insiders have been selling hard lately.I think this company has a lot of problems that they try and cover up.Just my opinion.

Update: Wow,another early exit on NEW,that things just getting hammered.Couldn't get short that time.

Intraday Opportunities

2005-10-12T00:25:00.000-04:00

Stocks I'll be watching for opportunities in are as follows:

A,ABC,GLW,NEW,RIO,YUM

With the exception of ABC these all trade an average daily volume of 1 million shares or more.I have been doing well in the 2-3 million range lately and it has enabled me to play bigger size and still keep my tight stops.It's getting harder to play any size in stocks below 1 million shares average without getting whipsawed,so I will be playing the higher volume stocks as it is working.

Trades in NEW 10/11/05

2005-10-11T19:08:00.000-04:00

NEW offered only a couple good trades today.The first trade was a short at 34.29 off the 5 period sma.When it finally broke down I covered for two reasons,one being a counter with size down around 33.92 and the first penetration back through the 5 period sma.I covered at 34.00,for a +.29 winner.The second trade was another short at 33.90 after watching large size come down I managed to get short again off the 5 period sma.I covered at 33.67 after a swift move down to 33.60 a known pivot point was at 33.65 which I stated earlier today.This one was a quick .23 winner.I try and trade what I see in the moment and don't like to give too much back.On the chart above you can see my reason for exit was the first penetration of the 5 period sma.Some could have waited for the 15 period ema (the dark blue line) to exit and stayed in much longer than myself.Being somewhat of a scalper I like to keep my exits very tight and move on.Notice the 15 period ema was not penetrated back through until 33.77 after an even lower move down to 33.50.Yes I might sacrifice some profit,but at the same time I'm not giving up a quarter profit by holding on.These averages make great exit points,but must be used along with each traders own risk tolerance.

Market Close 10/11/05

2005-10-11T16:06:00.000-04:00

Well the market closed near the lows once again today.The SPZ5 futures closed at 1189.50 which leaves it sitting right on the minor uptrend line of the weekly chart.If the bulls don't do something soon they may just get capitulated.Volume was pretty thin today seems to me that more of it was on the sell side today although it was somewhat light.I'm sure many institutions are trying to absorb the data from the FOMC minutes,so we'll have to see what happens in the next few days.Trade what you see not what you think!

Tuesday Trading 10/11/05

2005-10-11T11:47:00.000-04:00

The market is in a small range still and a break below 1190 will probably create another flush down on the S&P.NEW is below that 34.50 area,and not looking good on the weekly chart.I'm short right now at 34.29.Looking for a move down to 33.00 if the market breaks.Short term if it breaks down it may pause at 33.65 and 33.30 where there are pivot points,so I may cover down there.

Update: I've covered my NEW short at 34.00 looks like it has stalled out for now and got some counters down at 33.92 and up.I will look for a break below that to re-enter if I can.Also futures are holding up for now.

Update: I shorted NEW again like I said at 33.90, covered at 33.67. I need to see some more big orders move down before I short it again.

Don't Neglect Your Exits

2005-10-09T20:49:00.000-04:00

I found this posting a little interesting "Don't Neglect Your Exits" By Chuck Lebeau. It's somewhat old,but has a few good points.I'll try and come up with more on exit strategies later this week.Good Trading all!

Links

2005-10-07T18:55:00.000-04:00

Here's a few links I found interesting,some old some new.

In these 6 stocks I see what every daytrader loves

Adapt or Die!

Want to improve your trading every day? Try this...

Trading Elements: INTELLECT (Part 1) I like this one from the t2w board, written by Joe Ross of TX.

Just to acknowledge,a couple of these I found through TraderMike,so you may or may not have seen them already.

Trade Reviews 10/07/05

2005-10-07T18:04:00.000-04:00

Had a few more trades today even though there was no real direction in the market today.The S&P hovered around the 1196 to 1201 area throughout most of the trading day.There were some good scalping opportunities still out there,you just had to keep it very tight and use a little caution.I had the two shorts in NEW early on then a long later in the day and A finally had some movement with a couple of good scalping opportunities.NEW had some really good volume today,looked like some big players may have been re-positioning themselves at this critical level.Next week should be interesting.Again I waited for volume to prove itself in both stocks,although A was a little light it still offered some good trading.This week went well with my new focus on stocks trading at or above there average daily volume.The trade-ideas scanner is also working well at alerting me of opportunities in stocks with my volume criteria.As I stated in a previous post I am trading a few different stocks now,but at the same time I will not completely throw out my regulars.I just keep them on the back burner until they start trading well again and still keep them on my radar.An example of that is NEW,I had been trading that quite frequently and layed off it for a while,but I still watch it.There is one I have set aside for now,that is WLT,it's just to hard to determine your exit in so I most likely will not trade it anymore unless it's characteristics change.Good trading!

NEW Update

2005-10-07T12:29:00.000-04:00

Just made one more trade short in NEW at 34.61 covered 34.36 . Looks like they took a shot at the 34.50 area sooner than later,we'll see how it closes today.I would be watching it next week for more shorting opportunities if it closes below 34.50 (weekly low from the first move down off the neckline of H&S pattern).

Friday Trading 10/07/05

2005-10-07T11:08:00.000-04:00

Looks like we are hung up around the 1196 area on the S&P.I had a decent trade in NEW short at 35.03 covered at 34.85,I missed the better entry at 34.16 unfortunately.I would watch the 34.50 area on NEW for any continuation of the weekly head and shoulders pattern,this level is critical and if it breaks this stock could offer a few more points to the downside.Looks like they're trying to support it for now with supposedly good news out today.I don't see much movement today,I think most of NY is on edge due to the terror alerts.A is pretty much stuck in a small channel for now,so no trades there.I will be watching for any improving volume at or above average daily volume,otherwise no trades to speak of.I might just call it a day and go out and enjoy the coldfront coming through Houston today,what a relief.Good trading!

Trade Reviews 10/06/05

2005-10-06T23:55:00.000-04:00

Just a small review of why I took the trades I did today.I traded A,YUM,and STJ.A has been trading well and is on the nyse pilot list therefore I can trade it both ways,either long or short.I've had a very good read on it the last couple of days,and it has been trading at or above it's average daily volume.It does trade a little higher volume than what I'm used to,but that seems to be working for me now and you have to adapt to what works and throw out what does not,or set it aside until it does work again.The markets are constantly changing and so must a trader change accordingly.YUM popped up on the Trade-Ideas scanner and was sitting at a key intraday support level,also trading at or above average daily volume.STJ was taken as a short after I noticed ZMH pop up on the Trade-Ideas scanner,STJ is in the same industry as ZMH so I watched for a move in sympathy.It was also trading at or above it's average daily volume.A good strategy is to keep either a qoute box or mental memory of a few stocks that trade in the same industry watching the leaders for clues on direction.

Thursday Trading 10/06/05

2005-10-06T16:15:00.000-04:00

The markets played out once again to the downside today.Once again there was a late day selloff across the board,with just a slight bounce up.I think a lot of people were expecting a bounce at the 1196 area on the S&P and markets usually overshoot,so they didn't get it.My trading went well today aside from the first hour,I had some good trades in A,YUM,and STJ.Yes these are not my normal stocks that I trade,but they all were trading at least at or above there average daily volume which is one of the things I am really focusing on now and is working out well.Hope everyone had a good trading day!There's some pretty good damage out there to many stocks and indices,but we'll see how it all plays out, I try not to form any opinions about the direction of the markets and only follow what I see in front of me in the moment.Good trading!

Wednesday Trading 10/05/05

2005-10-05T17:43:00.000-04:00

The market is in a nice little selloff for now.(sorry but I consider the short side nice,for the most part :-)) There were a few good opportunities today,some I did well on,some I got jigged out of,and some I just plain didn't get filled on.All in all it was a good trading day.I'm trading a few different stocks now as NEW is pretty much dead after the big selloff it had over the last few weeks.I hope some of you were watching my analysis of it on a swing trading basis and made some money on the short side.The weekly head and shoulders played out very nicely once it broke the neckline around 42.00. I did a few trades today in TOL,A, and PHM.I tried to stick to stocks trading either at their average daily volume or slightly above, which seemed to work out well. I'm still a little off on my exits from the long vacation I had,but feeling more confident and rebuilding my edge.DNA has had some great movement lately so I'll be watching that one closely,quite a few stocks are sitting at or near some key levels including the major indices, so I'll be watching very closely for either volume to pick up to the downside or a reversal of the selloff.I will update later on some individual stocks that may be worth watching.

Update: A friend has convinced me not to trade DNA,therefore I will not be trading that one.The potential risk is beyond my personal preference, due to the fact that it is more likely to be halted at times of news.I usually don't take advice from others,but when they point out the obvious it is best to listen.It also does not fit in with my trading style.

Back to Trading

2005-10-03T16:34:00.000-04:00

Well I'm finally back to trading today after putting the house back together.We left town when the mandatory evacuation came for Hurricane Rita and took a little vacation of sorts.Sorry for the lack of posts.September was a pretty uneventful month for me as far as trading,didn't do much of it.Time to get back on track and back in sync with the markets.I'll be light on posts this week as I am just getting back into the swing of things,but I will post anything significant that I see.Only made a couple trades today, had a good short in NEW and almost had a great trade in that NRG at the end of day,tried to get long at the 47.90 ,never got filled,then it ran up to 48.80.Looks like my timing is there,but my execution is a little off.Good trading!

Hurricane Rita

2005-09-23T00:57:00.000-04:00

Well we finally made it out of Houston at about 5 a.m. Thursday Morning,we had started out at 3:00 P.M. on Wednesday Afternoon,That was a long haul.Most gas stations were already out when we started out,I'm just glad we left when we did because it seems Thursday was pretty bad on the roads.I think we are just going to go all the way to Michigan and spend a few days there,see how this whole thing plays out.I haven't traded at all probably won't untill sometime next week.I see I missed some great shorting opportunities in NEW,finally broke that weekly head and shoulders.Good luck to anyone in the path of Rita,lets just hope she simmers down before landfall.

Tuesday / Fed Day /and more Hurricanes

2005-09-20T01:06:00.000-04:00

Took most of the last couple days off from the markets.The Fed reports Tuesday at 2:15pm.Other than a couple of housing numbers and a few earnings reports in the morning,I think all eyes will be on the Fed. I myself will have one eye on the markets and one eye on the new Tropical Storm Rita which is said to be heading my way to Texas.I've been trying to convince my wife to move in the near future and if this thing develops into a hard hitter I may just get my wish sooner than later.I live in Houston just about 45 minutes away from Galveston which is now giving recommendations to evacuate.Not mandatory yet,but possible.Might have to call it an early week and get the heck out of dodge, we should know more on the strength of this storm/hurricane by late Tuesday/early Wednesday,might be an overreaction due to Katrina,but we won't be taking any chances.

Trades For Friday 9/16/05/ More Tape Reading

2005-09-17T19:15:00.000-04:00

I did have a couple of trades on Friday though I spent most of my time watching the tape and taking care of other things.My first trade was a short on NEW off the 11:20am 5 minute candle,I couldn't of timed that entry better.I entered short at 41.50 as they were taking out all the bids and I was able to hit an ARCA (thank you arca for being a buyer there).My first exit left little to be desired at 41.40,then I captured a little more at 41.27 to cover the entire position. My second trade in NEW was another perfect entry long at 41.25.I was watching every print as orders would try to come down only to get cleared away so I went long with the big buyer(or short covering,who really knows).Then I made a big mistake I put out an offer at 41.35 and all these orders came in behind me and went up and cleared out my offer for a .10 cent profit,only to watch it trade up even more to about 41.70.The point is my exit was way to early,I had a great entry,big buyers coming in and a stock ready to squeeze the heck out of the shorts on a volatile options expiration day.I really should have captured the bigger move on that one.The tape reading did pay off for the day though and I will be paying more attention to it in the coming weeks,and also to enhancing my exits.
Unfortunately I cannot show the tape reading as it happens,but I can do my best to explain my thinking process on my trades throughout these next few weeks.My main thinking on these two trades was that the prints off the tape said it all when the bids were all getting hit and orders moved down it was time to go short and when that selling subsided and they held a certain level for a few bars it was time to go long as every order that tried to come down on the stock would just get printed.Of course you don't want to be the first one testing it out, you do want to watch a little first,but at the same time you don't want to wait so long that it becomes obvious to the entire group that may be watching the stock as you will miss a lot of the move.I think the idea is to wait long enough where you can see what is happening and strike at that moment right before everyone else catches on, and I believe this can be done consistently.I realize that was pretty basic thinking and I will try to get more in detail in the future, but for now that's all my tired brain can muster up.Good Trading!

Tape Reading and Study Time

2005-09-15T11:27:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I had a post with links to an author who wrote of specialist and tape reading.Part 3:The Tape Reading part has really got me thinking that I have gotten away from really focusing on that. The next couple days I will be watching more than I will be trading.The author really made some good points and reminded me of the fact that you really have to pay more attention to the Tape than the open book.I was watching BSC at the 10:55am 5 minute bar and the bar just before that and all the prints were starting to go off on the bid even though it appeared the stock was moving back up I don't think the sellers were quite done yet.This was a great tip off for a nice short opportunity(short term scalp)for a nice .50 to .60 cent move down.I'll be watching more setups off the Tape in the coming days and try to post more of my observations. I'll also be taking this time to get caught up on some other things,like some other traders, I'm finding this options expirations week to be very undesirable to trade. Good trading to all.

NYSE Specialist and Tape Reading

2005-09-15T00:29:00.000-04:00

Tonight I was using the new Google Blog Search and stumbled upon this blog in a search for nyse open book.The author has a very good write which comes in a three part post:1.Think Like an Institution,2.The Specialist,and 3.Tape Reading...Very informative and easy to understand material for anyone trying there hand with nyse stocks.The author also seems to be very negative on nyse open book(which in some ways I have to agree with a few of the points made),but I have to say I still find it a useful tool for certain things as depth,locating largebuyers/sellers/specialist,and knowing my exits.Those are three justifiable reasons for paying a small fee once a month,in my opinion.

It's a fairly long read, but definately well worth it.Here's the link again.

Wednesday Trading 9/14/05

2005-09-14T14:07:00.000-04:00

Wow,what a choppy day,that's really all I can say.My trading has just been terrible today,trying to take what just isn't there and a loss of discipline.I was down,then up,then flat,then down,and well now close enough to flat that I just want to stop for the day.Got shaken out of a really good short in GLW only to get +.01,then watch it trade down to my suspected target of 20.82,I was short at 20.98,arghhhh!I did manage to catch NEW short at 43.00 and cover at 42.85 for a +.15 winner,only to watch it go and print down to 42.55. There some really crazy moves going on today,and I may just sit out for a while until conditions improve,I wouldn't mind a nice move down as I tend to favor the short side.Good trading to everyone and good luck in this option expirations week.

Trades for Tuesday 9/13/05

2005-09-13T12:18:00.000-04:00

NEW short 43.55 covered 43.48 +.07 (almost got burned in that one,trading erratically)
WLT long 47.11 sold 47.09,47.15 -.03,+.04
NEW short 43.44 covered 43.30 +.14
WLT long 47.29 sold 47.41,47.45 +.12,+.16
This WLT was being held up by specialist all morning never penetrated the 47.00 after trading above that,had to exit the first time because I generally keep very tight stops.The better entry was at 47.05 5000 shares came down that I could have hit but I was having connection issues "again".Thanks again assent:(.That better entry most likely would have kept me in this trade longer with my out at 47.00 only .05 risk.

Choppy session thus far.One more comment: There is a lot of talk of trading journals,psychology,entrie,exits, but I have yet to here anything on system reliability(Computer,Connections,Brokers Connections "reliability"(yeah you know who you are!).Maybe I'll write a post on that or will find some more info or opinions on the matter soon.I think that comes above all in a traders ability to be successful,otherwise it's like racing a beat up ole'VW bug against a Ferrari.My guess is the Ferrari will win every time and people will stop trying to race the VW. :-)

Tueday Trading 9/13/05

2005-09-13T09:22:00.000-04:00

The SPZ5 traded down earlier to about 1242.00 a gap from two days ago.Futures now look to open around yesterdays lows.Economic reports this a.m. are fairly non-eventful as they came in at or near consensus.

Trades for Monday 9/12/05

2005-09-12T11:40:00.000-04:00

Today's trading range is proving to be very tight at the moment. I'm only trying to take very small scalps off the bottom and top of this range.Right now that range for the SPZ5 is support at 1246.50 and resistance at 1248.25, until we break out of this range I won't be looking to take much else in this market.

NEW short 43.29 covered 43.20 +.09
FMD long 28.68 sold 28.85,28.89 +.17,+.21

End of Month Trading Journal / Heat Map

2005-09-11T23:38:00.000-04:00

This is just a review of my P&L Heat Map for the month of August 2005.My first original post about journals/heat maps was done on August 18th for stocks as percentage of winners and losers, and on August 6th for P&L by time segment here and here. Please refer to the links for a better understanding of the above charts.

End of Month Review: August 2005
Average hold time: 00:03:44
Total positions held: 406
Total symbols traded: 39
Winning trade %: 66.57%
Losing trade %: 33.43%

In the winning stock comparison chart n=NEW,trades from that one stock made up the bulk of my profits for the month.Also in the Time Segmented P&L as the month progressed my best times for trading were in the morning 1st two hours approximately and the last hour and half.

Trading Links

2005-09-11T18:02:00.000-04:00

TraderMike has some great informational material on his site today.Definately worth taking a look at, and some references of other ways to use the Trade-Ideas scans compliments of the team there and also Brett N. Steenbarger, PH.D.

I've yet to read everything out there, but it seems to me that this market delta stuff is basically just the same idea as a daily volume overlay that can be done through stockcharts.com if you set the configurations for it.Don't quote me on that, as I have not read the article in it's entirety yet.If I have any more opinions on this afterward I will post later.Just wanted to make the information available to my readers asap. I do read the nyse open book for depth, so this could be valuable to my style of trading or anyone following my style on an intraday basis.I do also look for block trades myself and am considering implementing the filters that trade-ideas has offered for watching block trades.Considering I only like to watch a couple of stocks at once,this may bring about some more trading opportunities for me throughout the day.

NYSE Order Execution

2005-09-10T00:49:00.000-04:00

Some of my readers have asked what kind of orders I use when trading Nyse stocks.First of all I rarely use market orders.The only time I will use market orders is either if I am trying to test the market a little (Livermore style) to find out where the specialist is filling orders,or if I absolutely want out and don't care where I get filled.These fills can vary from not getting the price you anticipated,to getting filled at a much better price if the stock has a quick upburst/downburst.I don't much care for market orders typically. I will either use a limit order through SDOT or I will use the NYSE Direct+ to hit the specialist.If you use a Direct+ order you have to make it count because there is a 30 second frequency restriction to send another and that can feel like minutes in the world of scalping.(This rule still applies to individual stocks, but has recently been eliminated for ETF's).I will also use the ECN's to get price improvements or as entries and exits when I cannot get the NYSE order fast enough.One more thing to note specific to my own style of trading is that I don't typically like to offer out if I am long or bid if I am short.My reasoning behind this is that it can sometimes stop the momentum of the stock.In other words,if I want a wheel to keep rolling forward do I want to help keep it rolling or do I want to set up a roadblock for it.To help create the momentum you sometimes have to be the one getting things started and hit the smaller orders that may be standing in your way.As long as you are trading on the side of the Big Money then this is possible,just don't try to be a hero and go against the specialist because you will lose everytime.When you have that flow behind you it doesn't hurt to take out the 100,200,or 500 shares standing between you and a .25 cent winner.Now on the other hand if I see that there is strong support or resistance at a certain price level then I will be a little more cautious and possibly take some of my position off to book a little profit.I also use hot keys for all my orders because with my style I have to be quick on many of my trades.

Order Execution page link for NYSE

Trades for Friday 9/09/05

2005-09-09T14:06:00.000-04:00

I don't have time to list all trades today,but I will list the two that brought me back above the flat line for the day.I have to take off the rest of the day and take the wife to the dentist which for me probably isn't a bad thing considering the trading today.

BMC long at 21.00 sold at 21.12 +.12
CRK long at 30.43 sold at 30.55,30.58 +.12,+.15
(Both of these I spotted on the Trade-Ideas scan for volume currently 1 x average daily.)

Good Trading!

S&P Futures Contract

2005-09-09T10:53:00.000-04:00

The contract being traded now for sp futures is the December contract. Symbol is SP Z5 for esignal.Market is very choppy so far today and I don't expect it to get much better being Friday and all.Be cautious out there.I had a pretty wild ride this morning back and forth now recovering.I think it's payback time again so I will decrease my share size until conditions change.I also came back from a small vacation this week so it may just be specific to my own trading adjustments,but right now I'm getting false signals all over the place.I will only trade Prime setups now.

Trade-Ideas Free Trial Update

2005-09-08T22:27:00.000-04:00

Trade-Ideas is now offering an extension of the standard 7 day free trial. My readers can now enjoy the extended 14 Day Free Trial and take advantage of the extra time to really get to know the product and it's many features.Be sure to sign up via my affiliate link.I'm using it on a daily basis now for my own trading and have to say it's the best product I've come across yet. I have used Realtick's Oz Scanner and also a product called Whisper, and I have to say that Trade-Ideas has nailed it on offering a user friendly real time scanner that can be adapted to suit a full-time traders needs.Unlike the predefined scans that some products out there only offer you can really configure the settings here with Trade-Ideas and set filters to fit your own trading criteria.Check it out Now!What are you waiting for?

Market Overview : Commentary Links

2005-09-08T21:07:00.000-04:00

Here is a great view to the bigger picture of the market. I found this commentary through TraderMikes blogroll. See the Capital Spectator for more.Also check out RandomRoger he has some great stuff on a more macro view.I find it helpful to step outside your own thinking from time to time just to get some other observations of what might be happening in the markets. It's easy to get caught up in your own views if you don't look outside of those views from time to time.

Trades for Thursday 9/08/05

2005-09-08T15:11:00.000-04:00

The market has not offered up much for the day,although volume was decent and there were a few opportunities. I'm still trying to find my groove since being back and it's just not there yet. The morning offered a couple small scalps only to have a few small losers in the afternoon.Just made a trade short in NEW for a +.18 winner which has basically made me positive for the day, time to call it quits for now.Homebuilders have been under pressure most of the day we'll see if tommorrow or next week offers any good trading opportunities there.

Trade For Wednesday 9/09/05

2005-09-07T15:31:00.000-04:00

NAV long at 34.50 sold at 34.60,34.70,34.75 +.10,+.20,+.25

This one came up on the Trade-Ideas scan for longs with volume set at 1.5 times average.Watched it trade for a bit before my entry and set my sights on a blast thru some big orders that kept coming down and getting taken.They played a little fake at first but held it nicely.I had good MACD trend up on my 15,and 60 minute charts and a slight turn up on the 5 minute.5 minute was slightly trending down but I also had a good entry signal on the 1 minute stochastics and the market trend in general.Calling it a day here,like I stated earlier it's my first day back so there wasn't much trading for me today.Good Trading!

First Day Back From Vacation

2005-09-07T12:08:00.000-04:00

Today is my first day back from vacation.I'm amazed at the run up in the indices and it will take me a couple of days to get back in sync with the markets.I most likely will not be doing much trading today, but I will be back tommorrow with my current and daily opinions on the markets.I always find it takes a couple of days to settle back in after a vacation.Hope everyone has had some good trading in the last week.I'm looking forward to getting back into the groove after a refreshing vacation.

Gas Prices

2005-09-01T00:44:00.000-04:00

Here's an interesting link.I'm not sure how accurate it is,but check it out you can pull up the highest and lowest gas prices in any state/city for the day.(Not sure if there is a lag or not,just thought I would pass it along).Here's another thought,drivers in Europe are paying approx.$7.oo a gallon for gas.Though the average driver there gets about 32 miles to the gallon and the U.S. is about 24.Are we on our way there.Inflation adjusted $90 a barrel hmmm.. I suppose that's not to far off.Oh and here's another interesting link for gas prices.Man I need to move to Puerto Rico, gas is cheap there! :-)Just some thoughts and observations.

Taking a Small Vacation!!

2005-08-31T21:13:00.000-04:00

I will be taking a small vacation the rest of the week until Wednesday of next week.Although I do not like to detatch myself from the markets,especially when trading is good, I will be going to do a little COHO Fishing for the weekend,although I might have to settle for trout,we'll see.Will try and post a few thoughts and personal ramblings throughout the week,but for now,I'm out of here.Good trading all,and God bless all the people that have been affected by Katrina.

Donate to the Red Cross here

Winning Trading Strategy / Another Example

2005-08-31T20:36:00.000-04:00

This seems to be a recurring trade as of late.I only caught a very small piece of it,and the fact is I need to really start paying attention to these trades.I've shown a few examples of this trade in the past week or so and they keep appearing.The basis of this trade is a small channel forms between the 5 period sma and the 15 period ema.When price trades into the 5 sma as this channel widens there seems to be an explosion to the upside for longs and the downside for shorts.One characteristic coming to my attention is that the stock will be on track to trade at least 1.5 times it's average volume or higher.I have seen this pattern recurring in non-news related items also.I let myself get caught up in my comfortable stocks a little too much and missed the bulk of this move. For more examples of this type of trade go here and here.

Trades Today / 08/31/05

2005-08-31T17:07:00.000-04:00

Trades

NEW short at 43.10 covered at 42.94 +.16

NEW long at 43.09 sold at 43.20 +.11

GSF long at 47.01 sold at 47.20 +.19
(This thing had a nice run,missed it early.Originally showed up on the Trade-Ideas scan,I just wasn't paying attention.It was a great setup off the 5sma. I will post chart later.)

ALL short at 54.89 covered 54.80 +.09

NEW short at 42.19 covered 42.07 +.12

NEW short at 41.89 covered 41.79 +.10

NEW long at 42.40 sold at 42.72 +.32
(had MACD rising across three time frames,and rising 5 period sma)

Trades Today 08/30/05 : Recap

2005-08-30T15:42:00.000-04:00

Well if you can't beat'em join 'em.Had to turn long for the afternoon trades. Today was a tough one seems to be no real direction or follow through either way at the moment.I'm calling it a day here,didn't see much opportunity today,but all in all it was a decent day. Good trading to everyone!

NEW long at 41.29 sold at 41.40 +.11(early exit,running up slightly)

NEW long at 41.02 sold at 41.19 +.17

NEW short at 41.00 covered at 40.64 +.36

NEW long at 41.02 sold at 41.25 +.23

Weekly Head and Shoulders / NEW

2005-08-30T14:18:00.000-04:00

What in the world is holding this thing up? Great head and shoulders pattern on the weekly chart, they just won't let it drop though,yet... If it does break say 40.50 I would expect a move down around 34.00,longer term.Unless of course the homebuilders decide to rally again.Might rally back up to the right shoulder one more time if that happens,but I doubt it.

Briefing.com

2005-08-30T13:53:00.000-04:00

FOMC minutes coming up at 2:00pm....
Here's a little snippet of how the markets look right now.

13:21 Broad based weakness, amid heavier volume

The averages have pushed off of their midday lows but the overall bias remains firmly bearish. The slide in the wake of yesterday's recovery is disappointing, has come amid heavier volume (Nasdaq 813 mln, NYSE 763 mln) and has been broad based in nature.

Trades Today 8/30/05

2005-08-30T10:05:00.000-04:00

NEW short at 41.00 covered at 40.64 +.36

NEW long at 41.02 sold at 41.25 +.23

Economic Data Today 8/30/05

2005-08-30T09:24:00.000-04:00

Consumer confidence and Factory orders will be coming out at 10:00am,along with the FOMC minutes coming at 2:00pm today.

Consumer confidence consensus is 101.00, the prior was 103.2....

Bulls in Control?

2005-08-29T15:29:00.000-04:00

Well I have to hand it to 'em looks like the bulls took over today or was that a short squeeze? Either way it looked like a fairly good reversal day for them.

DKS Possible Trade/ Cancelled

2005-08-29T14:26:00.000-04:00

Volume too low to take that one,I passed on that one.

DKS Possible Trade

2005-08-29T12:59:00.000-04:00

DKS is making lows and there might be a possible trade nearby.Will update later.Volume is still very light though and might not be enough for any follow through.

Monday Trading / Light Volume

2005-08-29T12:30:00.000-04:00

There's not much in the way of volume today so far.TraderEyal makes a good point about the action thus far and I have to agree.Only had a couple decent opportunities early on.We'll see if things pick up later on maybe the big boys will step up to the plate or will they be a no show? Comments on the SPR (oil reserve) will also be coming out,we could see some volatility off that....

Morning Trades

NEW short at 41.50 covered at 41.27 +.23

NEW short at 41.60 covered at 41.52 +.08

PXP short at 35.00 covered at 34.82,34.80 +.18,+.20

News Trumps All!

2005-08-29T10:03:00.000-04:00

Oil made highs and is now trading off a bit.News will always trump any technical patterns. Right now the focus is on oil.Could be a bit whipsawish today.So far minor support in the SPU5 held at about 1202.00...Watch this level here.

Not getting the follow thru on the short side yet...

Trades

NEW short at 41.50 covered at 41.27 +.23

Ugly Trading Day For the Longs Monday?

2005-08-29T01:33:00.000-04:00

I have a feeling Monday could be a really ugly day for the longs.I've been sifting through some stock charts and there has been some really nasty breaks in some of them.I won't try to anticipate anything,but will see what the market offers up.There may be some really good shorting opportunities as I feel we have not yet seen the flush and rinse of the longs quite yet.I only trade what's in front of me so I will be prepared to trade either long or short,but I have to favor the short side until I really see the longs get flushed here and capitulate.Watch the volume for clues.

Winning Trading Strategy

2005-08-26T23:39:00.000-04:00

I have briefly gone over this strategy yesterday on the TOL trade.Repetition is good for the mind.Unfortunately I missed a big part of the move for reasons of personal matters.Ok,the strategy consists of a 5 period simple moving average(5sma) and a 15 period exponential moving average(15 ema).The examples are of a short sell on NEW.If you click on the chart it should open a new window for easier reference back to the chart.Top of chart,there was the 1st entry signal when the 5 sma crossed down thru the 15 ema,I was able to scalp some of that move.Now as that crossover took place there is some space between the two averages which I refer to as a channel.Notice that price never penetrates back through the 5 sma and never even comes close to the 15 ema.Now there will be cases where price will trade back up to the 15 ema and generally that should be used as a stop out point.Use your own discretion on the stops,that will depend on your own risk tolerance,but as a rule of thumb you should use either a few pennies away from the 5 sma or the 15 ema as your stop price.

There are a couple of triggers for entry on this trade.
#1: The first crossover of the moving averages after sideways action(top of chart).
#2: As price moves away from 5 sma it will eventually trade right into it.(Refer to the missed entry on the chart at 42.50.There was a small inside bar right before that.Another entry of this nature was the second bar up from that.)

Now for the exit triggers.
#1 Referring to the chart there was a large peak in volume on the third red bar from the missed entry.That would warrant taking half off for me.
#2 There was a stochastics crossover to the upside on that candle followed by a stochastics move back up thru the 20 band.(On the chart this is where it says Stochastics exit signals with arrows.There are also two black horizontal lines,the top is the 80 band and the bottom is the 20 band.Rule of thumb is when the stochastics crosses up through the 20 band that is a buy signal,and when it crosses down through the 80 band that is a sell signal.(That's a whole different post in itself...)
#3 If you waited you could have also exited on the first break back up through the 5 sma or the trade up to the 15 ema.
#4 When the channel between the averages gets wider than your initial risk tolerance,it's time to take some or all of the position off. For example on the chart there was a huge volume peak,the distance between the next bar and the 15 ema was about .40 cents away. If your original stop was .10 or .15 then it's definately time to take some off.

This example is based on the 5 minute chart.It can be used over several other time frames.(5 and 15 minute are the most common.)

The entire move in this example was about 1.23.Not a bad trade if the rules are followed.This setup has been showing up a lot in several of my trades,therefore I will start trying to adhere to it more in the coming trading sessions.I will follow up with my results in the near future.....

Trading Without a Safety Net

2005-08-26T14:40:00.000-04:00

Well, this is the third time this week my trading firms servers have gone down.You gotta love it! "Luckily I've been able to either get out of my trades or just haven't been in one when this has happened.It amazes me how irresponsible a big firm like this can be.Anytime there is volume they go down lately,causing either losses to some traders(not me luckily) or missed opportunities,as I like to trade when there is actually some volume.Man I would love to throw the name of them out there,but I won't!!! I might call it an early weekend,as I had a few good trades in the morning,and have lost my edge with the fact that their servers could go down again.

Good Trading all!!

Today's Trades

2005-08-26T10:55:00.000-04:00

The SPU5 has broken that minor support of 1210.50 slightly.

NEW short at 42.98 covered 42.85 +.13
NEW short at 42.77 covered 42.65,42.61 +.11,.16
NEW short at 42.00 covered 41.88,41.77 +.12,+.23 (missed the setup from 42.50 short,because of distractions,ughhh!)Great setup too,I'll post later...

Friday Trading

2005-08-26T09:30:00.000-04:00

We have Michigan Sentiment coming out at 9:45am with consensus of 92.5,and Greenspan will be talking at 10:00am.

The indices should either stay rangebound or we could see some whipsaw action after 10:00am.

SPU5:
Minor intraday support at 1210.50...next support at 1202.02
Minor resistance at 1213.50 and 1216 area.

Trade Review / TOL Short Sell

2005-08-26T09:03:00.000-04:00

Sometimes trading systems need minor adjustments to enhance the profit potential. Most of my trading is done by reading the Nyse open book and combining some chart analysis along with it.Here's a trade where I really could have implemented a better trading strategy,especially with the kind of support I had in the book.By support I mean the number of shares and orders still showing at or above my point of entry short.

This strategy works well with Nasdaq or Nyse stocks. I only trade Nyse,but the trader whom introduced me to this strategy uses it on Nasdaq and does very well.The strategy consists of a 5 period simple moving average and a 15 period exponential moving average(respectively called the 5 sma and 15 ema). Yesterday Tol was traded to the short side therefore I will only explain the short side of this strategy,everything can be reversed for longs. When the 5sma and 15ema are trading sideways and the 5 crosses down thru the 15 it begins to create a small opening which I will call a channel as you can see in the top of the chart.Now as price trades down,the channel will begin to expand/widen and price will eventually trade right into the 5sma,this is where you take your entry as close to the 5sma as possible using the 15ema as a protective stop.Depending on the width of the channel,you want to use your own discretion as to your risk tolerance.This method works best if you can use the 15ema as your stop,which in this example was never more than .10 to .15cents away from the 5sma.

Notice in the chart where the channel begins to widen and the 5sma begins to trade down away from the 15ema.I then found a good entry short off the 5sma and plenty of support in the nyse book.My entry was at the top of the big red bar right after that thin shooting star and below its open at 48.75.I based my out/exit off the Nyse book and as the trade progressed(rather quickly) I decided to book the profit(again rather quickly) at 48.51 for a +.24 profit.Here's my point of this trade,notice that price never penetrated back up through the 5sma after my entry short,and well never even came close to the 15ema.Had I used this method this trade could have easily produced a .60 to .70cent winner.At the same time I had never lost my original exit, the orders remained in the book.I also had my MACD trending down across all three time frames of 5,15,and 60 minute charts.The 5 and 15 period moving averages can be used effectively across most time frames,but are most effective across the 5 minute and 15 minute charts.(You can also use a 6 minute and 13 minute chart).This method also involves some other details that can be added on for even more confirmation of the move. I will post more about that soon...

Thursday Trading Wrap-Up

2005-08-25T16:01:00.000-04:00

Trading was very rangebound today, but it did offer up some great scalping opportunities.TOL came off it's high of 51.72 to close at it's low of 48.04...

I'll have to review that trade a little later,entry was great but the exit not so great.The charts would have kept me in a little longer if I would have followed a method I was taught by another trader using a couple moving averages.I'll have a post on that coming up soon.

Good Trading all!!

"Scalps" Today

2005-08-25T15:12:00.000-04:00

Scalps For Today:

Trades

NEW Short at 43.55 covered at 43.44 and 43.40 +.11,+.15

NEW Short at 43.40 covered at 43.21 +.19

NEW Short at 43.17 covered at 43.25 -.08

NEW Short at 43.27 covered at 43.17 and 43.08 +.10,+.19

TOL Long at 49.40 sold at 49.58 +.18

NEW Short at 42.98 covered at 42.85,42.81 +.13,+.17

TOL Short at 48.75 covered at 48.51 +.24

The payout cyle is back, hmmm... maybe I should have swing traded today's tight range.:-)

Link about Scalping Vs. Swing Trading

2005-08-25T14:13:00.000-04:00

Here's an interesting link I found over at TraderMikes' on the subject of scalping vs. swing trading. I have to agree with the author on one point,here it is... Pinpoint precision comes from discipline, skill, confidence and decision making of the highest degree possible in shortest periods of time. Well said, but isn't that required in any trading style or is it ok to get slothy in different styles.Now the part about learning to scalp being compared to handing over the keys of a daytona race car,hmmmm... No, I have to disagree with that, unless your starting out with the most volatile stocks.When learning to scalp it is better to start out small,and pick stocks that are not quite as volatile.Average volume of the stock can make a big difference there.When you have become more proficient at scalping then you can move into some of the more volatile stocks. I will agree it's not the easiest style to learn and it has it's place during different market conditions just as any style does.If the market is in a 5 to 10 point range for the day,swing trading will not be your best bet.That is a pure scalpers market. Every style requires that you assert the market conditions at hand, I guess it just depends on what time frame you want to trade and wether or not you want to trade and go make a casserole at the same time.:-) The author did make some very good observations, and it was definately worth a read.

Thursday Trading 08/25/05

2005-08-25T13:03:00.000-04:00

Taking quick profits in this tight range between minor support/resistance this morning.

Trades

NEW Short at 43.55 covered at 43.44 and 43.40 +.11,+.15

NEW Short at 43.40 covered at 43.21 +.19

NEW Short at 43.17 covered at 43.25 -.08

NEW Short at 43.27 covered at 43.17 and 43.08 +.10,+.19

TOL Long at 49.40 sold at 49.58 +.18

NEW Short at 42.98 covered at 42.85,42.81 +.13,+.17

I'm seeing a lot of energy stocks moving up on my scanner today.

Technical Breakdown

2005-08-25T10:05:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we had a pretty severe technical breakdown of the major indices.

Watch these levels for further clues as to the market direction.

Minor intraday support at 1210.50...next support at 1202.02
Minor resistance at 1213.50 and 1216 area.

Wednesday Trading Wrap -Up

2005-08-24T16:06:00.000-04:00

After trading up this morning the SPU5 broke that support level at 1215.50 and is now resting on the second level at 1210.50. Next up is it's 200 day moving average at 1202.02 if 1210.50 does not hold. A break of 1202.02 and your guess is as good as mine.I would say 1189.50 will act as support next if we continue down.

That move lower allowed me to pop off some more shorts in the afternoon session. The payout cycle returns. :-)

Don't forget to check out the Trade-Ideas free trial through my affiliate link.

Kaboom!

2005-08-24T15:23:00.000-04:00

Flush,rinse,look at that market go down. Good to be on the short side.:-)

Wednesday Trading

2005-08-24T09:59:00.000-04:00

WLT short sell at 40.70 covered at 40.50 and 40.44

New Home sales just came out, we could see some short squeeze in the sector today.

Economic Data

2005-08-24T08:35:00.000-04:00

July durable orders fell 4.9%, well below economists' forecasts which called for a 1.5% decline, versus a downwardly revised 1.9% increase a month earlier (from +2.8%), while ex-transportation fell 3.2%...

Mortgage applications fell for the seventh week in 10, dropping 0.7% in the past week, moving to 756.2 from 761.3, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The report adds to concerns that the all important consumer support, the housing market, is cooling. The purchase index fell 2.2%, but remains near record levels as interest rates are at historic lows, . Average 30-year fixed rates saw the first drop-off in 7-weeks, as rates fell to 5.78% from 5.79%. The average 15-year adjustable rate popped higher to 5.41% form 5.4% and 1-year ARM's tightened to 4.84% from 4.85%.

SP 500 futures or (SPU5),yesterdays' low is at 1215.50,currently trading near that level pre-market.Next supports at 1210.50 and it's 200 day moving average at 1202.02... If the bull's don't take over this thing still has room to run down.

I will be away for part of the day and be back hopefully around noon to check in on the market. Good Trading to everyone.

Trade Ideas : Stock Scanner/Watchlist

2005-08-23T18:26:00.000-04:00

I have a new (affiliate) link for a 7 day free trial to Trade-Ideas.Be sure to sign up by way of the link.For the readers who have never seen or heard of Trade-Ideas let me explain. Trade-Ideas offers a stock scanner that sifts the entire market for opportunities throughout the trading day,in real time.There are two versions available for the scanner,either through a browser window that continuously refreshes or via Trade-Ideas Pro which is a downloadable version. I personally prefer the downloadable version because of the ease of use,extra screen space,and the price remains the same, unlike many other vendor upgrades.There is also a sharing function in the Pro version that is very cool if your involved in swapping scans with other traders.

To find stocks to trade in real time throughout the day,you can either use the preset scans,and still make any changes that apply to your own trading criteria, or you can make your own scan definations choosing from the scans they have available,and change a variety of criteria,ie: Min/Max Volume,Min/Max Price,Min/Max Gap Up/Gap Down etc...

One of my scans for shorts on the NYSE.
You can go to the link and choose configure in the menu to view all the different settings.This scan is set for minimal criteria, and I have also added a list of the NYSE Pilot stocks(shortable on downticks).You probably won't be able to see the list,but if you need it go here.

I started with the free trial,and got hooked immediately.I am still in the process of playing around with the settings,but for the price it has been totally worth it,and it's payed for itself 10 times over.I will try and write about some of the settings in a later post. Do keep in mind that no scanner will make you money unless you still apply your own rules of trading.It simply offers a greater chance of opportunity so the trader can focus on the task at hand.

I originally found this scanner through TraderMike,he had been using the sample scan through his daily Watchlist section.He is offering a two week free trial, so if your interested by all means hop over there and give yourself an extra week of tweaking the scanner.If you've already decided sign up here and get started.

Thin Trading Today

2005-08-23T14:38:00.000-04:00

Volume is still lackluster today even with that move off the lows.I just don't see the volume. TSA has been trading over it's weekly resistance today, again I just don't see the volume for a substantial move.This one might be worth keeping an eye on though,it's just very thin for any daytrades.

Day 2 of The Payback Cycle

2005-08-23T12:21:00.000-04:00

I'm playing stocks very cautiously for the remainder of the day.The payout cycle continues for the second day. Basically I'm flat, and I will only trade prime setups.Volume is very lackluster so be careful.Morning range has finally been broken on the SPU5 now trading at below minor support of 1217.10. Good trading all.

Today's Trading Re-Cap

2005-08-22T20:34:00.000-04:00

Today's trading,volume seemed to be lacking,the servers went down briefly for my connection to the market,and I had to leave the market early to take care of some things.I did find myself struggling a bit today,like pulling a rabbit out of a hat,if there's not one in there then your never going to find it.The day started off having several large winners,only to see them evaporate as the day progressed.Here's a list of mistakes I made today:

Mistake #1: Buying a puppy,and telling my wife,oh sure no problem she can just stay home with me.:-) Just Kidding (But we really did buy a puppy,ughhh.)

Mistake #2:(This is for real) Over-Trading when I could tell the market was lacking volume.

Mistake #3: Going long when I had already stated this morning,how I felt the bulls could not sustain things.Trading against my own gut feelings and technical analysis."Trust your own judgment."

Mistake #4: Continually trading the same stock,when it keeps taking money."I know I can beat it,I know I can be it".

Mistake #5: Breaking all the rules I apply,that keep me from making mistakes number 2,3,and 4.

Now, I could just blame today on the servers going down,but that would just be trying to justify some really poor trading. Nope I take full responsibility for this one.Don't worry the damage was minimal, only ended down -100.00 with commissions.Every good trader has his/her bad days,no-one is invincible in any market.That is most often the result of losing focus,and not obeying your trading rules.

Just Keeping it real!
Losing is no fun,but writing about it is even harder!

Realizing I could also be in a payback period,I will scale back temporarily,until my conditions change.This does not mean withdraw,just scale back slightly,trading only prime setups.

I also like to re-acquaint myself with the bigger picture of things when I lose focus,here's a couple of good readings for that:Online Trading,Random Roger,and Trader Mike.One more from Bo Yoder on the payout/payback cycle.

Longs Weak Today Thus Far

2005-08-22T11:59:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to play a few longs today,but there is just no follow through.Had ALO for a .40,and .50 cent winner twice only to evaporate into a .20,and .30 cent winner on both.Have to take those profits faster today.The bids just aren't sticking.Bull's I'm dissapointed in you,that's all you have!I'm keeping my bear costume close just in case.

Monday Trading

2005-08-22T10:10:00.000-04:00

SPU5 has a downtrend line at 1233.86, need to see some follow thru above that to believe the bulls.

Negative Tone?

2005-08-22T09:24:00.000-04:00

I just don't buy into the whole bull theory right now.I'm hearing quite a bit of negative tone to things this morning,other than the Google news. We'll see what the market has to say today.I just don't trust the bull side of it all.

New Addition To The Family

2005-08-21T21:05:00.000-04:00

Well, I now have a new trading partner,and a new addition to the family.Hmmmm,what should we name her.Taking suggestions. :-)

Trading Style

2005-08-20T18:55:00.000-04:00

My trading style is somewhat similar to that of a scalper and a momentum trader.I am very big on reading multiple time frames on the charts,but not entirely dependant on that. I will also look to the nyse book to determine the depth of interest in the stock for the time periods I am trading.When I started out I was only looking at the charts,then I progressed into reading the nyse open book,and now I am using a combination of the two.

On the charts I am mainly watching 3 time frames the 1 minute,5 minute,and 60 minute.I will look to the daily and weekly charts from time to time just to locate major points of support and resistance where stops may be run through and volume is likely to increase, but they do not play a huge role in my strategies.Basically it is a top down approach setting the daily and weekly charts aside, I start with the 60 minute looking for pivot points of interest,then move down to the 5 minute for confirmation of trend,and finally the 1 minute for entries.I will also watch the MACD line for trend and slope,and pay attention to the stochastics for trend and turning points.Moving averages also come into play when applicable.I use a 20 period from the bollinger bands, and a 5 period,and 15 period through all time frames.My main focus on those is the 5 minute,and 15 minute charts.If I'm really focused on the moving averages I will turn to a 6 minute,and 13 minute chart,but that's a whole different post in itself.

Now I look in the nyse book for orders moving up or down,holding price levels,or a discrepency in share size on the inside bid or ask of the book,compared to the inside NYS on the level 2 market maker box.Confused yet! If the orders don't match between the book and level 2 on the inside bid/ask then you have found the specialist!

Example:The inside bid of the nyse book shows "nyse 1000" shares, you look over to your level 2 box and see "NYS 8000" that means the specialist is bidding 7000 shares more than the limit order of 1000 shares that is in the book.The specialist may have more shares than is showing,but we never really know that,all we can do is act on what we see at hand.Now if I see this pattern sitting at say 50.25 and the specialist moves up to say 50.28 and there are 1000 shares at 50.30 on the offer I will take these shares out(buy the offer)since I have the specialist "walking the stock up".I also want to see that I have some shares behind him still in the book say back down at 50.24 and 50.22 and maybe some ARCA orders in between.I always want to have an exit.The specialist can create a powerful move and at the same time pull his entire order.Always make sure you have a backup plan to get out.In other words make sure there are enough shares to exit on depending on the size of your position and what's in the book.Now,back to the trade that is moving in our direction,as the specialist walks up you want to see additional offers be bought or you may decide the trade has real momentum and take the shares out yourself,just make sure you still have the specialist at your back.As he walks the stock up additional offers will be taken out,once you get a substantial move which will be determined by your own risk/reward targets you have to decide if it's time to start pairing out of some shares.This may also be decided by the charts,maybe there is a previous resistance or pivot point that the stock is approaching.If the specialist is starting to lose shares it may be time to take some off the table.Continue to monitor your exits behind the specialist,ask these questions,have the orders behind the specialist moved up in the book,have additional orders come into the book,or have the bids really thinned out?The book has a slight delay so you really have to pay attention,if your other exits have all dissappeared it may be time to exit the entire position.The rule of thumb is,if you still have the specialist on your side then you should still be in the trade,easier said than done.When your looking at a .25 to .50 cent profit it's hard not to want to take a little off and book some profit,but you should really keep some shares if the specialist is still there,because you never know when they might run it up hard and give you a stick(1 point) or more. Always know your out/exit,I can't say this enough,it will save a lot of pain,and money,and shorten the learning curve in the long run.This whole process can be repeated for shorting stocks. There are a lot of different factors that I also consider throughout the trading day,concerning time of day,volume,geopolitical factors,OIL,etc..., that's another post.

My main philosophy is be consistant,manage your risk tolerance levels,and enjoy what you do! Take consistant profits,small losses,and always be focused.This style of trading may not be for everyone,but it really is a combination of many other styles.My one hope is that you can take a small piece of this,integrate it into your own strategies,and profit from it.If you are new it is a great way to learn.Start out by watching for the specialist in many stocks over and over,until it becomes second nature.

For other strategies see TraderMike and Daily Dopeness,and also TraderEyal,some good reading at all of these.

Good Trading!!!

The Sports Authority : TSA

2005-08-19T16:24:00.000-04:00

TSA traded to 33.76 today after some wild swings.Opened at 33.00 traded down to 32.22 then traded back up through the open to the weekly resistance line of 33.78. Well .02 cents shy of it anyway.With the combination of options expirations and earnings I'm sure that made for a wild ride for some.Notice on the weekly chart TSA made a recovery through it's 20 period MA and is now trading back up towards it's upper bollinger band.I think it still has some room to go if it gets thru this 33.80 level and holds.Might make for some good intraday plays next week if the volume keeps up.Be careful though,that thing can have a nasty bite if your not nimble on the keys.
I did manage to squeeze a small scalp out of it today: Long at 33.13 ,sold at 33.30 and 33.39 . We'll see if this thing can get through this weekly resistance or not next week.I have it on my Trade-Ideas scanner set for 5 minute highs/lows, 15 minute highs/lows, and 60 minute highs/lows. If it offers up some volume next week I just may bite either way up or down considering it is on the NYSE Short Pilot List.Keep in mind it did have earnings today,which will always create more volume than usual and some vicious swings.The trade I took in it today was a very close prime setup,but I did have some other factors in the NYSE book setting the trade up for me.Good trading to everyone!

This post is in no way suggesting a buy or sell,I'm simply looking for good scalping opportunities with volume that fits my own criteria.From time to time I will look at the weekly charts to do that.

Friday Trading : Options Expiration

2005-08-19T11:07:00.000-04:00

I will be doing very little trading today if any as I believe other good traders will be doing the same.The markets are very quiet right now and it is options expiration.Between that and low volume it's a recipe for very treacherous trading. Yes I'm playing it very defensive this week,it's capital preservation week for me.If a prime setup arises I will take a trade otherwise it's an early weekend.Good trading to everyone!

Trading Journals: Heat Map

2005-08-18T20:47:00.000-04:00

Reading the previous article on trading journals,which I found through TraderMike,made me think about my own method of tracking my progress.I could relate to the article especially the part about tending to focus on the winning trades so that you can reproduce those patterns.The above pie charts contain the percentage each individual stock holds as either winners or losers.The color coding denotes each individual stock and it's percentage of the graph.The stocks are listed next to the graph on each.My top traded stock this month has been NEW(In the chart it only has an "n",but should be"NEW").That is the stock I have been focused on trading intraday since it has been proven to be a money maker.The others are just icing on the cake,which by the way I believe were mostly caught on the Trade-Ideas scans.This tells me I want to keep my focus on NEW until I see that it's not trading the same patterns.Now over to the losing stocks,yeah this is the part we all hate.These are the stocks that I have lost in when traded and will tend to stay away from since they have not made me money.To be honest these are stocks that did not fit my criteria 100%.The losses were minimal on average only about .03 cents,but they still have to be acknowledged.Realize why you made bad trades and move on.Focus on the winners.The pie chart is a very good heat map to your trading progress and where you should focus your efforts.

Good Reading

2005-08-18T18:19:00.000-04:00

Here's a great article on trading journals I found thru TraderMike.Since I use this blog as a form of a journal posting some of my better trading patterns,that article was my favorite read.

Technical Problems

2005-08-18T13:48:00.000-04:00

Wow, what a day,I've been having some technical issues with the systems here at the home office.I apoligize for the lack of posts today.One nice thing about trading at an office is the technical support that's usually provided,but I'll still take trading at the home office over that.Just waiting on the tech to come out now.It amazes me how some of these providers get away with the over the phone "tech support" that they offer,I'd love to mention there name but I won't.Some of these people just have no clue,like there reading from a script or something,well that's the "advantage" of outsourcing isn't it! If you couldn't tell I'm a little ticked that I have to spend my day waiting on someone instead of trading. :-) Trying to stay positive though.Good trading to everyone,I'm on a mini vacation for now I guess.

Opening Range

2005-08-18T10:06:00.000-04:00

SP 500 Futures opening range for this morning is 1220.00 to 1217.40

Thursday Trading

2005-08-18T09:36:00.000-04:00

SP 500 Futures now trading below 50 day moving average of 1222.45.

Correction To Daily Chart of S&P 500 Futures

2005-08-17T18:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I posted a daily chart of the S&P futures which was incorrect,my apoligies.I stated that yesterday's candle was a gravestone doji,which for some unknown reason appeared in my charting software as just that.Turns out today it shows up as a candle which opened higher and then traded down to close at the lows.Still a bearish candle and still closing on the 50 day moving average,just not a gravestone doji,but we did get that gravestone doji which formed today "if" my charting software is correct.

I hope this clarifies the matter for anyone who noticed.

Wednesday Trading

2005-08-17T15:10:00.000-04:00

...and the dullness continues! My rules are keeping me out of this market for now. I'm not into these low volume whipsaws. I've been out running some errands, visited a friend at the old trading floor,man was it quiet! I thought it was me,but there is just very little action out there right now.Trade with caution.If your going to play this market trade only the prime setups and stay away from the whipsaws.

Daily Chart of S&P 500 Futures

2005-08-16T19:03:00.000-04:00

Ok, I really hate daily charts,but I wanted to share this.

Yep, looks like a gravestone doji to me! These are a bearish sign, but keep in mind that it closed right on the 50 day moving average,this could act as support.

Just some observations.

Where are The Big Boys!

2005-08-16T18:41:00.000-04:00

I didn't see much institutional action today.
Seemed mostly like retail players.
Just a thought,I don't make market calls,I'll leave that up to the "smart" guys.

I smell a bear!!!

GS on Downscan

2005-08-16T14:17:00.000-04:00

GS was on the Trade Ideas downscan, made a nice run.I missed my entry on it though.
Showed up on the new 60 minute low, set for NYSE Short Pilot List,you have to create this list in the configuration.Min. stock price set at 20.00 and min daily volume set at 300,000.It's already run quite a bit so I wouldn't short it here.

Just a Post

2005-08-16T13:56:00.000-04:00

This market is comatose today,zzzzzz.Where did everyone go,sure wish I was invited!