$day trading mistakes

Erik and I have witnessed thousands of traders come and go and there are some very common mistakes that prevent progress:

1. You are a part time trader, very hard to be good part time.
2. Trading too little. You have absolutely no shot to make a living on two trades a day.
3. Trading too much. Placing orders because you have no discipline.
4. Allowing yourself to lose twice as much as you earn on good days.
5. Not focusing on which stocks you actually earn money in. (Erik and I will trade the same stock for months at a time if it is easy to read)
6. Too much focus on exact chart points and expecting charts to make you money. Charting gives you ideas; managing trades and risk is how you make a living.
7. Too much concern with “how much should I earn on a trade.” If you like a trade and it is working out hold it, if it is not working out kick it out I don’t care if it is for a two cent loss. Reevaluate and get back in if you still like the idea.
8. Not routing orders properly. Some of you have ECN fees that are much too high.
9. Trading too many stocks. Learn two or three stocks and beat the hell out of them.

Holiday Over Yet? $$

After a long holiday weekend, it felt that that some traders decided to extend their weekend. Volume on the NYSE was 1.4 billion shares and Nasdaq was 2 billion, both well below last years’ daily average volume.

The market opened weak with the S&P dipping below the 200ma, the market found a bit of a bounce after the ISM numbers came in a bit better than expected. American Express led the financials higher and ultimately the market. As active traders, we recognized that the volume was light and that are trade expectations were less than usual. The shorts worked early this morning, while the afternoon was a gyration back and forth until some late day buying pressure came into the market, (most likely short covering). We made some money today playing both sides of the market. Hopefully tomorrow will provide more volume and better opportunities. As we always say, you must take what the market gives you.

Keystone’s New CNBC Commercial$

Good Morning! 

Weak employment numbers have pushed the indices lower this morning. We expect a little bit of action into the factory orders number at 10amest. Shortly after this, the long holiday weekend will begin. Volume should drop off and our traders will head out for the beach, Golf, Surf, etc.

Take a look at our new commercial which is currently viewing on CNBC!

Have a good weekend!

 

done

Consumer Confidence Drops$

After 2 months of improvement, consumer confidence index fell to 49.3 in June. In may the index stood at 54.8. Todays results were worse than expected. Prior to the number being released the market had an upward bias, but quickly retreated once the number came out. The SPY went from $92.90 to $91.92 within 30 minutes. Light volume and sideway action ruled for most of the day until there was a surge in the last hour , only to be sold into as the closing bell rang and the2nd quarter ended.  Ending what was the the largest percentage gain in one quarter in a decade.

However, with that being said, it still seems as though the market wants to digest these gains some more and possibly dip a bit further. The SPY closed today at $91.95 ,which is right above the daily 20MA at 91.88. Holding these levels will be crucial to where the market trades from here.  Remember that this is a holiday shortened week and the volume should decrease as the week progresses so we may not see any real significant moves until next week.

In the meantime, remain disciplined and always follow your plan!

http://keystonetradinggroup.com/

Today’s Action

Today was one of those days where you needed to make a few bucks within the first 45 minutes or so and then sit back and watch as one of the biggest financial criminals of all time was sentenced to the Maximum of 150 years behind bars. Justice was served!

Hopefully this message sent a strong statement to the American people that those who are greedy and want to cut corners to be successful will pay the ultimate price. Hopefully we can start the rebuilding process and more importantly we can begin to trust Wall Street again. Confident people will create confident markets, ultimately leading the markets higher. To see Dow 10000, once again would be the least that we can ask for.

Again trading today, was more of a lesson what is right and what is wrong! The market itself did not feel as strong as the numbers may have indicated, but you can only expect that the market would feel good on a day like this!

Have a nice life Bernie!

http://keystonetradinggroup.com/