day trading for bigger gains

Holding good trades longer:

 

First it requires a tremendous amount of focus!

 

As a stock is moving up or down how many shares print at the next price level? You will be shocked at how this one tip can change your focus.

 

If it is consistently printing at the bid in a down trend is there a buyer who constantly refreshes (not good) or does it moves relatively quickly through the shares bid?

 

If you are long, offer some shares out, if it is easy to get filled you want to stay in the trade, if it is hard to get filled get out.

 

How obvious is the 15 min 20sma and the 15 min price action? The more obvious the more you will want sit through the noise.

 

Are the market internals obvious or is the $trin flat lined?

 

How is the order flow in the market?

 

How far has the stock already moved compared to a “normal” move in that stock?

 

Based on that information how much more can you expect the stock to move?

What is the next level of support or resistance on the 5 day chart? If you are off that chart what is the next level on the daily?

 

How is the stocks sector performing today? (most stocks have an ETF you can follow)

 

Use our basic chart reading techniques: If there are no momentum reversal candlestick patterns on the 15 minute chart stick with the trade and look to add on a pause.

 

Is the 5 minute chart making consistently higher lows in an uptrend? This means the stock is very well bid and buyers are around. If it is choppy and inconsistent there is no obvious order flow.

 

One thing that is very important to remember is that you only need two or three of these trades to work out each day. Think of the movie industry. How many movies does a studio produce compared to how many actually make big money?

 

It only takes one blockbuster to pay for all those bombs. Trading is the same way; you must take all the trades never knowing which one is going to be a big winner.

 

You can however give yourself a better chance of a movie (trade) producing big gains by hiring a top star (obvious trend/order flow) to be in your movie.

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day trading and mentoring

As a trading mentor or “coach” my days can sometimes be very frustrating or fantastically rewarding. Do you think you could learn how to drive by reading a map? Let’s think about it for a second. You buy a Hagstroms map and before you get in the car that you have never driven before you write down all the turns and distances you have to go.

You write out exactly turn right here, then go this distance and turn left here and this will get you exactly to where you want to go. All that is required is that you follow the map. OK now get in the car.

Well what about learning how to manage different driving scenarios? Lot’s of traffic, no traffic, an accident, the rain or snow; you get the idea. In order to learn how to navigate through these circumstances safely you need to get out there and drive, you need experience.

The map will only give you a sense of the direction, you will need to learn how to make adjustments. This is the same as going home every night and reading hundreds of stock charts. Every night you go home and say “oh why didn’t I see that? If I only read more charts I will then know how to trade!!”

I think you get the picture, this is where the whole frustrating/rewarding side of my day comes into play. you can’t teach experience. I absolutely can mentor/coach traders through circumstances so that the many different scenarios will eventually become their own experience.

This week the light bulb went off for many new trainees on our NYC trading desk. They are starting to understand:

• you have to trade to learn how to trade, it is imperative you learn from your trades it is the only way to improve
• charts only give you ideas, you to learn adjust after you place the trade
• there is no perfect set up that will always work, there is no perfect exit and entry

Assess probability, place the trade, know what you will do know matter what happens, let the trade unfold, do what you said you would. That’s all there is to trading.

I love when they finally start to understand YOU DON’T NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT TO MAKE MONEY, YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO NEXT NO MATTER WHAT.

Trade our capital, no risk deposit. During the next 6 weeks we are looking to fund 12 REMOTE individuals across the country. In order to be considered we must train and mentor you in our proven method. If you would like to be considered email us and tell us why you should one of the 12. Put “I want to be one of the 12″ in the subject line. info@keystonetradinggroup.com

day trading: trading with urgency

When day trading for a living it is crucial you understand that you are trading for the month, NOT by the hour. You are not trading time for money with the job market, you are using skills to earn money from the stock market.

It is imperative that you get out of your head the result of any one particular trade. If you manage risk properly (translation: keep small losses small) and internalize the fact that your number one job is to preserve capital for the opportunities that “line up” so you can build a position as it moves in your favor.

GET OVER TRADING TO BE RIGHT! GET OVER IT NOW OR YOU WILL NEVER MAKE IT AS PROFITABLE TRADER. Your job as a trader is to manage risk. Taking losses is a HUGE part of the business. Get comfortable with it.

Whats the big deal about taking a bunch of small losses? Stop whining your timing is off! Small loss, small loss, small profit, then one big trade. thats the reality of trading.  Keep yourself in the game while you are gaining experience. Thats how a professional makes a living. Anyone who tells you they always make money is lying. Trade with a sense of urgency while managing your losses. Trade as if you must pay your bills from the first month of trading profits, that means trying to NET money. That means preserving capital.

Preserving capital is not trading scared. It is smart business. The market offers abundant opportunity for you to make a wonderful living as a trader, your job is to make sure you are in the game long enough to gain experience and an understanding of those opportunities to increase leverage.

day trading: taking whats available

It would be great if every day was a “buy at the low of the day and sell at the high 6.5 hours later or sell short at the high and cover near the low” type of day. Unfortunately that is just not reality. The market as a whole has been basically in a trading range since the beginning of the year (yes I know you can point to one or two commodity or oil related sectors).

As a trader who actually earns a living from the markets you should know if you are trading for short term moves or waiting patiently for an obvious trend to develop where you can build a position and hold it for a few hours or days. It is difficult to switch from one to the other on the fly. You can’t be a power hitter and a singles hitter, it doesn’t work that way.

However if the trend or better put, lack of trend is persistent over a prolonged period of time you may have to adjust to taking what the market is offering. During a trending evironment you should be trading less shares expecting volatility which means you will need to give your stocks some room to breath for the “bigger move.”

During a range bound environment you should be trading more shares per trade for a smaller move with very well defined stop loss areas, there will be no working an order. This may not suit your personality to trade these smaller moves, thats fine but remember you will need to be very patient waiting for a trend. You can take what the market is giving or sit back and wait for the conditions to match your trading plan.

day trading outlook

Yesterdays 400 plus point rally in my opinion was nothing more than short covering. The new trader will automatically think a big up day is always big buying. You have to analyze data in relation to its price action.

When you hear “short covering rally” it means the commentator is trying to tell you we are in a down trend. We will most likely get follow through to the upside today and then I will be looking for a spot to get short again.