I was trading the QQQ with IB, but I cannot trade it anymore due to the new SEC rules, my account is less than 25K. My solution is to trade Nasdaq stocks till September 28, 2001. I want to focus on trading only one stock each day, a stock that will mirror the Nasdaq futures as close as possible. Any suggestion out there, I haven't traded individual stocks much. I was considering trading Intel or Microsoft, these should move in sync with the futures, but are they tough stocks to trade i.e too thick or choppy. I need a stock that is liquid and hopefully has follow through moves.
I traded amat exclusively for 3 months mid year. Made over 3500 trades in that amount of time keying off the futures. Was making 10 grand a month on lots of 500 shares Finally decided I had graduated to "faster" stocks and moved on to a basket of about 10 additional stocks. Haven't made that much money since. Why the hell did I stop? JB
Hey Turok I've always been curious exactly how stocks like AMAT follow futures. I've never been able to get a straight answer from anyone exactly how this works. I've heard a couple people say that if you listen to a live sqwak box, you can judge if a futures move is for real by how loud the crowd is. Other than that, I've never understood exactly how you look at a futures chart and determine exactly how stocks are going to follow this. Could you enlighten me?
I've strictly traded NVDA for the last 4 days. It tracks the Nasdaq futures moves almost exactly. It is a fast bugger though.
Don't get used to NVDA tracking the futures or you will get STOMPED. I trade it daily now as well and the last few days have been a bit surprising and unusual. JB
I have been watching NVDA for the last week as a potential new stock to trade. I don't think I will begin trading it however. The stock just gaps up/down, bids drop off and suddenly come back. The spreads also become very wide. I know it is possible to profit off these types of stocks, but I must admit that I am not on that level yet. I also realize that a stock like NVDA can wipe an account out very quickly. Maybe with more volume the stock will be less choppy and have 30 cent swings which a more linear.
I have mostly been trading exds for the past three months... concentrating on only one stock gives me the chance to see more things and do less mistakes. alain
Hi, in general the Tier 1 stocks (bellwether stocks of the respective sector) will follow the future the best since they are the first ones to follow the respective future. Usually you can say that the future moves first, followed by the tier1 stocks, tier2 stocks etc. Very popular stocks to follow each day in conjunction with the Nasdaq future are: AMAT, CSCO, BRCM, QCOM, CIEN, INTC. Those stocks usually have a good range every day and therefore room for profit. They all have different characteristics in their movement, which is usually determined by the free float of a stock and it's volume. The more float and volume the more stable the stock. As a beginner I would certainly start with the more stable stocks like CIEN or INTC. Even as a pro I would never monitor more than 2 stocks at the same time in order to keep you focused. I attached a chart, that shows you how AMAT moves pretty synchronic to the nas future. But knowing this certainly will not give you any gains. A solid strategy for trading those stocks is needed. At the open for example you will often see very nice movement in one direction followed by a counter move. Letâs say the future gaps down 20 Points and than moves back up 15 points after the open and AMAT followed that move. The future is nearing it's previous days close (which serves as resistance). You know that it is very likely that the future and AMAT will have a good chance to reverse here. Now you are looking for clear signs of a reversal. A very helpful tool to identify those reversals are stochastics. Or you will just be able to feel the move out...future is not gaining that strong any more...starts stalling and then sliding lower. I would go short once such a top is made and AMAT reverses (stop above high). What I actually do is, I focus primary on AMAT and just look at the future for confirmation...meaning I would not go short if the future is still up trending. Later in the day when movements are more flat I would focus on chart patterns. Ok , this was just a short explanation. Maybe I can get into more detail later. Good trades, Jens mhh..chart didn't show up in preview but you will find it here as well. I used a line chart for AMAT.
Jens, I looked at the chart you provide, and frankly am confused. My data provider (QQL) does not have the e-minis so I have not used futures for trading. On your chart it appears that the e-mini peaks 20 minutes before AMAT (9:55 vs 10:15). Is this possible ? Or is there a relative time shift added to one of the symbols ? thanks...