Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJI: ^DJI) Index Value: 7,134.69 Trade Time: 10:22am ET Change: 47.39 (0.66%) Prev Close: 7,073.78 Open: 7,180.97 Day's Range: 7,033.62 - 7,181.13 52wk Range: 7,077.35 - 13,191.50 I did not say that the market would open higher, I said that the market would go up today and it did. If you were trading intra-day then going long would have made you money, but like I said, I don't think my call would have helped you since you really don't know how to trade.
I would tend to disagree with this. I know of many successful traders that SPECIALIZE and FOCUS on a single group, such as oil service, or coal, or integrated oil, or banks, etc. In this day and age of information "overload", I think that it's a good idea to FOCUS on a select group (or two), rather than simply "chase" what is moving. This makes even more sense if you are a technical trader, with some fundamental sense of the group.
That's my style as well. I prefer to be somewhat promiscuous about the stocks I trade and go where the action is. Every day it's a different list, though frequently I'll see the same couple of stocks show up over and over. I have a simple setup I use and it seems to have positive expectency. That said, I've run into a couple guys who said they specialized in a few stocks and made money that way. It isn't that there's a right and wrong way to trade the markets. It's more a matter of finding what works for YOU and developing that.
To be honest and this is just my humble opinion a trader who does even pretty well should not offer setups either before or after the fact. I have learned this the hard way as it is a lose lose proposition. If the trade works 1 or 2 peope say "way to go" if it fails you get blasted for 3 pages. I would also never reveal what I feel is my edge and I am sure other traders who perform would agree with this. I use a 1/1 risk reward ratio to enter a trade but will move the stop as needed. This allows that over time even the entry is 1/1 the overall results are better than that. Today my only trade was short aapl in which i made almost 1 point. There was a 3-4 point short in goog which i did not take. The best plays were long off the open which I was not comfortable with due the break of SP 740 level. There are tradeable patterns in the market find them and be disciplined. Best of Luck. Atrader
I am new to trading and in fact made my first real trade a week ago last friday. Before that I set up a practice account on Bloomburg.com last October. I started out with a full set of the usual big names Johnson and Johnson, Microsoft, McDonalds, Exxon, Shell, Costco, ATT, Verizon and so on. Did nothing and in fact trended. Down. I am a truck driver and my day starts somewhere between 1230 AM and 230 AM and my work day usualy ends between 230 Pm to 330 Pm. I drive a truck with a sleeper and basicly live in my truck from Sunday evening until Friday morning. I started listening to Bloomburg on Sirius last Oct. and now listen basicly from when I start in the morning until the Market closes each day. It starts off with the asian markets, then the euro markets, then on the the US futures, early movement of the markets etc. I picked up on about 5 stocks which I eventually spent all my practice time trading. Mostly just two, both of which I have traded multiple times for real at a profit this week. Those two are SLW and STX. I have just a few more that I look at now and have traded so far. Results first week for a dumb truck driver, $708 profit back in the money market fund. I consider that a success for someone flying by the seat of his pants and just starting. Trade at Ameritrade. I have both Sirius and XM radio's in my truck. Sirius is only one with 24/7 Bloomburg, but X/M is only one with stock ticker that streams to my truck. I also have a blackberry and a laptop with a 3g connection, to trade with.
You only need two stocks to follow, one for the up market and the other for the down market. Take a look at my commentary here and you can even see how I'm actually doing with my theory put to practice. After reading, click on Fact sheet and look at me verses the market. http://www.covestor.com/mbr/natebz/blog/22978
FWIW & INMO This is just good common sense trading You can always add to your âbasketâ of watched stocks as you gain experience Sir Ever heard of a Market Specialist? Redneck
There is a very old saying that goes like this: "Time is Money" Whilst the logic for sticking with a select few stocks is valid, the practicality of making the most from your business does not work well if you sit on your rear end and do nothing most of the day. Another old saying: "If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." The ability to spot an opportunity will depend on your setup and the process you have chosen to filter out the bad, or most risky, trades.