Believe it or not, there is some validity to your statement....just some. Since trading is a little more "cerebral" than "batting" - one can learn quite a lot about basics that are simply not taught in books.....which markets are better to trade, what technique is making money Right Now....(as opposed to some tired strategy that worked once years ago, and a book was written about it). The better traders get better, the weaker traders learn what needs to be done....and to be honest, some traders learn that they should stay out of the market. I know I try to "scare" many from trading, and when they see what their competition is like, they sometimes decide to do just that. If someone thinks they "know it all" - they probably don't know much. (not directed at you or anyone, just a comment....we are all learning....if we aren't we are dead). And, regarding the market, it is simply back to a more normal phase, and so we adapt to it. The recent bubble is over, and those who thought they were good traders based on success in that "no brainer" market, have had to come to terms with themselves and the marketplace. Good Luck!! Don
i want to thank don for his contribution. are there times when you get filled all long and all short? is this the norm? when i went back and checked out some stocks, there was one day where i would've gotten 7 fills (out of 15 stocks) - all shorts, and another day where i would've gotten 4 orders - all longs. i would've cleaned up on those days, as all of them were profitable, but i was just wondering what you think.
A follow up to my post after the last big gap down open we had last week. Then I was getting filled a lot of shorts and ended up canceling all unfilled orders and getting out of those shorts with losses. Today's open was about the same, -1.29% below FV, then it was -1.53. I was not feeling as confident in an immediate bounce today like I was then, but still wanted to follow the plan and put in the orders. But I changed my sell envelope to 1.3% and kept the buy at .9%. I had 13 fills out of 57 orders, more than double my average rate. 11 of those were longs with only 2 shorts. Both of the shorts were winners and only 3 of the longs were losers, and I grossed $1.87, my best day ever with openings. With that many fills, I had to watch my p/l closer and take action off that. I was too busy to put out incremental sell orders on everything like I usually do and had to dump most positions in one chunk. Things were complicated today because my squawk box was down and I felt pretty lost without it. Watching a spooze chart, 13 stock charts, 13 tapes and P/L was pretty hectic. I was lucky though and got out of everything before the market made another leg down. It's a different way of handling openings, looking for a lot of fills and managing the group as a whole rather than 2 or 3 and micro managing them. I'm not sure which way I like best, but if it's a positive expectancy system, I don't mind taking on a lot of positions and just having the odds in my favour.
As I've progressed with the OO (after several months), I want to have as many fills as possible. This is a positive expectancy system. I don't have any problems handling between 5 and 10 open orders, and often I'm already out when I'm filled in the next one. I put in orders on 19 stocks every day, and only in those i know usually go in my direction at once. I don't try to read the tape (but sometimes I have to), instead I put in a "stop winner" order just after the opening. That said, the opening hasn't been that succesful in June for me (had one BIG looser a couple of days ago. That day I was filled in only one stock and started "thinking" too much... damn). With 19 stocks I'm not filled as often as I'd like to. Perhaps I have to add more stocks. Today I was filled in 7 and done after six minutes, grossed close to 60 cents (six winners, one 24 cents looser). I usually close my position after three mins as i "know" my stocks quite well now.
Its not about being slightly difficult the fills on the NADAQ are at the worst in history NYSE specialists are at their most devious levels ever LEt's be real... Newbies and traders switching styles are trying to paddle up stream in the strongest down current in the last 10 years.
I think the last 10 years was the anomaly and what we are seeing now is closer to the norm. Trading is supposed to be hard, it's one of the hardest business to achieve long term success in. And if you aren't willing to switch styles when the market dictates it, you don't have a paddle, a life vest or a boat and you're coming up to a big water fall.
Back to work, after a few days of business in Florida....1 of 3 today...lost about $200. Regarding the overall market...we are experiencing 'normal' markets once again....no big deal....it simply means that we have to be more disciplined and stick to the basics...with less "wishing and hoping" that stocks will "swing" back in the right direction. Back to you tomorrow... Don
I missed the opening, but still had some residual stock from yesterday (LEH and C)....made a bit back on them..... Back to it tomorrow!! Since we have class this week, I will ask that one of the ET attendees make some notes about the strategy, if they like. Don