if you are using ie the nasdaq premarket heatmap then you look at the top 2/3 to go short and the bottom corner 2/3 to go long.. if you use esignal you have an idea of resistances / supports based on para/bol/pivot etc... I personally use the time from 7a.m. to check the wk/day/hour/15/5min/1min...plus check with yesterdays close to see the spread...takes a few minutes I then check to several sites for news updates on the stock I then check with the calendar to see what times the announcement are ...and depending on what announcement will trade pre or after the move...depending on if I am looking at scalping 20cents or am looking at more of a short term position trade for the day... I also prefer the stock not to be in play... would also been interested in seeing a post of stocks to be aware of that are in play via.. broker or market makers.....I personally have noticed that a few stocks lately have no volume until just about close and then do there move ..while ...a few thousand shares moves the stock 50cents plus....while many times I have bought/shorted 20k plus and not moved the stock a nickel...the stocks I am referring to are normally stocks that trade more than one million per day....July reminds me of August trading last year... I also find that using the news from my currency account better than cbc or yahoo finance...more updates and more accurate...the other sites update sometimes end of day....etc I am referring mostly to Nasdaq stocks.. If the stocks has announced and had a few dollar run I will go the opposite direction for about 20percent fibo and get out and stay out for a few days until a definite trend has started... happy trading
Also one way to eliminate or determine which stocks to trade is to know the stocks usual daily volume...that is why I check wk/day/hour etc..and you need to know the beta on the stock..... also there is nothing wrong with trying several and having a few duds as you state as the winners will / should out do the small losses if the stock does not move.. I personally try not to form an oppinion of the announcement or news...as I have never been able to understand why some see the short op and some see the long...I just try and ride the wave....short term..
you can write your own, you can pick some pieces of code, and put them together, there is many programs that can be downloaded. some of them for free.there is plenty of boards,forums,yahoo groups related to trading + excel,etc. even IB give you a sample of excel worksheet. and of course it can be automated.
Ken Wolfe has made a career out of this. HIs site, which Ibelieve is mtrader.com and his columns on RealMoney talk about how to determine which gaps are good and how to play them. Basically it's a matter of evaluating the news and how the market has been handling similar events.
Thanks Bob111. I was interested a few years ago but never pursued it. Since your post, I've been looking in to it this afternoon.