Yes, I found that out myself. I started at a chop shop and once I discovered what was going on I switched to a legit firm, then moved out of the city to a different trading setup. You'd be impressed at how aggressively my previous firm tried to threaten me into staying though. I almost started thinking about getting a lawyer just in case. In the end they did nothing though.
This is what I do, and I'm getting better at it. Look at weekly charts instead of dailys for tops and bottoms. This is just my guess, but a top on a daily chart, and bottom on a weekly chart is only going to show up as a pullback on the weekly (When it comes down of course). So you'd buy the pullback to get in at a better price then just enjoy the ride up/down for a week or however long you intend. I'll give an example. Look at ISRG on a daily chart (4 months). You'll notice that ugly gap down, then after that the stock begins to consolidate, until today ISRG closed up 4.82% ! . I think this is just the beginning for ISRG, and if you look at weekly for ISRG, it also looks like a good buy (to me anyway). Another thing about position trading is that you can trade NYSE and NASDAQ stocks. Well, you can trade nyse stocks as a day-trader, but most trade on nasdaq because it's faster (Correct me if i'm wrong). There is a chat room I go to each morning where there are about 50 traders who seem to make a killing each day, but if you position trade, you'll do more watching than trading, and it can lead to bordom that will cause you to impulse trade for excitement...trust me I know . Just the other day I made 4.25 in RMBS. All I did was look at the charts for a few minutes, then spent the following days watching the market, sleeping in, enjoying life (whats left of it). It does have its advantages.
hey thanks for the input. Please keep in mind that the position trading is only for the day. I close all my positions at the closing bell, and leave nothing overnight. Can you give me some tips on openning? For example, if a stock has good news, etc... what charateristics should I be looking for in the open to determine that it's a legit trend? (usually, in what time time in the open are you guys looking at before jumping in?)
Gap up, then watch the first 5-20 min. If you see bids walk in and come back after being filled, offers lifting, big prints going off, then it's safe to jump on and catch a quick move. Play it like a scalp and notice when it begins to consolidate. After that you may notice a continuation/reversal pattern which also is playable. My fave is when it makes a "U" type of formation off the open. Fills the gap, then tape shows buyers walking back in. Buy as it approaches the opening price. Also, do a search for opening range breakout on ET. In a bear market, a stock with good news might make one of these and break out bullish. Those can be pretty nice also. After a while, with enough traders on scanners looking for such setups, these will all stop working. Only reason I mention it is because it's pretty much a common strategy (and I don't focus much on it myself).
I think its all about following the big money. Look at GS yesterday. It was a perfect break out play.
Yeah, I have some of those. Also have my eye on several insurance stocks, though I have to see a bit more intraday price action to start taking full positions.
Cashmoney69, Are you paying for the chatroom or is it a free chatroom? I suppose they are trading stocks right? Do you mind letting me know what chatroom it is (you can pm me if you feel that the mods will think its advertising. Thanks)
look for a thick green bar that's formin' fast and price movin' with decision and for orders goin' off mainly at the ask. if u see another bar followin' that is higher than the previous stay in and let your pos run as much as possible; if the bar instead is of the opposite colour of the first one get out. of course there's more to it but this is a good start. u could also wait for the typical retracement and buy the breakout from the base; it usually occours half a hour or so after the bell.