Thanks a bunch for the reply NihabaAshi. I trade Nasdaq (primarily) a bit of NYSE, ETF's. What I'm looking to do now is trade the stocks that are in play for whatever day (today TASR). What I find myself doing is just sitting down behind my PC and going at it. I am aware of any economic reports/earnings coming out, but still feel VERY unprepared as far as decision making goes. I feel I need more than just my feelings (which have worked pretty well for the last two years) to be guiding my trading decisions. What, specifically, would some of you advise? Once again I thank everyone for their time!
I also find that my stops are completely random. How do you guys determine how much you're willing to lose before admitting your wrong?
Just curious. What made you decide to move into position trading? Is there fewer opportunities in scalping these days? How long have you been practicing position trading? I'm also a scalper and have written out a position trading plan, but I always find myself going back to scalping.
===================== Wannabetrader; [a]Prepare & paperWORK for years , month , quarter, day by reading about 72 hours a week average, especialy DIA,SPY, QQQ related , & ,occasional derivatives. And especially many, many many time frames longer than intraday. Realize ''Don Bright '' trading has some huge scalper earners & millionaires; but agree 100% ''you are missing something''& may want to study medium & longer term moves-compare % that with intraday % . I did that & really eye opening. [z]Difficulty also arises when , yes scalping maybe most thrilling; but prefering thrills to a well researched, diversified written trading plan & profits. The plans of the diligent tend only to advantage-Solomon trader king.
From your posts it seems that more than your stops are random. Your entire trading approach is random, and so long as it is you won't get ahead. You need to systematize your approach, and for that you will need backtesting capabilities and time-in-the-markets. Undoubedtly there are experienced traders who can jump into a stock, or into the market, based on news, and pull out a few points intraday. But that is definitely not a path that new traders should take.
lindq your posts are always very insightful and I wanted to tell you it's truly a pleasure to read them..... excellent advise.
Gracias. I've made most of the mistakes that a trader can make over the years, and I simply try to keep people out of the snake pits.