Swing trade, that is (not interested in any other type of swinging you might do). Everywhere I look on this site it seems I run into scalpers and other daytrading types. I'm just wondering how in the minority I am being a swinger... (I'm one of those tortoise-like dudes who only checks his positions every 60 minutes or if an alarm goes off. I have this wacky theory that the reliability of tech analysis is in direct correlation to the timeframe- makes me money though, at least in futures so far.) Also could someone enlighten a futures refugee on the difference between a direct access broker and a run of the mill ('not' direct access) broker. My educated guess is that direct acess just means there's no middleman on the phone between you and execution? And as long as I'm asking questions, could someone with experience give me an idea of how much slippage I can expect trading big liquid names (S&P 500 stocks) while using a run of the mill broker who offers online order entry but probably ain't quote unquote direct access. thx
Day trading didn't suit my personality. To emotional. I like swing trading because I can do all my analysis at the end of the day in my own time, build my strategy and then stick to it. When I was trading intra day I often changed my strategy halfway trough because I got emotional about the position. Also ended up playing allot of crap just because I was sitting there. So here's to you dark horse. I like looking for consolidation bars on a daily chart and then using an intraday time frame to focus in and see if there is a pattern I like eg. Rising flag, triangle consolidation, double bottoms/tops etc. I hold for the first run 1-5 days usually following the intra day 30 min trend.
One more thing I do my own analysis using my software but I do subscribe to 2 stock web sites as I find it helpful to see what other people see in the market, I can often overlook an excellent opportunity that someone else might of spotted.
I was all disappointed after you clarified your definition of "swing." "Direct Access" is the step up from "on-line" broker. With a traditional on-line broker, your order is emailed to a 3rd party (often NITE) who executes it when they can make a spread off the top. NITE pays the on-line broker for this privilege, usually more than the customer pays in commission. With DA, you can post bids and offer directly to ecns, and as you stated, there is no middle man. The market is evolving rapidly, but this is the basic idea.
I'd say I'm primarily a swing trader. My time frame has shortened significantly over the years. When I first started trading I would easily hold winning trades for months. Now you see the same size gains in a few weeks or less. Especially short sales. I also like not being glued to the screens all day and having the freedom to do other stuff. Ijust set the computer up in the morning or evening before to alert me a little ahead of when a particular stock is approching the buy or sell point. And then I monitor it closely from there and make the trade, if triggered. And then I go back to doing whatever I was doing before.
I do both but prefer swing trading because of the more consistent profits (for me), lower commissions, and less time involvement. Hoping to one day get my system automated and get even more free time. Bruce F mentioned using alarms to enter positions, I like to use stops, especially since I trade eight or more stocks at once. Of course stops have their dark side too. I think in the latest poll swing type traders represented a significant part of the board. My theory is to follow a basket of well behaved, volatile stocks, and profit off their movement to different price levels every week or so. To do this I try to stay fully invested in each stock based on its directional bias and hope I don't get churned. Holding a basket eliminates churning expense somewhat until the market decides to move to the next level.
I swing trade extreme price movements by entering just after a strong reaction to an event (earnings and such). Fading these movements over about 2 days with the right exit strategy is quit profitable.
true dat Bruce, true dat. my main work is done in the afternoon, taking a few hours to find potential setups for next day. Then during the day it's checking the markets every sixty minutes and keeping an ear out for price alerts. Lower stress level, lower commission cost, higher profit, plenty of time to mellow during the day. Works for me.
Swing trading has been very viable and profitable recently, but don't you guys forget how bad a strategy it was in summer... scalping was the only option then.. remain flexible and trade whatever is working... God Bless the USA and may B52 bombing missions be leashed upon Saddam, Arafat, Pakistan and other Evil Doing terrorists...