How many stocks do you trade each day on average? Also, for those of you that trade alot, how many are you watching simultaneously, and how do you keep track of them?
I am a scalper, and I trade anywhere from 1 to 20 different stocks each day. I have been noticing lately that the more stocks I trade, the worse my performance. Probably due to lack of focus. I watch 5 maket maker windows at a time to keep track, but Im thinking of cutting it back to 3 to help stay focused.
I am looking to trade stocks, I curently trade Futures. but need to find a good stock broker, I have been told by an experience stock trader, that removed are good brokers and are cheap and got fast platforms. How much do you pay in commission? and how do you manage to short a stock when it's breaking fast?............ Cheers Buzz
I trade at a prop firm and do around 100-150k shares / day. With that volume I have a rate around $.0025 per share. I use different techniques for shorting different stocks. Liquid stocks can usually be shorted by crossing the market lower using ecns. On less liquid stocks it is more difficult, but I have conversions in a few of the names i trade regularly. You can PM if you want more detailed info on my firm and my rates.
I have a list of about 15 sectors that I watch, each with 5 or so stocks in them. I keep an eye on % change for the day, and trade the stocks in the sectors that are up or down the most.
I watch over 300 stocks, grouped by industry. I tend to trade the top 3-6 in each group unless there is specific news. The best advice I can give is learn the avg daily range of each stock in each group so that you know what to expect given the daily ES range and also know when one of them is experiencing an outlier day. I can have anywhere from 5 to 30 positions on at at time sorted by long/short and then size of pos. It takes a while to be able to track this many but if you set your stops correctly you dont have to watch real intently.
I'd say 10-15 stocks. I have a basic understanding of the riskiness of probably 80 other stocks, based on a few years of experience, but I avoid diving into them unless several factors line up.
I hold around 22 stocks in my portfolio each with 500 - 1000 shares each. I do not use stop losses, but when I see a sharp move (+ or -), I then make my move. Some have pre-defined sell points. I've heald stocks for as little as 2 hours and as much as 8 months.
Ive heard some traders use time stops. Ie. if a stock is doing nothing of a long time, they will just get out and get into something else that is setting up. Do you ever employ this technique?