im always trying to improve my style...but some things are just me. I have to experiment with new ideas as time permits or a condition stares me in the face that is right for it.
I think it's fine to experiment a little. I guess I am referring to those traders who are constantly changing system or strategies and trying to find the holy grail. In the meantime they just keep getting chewed up.... Man did I ever miss some great opportunities today. Back at it tomorrow I guess.
In this market I trade only two or three big Nasdaq which have over 20 million daily volume, which is over 3 million shares per hour, assuming even trading throughout the day. This is more than enough to trade 3-5-7 thousand shares for 50-75 cents. They trade very smooth and slow like a battleship. Easy to exit if they move against you. The easy part is they trade with the indices. Almost all get a nice ride, long or short, in the first hour of the day on most days. Like someone said, we are just riding along on the whales. Watch support/resistance, previous close/open etc. Basic technical. Don't overcomplicate it. No overnights. Bad news is good also for the short if you can get executed.
Realizing that of the many diverse profitable trading styles(those with an edge), that one might utilize, each must be personalized to fit one's individual personality and emotional makeup in order to work. Trading is mentally challenging enough, not to have a misfit system to add to the mix. My trading style has consistently been for many years to take as much of the large id back and forth price moves from a handful of liquid yet volatile big cap NASD names. I will get on one stock for weeks on end until it's characteristics change for the worse and 'play' that stock both ways each day but realistically lean one way depending on mkt and stock trends. I feel a need to know my vehicle as much as is possible in order for me to be aggressive in taking my albeit simple signals. I feel momentum trading(which i essentially do) is NOT dead, its just that stocks don't trend in one direction for long of late. But the individual id moves are still great. Most complaints to the contrary, i feel, are due to not aggressively trading a system you believe in. When daily volatility slows, i get more disciplined and reduce size, and when the reverse occurs i hit it. Experience helps, but we all must start somewhere, it will come ,believe me.
couldn't agree with you more, however i would characterize the id moves more like a jet ski, hence we still must be on our toes for those mkt and stk induced contra moves. I get around performance issues by realizing that some days we're on and some day's we're not. But with good discipline i find i can still be profitable on the off days. Thanks for all the great input on et.
I personally am a true believer of the volatility theory... I made a model using excel and qlink that calculates various ratios of volatilities among indexes and stocks which provide good entry points on nasdaq and sp futures.... but of course ask 100 traders for their method, and you'll have 100 answers.... best of luck
I couldn't have said it better than Avalanche says it in the thread below - (though I don't trade stocks that have more letters in their symbol than years that the company has been around for.) http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6532&perpage=6&pagenumber=1 nitro