I collect everything and then a kind of unintentionally use it in my trades. Informantion such as investors' sentiment on the stock, 52 weeks high/low, AH trades, Market makers bid/ask when the market opens at 4 am ET, upgrades/downgrades, volume, general market trend, .... About the second part of your question I should say, you should have an overal experience on trading (at least 5 years) and then if you trade 4 months on 10 stocks, you would know them well to trade with confidence. For example a trader who has not been trading YHOO, sees that YHOO had a good quarterly report and jumps in and buys the stock. On the other side, I, as a YHOO trade veteran, know that YHOO has already been up from $14 to $16 because of the sales of Alibaba so it should not go up again for the same reason and start to short when I see YHOO is up by MOO MOO crowd.
Thank you for your explanation and for sharing your knowledge and information with us. About 5 years of trading experience, what type of knowledge and skills shall I try to acquire, such as technical analysis, money management, risk control, price action, support/resisence, trend line? If you don't mind, please talk about it in details, such as what you feel is important during your journey be a successful trader. Thanks.
Read the most popular books on options, technical analysis, and trading ideas first and then read not that famous books too. You will learn that no rule is craved on stone. I believe losing big teaches the best lesson. You should also not look at trading as fun and a way to lose your extra money. It should be pure business and you should be very serious about it. You will learn that sometimes it is OK to ignore your solid rules to make money. You should know that not all trades will make the same profit. Sometimes you aim for a small profit and make a big money. By the way read more books on the psychology of trading. By the way I have been trading YHOO for about 2 years and I believe I have only looked at its chart for maybe 3 times. It is now tattooed in my mind.
Two questions: You said that you have traded YHOO for 2 years, but only looked at the chart three times. I am curious what you are watching for 2 years, order flow or bid/ask, or traded shares? secondly, you said that you saw some strength in YHoo today and there may be a price pop in the next few days. What are you going to do with short position? Shall we cover it or reduce it or just sit it out? One more, can I become a better trader by having a mentor? Thanks.
You have given very interessting details and advices, thx, but did all the effort pay off? Ie. P/L? I think you build the chart in your mind, from the quotes, or do you use AT (automatic program trading)?
. Yes I am profitable. I don't really build the chart in my mind (at least I am not aware of it). I enter my orders both manually and automatically using some rules. I also check futures and then try to predict what the stock should do in this market. Paying attention to the golbal economy, job market, oil price, housing, ... news are also very important.
Time: 3:54 AM ET on Thursday Today might be the last good day to short YHOO for a "more" profitable trade. As of now, futures are up about 0.55%.
I correct myself from " the last good day.." to "one of the good days...". My previous post showed a kind of urgent rush to jumprt band vagon whih is not wise. You should trade when you are confident and calm and should not rush.