I've noticed that most people here seem to trade short term. I may be using the term position trader incorrectly. But what I'm wondering are there traders here on this board who hold for weeks & months at a time (if swing trading fits this description, then my apologies)? If so, I'm looking hoping to be pointed in the right direction by some of you on what resources I should look into as far as books, tools, etc. If there were some traders who have journals here that position trade that would be great. But I'm trying to find out which traders here trade, longer term so that I may pick your brains if possible. Thanks
It's been said before, this is EliteTrader not EliteInvestor. Check out The Motley Fool (www.fool.com) for sound advice on position and long term holds.
Correction. So, I guess I am looking for swing traders then. I found fool.com long time ago & it is not my flavor. I actually do like to jump in & out of trades, just never daily unless I get stopped out. So, I guess I will do a search for swing traders. But if any run across this thread, please feel free to chime in.
I have no idea what the definition of "swing trading" might be, but I normally hold trades for weeks/months. Now, how does that actually help you?
This is how I trade as well. Hold times of a few days up to a couple of months. I've realized that it's much easier to manage my emotions and trades, if I don't use leverage and have longer hold times. With that said, you probably won't find a ton of valuable info on position trading here. This site is definitely geared towards much shorter term trading.
Ok great. Thanks for all of you responding. I'm sure there are many more just like us who trade like this & enjoy this site. So lets start a thread dedicated to longer termed trades. I think it would add value to the site. For simplicity, we don't have to define long term, but lets assume that it is at the very least held overnight & let everyone else kinda fill in the blanks. I'm a newbie, but I'm very enthusiastic about the site & trading so I don't have much too contribute. But all who would like to contribute, then please feel free to do so.
Anyone learning to trade should begin by trading stocks in their "natural" cycles. If you put up some daily bar charts this cycle is very apparent. One test of a good stock to trade is one that goes through 5 cycles in 6 months. In addition it is best to have several other critria to create a universe that is highest quality and 3 beta or better. For comparison to those posting in the P&L thread. A beginner going to advanced beginner in the first three months of 2010 would be at 50% gains using four capital streams that had, collectively, 27 cycles so far this year (7 complete turn overs of capital). This compares to ne P&L example who trades about 13 times a day and has made 26% so far this year. An ATS trading natural cycles showed and average hold of 6 to 8 days and made an average of 11.1% per cycle net profit. Position trading is a very good way to begin a career. Compounding profits allows a person to start with any amount of captial and really get somewhere in good time. There is no rush when doing excellent trading. Set up an equity curve and put a line on it for your life style money velocity. It will be very easy to see how componding trading capital crosses the lifer style line in a short period relative to the learning curve. Sharpe ratios for doing position trading can be in the 60's region, for example.
I'm in this boat. I'm looking to get in, and add to my position over time. Most Day Traders who fail, or give up will also become longer term traders/ "investors" if they even have any $ left at that point.
I have traded swings, position and intermediate term trades for the last 20 years. You will probably find as many definitions of these types of trading as there are traders in ET. The majority of my swing trades have last 2 to 8 days with a few longer. You mentioned books. The first place to start is at the top of ET under the label Books. The under the category âSwing Tradingâ there are many reviews there of popular swing trading books reviewed by ET traders. About 65% percent of my trades are automated. What typically with automation is the swings end (80% of the time) and the trend begins (20% of the time). So I get a few positions and a lot of swing trades from my strategies. The intermediate term trades come from trading the strategy trends on weekly charts. Also note that swings on weekly charts are often my positions.
Please don't hiJACK this thread...... OP, if you want to read up on Jack's nonsensical posts, he has 4,000 of them. If you want to stay on topic, please don't feed him questions.