Trade light size, gain confidence but don't stop because the volatility might continue for days or weeks. I am usually a scalper with tight stops and been trading lighter size to be able to soften my stops.
i never scalp for 01 -02 cents. i try and make at the very least .10.the open is where you get .40- a buck.
Your kidding me!!! Take a look at my chart and tell me with a straight face that there is no trend!!! The market is in the habit of selling off to the 200 day moving average (sometimes higher, sometimes lower) sometimes once, but usually twice each year and usually during the summer months. Now its selling off again like it always does during the summer and you act rather perplexed. There were two corrections in 2005, then one big correction in 2006, and there was an early correction in 2007. Common sense tells me that we would get hit with another one before 2007 was over. So how is that so shocking? The only scary thing here is that the $SPX did not break out over its all time high which does concern me. If there is a pivot then it will be soon and if it is not meant to be, then we will fall further into the abyss. From all the charts I am looking at, the bottom should be right around now.
This is a sideways market, as simple as that. It doesn't mean that stocks will be steady, it just means that stocks keep fluctuating in a range (wide range now), but don't have a clear trend. Why fight it?
Mike, you have to keep in mind that you are using a macro perspective here while NY HOOD is describing daytrading conditions. Now while I dont agree with him that this mkt is dangerous (I see it as increased opp) you should keep in mind that intraday action can chop around quite a bit within a given bigger trend. As daytraders, we look to capitilize on moves intraday but certainly just cannot hold short or long in the face of a strong counter move. A lot of times the major indexes will close unchanged (appearing that not much happened) while intraday there are wild swings. My point is just that you cant really compare macro trends to what happens intraday, macro has us in steep decline lately but if you are holding short from off the open right now, your nuts are getting squeezed (as of 1:55).
You should take a look at the nat-gas drillers and nat-gas stocks today. Nat is +5%. The group is moving. PTEN is about as liquid as you can get, and CHK isn't bad either.
Traders want what they want. Everyone has a different style. Some people would rather have no volatility at all, others want HUGE voliatlity, some want something in between that. Some people would rather it go up, others down, some people actually favor a sideways market. Some just dont give a damn so long as it does something. There is no such thing as a generic "this is what traders want" Brandon