Trade only stocks you can win

Stocks have their own personalities. The technical patterns work differently on different stocks. Some stocks seem to be always choppy. Some seem to trend much better. For instance, I would treat a stock that behaves the following way as hard to trade: pattern shows it is going to break down, so you short. But stock goes up, you are whipsawed. And then the stock goes down hard. There is nothing wrong with that. This happens all the time. However, the whipsaw is highly suspicious to you as some kind of manipulation by whoever did it. It just eats all the stop order of the shorts before the stock goes down. Someone is making lots of money doing this.

So what do you do? Seems to me there are always some stocks that are less manipulated than others and fits your style. I realized that when other things being equal, I need to trade stocks whose personality is familiar to me and I have a track record of winning in that stock.

There is a stock I traded many times and my strategy wins more than 80% of the time, while my strategy’s winning rate is much lower in many other stocks. I made money again in it today and it finally it dawned on me:

You do not have to venture around! Just do the same thing under the right conditions, in the same stocks, again and again and again!!!

Frank

 

Frank,

What stocks would you rate as "easy to trade" or "better trending"?

Thanks,

-FastTrader

 

I disagree especially regarding nasdaq stocks. Stocks are moved by people and money... they are not individuals. What works today might not work tomorrow.

--MIKE

 

fast trader,

I trade only intraday so I am talking about intrady only. I have a short list but I do not want to reveal it, and it may not be correct even if I reveal it. I have not come up with a method to scientifically produce such a list yet. My list is created through experience.

But I will give you an example.

For example, BRCM has less large whipsaws and trend better than INTU. I lost money overall when I traded INTU so I am not trading it anymore. BRCM moves slower than INTU. Its spread is way smaller than INTU. So, it is easier to excute your strategy. Plus, volatility in BRCM can be just as big as in INTU. So, ceteris paribus, why trade INTU?

Frank

 

Mike,

I do not know what decides a stock's personablity. But I believe volume is certainly a factor. When volume is high, it is hard for anyone to manipulate intraday. I think there are some nasty players in the market. When they are in a stock, you don't want to be there. Avod the money that are both smart and nasty!

Hope this makes sense.

Frank

 

This simply brilliant concept is the very first thing that each and every trader, trading book, seminar, mentor, and employer should begin by saying.

However, will it work over the long haul.... that is the real question.

 

There are words that are as true as these, but no truer.

 

If you want to avoid being shaken out, you can either trade stocks that you know really well or trade stocks with unusual volume and volatility since it is harder for any one person to manipulate the stock then. Right?

 

I only buy the index when it goes up and I only short the index when it goes down.

If it doesn't go up after I buy or down after I short it - then I climb in a worm-hole, go back in time and undo the trade before I enter it.

It simple really.

 

Hey frank, don't let these clowns throw you off.

It's just the manipulators trying to shake you off the trail.



No, really. As the worlds foremost authority on the fact that everything is either fixed, crooked, or rigged, I give you my sincere blessing.