How do you guys who think it's important actually use it in your trading? Are you looking for names or size or what?
if a stock trades at the bid, generally it's going down... so if he quotes a bid, and it trades there, same deal..... Also, big houses or big names selling also means something. Thats how i use it
now your getting it... youll pick up the basics quick and then, i think one of the biggest edges you gain by the squawk is the insiders info you will here the broadcaster tell you... i.e. he say soemthing like everytime the guy and orange gets off the phone he buys 100 contacts... then later on between quotes in the same breath he will tell you again "orange is off the phone" or "here comes orange to buy" you can imagine how beneficial this is b/c you know whats going to happen before it shows up on anyones screen! not too long ago i remember him saying he found out i think it was fuji bank had several million $ to buy or several hundred contracts, dont remember exactly, but when he said fuji was coming to buy i of course auto ex some stock and watched teh spoos soar about 10 points!!!!
It's amazing how over time, you really get used to the way Ben delivers information. When I first started using his service, I couldn't keep up. But over the first few months, I started to get used to it, and now, it's amazing all the nuances that I find I cannot trade without.... (as others have aptly pointed out). These days, it's almost as if I'd say "Talks fast? , Talks funny?, Really???" I traded one day last month without it, and I felt very, very lost. Things just don't seem right without that "Gooooooood Mooooornin' to ya!!!!!" (....Ben's typical pre market greeting...)
I have traded Nasdaq listed equities for a few years using the squawk (predominately realtimefutures.com) and I find it is a very useful tool. I have no difficulties following Benny but admittedly I spent a great deal of time in an auction environment in my former life. I can basically tell the direction of the futures without looking at a chart or ticker just by listening to the squawk. It is helpful because I can process more info that way focussing on my level II and stock charts and only occasionally glancing at my futures charts. The one draw back to it that I will caution however is a common pitfall I believe. In the shop where I trade a lot of traders are so addicted to the squawk and have a nearly Pavlovian response to Ben's commentary. The problem is that they become so focussed on micro-moves and and keying on the action in the pits that they start ignoring their stock charts and the longer term trends in the stock they are trading. When Ben says .... "paper to buy, paper to buy" the automatically buy. They ignore what the chart is saying or the longer term trend and just blindly buy expecting that ta small move in the futures will move their stock. Of course when it doesn't it's all Ben's fault for giving them a false signal. Truth is they have just become lazy and think the squawk and the futures are the be all and end all for speculating on the direction of short term price moves. Don't fall into this trap! It is frustrating and expensive to say the least. X
yes... that trap is cost me ALOT of money is tickets when i first started. GOOOOD MOOOOORNING TO YAAAAAH
so true, i fell into that trap as well, as if i were trading the spoos and had to remind myslef what i am really trading... good point to bring up.