2009 to me was a terrific year. 3 digit gains on my account, although most of the gains (i'd sayu 75%) came from the 1st quarter from shorting. During the way up i didn't manage to grab so much of the opportunities... my systems got whipsawed on most assets, altohugh watching in a graph those assets seem to have shoot up from March until December let's hope 2010 is a way better year for all of us... if it turns out to be better for me as well i'll rejubilate
2009 has been a tough year for scalpers. Making a living will become an issue if 2009 trend continues for another 1-2 years.
When you lose money, you think the market is bad. When you make money, you think the market is good. Well, let me tell you, you clueless idiots, this is a zero sum game, when you lose money, the money goes into the pocket of other traders. If you have no clue of the concept of "zero sum," you deserve to die, expire, become extinct. Newbies, it is the time to kill these dinasaurs. A new generation of traders will dominate the landscape.
If you're scalping NYSE equities there is more going on than just a slow market. Things that are killing profitability: 1. sub-pennying - essentially if you post an order (to provide liquidity) and it gets filled, it means the sub-pennyers dont want it because its a bad fill and you will be red almost instantly (a decent percentage of the time). If taking liquidity didnt cost anything this wouldnt be that big of a problem, but... 2. dedit/crebit for taking/providing liquidity - even if you use nyse to take liq (which is the cheapest) you get dinged for .18c on each fill. if you use stops or even just watch the tape like a hawk and bail quickly on a scalp you are paying this. even on a 3M share a month trader this is almost 6k per month. if orders for providing liquidity didnt get sub-pennied this would be less of a worry. and of course if the market vol was higher this cost would be less of a percentage of profits. 3. volatility in individual stocks is crap - unless you're trading the $80+ stocks the moves in cheaper less volatile names are worse than I've ever seen them. The first half hour is frequently the only move, and the tick-by-tick little jumps that take out stops are worse than I've seen them in over 8 years of trading. 4. vol for the market overall is not good. even on big moves it is a gap-and-churn tape, whether this is pre-market or after an economic number. there is usually just one move, it happens very quickly, and you dont have a chance to make it up if you get stuck on the wrong side or even stopped out and watching. 5. less dumb money from institutions - used to be able to throw out orders and pick off the institutions sending orders too large to fill at the bestbid/offer, but they have gotten smarter and more computerized and these errant fills are fewer and further between. Add in the extra commissions noted above and the small scalps provide less income than ever. There is still money out there, but it requires more patience than ever and the opportunities are less frequent. Until they bring volume back to the exchanges this will not change (and even then who knows). If you are patient and work really hard there is opportunity, but not on the scale that convinced many to give up health ins and salary to try this game. Hope it improves but this could be the new normal.
I recall in 2008 many people staying on the sidelines with all the volatility waiting for calmer waters. Now people complain there is not enough volatility. While I agree it is more challenging in this market, you simply have to adjust your strategy. The volatility will come back some day, it always does.
I was just short ANF at 34.98 in few first few seconds after market open. It went up to 35.30 and I got out, looking to re-establish once it start moving lower. They take the stock down a point in one fucking minute. I was trading another stock and could not re-establish. The biggest move of the day is over in just one fucking minute. Though somehow I get the feel that those who can stay productive during this phase will move up to top. Good luck to all.
not questioning you, but I dont see where it went to 35.30 after going down, if it did a few seconds after your entry, that can happen. With that being said, the SPY went down 70 cents or so then immediately bounced up with govt buying.