The best way is to get brokerage research. That is how I orgionally broke down the SOX and actually crossed into profitablity myself so I'm partial to it even though a lot of those stocks attracted some of the best most agile traders IMO. However it is tough for some of us to get that reasearch. But it is the best thing you can do, even if it is old it helps you figure out things that hedgefunds and fast money trade off of. It is great to trade off of pure order flow but sometimes it's nice to catch bigger moves too and knowing more about the companies you are trading will allow you to do that. For example if know what chips go into a nok phone....and NOK is halted pending bad news, I know that rfmd is agreat short on the news compared to qcom. But the average trader might go short qcom. Percentage wise RFMD is far more affected, NOK is GSM....yeah it's bearish for all phones and hence CDMA but RFMD should get crushed harder. Knowing what semi's go into csco and junpr routers, and things like that will make you money. Justknowing whether they outsources more to Sanmina or Flextronics gives you an edge. To get that edge you can't just read briefing.com you have to dig for it. One you know a couple of relationships you would be surprised how much it helps. The most basic example of this is that I trade is xlnx/altr. Both make Programmable Logic Devices which are a type of semiconductor that can be programed to do different things with software. Knowing that alone lets me know that when I see ALTR on the new high list....I need to pull up XLNX or LSCC and take a look. One place to start is bullsector.com which breaks down sectors. That way you can get a few relationships down. They break semi's down as follows: you won't be able to see the hyper links...but go to the website and they are there. In the end...once you know enough companies and how they inter-relate all you really need to make good money IMO is a new high new low ticker and literally all day long you can just watch it and you will see one ticker symbol that reminds you of another in that same area. I hate trading nyse stocks but if I'm watching new highs and I start see a home builder show up then another one, then another one....I start flipping through the rest because they probably aren't far behind. You pull up other one and many times if will follow the first if it hasn't moved yet. The better the correlation obviously the better your chance of success. Cheers. These companies are involved in the manufacture and design of semiconductors. In a continued effort to reflect subgroups requested by our readers please explore the stocks found on the DSL Chips List, the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) List the Yield Optimization Chip Software List, the PLD List, the Electronic Manufacturing Services companies on the EMS List, the closely related Printed Circuit Boards List, the Semiconductor Capital Equipment List, the Semi Equipment Materials List, the Integrated Circuits List, the Memory Chips List, the Communication Chips List, or the Radio Frequency (RF) Semiconductor List, or the DUV Laser List, the Flash Memory List the Chip Foundry List the Power Management List and the Leading Fabless Semiconductor List.
rs7 posted several fallacies, in regard to effective/enjoyable life courses, and trading strategies... Some usefull stuff too... My advise? Learn for yourself. Most of the stuff you'll read on this board is BS. Also, read trading/investing books for concepts. The details you'll memorize as you apply, and they aren't as important.
the market itself. It is there everyday. The losses and mistakes are the lessons. One either learns and graduates, or keeps on paying tuition and retaking the class. The basic objective is to have enough money left after taking all these classes, so you can go ahead and trade consistently and profitably.
I hate to ask, maybe I am just REALLY slow. 300-500 TRADES? There are only 405 trading minutes a day! (RTH) I wouldn't think there would be enough time for true TA!! Does anyone really trade like this? You would have to be a machine!! Make 'em pretty, Chris
Yeah, true prop DAY trading can involve positions of a few seconds......many at my firm have made over 10 grand a day this way, and its just what Im used to. 300-500 trades includes partial fills as well, although I have seen some trade 500-700 times a day and move over 4 million shares (both sides of trade...). BUt the TA questiona was just to see how much of it you guys do intraday.
Well, I tried! By the way, I did learn to trade on my own. Trial and error. My belief in education was not intended at all to translate to ability to trade. I just thought it silly for someone to tell a 17 year old that "education is over-rated"...especially a 17 year old that cannot construct a sentence or spell. Not even with a spell checker Sorry I wasted my time!
If you learn the basics, how the markets really work, which markets to trade, and then see what is working in today's climate. we have gone full circle back to a "normal" market, and our traders are doing fine. I have found over the years that most traders try to over-complicate it at first. They study charts, fundemental, and everything in between before making a decision. Look at the basics, trade enough to get past your "learning curve" and you have a good chance to stay in the business for a lifetime. Don