Many retail traders are super smart and capable when it comes to analyzing macro events that could effect markets as well as company specific data that could potentially move that company’s stock. They can formulate a hypothesis that seems just as sound as that of any top Wall Street analyst. That makes sense, given that […]
Trading stocks is fairly straightforward. If you buy the stock and the price rises, you make the difference between the current price and your cost. If the price drops, you lose the difference between your cost and the current price. It doesn’t matter how long you hold the stock or what else happens in the […]
The financial markets might be highly regulated and provide everyone with an equal opportunity to trade, but as a retail trader, you are almost always at a disadvantage compared to the market makers, institutions, funds and large traders — otherwise known as the “Smart Money”. The Smart Money Advantage The Smart Money has access to […]
The two most important market indicators traders watch and base their trading decisions on are price and volume. When a stock price rises on heavy volume, it generally suggests strong buying interest. When a stock price falls on high trading volume, it indicates strong selling pressure. Heavy volume in liquid stocks almost always indicate smart […]
Learning trading rules and lessons from bad trades is never fun. But sometimes learning the hard way, along with some pain, makes those important rules stick better. Writing about this particular trade is pretty painful for me and something I’d rather not do. It was a difficult decision to make but I’ve decided that it’s […]
Wouldn’t it be great if you knew whether a particular stock was going to do go up or down? Unless you have some very reliable, market moving, information, you can only make an educated guess about which way a stock will move. Your guess will have to take into account numerous factors that can make […]
Imagine that you’ve just bought some call options on the SPY or SPX, based on your analysis of the price action and a clear chart pattern you’ve identified. You’ve calculated your risk reward, gotten the perfect entry and set your stop loss at an appropriate level. You’re confident that the probability is in your favor. […]
The US financial markets and exchanges are regulated and policed by the government to prevent fraud, illegal manipulation and other unsavory practices and to make sure that they present a fair playing field for all participants, no matter how small. But there’s plenty of legal market manipulation that occurs all day, everyday, by the so […]
When trading stocks or stock options intraday or short term, you need to make entry and exit decision based on various criteria, which will be different depending on your personal style of trading and preferences. These criteria could include stock or sector related fundamentals or headlines, price action, volume, technical patterns and indicators and the […]
The question of whether or not to use stops in your trading relates to the form of stop rather than to the concept of a stop. I don’t think there’s a trader out there who would not advocate having a stop level or price at which to close a losing position. There are two main […]