An often neglected or disregarded aspect of trading is the development of a proper “business plan”. Do not get this confused though with your daily trading plan (the “if-then” statements you develop each trading day) and what I will soon be describing as your trading framework. Every business needs a business plan. Day Trading is […]
Dear Traders, The market is experiencing another volatile day. It sold off heavily at the Open, but bounced back around lunch time. As I am writing these words, the market is almost flat, but who knows how it will end. I suffered a heavy loss trading a bounce on stocks in the semiconductor sector (e.g., […]
Dear Traders, What a crazy and volatile market to trade in. We have just learned that the US economy created 263,000 jobs in September. Not only that, but the unemployment rate also fell further, down to 3.5%, while expectations were for it to remain at 3.7%. This means that the economy is solid and strong, […]
Dear Traders, Today is the day that weekly jobless claim numbers in the US are released. Analysts are expecting a reading of 204K, after last week’s surprisingly strong 193K print. The weekly claims report is an important datapoint these days. After last week’s strong numbers, stocks immediately tanked, with the S&P 500 falling around 2% […]
A large volume of professional literature has been published on the benefits of journaling, particularly in the fields of mental health and psychology. Not unlike the lockable diaries that children and adolescents in earlier times hid under their mattresses, journals are a way of recording experiences, thoughts, and feelings as a way of understanding them […]
Dear Traders, What a day to be alive! Elon Musk is making news these days over Tesla and Twitter. The figures that were released on the weekend regarding Tesla’s third quarter car sales missed analysts’ expectations, leading Tesla to sell off by over 10%. Elon Musk changed his opinion on Twitter and decided to go […]
I recently released a video about one of my favourite leveraged ETFs: TQQQ, which seeks a  return that is 3x the return of its underlying benchmark for a single day, and want to share some information with you about these attractive but potentially explosive products. To begin with, we should define a few terms. An exchange-traded fund […]
Dear Traders, First and foremost, my thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected by Ian. Ian, now once again a hurricane, is threatening to carve a new path of destruction through South Carolina on Friday when it roars ashore north of Charleston. After a big sell-off day, the market has stabilized today. […]
Dear Traders, President Ronald Reagan once said that the “nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.” I do not think any investors these days are really in agreement with that sentiment. Financial markets are blowing up everywhere in the world, and governments are stepping […]
An electronic online trading platform is a computer software program that is used to place orders for day trading. A trading platform is different from direct-access brokers themselves, but I often see traders confusing these two as one. The trading platform sends and places your order at the Exchange so the direct-access brokers can clear […]
Dear Traders, Happy Tuesday! I am back from my week-long week trip to the UK, where I spent a few nights in the hospital for surgery. I could not trade at all over the last 8 days, but I was honored to witness the Windsor part of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. I also happened to be […]
Mountains fascinate me. I spent much of my youth in the mountains, and I still thoroughly enjoy being able to explore the higher altitudes of our world. I began alpine climbing in college, and later I developed a passion for the financial markets. When I am asked by new traders and aspiring traders how they […]
As an individual trader or investor, you cannot trade directly on a Stock Exchange. For that, you will need a “broker” or “brokerage account.” A broker is simply an intermediary that gives people access to a Stock Exchange. For day trading, you need a good direct-access broker. In fact, you don’t need just a good […]
Trade the Best, Leave the RestAs part of the algorithmic trading by computer systems, the majority of stocks will trend with the overall market unless they have a reason not to. So, if the market is moving up, the majority of stocks will be moving up. If the overall market is going down, the prices […]
What Are Candlesticks? Candlesticks are a very common way to chart the price of stocks. They allow you to see the opening price, the highest price in a given time period, the lowest price in that time period, and the closing price value for each time period you wish to display. Although some people prefer […]
Dear Traders, The markets were destroyed yesterday, with the technology sector QQQ down over 6%. More aggressive hikes are on the way, and central banks all around the world (with the exception of China and Japan’s) will continue to raise interest rates. Today, the market found some stability, and I made one great trade on […]
Dear Traders, Happy inflation number day! Inflation did not ease as expected in August 2022, with an 8.3% rise showing that the squeeze on consumers remains persistent even when gas prices fell. The market is falling apart as I am writing this newsletter, with the tech sector’s QQQ dropping over 4% and SPY over 3%. […]
Some traders focus heavily on technical indicators like the RSI (Relative Strength Index), the moving average convergence divergence (also known as the MACD), or the moving average crossover. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of sophisticated technical indicators out there. Some traders believe they have found the Holy Grail of technical indicators, and it might […]
Why You Need to Manage Risk Risk management is the science, and often the art, of limiting the losses your trading account may suffer. All professional and great traders lose money. What distinguishes the successful ones from the burnouts is that they manage their risk well. There are two elements in risk management: a proper […]
Dear Traders, My apologies for the long absence from trading. I was completely offline at Burning Man in Black Rock City, Nevada. This was my 3rd burning, and it was an amazing experience. The market opened choppy this morning but has stayed strong as I am writing this newsletter. I traded small share sizes on […]