TraderAm

Happy Holidays.

2011-12-23T22:51:00.000Z

Closing.....

2011-11-10T12:46:00.003Z

I am probably going to be closing down my blog at the year end......

It's something I've been thinking about and the recent comments and emails make it a bit more clear.
Let me elaborate a little....by first briefly explaining how I trade now : (this is pretty much what I have said to any email enquiries).

I am still learning by the way and am part of the group which this guy teaches.

We trade only stocks which have news on the day e.g. earnings etc. Usually, we have a list of 5 or 6 stocks to focus on. We use 1 or 2min charts with a ema > and that's it, so no indicators > but the charts are mostly for reference purposes and primarily I am using Tape Reading. In fact I am trying to get to the stage where I don't even look at the chart other than to note daily levels and maybe intra-day pivots (identified via tape).

From the open we follow the tape to judge strength and weakness of the stock and to draw pivots. As the tape progresses we are fluid in trading in terms of cutting and adding to positions so that the aim is to catch the macro trend which should play out on a stock which has news out that day.

Specifically in terms of the tape > there is no Level 2 > we are reading Level 1 tape > which is the Bid, Offer, and the latest print. With this data and how the bid and offer change in relation to the latest print we are able to guage strength and weakness.

Picking the right stocks to trade is a key part of this method as you have to have stocks which are going to move. I must also say that to learn this method of trading takes time. As it is completely different to watching charts and entering from specific candles etc. It is much more fluid and managing a trade is crucial to the method. So you have to put the hours in and practice etc.

So, as a recent poster said why don't you put up charts and entries etc like you used to ? Because the object of the blog was to show people how I trade. That is a fair comment, but say I am in stock BUD (like I was yesterday), I had multiple trades , buying and selling , cutting and adding whilst reading the tape and trying to judge the strength and weakeness of the stock. If I put all my entries and exits onto a chart, it would be a mess of arrows some within a single 1min candle > that is going to be no use to anyone . And it will be implying that I used the 1min chart to trade....yes I have the chart up...but I'm not using it to determine my entries and exits.

In previous years, I developed a chart based stratgey using NR, NR3 candles etc based on 15min charts and then on 5min charts and I posted my entries and exits based on those patterns. Started well, but in all honesty I just couldn't get consistent trading that way....and believe me when I say..I have spent countless hours pouring over charts until my eyes are red trying to work out how to do it... Now that is not to say that it can't be done e.g people like TraderX, 00Nr7 etc seem to do well...but I just can't.
Having been involved in trading for a number of years....I haven't met a trader in person who trades profitably using just technical charts....but before people start jumping around...it's not to say that they don't exist...lol

So where does this leave the blog ? Well, my previous years, the strategy (charts) was what I developed myself, with lot of input from other blogs etc...so it was all free info out there. Hence no problem with explaining my entries etc. Now however I am part of a group and pay for the education. I can't very well quote chapter and verse on exactly the tape reading setups that I am using...how we select stocks etc..as it wouldn't be fair...aside from which it is all copyright etc etc and I would get my ass sued and probably my pants as well.....lol.

I did put up a brief video of my trading, to give a feel really of how I trade rather than to explain the exact methods. And I have been putting up my summary each day, just for my purposes really and to maybe indicate to readers that this method of trading does work (in my view of course). Hopefully I haven't jinxed myself.

Not much more to say really. Other than, I would like to thank all readers who have posted comments over the years and will see how it goes for the rest of the year in terms of the blog.
Longer term, I am going to carry on Stock Trading.......and maybe think about trying Futures again at some point down the road.

I have tried to be as honest as possible in this post....and no offence meant to any technical chart-based traders out there. But for the first time in a long while, I am feeling more comfortable about how I trade and look forward to the battle each day.

Finally ...the group I am part of ? http://www.tradingraw.com/ ...By all means check it out....

09 Nov 2011

2011-11-09T21:25:00.001Z

08 Nov 2011

2011-11-08T20:59:00.002Z

07/Nov/2011

2011-11-07T20:30:00.000Z

04/Nov/2011

2011-11-04T22:17:00.000Z

03/Nov/2011

2011-11-03T21:33:00.000Z

02/Nov/2011

2011-11-02T21:14:00.000Z

Trades 01/Nov/2011

2011-11-01T21:06:00.002Z

Found it tough today.

Trades 31/Oct/2011

2011-10-31T17:52:00.000Z

Didn't trade today...forgot about the time difference and was late to market since clocks have changed here in UK.

In October, traded both demo and real, but in real money was up +$620 > which is around 2% of my account. So pleased with that.

From November onwards, will be trading only real money unless I feel that my skills are letting me down then may switch to demo for a while. Hopefully it will be a good month.

28/Oct/2011

2011-10-28T23:27:00.001+01:00

Thurs Oct-27-2011

2011-10-27T21:09:00.001+01:00

Good day today.

Trades 21/Oct/2011

2011-10-26T22:34:00.003+01:00

A brief video from Friday 21st Oct..which shows the type of trading I do now.

Tape Reading.

2011-10-13T23:47:00.000+01:00

Made some decent bucks today using tape reading. In case anyone is interested, I have been learning tape reading from an old school trader. If you want to know more then drop me an email and I'll send you some info.

Update

2011-09-27T22:15:00.001+01:00

Will be updating periodically, but at the moment I am in trading using Tape Reading. Sometimes demo and sometimes live.

Trades 23/Sept/2011

2011-09-23T22:04:00.000+01:00

Did watch the market today, but nothing set up which was convincing me to trade.

Hope to get back to trading next week.

2011-09-13T22:08:00.001+01:00

On holiday until first week of Sept.

2011-08-26T23:05:00.001+01:00

Trades 24/Aug/2011

2011-08-24T16:51:00.001+01:00

Didn't trade today.

Trades 23/Aug/2011

2011-08-23T22:05:00.002+01:00

Summary

MET -$158

Trades 22/Aug/2011

2011-08-22T21:57:00.000+01:00

Had an order in for CTSH long on 2-bar break > but didn't get filled. Other than that I didn't see any convincing setups.

Trades 17/Aug/2011, 18/Aug/2011, 19/Aug/2011

2011-08-17T16:03:00.003+01:00

Didn't trade.

Trades 16/Aug/2011

2011-08-16T21:24:00.002+01:00

Missed a entry in MCO. Nothing else really setup for me.

Trades 15/Aug/2011

2011-08-15T22:45:00.000+01:00

Summary
CLX + $69

Haven't got my IB token with me. Will upload broker statement later.

Trades 12/Aug/2011

2011-08-12T22:17:00.000+01:00

Summary
UNH -£7 (breakeven trade)

Trades 11/Aug/2011

2011-08-11T22:13:00.001+01:00

No setups today.

Trades 09/Aug/2011

2011-08-09T15:32:00.002+01:00

Not much on my radar today. A copule of potential shorts, but with the market being down so much, I didn't want to trade them.

Trades 08/Aug/2011

2011-08-08T21:12:00.002+01:00

No trading today.

Trades 04/Aug/2011 ; 05/Aug/2011

2011-08-04T16:11:00.003+01:00

Didn't trade.

Trades 03/Aug/2011

2011-08-03T23:19:00.000+01:00

Summary
VTR + $121 (Didn't get filled on my full amount, hence lower profit)

Trades 01/Aug/2011, 02/Aug/2011

2011-08-01T16:50:00.002+01:00

Didn't trade today.

Trades 28/July/2011

2011-07-28T16:57:00.000+01:00

Missed a good short entry in AEM , then didn't want to chase it.

Trades 27/July/2011

2011-07-27T22:55:00.001+01:00

No trading for me today. Hope you did ok.

Trades 26/July/2011

2011-07-26T21:10:00.000+01:00

Summary
COF - $154

Trades 25/July/2011

2011-07-25T21:47:00.000+01:00

Summary
EW + $291

Trades 22/July/2011

2011-07-22T22:00:00.002+01:00

Didn't trade today. Hope you did ok.

Trades 21/July/2011

2011-07-21T15:35:00.002+01:00

No trades today. Did have a couple of orders but they didn't trigger.

Trades 20/July/2011

2011-07-20T21:34:00.000+01:00

Summary
ARUN +$61

Trades 19/July/2011

2011-07-19T21:37:00.001+01:00

Didn't trade today. Hope you did well.

Trades 18/July/2011

2011-07-18T21:44:00.002+01:00

Summary
EIX + $6
NTRS + $225

Trades 15/July/2011

2011-07-15T16:44:00.000+01:00

Summary
CNX - $145

Trades 14/July/2011

2011-07-14T21:19:00.001+01:00

Didn't trade today. Hope you did ok.

Trades 13/July/2011

2011-07-13T21:32:00.000+01:00

Summary
DKS +$65

Trades 12/July/2011

2011-07-12T21:26:00.000+01:00

Missed a long on CF due to hesitation and a CTXS short didn't get filled. So nothing to report today.

Trades 11th July 2011

2011-07-11T22:26:00.000+01:00

Had problems today with charts and also scanning for stocks. Seemed like internet problems initially but the UK websites were ok...so not sure what was going on. In any case once I was up and running it was a bit late in the day so I didn't trade.

Trades 08/July/2011

2011-07-08T21:51:00.000+01:00

Couldn't find anything convincing enough to trade today. Hopefully next week will be better

Trades 07/July/2011

2011-07-07T21:17:00.000+01:00

Summary
DKS + $25

Comments
Entry ok, but got shaken out of half. Should have been a +1R and +2R trade.

Trades 06/July/2011

2011-07-06T22:03:00.001+01:00

Summary
PCG - $205
RIMM + $50

Trades 05/July/2011

2011-07-05T21:32:00.002+01:00

Missed entries in EQT and NOV...wasn't quick enough on the trigger.

Trades 01/July/2011

2011-07-01T22:48:00.000+01:00

Summary
PXD -$165

Trades 29/June/2011 and 30/June/2011

2011-06-29T21:43:00.003+01:00

Couldn't trade due to work committments. Hope you did ok.

Trades 28/June/2011

2011-06-28T21:13:00.000+01:00

Missed a long entry in CNX and EQT didn't get filled, so nothing to report today.

Trades 27/June/2011

2011-06-27T21:46:00.001+01:00

Summary
IMAX + $288

Trades 23/June/2011 and 24/June/2011

2011-06-23T21:15:00.002+01:00

Didn't have time to trade due to work committments.

Trades 22/June/2011

2011-06-22T21:30:00.000+01:00

Summary
EXPD +$165

Trades 21/June/2011

2011-06-21T21:42:00.001+01:00

Couldn't trade today due to work commitments. Hope you had a good one.

Trades 20/June/2011

2011-06-20T21:25:00.001+01:00

Summary
DNDN Breakeven

Trades 16/June/2011

2011-06-16T21:38:00.000+01:00

Summary
CTXS +$50
QCOM +$55

On Holiday

2011-06-08T13:06:00.000+01:00

Been demo trading for a while and am on holiday for a few days. Will have a think about the blog and whether it is worth continuing with it or not.

Trades 17/May/2011

2011-05-17T21:52:00.001+01:00

Demo Trading for a while

Trades 12/May/2011 and 13/May/2011

2011-05-14T00:26:00.000+01:00

Lost blogger for a while...but it's back now. I'll try to post charts etc later.

Summary.

12/May:     KSS         -$204
                  SYMC     -$72

13/May:      A             -$58

Trades 11/May/2011

2011-05-11T22:48:00.000+01:00

Did have an order in for AIG long, but it never got filled. Nothing else on my radar.

Trading 10/May/2011

2011-05-10T22:01:00.001+01:00

Summary

JRCC -$179
DGX +$47

Will post up charts later if I get time. But basically these were trades using tape reading and 1min charts.

Trades 06/May/2011 and 09/May/2011

2011-05-06T16:26:00.004+01:00

Just demo trading today for tape reading practice.

Trades 05/May/2011

2011-05-05T23:29:00.000+01:00

Summary

CVC +$49
CVD -$30

Trades 04/May/2011

2011-05-04T21:22:00.002+01:00

Wasn't able to trade today due to work committments. Hope you had a good one.

Trades 03/May/2011

2011-05-03T21:51:00.000+01:00

Summary

DNDN +$100

Trades 29/April/2011

2011-04-29T23:23:00.002+01:00

No trading today...had to go to a wedding...yeah right ...lol.

Trades 28/Apr/2011

2011-04-28T21:05:00.000+01:00

Summary
CELG +$51

A scalp trade from the open > wasn't using a chart for this just some tape reading.

Trades 27/Apr/2011

2011-04-27T15:45:00.001+01:00

Couldn't find a convincing setup today. Hope you did better.

Trades 21/April/2011

2011-04-21T22:58:00.001+01:00

Heading off for long weekend away. Should be back on Wed 27th April.

Trades 20/April/2011

2011-04-20T22:23:00.001+01:00

Too many work committments today.

Trades 19/April/2011

2011-04-19T21:57:00.001+01:00

No trading today.

Trades 18/Apr/2011

2011-04-18T16:00:00.000+01:00

Summary
CVX - $59

Trades 12/April/2011

2011-04-13T00:51:00.002+01:00

Summary
BWA +$244

P.S > Will be away for few days from Wednesday...catch you next week.

Trades 07/April/2011

2011-04-07T21:28:00.003+01:00

No trading today. Taking a break for a few days.

Trades 06/Apr/2011

2011-04-06T15:41:00.001+01:00

Couldn't find any convincing setups today.

Trades 05/Apr/2011

2011-04-05T22:46:00.001+01:00

Wasn't able to trade today. Hope you did well.

Trades 04/Apr/2011

2011-04-04T16:27:00.000+01:00

Summary
NEM +$58

Trades 01/Apr/2011

2011-04-01T20:24:00.001+01:00

Didn't trade today. Hope you had a good one.

Trades 31/Mar/2011

2011-03-31T22:02:00.000+01:00

Summary: Sums up the month of March : A losing one.

ES - $65

Trades 30/Mar/2011

2011-03-30T21:12:00.002+01:00

Didn't trade today due to work committments.

Trades 29/Mar/2011

2011-03-29T21:41:00.000+01:00

Summary

TCK -$130

Trades 28/Mar/2011

2011-03-28T21:47:00.000+01:00

Summary

AXP -$57

Trades 25/Mar/2011

2011-03-25T15:17:00.001Z

No trading today. Hope you did ok.

Trades 24/Mar/2011

2011-03-24T20:59:00.000Z

No convincing setups for me today. Hope you had a good one.

Trades 23/Mar/2011

2011-03-23T21:47:00.002Z

Still work in progress, but I'm looking at trading 2-bar setups on 5min chart. Basic criteria as follows:

Open inside prev day's range
Gap needs to be minimal (ideally < 1%)
Second candle (and ideally the first) closes outside the previous day's range
Second candle is LL and LH ( for shorts) and opposite for longs
Close of 2nd candle ideally is not too far from previous day's close (< 3%)
Entry is break of the 2nd candle in the direction of the move
Hard Stop is opposite end of 2nd candle but scale out of half if support/resistance is found against you

Check out your charts, do some backtesting etc and see what you think. Comments welcome. The three trades today were all 2-bar setups.

Summary

SPG      +$104
TIF        -$33
VTR      +$36

Trades 22/Mar/2011

2011-03-22T23:03:00.001Z

Work Committments today. No Trading.

Trades 21/Mar/2011

2011-03-21T14:39:00.000Z

Had order in for long on LO > but never triggered. Nothing else convinced me to trade.

Trades 18/Mar/2011

2011-03-18T16:34:00.001Z

No trades today. A few gappers, but then sideways chop, so didn't risk it, especially on a Friday.

Trades 17/Mar/2011

2011-03-17T16:15:00.001Z

Didn't trade today. Hope you had a good one.

Trades 16/Mar/2011

2011-03-16T21:37:00.000Z

Summary
Took a beating trading the Emini. Haven't really been able to spot many setups on Stocks recently. If you saw some decent trades let me know.

ES - $220

Trades 15/Mar/2011

2011-03-15T21:32:00.000Z

Summary
A big gap down at the open due to Japan concerns. Wasn't really comfortable shorting any stocks. So just a quick scalp on the Emini.

ES +$47

Trades 14/Mar/2011

2011-03-14T22:01:00.000Z

Didn't realise the clocks had changed in the US....missed the market start to run my scans etc, so no trades.
Call myself a professional trader ??? ...yeah right !!!

Trades 11/Mar/2011

2011-03-11T22:49:00.002Z

Couldn't really find anything convincing enough to trade today. Hope you did ok.

Trades 10/Mar/2011

2011-03-10T22:57:00.002Z

Summary
V +$52

Trades 09/Mar/2011

2011-03-10T10:31:00.002Z

Didn't trade today. Took a break.

Trades 08/Mar/2011

2011-03-08T22:30:00.001Z

Summary

Got hammered today. I'l post up charts etc when I have calmed down :)

NFX    -$165
DTE     -$160
ES        +$47
INFY -$75

Trades 07/Mar/2011

2011-03-07T22:05:00.000Z

Work comittments today. No Trading.

Trades 04/Mar/2011

2011-03-04T22:01:00.000Z

Did have order in for DB short and PEG short but one didn't get filled and the other didn't trigger, so no trades for me today. Hope you did ok.