'Trading is a process of observing the market's action until such a time you can find and form trading ideas and get involved.'**

Thursday, December 8, 2011

The market tumbled today due to negative reports from Europe.

Lots of selling pressure were recorded and was continuously till the close.

Don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, but we'll monitor the overnight session to find out if the downtrend will continue.

Lots of traders/investors are waiting for the Santa Claus rally, and the signal is still far fetch or not clear.
The market was not able to get off from the slump and continues its downtrend.

A not so convincing sentiments from the participants.

Trade did not work out, stop got hit, lost 25 points...
Bought YM at 12065 with stop at 12040...

Market starts to stabilize...


A pattern like this takes time to develop/stabilize because of high volatility.

The market drops like a bomb in the open because of the ECB news.

We'll just watch from the sidelines whatever develops and just study the market for now.

Futures markets showing some weakness from this overnight session.

Hitting 3000 plus views from this blog was a humbling experience, though this is my nth blog that I kept currently.

Other blogs that I created also with regards to the market were deactivated.

As you go along sleeping and breathing with the market helps you educate how the market works.

Though there are more things that I need to know about the market, but it's a process and will take time.

Patience and perseverance in participating with the market is that counts.

Anyway, let's see how the market reacts today.

I don't see any big news that might impact the market except those that are coming from Europe.


Wednesday, December 7, 2011

By Barry Ritholtz - November 1st, 2009, 9:00AM
Via Minyanville, we get this good version of Jesse Livermore’s trading rules, considered to be one of the best traders of all time:
Lesson Number One: Cut your losses quickly.
As soon as a trade is contemplated, a trader must know at what point in time he’ll be proven wrong and exit a position. If a trader doesn’t know his exit before he takes the entry, he might as well go to the racetrack or casino where at least the odds can be quantified.

Lesson Number Two: Confirm your judgment before going all in.
Livermore was famous for throwing out a small position and waiting for his thesis to be confirmed. Once the stock was traveling in the direction he desired, Livermore would pile on rapidly to maximize the returns.
There are several ways to buy more in a winning position — pyramiding up, buying in thirds at predetermined prices, being 100% in no more than 5% above the initial entry — but the take home is to buy in the direction of your winning trade – never when it goes against you.

Lesson Number Three: Watch leading stocks for the best action.
Livermore knew that trending issues were where the big money would be made, and to fight this reality was a loser’s game.

Lesson Number Four: Let profits ride until price action dictates otherwise.
“It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It always was my sitting.”
One method that satisfies the desire for profit and subdues the fear of a losing trade is to take one half of your profit off at a predetermined level, put a stop at breakeven on the rest, and let it play out without micromanaging the position.

Lesson Number Five: Buy all-time new highs.
The psychological merits of buying all-time or 52-week highs are immense and shouldn’t be discounted as a part of your overall strategy.

Lesson Number Six: Use pivot points to determine trends.
When going long, traders are continually looking for confirmation by assessing the strength of a move. Higher highs and higher lows are a solid indicator that a current uptrend is merely taking a slight pause, and the odds of higher prices are in their favor. These same pivot points are integral to drawing support and resistance lines to give traders their line in the sand. Taken together, trend lines and pivot points can enlighten a trader to a change in momentum, which may change the character of a trade.

Lesson Number Seven: Control your emotions.
Our goal as traders should be to also make a critical yet honest assessment of the areas we can improve so the bottom line will support our claims of truly being seasoned traders. Adhering to the time-tested rules of Jesse Livermore would be a great start for anyone.
Showing the concluding chart, it breaks out late in the trading day as I mentioned in my previous post.

Had I let the trade run before the close, a gain of 100 points plus profit is inevitable.

That's it fellow traders, hope was able to share some trade inputs...in your wallet...
Showing the chart pattern where trade was concluded, entry was at 12090 with the exit at 12130...

Sold at 12130 for a gain of 40 points...
Moved the stop to 12100...
Putting sell limit at 12131...
Moved the stop to 12080...
Trade is gaining ground, looking to exit at 12130...let's see if it will work...
A pattern like this usually breaks out till the conclusion of the market, let's see if it will...just bought one contract at 12090...

By Barry Ritholtz - December 7th, 2011, 10:30AM
A friend sends this quote, which I really like but have been unable to verify:

“Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank and he can rob the world.”-Jim Trotter
Can any one confirm that is a real quote by Mr. Trotter?
Bought YM at 12090 with stop at 12060...
The market is showing some weakness as shown from this overnight session.

There are some not so good news that are coming from Europe.

I guess there might be some random movements in the regular trading.

Let's get to work and keep watching.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Showing the market conclusion today.

Overall, it made a nice move!

I can find two good setups here, the one at 1:00 pm. ET. and the other at around 2:30 pm. ET.

Those are low risk entry per our trading parameters.

Was out from trading today due to some pressing attention.

The market made a tight upward consolidation today and found some interesting setups.

Might be in for a next upward breakout and it takes a lot of patience to look for the right entry.


Decided to exit the trade at 12110...not a good environment...wait for the next trading day...
Looks like (the market) having a hard time getting up from the slump...it is consolidating tightly...
Looks like it pulls back...will add one more contract at 12118 with stop 12090...
Bought YM at 12135 with stop12115...
Was late to put an entry for did some important matters and the market rallied.

Too early to put an entry...lost 15 points...will wait after an hour or so...
Exit the trade at 12080...not a good sign...
Looks like it's a quiet open...
Bought YM at 12095 with stop at 12070...let's see if it will work...
Good morning fellow traders, the market is slightly trending up.

It might consolidate for quite a while because of the resistance at 200 MA.

Might be a good time to find the right location for a long entry.

Unless some big news that might influence the market, I don't see any big reaction from the participants.

Let's see how it goes and we'll just keep watching.


Monday, December 5, 2011

Just showing the concluding chart that I showed earlier that a pattern like this usually stalls or breaks down.

Was right for it breaks down two hours before the close.

The market turns ugly at the later part of the trading day.

It gap up early in the open pit from the Globex session and was able to maintain its momentum through the middle part of the regular trading.

Only to do a somersault act two hours before the close.

Lots of break out traders caught off guard by the sudden turn of events.

Good for the shorters, they made a good job shorting the market.

Lots of bulls got nervous from that sudden drop.

But I think that was just a reaction/pullback from the on-going trend.

It might consolidate some more prior to the big move in time for the holidays.

The market drops suddenly for a loss of 27 points...
Whenever a pattern like this develops, most likely it will stay that way till the close or it may drop...

Bought YM at 12157 with stop at 12130...
No sign of a breakout, volatility is high...
After exiting the trade, the market turns higher but in a very volatile fashion...HFT are stepping up...
Trade exited at 12140 for a gain of 26 points...suddenly it drops prior the open...no choice but to exit...
Market is heading higher prior in the open...

Might wait for the regular open to exit and find out the reaction of the market to see if it can exited at high price...
Trade is gaining ground...looking to exit the target price...
Moved stop to 12129...
Put sell limit at 12161...let's see if it can make it...
Stop almost got hit...will try to exit if it reach 12160 points...
Moved stop to 12119...
Moving the stop to 12115...above one point from the entry...
Bought YM in the Globex at 12114 with stop at 12090...
The market is trending up from this Globex market chart.

A signal for a higher open.