When it comes to maximizing trader performance one thing I've always believed is how important it is to take full advantage of a trading day when the market is moving well and providing high quality opportunities to trade.  This seems obvious enough but in my experience I've found many novice traders have limiting beliefs and actions that hold them back and at least some of this can be attributed to the oft-parroted saying that a day trader "just needs to make 2 points a day" to realize their dreams of wealth and freedom. It's true that someone making 2 points eve ..read more

There's something about trading for a living that's always drawn people in.  It's one of those rare and special professions that can actually meet the criteria of being the ideal job because it offers so many potential advantages, but it's also important to be realistic on what's involved in becoming a full time trader as well. For many the pursuit of trading at an elite level is all about realizing "The Dream".  What that means is different for each person but it's usually about finding some kind of fulfillment that is lacking in their current work or profession. For some it's the f ..read more

I'll admit, it kind of feels like the dawn of a new era as we embark upon 2021.  Today saw the inauguration of a new US President, we saw the S&P 500 makes fresh all-time highs once again and each day it feels like the light at the end of the tunnel is a little closer for putting the pandemic behind us. The last year has been a difficult one for many and it's no surprise that a lot of us have spent a number of months both physically and mentally somewhat "hidden away" as we wait out the worst of things within our homes and with smaller social circles than usual. The toll of that has ..read more

In recent weeks I've received a number of emails asking how I've adapted my trading approach to the volatile conditions we've been experiencing lately.  I've also had some people asking when I'll be taking in new students to the STA Training Program as I haven't brought on anyone new for 2020 as of yet, so I thought I should address both items with a quick post. As far as my trading goes, at the moment I am perfectly content with waiting out the current extreme market volatility until things have calmed a bit.  A big part of consistency is knowing when NOT to trade, whether it's for ..read more

Today was one of those tradings days where you could see what was coming but it wasn't necessarily easy to take advantage of the moves.  From early on in our live class this morning I was talking about the distinct possibility for the "bottom to fall out of the market".  Even though it seemed a likely event it still took a number of attempts to make the move. Hitting Some Singles and Doubles for Average Once I finally did latch onto the bigger move down I also didn't really take full advantage of it.  I banked +14 ticks (3.5 points) but I could have had 40 ticks.  I could have taken even more ..read more

What you may notice from today's trading results on the ES and NQ are two things.  First, that I'm still not trading all that often considering the market movement.  Second, that despite that I've managed to string a nice series of wins together so far this week. To the first point, the scarcity of trades has to do with trying to be careful during volatile times.  There's probably a bit of bad luck in there too. Today in the ES I only managed to catch a couple short trades.  In an ideal world I might have had four or five on the strong run down and eventually a long on the reversal.  Today was ..read more

Today was one of those tradings days where you could see what was coming but it wasn't necessarily easy to take advantage of the moves.  From early on in our live class this morning I was talking about the distinct possibility for the "bottom to fall out of the market" and even though it seemed a likely event it still took a number of attempts to make the move. You'll also notice that once I finally latched onto the bigger move down I also didn't really take full advantage of it.  I banked +14 ticks (3.5 points) but I could have had 40 ticks or even more if held on for the major swing.  C'est ..read more

What you may notice from today's trading results on the ES and NQ are two things.  First, that I'm still not trading all that often considering the market movement.  Second, that despite that I've managed to string a nice series of wins together so far this week. To the first point, the scarcity of trades has to do with trying to be careful during volatile times but there's also a bit of bad luck in there too.  Today in the ES I only managed to catch a couple short trades but in an ideal world I might have had four or five on the nice run down and then eventually a long on the reversal.  Today ..read more

With the summer starting to come to a close I've decided to put some of my recent research and testing aside for a while and thought I would share some more frequent recaps.  I've actually been thinking about trying to get some of these up for at least a few weeks if only because this August has been so far outside the norm. There's no way to exactly predict how each month or season will play out in the markets but there are some common threads.  Yes, the Santa Clause Rally is a thing and we usually see stocks head up into the holidays but not always, as evidenced by last year's big drop.  The ..read more

Here we are, heading towards the summer and the market is doing its typical thing – just some massively volatile moves and panic over a good, old-fashioned trade war!  Wait, that doesn’t sound right. Yes, things are a bit different in May after a relatively slow and quiet April.  It seems the switch has been flipped thanks to plenty of incendiary headlines on trade and the political climate both in the US and abroad. I often get asked what I change in my Emini S&P 500 (ES) trading when volatility spikes but the answer remains the same – I just stick with the system.  I make small ..read more