The OHLC Indicator is one of the simplest day trading indicators I know of. I don’t know if you’d even call it an indicator. It’s basically just doing something for me that I’m too lazy to do, and I love that because it saves me time and effort. I can use this time to do other tasks in the morning, like scanning for new stocks to add to my watch list. The OHLC indicator stands for Open, High, Low & Close. The indicator simply plots the prior day’s Open, High, Low & Close on your day trading charts.
Why is This [...]
From the category archives:
Day Trading Strategies
I had quite a morning day trading today. The following is a transcript of my Tweets sent via Stocktwits as I traded RIMM. Since it all happens so fast, it is difficult to really give followers a picture of what I’m actually thinking, so below I’ve added what I was thinking at the time, and since I am not very smart, I have added what I assume a more prudent trader may have been thinking in the same situation.
The trading day started a little rough, and some guy prosed the following question;
9:44 am – “$SPY how do u day trade when [...]
In my post, “10 Ways to Build a Better Watch List,” I discussed how you might spend your pre-market morning finding great stocks to trade. Amazon (AMZN) is on my core watch list, but if it wasn’t, it definitely would have come up on my radar using the criteria in that post.
There was news on Amazon (AMZN), which brought in a lot of volume (specifically buyers), which caused it to gap up. It was a domino effect that made AMZN ripe with trading opportunities. As you can see in the stock chart above, I’ve shown 2 trades on this one [...]
As my hometown wrapped up Gay Pride Week with a delightfully flamboyant parade, I wondered how I might use the powerful symbol, the rainbow, to represent the goings on within the stock market.
I mostly use the SPY as my general market indicator, so I pulled up a daily chart and employed some tricky technical analysis. It was then that I noticed an interesting phenomenon…
I lined up popular MAs according to ROY-G-BIV from fast to slow
MA (5) = Red
MA (10) = Orange
MA (14) = Yellow
MA (20) = Green
MA (50) = Blue
MA (100) = Indigo
MA (200) = Violet
As you can see we’re [...]
I have recently taken up poker at the insistence of my friends. My friends range in skill level from beginner to the guy who takes thousands of dollars from the old dogs at the local underground poker ring that may or may not exist depending on who’s asking. Like most traders, they are very generous with their knowledge and willing to teach newcomers. This is probably partially motivated by the fact that they can bleed me dry until I learn…
Anyway, though the learning process I’ve noticed that the poker player and the day trader share some very similar qualities and [...]
A better day trading watch list means better trades, and better trades mean bigger profits.
The stock market is a busy place. If you don’t have a focused watch list you’ll flip from stock to stock without stopping to make a trade. To maximize your profits, spend at least 30 minutes sorting out a watch list prior to the market open. Here are 10 quick tips to help you find the best stocks to day trade.
1. Keep It Small
There are thousands of stocks. Narrow your list down to 10-20 potential movers. You can’t possibly watch 100 or more stocks, so don’t bother trying. [...]
As promised today on Twitter via StockTwits, here’s a recap of the FSLR day trade taken this morning.
This trade was a result of the stock market in general being seriously downtrodden today along with this particular stock’s push to close the gap feeling especially weak. I watched the tape to get a feel for how this one would react to yesterday’s low, and it just didn’t appear to have the ability to push through it (as a matter of fact, it reversed a few cents lower than the actual PDL).
Entry
As indicated on my day trading chart to the left here, [...]
You can’t win if you’re just trying to break even.
When day trading, have you ever taken profits sooner than you should because it made up for your losses the previous day? Have you ever increased your position size or the amount of risk you take on “temporarily” just to get back to zero? Yeah? Me too.
What is Break Even Mentality?
Break Even mentality is that itch in the back of your brain that tells you “If you can just break even on this trade, then you’re back at zero. It’s a fresh start.” It could cause you to exit a trade [...]
Day trading can present some great opportunities. I posted yesterday about day trading a down market. Some days just have the potential to be very profitable for day traders. Here’s a brief overview of some specific day trades that could have been grabbed.
Research in Motion (RIMM)
RIMM opened well below yesterdays low. It made a very weak attempt to close the gap down from yesterday. When that failed, it was all down hill.
1. Arrow 1 shows where RIMM broke through its low of the day (LOD) here. It was a pretty easy short trade down to the whole number at 70.00
2. [...]
“You can become a millionaire
by trading just two hours a day!”
You’ve heard this sales pitch before and it sounds pretty awesome, doesn’t it? You could just roll out of bed right before the market opens, pick a couple of popular stocks, make one or two easy trades, and get on with your day well before noon.
Well, the good news is that it is possible to live the life of a leisurely day trader. However, here’s the part most new traders don’t want to hear; it takes hours a day and years of hard work to become trader of that caliber.
If [...]
