Trade Aptitude

Results of Friday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: No trade triggered in a choppy narrow day. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 5242.00 stop 5236.25. Short 5314.50 stop 5320.25. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) dumps from -14 to -50 with most major world markets Bearish. 

Catalysts: Fed’s Bostic @ 8:25. New Home Sales @ 10:00. 

Quick Tip: No Setups?

This blog suggests two potential turning points for the S&P futures. There are many more volume levels that our team uses. But for the past two days price never touched any of our volume levels. 

No problem. Our team has multiple strategies with edge to fill the gap when one isn’t providing setups. There are more reasons to trade multi-strat though: 

1. Diversity. Markets change character. They’re either trending or not, volatile, or not. No single...

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Trade Aptitude

Results of Monday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Shorting 5236.75 picked the top of the session and ran for 26.50 points before closing the session +22.50. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 5184.25 stop 5179.00. Short 5221.50 stop 2527.25. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) plummets from +57 to -7 with major world markets mixed on lower volatility. 

Catalysts: Building Permits & Housing Starts @ 8:30. Waiting on FOMC tomorrow.

Quick Tip: Exit On Close

If you traded yesterday’s short suggestion (see chart) and let it ride to the close you had an awesome start to your trading week. 

However, watching that open trade all day would have been difficult given the swings and spikiness of the price action. Just about any trailing stop rule set would have limited your potential. 

There is one great trader I know of who...

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Trade Aptitude

Results of Thursday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buying 5238.00 only offered a 3.50-point scalp. Shorting 5233.00 ran for 45 points. Having a good week? 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 5220.50 stop 5215.75. Short 5216.50 stop 5221.25 if prices falls below and retraces to entry. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) remains at +25 with most major world markets mildly Bullish with low volatility. 

Catalysts: Empire State MFG Index & Import Prices @ 8:30. Industrial Production @ 9:15. UofM Consumer Sentiment @ 10:00. 

Quick Tip: Contract Selection

Unlike the stock market where you have thousands of stocks to choose from, the futures market has dozens of contractsStill, diversification is good. The question becomes which contracts should you trade. Here’s a quick look at filtering for...

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Trade Aptitude

Results of Tuesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buying 5183.00 picked the bottom of the session and ran 60+ points to the close. ðŸ˜Š

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

No qualified volume levels today. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) drops from +31 to -13 in a world of mixed sentiment and plunging volatility. 

Catalysts: Crude Oil Inventories @ 10:30. 30-year Bond Auction @ 13:01.

Quick Tip: ATR Exit

Yesterday’s buy was one of the best we’ve seen in years. It ran smoothly with a few pullbacks to form price pivots for a trailing stop that was never touched. 

One open trade management tool we have is the ATR extension. The black dotted line on the chart represents the 14-period daily average true range (ATR) added to the prior day session close. You can subtract it to get the ATR extension below as well. 

Price...

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Trade Aptitude

Results of Monday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: : Buying 5173.00 filled in the Globex session last night running 14+ points and still open. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 5046.75 stop 5042.75. Short 5117.50 stop 5121.00.

The World Index: (+100/-100) jumps from -25 to +38 with all major world markets neutral to modestly Bullish. 

Catalysts: Durable Goods @ 8:30. Home Price Index @ 9:00. Fed’s Barr @ 9:05. Consumer Confidence & Richmond MFG Index @ 10:00. 

Quick Tip: Set/Forget 

One of the nice features of trading the levels from this newsletter is the set/forget entry available on the reversals. 

Yesterday’s buy at 5173.00 didn’t trigger until 12:55 AM ET. Depending on your time zone you may have been sleeping. Placing the order beforehand brought you a welcome “Good Morning!” if...

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Trade Aptitude

Results of Tuesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buying 4972.75 only offered a 6.50-point bounce. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 4926.00 stop 4920.75. Short 5026.50 stop 5031.00.

The World Index: (+100/-100) inches up from zero to +6 in a world of mixed sentiment and rising volatility. 

Catalysts: Fed’s Bowman @ 13:00. FOMC Meeting Minutes @ 14:00. NVDA after the bell.

Quick Tip: Why Multi-Strat?

If you read this blog daily you know that our team trades live daily in a multi-strat environment. Focusing on multiple strategies is not for everyone. In fact, few of our team trade all the strategies. 

So why know how to trade them? 

1. Diversity. Markets change character. They’re either trending or not, volatile, or not. No single strategy works well in all those conditions. Having the choice...

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Trade Aptitude

Results of Wednesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buying 4972.75 caught the bottom of the session and ran for 41.50 points at the close. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 4998.00 stop 4994.25. Short 5040.25 stop 5045.25. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) eases from +36 to +29 with most major world markets Bullish on low volatility. 

Catalysts: Retail Sales, Jobless Claims, Empire State MFG Index, Philly Fed MFG Index, Import Prices @ 8:30. Industrial Production @ 9:15. Business Inventories, Housing Market Index @ 10:00. Fed’s Waller @ 13:15. 

Quick Tip: No Fear

Looking at the chart above how price was approaching the buy level you might feel like you were stepping in front of a freight train. Confidence required. 

Of course, since you knew the entry well beforehand a set/forget order would have been a good solution...

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Trade Aptitude

 

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Trade Aptitude

Results of Tuesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Neither trade triggered. The levels stay on the chart. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 4926.00 stop 4920.75. Short 4987.00 stop 4992.75.  

The World Index: (+100/-100) eases from +19 to -13 with most major world markets modestly Bearish. 

Catalysts: Trade Balance @ 8:30. Crude Oil Inventories @ 10:30. Fed-speak @ 11:00, 12:30, and 14:00. 10-year Bond Auction @ 13:01. 

Quick Tip: Watch Bonds

Of all the economic information traders watch for directional clues the bond auctions are the rising stars. Bloomberg reported Citigroup findings that the S&P 500 index has moved 1% in either direction on auction days recently. 

How can you use this data? 

Consider adjusting your entry and exit rules. Expecting a big move and seeing it manifest allows you to...

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Trade Aptitude

Results of Monday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Shorting 4928.50 stopped out. Buying the breakout at 4931.00 ran for 25 points. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 4922.50 stop 4918.25. Short 4919.00 stop 4923.25 if price retraces up from below. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) drops from +19 to +6 with sentiment mixed worldwide on lower volatility. 

Catalysts: Home Price Index @ 9:00. Consumer Confidence & JOLTS @ 10:00.

Quick Tip: Mastering Trading

George Leonard noted in his book Mastery that “Our culture has become hooked on the quick fix, the life hack, efficiency. Everyone is on the hunt for that simple action algorithm that nets maximum profit with the least amount of effort.”

Sounds like “Lotto Mentality.” And unfortunately, those are the kinds of teasers you read in your emails every day. Don’t...

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