Yesterday’s results: Buying 5790.75 was only good for a 5-point scalp.
Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 5701.50 stop 5695.75. No short suggestion.
The World Index: (+100/-100) drops from +30 to -40 with sentiment mostly Bearish. China/HK closed for a holiday week.
Catalysts: ADP Non-Farm Employment Change @ 8:15. Fed’s Hammack @ 9:00, Musalem @ 10:05, Bowman @ 11:00, Barkin @ 12:15. Crude Oil Inventories @ 10:30. Mideast conflict accelerates.
Quick Tip: FOMO/DOMO
If you watched the Chinese stock market’s reaction to the huge stimulus program recently announced you’ll have experienced FOMO. The charts for the internet related stocks were parabolic for days with massive gaps up.
Fear Of Missing Out, FOMO, is an emotional reaction traders have when seeing what they could have had. Price is gaining momentum and you’re on the sidelines. Impulsively, you break your...
Yesterday’s results: The short entry at 5808.00 triggered minutes before the close and failed. Day traders would pass on the trade, swing traders took the loss.
Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 5790.75 stop 5785.00. No short suggestion.
The World Index: (+100/-100) jumps from -14 to +30 with sentiment mostly Bullish. China/HK closed for a holiday week.
Catalysts: S&P Final MFG PMI @ 9:45. ISM MFG PMI, Prices, Construction Spending & JOLTS @ 10:00. Fed’s Bostic @ 11:00, Cook @ 11:10.
Quick Tip: Biorhythms
I’m not sure if there is truth to the biorhythm theory that we are affected by three cycles: physical, emotional, and intellectual. But there is no question our performance at just about anything cycles. Winning, losing, flatlining.
I watched the Detroit Lions quarterback, Jared Goff set a record yesterday completing ALL of his 18 passes in a rout over the Seattle Seahawks. Last...
Friday’s results: No trades suggested.
Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Short 5808.00 stop 5812.75. Buy 5812.00 stop 5807.25 if price retraces from above.
The World Index: (+100/-100) plummets from +57 to -14 with China wildly Bullish and the remaining major world markets somewhat Bearish.
Catalysts: Fed’s Bowman @ 8:50 and Powell @13:55. Chicago PMI @ 9:45. Dallas Fed MFG Index @10:30.
Quick Tip: Ratio Exits
Our volume-at-price strategy usually performs better in the Globex session. We know this from thousands of documented trades. The challenge for most of us is we’re sleeping!
Setting a planned entry before bedtime is no problem. Optimizing the exit is the tricky part.
One common exit is the trailing stop using initial risk. The downside is price can get spiky taking you out of what became a great trade.
One great trader on our team uses what I’ll call the Ratio Exit.
For...
Yesterday’s results: Buying 5781.50 picked the bottom of the session and ran for 26.75 points just before the close.
Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: No high-probability levels today.
The World Index: (+100/-100) dips from +86 to +57 with all major world markets Bullish except the S&P futures.
Catalysts: PCE Price Index @ 8:30. UofM Consumer Sentiment (revised) @ 10:00. Fed’s Bowman @ 13:15.
Quick Tip: Trailing Stops
The technique of adjusting your stop loss so it follows or “trails” price while moving in your direction is attractive. There are several ways to place a trailing stop. The first decision you must make is whether you want your platform to automatically adjust it or you to manually adjust it.
For automatic trailing stops any decent trading platform will allow you to enter the trailing stop by points, dollars or percentage. If your...
Yesterday’s results: No trade triggered.
Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 5781.50 stop 5775.75. No short level today.
The World Index: (+100/-100) soars from +7 to +86 with all major world markets very Bullish on China’s commitment to stimulus.
Catalysts: GDP, Jobless Claims & Durable Goods, @ 8:30. Pending Home Sales @ 10:00. Fed’s Powell speaks (pre-recorded) @ 9:20. Yellen speaks @ 11:15. Multiple other Fed speakers all day.
Quick Tip: Motivation
To succeed in trading (actually, anything in life) you must be motivated. There will always be setbacks, frustrations, losses, failures, and rejections. If you’re not motivated you won’t persist. You’ll quit and carry that psychological “loss” with you. Collect enough of those and you’ll be miserable.
The answer is to get and stay motivated. But how? Find your unsatisfied need. You...
Yesterday’s results: Buying 5775.50 was only good for a 5-point bounce if filled. The short idea never triggered.
Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 5755.75 stop 5752.25. No short level today.
The World Index: (+100/-100) dumps from +71 to +7 with sentiment mixed on lower volatility.
Catalysts: New Home Sales @ 10:00. Crude Oil Inventories @ 10:30. Fed’s Kugler @ 16:00.
Quick Tip: Synergy
In Stephen Covey’s bestseller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the 6th habit is Synergize. The concept is that two (or more) things working together produce a result that is better than the sum.
Think about this: If everyone agreed with you about the subject at hand, would there ever be any improvement to the subject (process, strategy, plan, etc.)? No change, no synergy.
That is precisely why you should embrace disagreement… from a constructive...
Friday’s results: No trade triggered.
Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 5705.75 stop 5700.00. No short level today.
The World Index: (+100/-100) remains at +7 with sentiment mixed and volatility low.
Catalysts: S&P Flash MFG/Services PMI @ 9:45. Fed’s Bostic @ 8:00, Goolsbee @ 10:15, Kashkari @ 13:00.
Quick Tip: Expectations
“What are you struggling with?” was the question I asked a group of traders. One woman said she had expectation challenges. She felt she needed to acknowledge that every trade won't be a home run, or “10 to 1” as she phrased it.
I respect her self-awareness. Expectations is not a commonly voiced trading challenge. But it is real. You can expect too much and foster disappointment. You can expect too little and minimize your profits. Neither view is healthy for your ultimate results.
If you are documenting all the...
Yesterday’s results: No trade triggered.
Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 5705.75 stop 5700.00. No short level today.
The World Index: (+100/-100) plummets from +93 to +7 with Asia Bullish and the west modestly Bearish.
Catalysts: Nothing on the economic calendar. Fed’s Harker speaks @ 14:00.
Quick Tip: Choices
The first serious sports car I bought was painted gold. It was the only one of that model the dealer had at the time and they were hard to get. I didn’t love the color, but I really wanted the car.
Most of the time we have choices and that’s a good thing. Traders have plenty of choices. Maybe too many. Which asset to trade, how many shares/contracts, entries, exits, etc. That’s why you should have a plan and stick to your rules.
One of the choices I’ve noticed many traders don’t have is which strategy to execute. It seems they...
Yesterday’s results: No trade triggered.
Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Nothing tradeable today.
The World Index: (+100/-100) soars from +8 to +93 with all major world markets very Bullish. Contrarian alert (there will be profit taking, maybe today).
Catalysts: Jobless Claims & Philly Fed MFG Index @ 8:30. Existing Home Sales @ 10:00.
Quick Tip: Herd Following
Trend following as a trading strategy is effective and popular among hedge funds. But they don’t all use the same algorithm. They want to be different enough to compete for better returns and the new money to manage that will come pouring in.
With AI gaining popularity in the trading world, you can imagine that one day there might be no one to trade against. As AI matures, everyone will have access to “all knowledge.” Why wouldn’t everyone use the best rule set?
This is an interesting...
Yesterday’s results: Buying 5698 stopped out.
Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 5630.00 stop 5626.25 (filtered out during FOMC release between 14:00 and 15:00). No short suggestion.
The World Index: (+100/-100) drops from +33 to +8 with sentiment mixed. Waiting on FOMC.
Catalysts: Building Permits & Housing Starts @ 8:30. Crude Oil Inventories @ 10:30. FOMC Rate Decision @ 14:00, press conference @ 14:30.
Quick Tip: Don’t Retire
You’ve probably heard or read the best ways to have a long and fulfilling retirement: Exercise regularly, sleep more, eat healthy, drink moderately, stop smoking, and minimize stress.
Here’s one thing you might not have heard about: Connect with people who have the same purpose. It turns out that loneliness is a killer.
Living in Florida I’m frequently asked when out socially if I’m retired. I’m not and never will be, in the...
You'll receive an email shortly to verify your FREE enrollment