Results of Friday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Shorting 4192.50 stopped out. Buying the breakout worked for 20 points at the close. 

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

Buy 4210.00 stop 4204.50. Short 4271.75 stop 4277.50. 

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) drops from +42 to +21 in a world of mixed sentiment and low volatility. 

Catalysts: Home Price Index @ 9:00. Consumer Confidence @ 10:00. Debt Ceiling progress. Tech rally continues. 

Quick Tip: Equity Curves

Are you plotting your strategy’s equity curve? If not, get started. It’s a modest amount of record keeping, and it will give you confidence and warn you to drawdowns and restarts. 

It’s important that the equity curve represents all trades your strategy teed up, not just the ones you took. Knowing the difference between your results (behavior) and...

Results of Wednesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buying 4118.25 offered a 16.50-point runner. 

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

Buy 4096.75 stop 4092.00. Short 4192.25 stop 4196.50. 

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) jumps from -86 to -21 in a world of mixed sentiment and waning volatility. 

Catalysts: GDP & Jobless Claims @ 8:30. Pending Home Sales @ 10:00. Risk on for Tech 

Quick Tip: Fast Moves

Everyone loves a fast move in your chosen direction. Study enough price charts and you’ll see a recurring pattern: fast move up, base, fast move down. It happens in reverse as well. 

So, after enjoying the quick gain and determining your exit, start planning for the reversal. Sometimes the base is non-existent, like the pivot candle on the chart above. Other times it’s a trading range. Mark up...

Results of Tuesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buying 4182.00 stopped out. 

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

Buy 4118.25 stop 4115.25. Short 4192.25 stop 4196.50. 

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) drops from -50 to -86 with all major world markets very Bearish. Contrarian Alert: Historically, price closed higher from the open 57% of the time.

Catalysts: Yellen speaks @ 10:05. Crude Oil Inventories @ 10:30. FOMC Meeting Minutes @ 14:00. Debt ceiling talks stall. Risk off worldwide. 

Quick Tip: Short Targets

The world is bearish today due to the impasse on debt ceiling talks. You’ll probably be leaning to the short side today. 

Successful traders look for asymmetrical trades. These are trades where the risk is small compared to the potential gains. 

One application for asymmetry is frequently overlooked....

Results of Thursday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Shorting 4206.50 stopped out immediately. Same result as yesterday though. Make sure you take the breakout after the failed reversal. This one ran 14 points. 

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

Buy 4182.00 stop 4178.75. Short 4271.75 stop 4277.50.  

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) slumps from +50 to +14 with Asia struggling and the west modestly Bullish, Germany’s DAX near a record. 

Catalysts: Nothing on the economic calendar. Fed-speak @ 8:45 & 9:00. Powell speaks @ 11:00.

Quick Tip: Hindsight

Have you ever looked at your trade result and thought to yourself “If had a bigger stop it would have been a winner” or “If I don’t use a stop I’ll see more winners because this market just swings up and down.” 

What you’re experiencing is...

Results of Tuesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Choppy narrow price “in-action”, nothing triggered.  

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

Buy 4118.25 stop 4115.25. Short 4154.50 stop 4157.75. 

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) dips from +14 to -7 in a world of mixed sentiment and low volatility. 

Catalysts: Housing Starts @ 8:30. Crude Oil Inventories @ 10:30. Debt ceiling updates. 

Quick Tip: Slow Days

Yesterday was slow. So slow that even a multi-strategy approach like ours found it tough to get an entry. 

You’d expect credit spreads on the SPXW would be ideal candidates for the expected range-bound day. Rules of entry vary but for us we never triggered the Bear Call side of the Condor. 

Just keep in mind that you don’t have to trade. You’d like to, but you’re better off...

Results of Monday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Neither level triggered and remain on the chart. 

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

Buy 4118.25 stop 4115.25. Short 4186.75 stop 4190.50. 

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) PLUMMETS from +64 to +14 in a world of mixed sentiment and low volatility. 

Catalysts: Retail Sales @ 8:30. Industrial Production @ 9:15.  Business Inventories & Housing Market Index @ 10:00. Scattered Fed-Speak. Debt ceiling updates. 

Quick Tip: Disagree?

In Stephen Covey’s bestseller, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, the 6th habit is Synergize. The concept of synergy is real and born in nature. You’ll need to read the chapter (the whole book would be better) to get all the details and proof. Just assume it’s true for now. 

Think about this: If everyone you...

Results of Frday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Neither level triggered. 

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

Buy 4118.25 stop 4115.25. Short 4186.75 stop 4190.50. 

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) SOARS from +14 to +64 with all major world markets Bullish.

Catalysts: Empire State MFG Index & Goolsbee on CNBC @ 8:30. Kashkari @ 9:15. 

Quick Tip: Anticipation

Plenty of time in trading is spent waiting. Waiting for a setup, waiting for an economic release, waiting for a profit target. Lots of waiting. 

Here’s how to make this “downtime” productive: Get proactive. Get in the habit of asking “What if…?” questions. Answer them. In doing so you’ll be making decisions in advance and be able to act on the spot. No wondering, guessing, procrastinating or flat-out missing the trade....

Results of Thursday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Neither level triggered and remain on the chart. 

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

Buy 4096.75 stop 4092.00. Short 4186.75 stop 4190.50. 

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) jumps from -14 to +14 in a world of mixed sentiment and low volatility. 

Catalysts: Import Prices @ 8:30. UM Consumer Sentiment @ 10:00. 

Quick Tip: Adjusting

The levels offered here have not been even close to filling the past few days. The daily S&P range has been tightening. Other than Wednesday's CPI action, price has barely moved. 

Time to adjust. While yesterday’s levels remain on the chart, here’s a trade that will more likely trigger: Buy 4145.50 if price drops from above, short 4139.25 if price retraces up from below. Use 5.75-point stops.

Why this level? It’s the...

Results of Wednesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Neither level triggered and remain on the chart. 

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

Buy 4096.75 stop 4092.00. Short 4186.75 stop 4190.50.

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) jumps from -50 to -14 in a world of mixed sentiment and low volatility. 

Catalysts: PPI & Jobless Claims @ 8:30. 30-year Bond Auction @ 13:01. 

Quick Tip: Need to Know

Curiosity leads to learning. We want to know the “what, why, how, when & where.” 

All good. Except in day trading. 

At 7:00 ET this morning the S&P and oil broke their ranges and dropped fast. Gold did the opposite. My impulse was to find out what happened. I was curious, but does it matter? The trade setup I would enter at that time would likely last less than an hour. Do I need to...

Results of Tuesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Price chopped in a very narrow range, neither trade triggered. The same levels are valid today.

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

Buy 4096.75 stop 4092.00. Short 4186.75 stop 4190.50.

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) DIPS from -36 to -50 with all major world markets mildly Bearish.

Catalysts: CPI @ 8:30. Crude Oil Inventories @ 10:30. 10-year Bond Auction @ 13:01. Debt limit politics. 

Quick Tip: Filter or Not? 

Are there market conditions that your strategy performs better or worse in? Probably so. Price is either trending or not and volatile or not. These are very different conditions and knowing with evidence how your strategy performs in each of them is important. 

Why? Because you’ll be able to filter out trade setups in conditions that are not ideal. These...