Results of Friday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: : Neither trade triggered.  

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

Buy 4769.00 stop 4765.25. Short 4800.50 stop 4805.50 (Buy the breakout if this short fails). 

The World Index: (+100/-100) reverses from +29 to -21 with most major world markets mildly Bearish. S&P futures are not. 

Catalysts: NAHB Housing Market Index @ 10:00. 

Quick Tip: Consistency

Here’s an important quote from Dr. Brett Steenbarger, author of many books on trader psychology and an accomplished S&P futures day trader:

“You are most likely to become consistent IN your trading if you are consistent in working ON your trading.” 

How? Preparation and review. Sports teams do this. Prepare for the opponent, play the game, watch the video reviews. 

Are you preparing...

Results of Wednesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: : Neither trade triggered.  

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

Buy 4704.00 stop 4699.25. Short 4800.50 stop 4805.50 (aggressive traders only, shorts are riskier today. We have no remaining volume levels above this). 

The World Index: (+100/-100) eases from +43 to +29 with most major world markets mildly Bullish.

Catalysts: Empire State MFG Index @ 8:30. Industrial Production @ 9:15. Flash MFG & Services PMI @ 9:45. 

Quick Tip: One Question Quiz

Think for a moment before you answer this question. Do you find it harder to take a loss or a profit? 

The answer says a lot about your trade plan, style, trading psychology, and what you need to work on. 

If your answer was a loss, then your risk management plan needs help. You might be trading the wrong strategy,...

Results of Wednesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: : Shorting 4777.00 filled in the Globex session last night running for 9+ points and still open but looking weak. 

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

Buy 4704.00 stop 4699.25. Short 4800.50 stop 4805.50

The World Index: (+100/-100) jumps from +7 to +43 with most major world markets Bullish.  

Catalysts: Retail Sales, Import Prices & Jobless Claims @ 8:30. Interest rate cuts coming, risk on, Dow hits record high, others to follow. 

Quick Tip: Asymmetry

Interest rate cuts are now firmly on the horizon after yesterday’s FOMC press conference. We will see new all-time highs in all the stock market indexes. 

What does that mean for short selling? 

Historically, prices move up and down in impulses and corrections. There will be short selling...

Results of Tuesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: : Heartbreaker! Our buy at 4662.00 missed filling by ONE TICK, made the bottom of the session, and soared 36 points to the close! Reframe your thinking. You missed the trade but your strategy worked just fine. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (all trades are filtered out during FOMC release today): 

Buy 4662.00 stop 4658.25. Short 4777.00 stop 4781.75.

The World Index: (+100/-100) dips from +29 to +7 in a world of mixed sentiment and low volatility. 

Catalysts: PPI @ 8:30. Crude Oil Inventories @ 10:30. FOMC @ 14:00 and Press Conference @ 14:30 (most important). 

Quick Tip: Late to the Party

You probably get a stream of emails every day about trading. I sure do. 

I saw one yesterday that was touting buying Arbor Realty Trust (ABR) at $14.65 to lock in a 11.5% dividend yield. 

ABR was our InsidersEdge pick of the...

Results of Monday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: : No levels offered due to contract rollover. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (all trades are filtered out prior to CPI release today): 

Buy 4662.00 stop 4658.25. Short 4714.50 stop 4719.75. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) gains from +14 to +29 with most major world markets mildly Bullish.

Catalysts: CPI @ 8:30. 30-year bond auction @ 13:01. 

Quick Tip: Commitment

If you’re relatively new to trading you’ve probably experienced overwhelm from all the choices you have. All the decisions you must make. 

What asset to trade? 

Which timeframe? 

Which broker? 

Whose strategy to follow? 

How much to risk? 

The list is long. After guiding more than 4000 new traders through the process of making these decisions over the past 15 years I’ve found there is a hierarchy to these decisions. 

Start with commitment....

Results of Friday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buying 4572.50 was filtered out during the Employment Report @ 8:30. 

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

The volume levels are affected by rollover today and are filtered out. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) gains from +7 to +14 in a world of mixed sentiment. 

Catalysts: 10-year bond auction @ 13:01. 

Quick Tip: Futures Rollover

Futures contracts are buy/sell agreements between two parties. Every contract has a delivery date at which point the transaction ends and goods/money are exchanged. 

Many futures traders have no intention of fulfilling their contractual obligations. They’re either speculating on price direction or hedging against price changes. For these traders exiting the current contract before the delivery date and entering the next contract further out on the calendar is...

Results of Thursday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Shorting 4581.00 stopped out. 

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

Buy 4572.50 stop 4569.00. Short 4628.50 stop 4632.75.

The World Index: (+100/-100) gains from -50 to +7 in a world of mixed sentiment and low volatility. 

Catalysts: Employment Report @ 8:30. UofM Preliminary Consumer Sentiment & Inflation Expectations. 

Quick Tip: Insider Buying Works

Your trading toolbox probably includes tools for the analysis of technical, fundamental, and sentiment data. All good. 

Significant research by Wall Street and academia has proven that Insider buying is predictive of positive future stock price performance. Of course, WHEN that abnormal positive move happens varies widely and understanding that is key to successfully using Insider buying data. 

If you’re...

Results of Tuesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Neither trade triggered. 

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

Buy 4521.00 stop 4517.00. Short 4628.50 stop 4632.75.

The World Index: (+100/-100) SOARS from -43 to +57 with all major world markets Bullish. Risk on.

Catalysts: ADP Non-Farm Employment Change @ 8:15. Revised Non-Farm Productivity & Costs @ 8:30. Crude Oil Inventories @ 10:30. 

Quick Tip: You’re Biased!

No offense. There are so many cognitive biases that affect our trading results, and everyone has some. Possibly the worst bias is called Personal Blind Spot.

It occurs when you fail to recognize your weaknesses and shortcomings, leading to suboptimal trading decisions and poor performance.

One of the primary ways to resolve this bias is through self-reflection and self-awareness. You must take the time to assess...