Best Thread How To Make Money Trading The Markets.

I found EXPE today scanning a few minutes into market open. A nice very strongly trending stock showing the rising candles method as in this thread.
+115c per share profit

This is not a hard set up if you have a pre-market alert list and then scan during market hours as well. What some people seem to find difficult to understand is that there isn't an optimal entry point. They think there must be a pre-ordained entry point because most methods use one so they are self conditioned into thinking there must be one.
Think of it this way, in Britain we used to have open platform buses you could jump on even when they were moving. The idea is the same. Are you and the moving bus at the same place at the same time? Yes, the "best" place to get on the bus is at the bus stop - the entry point - but you can still get on when it's moving if the platform is open.
 

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Yes, the "best" place to get on the bus is at the bus stop - the entry point - but you can still get on when it's moving if the platform is open.

You could also get off those old double deckers while the bus was still moving; not always elegant, but effective .....
 
Hi Mr Charts

Firstly thank you for this thread I have found it very informative thus far- I am a very new trader (still reading up on as much information as I can- haven't even started paper trading yet), is there any particular reason you prefer trading US stocks over UK stocks? Is it purely due to the time difference so more time in the morning to research etc before the US market opens?
 
Hi Mr Charts

Firstly thank you for this thread I have found it very informative thus far- I am a very new trader (still reading up on as much information as I can- haven't even started paper trading yet), is there any particular reason you prefer trading US stocks over UK stocks? Is it purely due to the time difference so more time in the morning to research etc before the US market opens?

Lots of reasons as listed on my site, can't tell you the address as a mod would ban me. Google my name.
 
There are so many myths and misconceptions, misunderstandings and plain wrong beliefs about the market, often perpetuated by posters on web sites simply because many of the ideas appear logical and sensible.

Among many there is the belief that if a stock gaps down on bad news it must be a candidate for a short.
Another wrong idea is that all gaps must and will be filled.
Both ideas are plain wrong.

I've traded for a living for many years now so I know what works and what doesn't - nothing works infallibly every time, of course, but I do know what works most of the time.

Let's look at MPEL which had bad news pre-market and gapped down before the open.
My approach is that I have around a dozen set ups which I use, one of which is on this thread. I will look at gappers, news stocks, run a scan etc pre-market, then run repeated scans during market hours looking for opportunities.
I do not have fixed, pre-conceived ideas as in the two examples listed two paragraphs earlier. I remain flexible always, so I trade according to one of my set ups and actual price action at the time, not my opinions, but what I actually see happening at the time.
If it's a key price level I do NOT have the approach that I will enter at a specific price one cent above it, it really depends on how the stock price is ACTUALLY moving at the time.
Think of it this way, why should I enter a trade because one person somewhere on the planet has bought 100 shares of a particular stock at one cent above the high of the day? A ridiculous concept.

Sometimes you have to be patient and just keep an eye on a particular stock in your alert list because the great move can come at any time. We all miss opportunities and I obviously do too; sometimes I stop looking at some stocks on my list and miss great moves. After all, in reality there is a limit to how many stocks you can keep an eye on.

MPEL stayed on my watch list from pre-market and rewarded me with a neat 40c per share profit.
 

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Here's one from yesterday afternoon.
I ran a scan during market hours, saw SUNE, liked the trend and simply waited for the opportunity to jump aboard on rising candles after the shallow retracement.

This is not difficult, but it requires "effort" running the scans then jumping on board the moving bus whilst it's moving.

You do need the ability to make a decision rationally and unemotionally, then to execute that decision.

SUNE +34c per share
 

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Could you please refer to me to the post in the thread about how you scan the market for these types of stocks?
 
@mgr1397

There exists a shorter version of this thread that's condensed into the useful material and leaves out the non-instructive comments etc. Look for that in thread lists as a sticky. You'll get further quicker reading through that. (y)
 
GILD was one of my pre-market alerts.
Sometimes I'll jump on rising candles like this one provided it is rocketing in one direction with considerable momentum from the off, (the get-go) even though there might not be more than one or two rising candles before the entry. If your software lets you set a tick chart then it's more obvious. interactivebrokers lets you have much shorter interval candles than one minute and that helps you spot these beauties.
This type of trade very early on after market open does require some experience as well as firm and controlled decision making and trade execution, but it's well worth it once you've built some experience. NOT for beginners !
GILD +109c per share, which is $1090 for a thousand shares and obviously pro-rata for smaller or bigger position sizes.
 

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I spent way too long messing around with indicators trying to be perfect at buying bottoms and selling tops. I'd shoot myself in the foot waiting out $1-3/share trends because I didn't get in on the bottom, just to get stopped out on a pullback trying to short what I assumed was the top.

Best piece of advice I received from a pro trader for developing a strategy is to realize that you will never be 100% successful no matter what and you do and you do not need a strategy that "speculates" tops and bottoms.

If you come across some video about "Trading Secret The Pro's Use" and it's some chump trying to sell an indicator or trading method, it's just a load of bull. Don't spend money on anything. It's all information you can find yourself on the internet.
 
Hi Graham,
It's a one minute chart. IB offer 5 second candles.
Have a good weekend, Graham,
Richard
 
Here is one from today, BCRX +71c per share.

I have a look at pre-market news but do NOT trade on the basis of my opinion as to what "should" happen, but on my own methods.
The market doesn't care about your opinion, after all every single trade is a buy for someone and a sell for someone else. That's what makes a market, but it responds to buying and selling pressures and their consequences.

BCRX is an Ebola related stock and although I already knew that, it was flagged up as such on a news feed.
In addition, it gapped pre-market, so it was on my alert list before the market even opened.

This trade used the particular technique on this thread.

I know some people seem to get themselves very agitated if one of these trades looks too "easy", but really, what's so difficult about trading like this?

Be patient, go for the high probability situations, exercise self-restraint when trading, and cut the losers with tight stops.

I traded eight times today, three were small losers, one a small winner and four were decent sized winners. On my blog as always if anyone wants to see.
 

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Some ETFs can be very profitable. Here's one from today using the rising/falling candles method.
TQQQ is linked to moves on the Nasdaq and was on my alerted list before market open.
+90c per share,
so $900 for someone trading 1000 shares, $450 for 500 shares and pro rata on any number traded.
This is a highly liquid "stock".
It's always worth keeping an eye on.
Entry where indicated, exit at time of screenshot.
All winners and losers on my blog as always.

And yes, I could have got in earlier and made more money !
 

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