TheStockBandit.net

The market is always in motion, so if you don’t like how it is, just wait a little while and it will change! JP Morgan has been quoted as saying that “Prices will fluctuate.” Knowing that, we as traders have to stay on our toes and plan accordingly for the changes that might take place just around the corner. If the market is range-bound, we can expect at some point that a trend will develop.

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The results are in, and the t-shirt for the large bills trivia has been claimed! Congratulations to D.M. of Chapel Hill, NC for winning the first ever T-Shirt Trivia at TheStockBandit.net! He knows the importance of doing your homework and it showed in his ability to dig up the answers! D.M., your t-shirt is on its way!

The correct answers were:
$500 Bill - William McKinley or John Marshall
$1000 Bill - Alexander Hamilton or Grover Cleveland
$5000 Bill - James Madison
$10,000 Bill - Salmon P. Chase

Those of you who answered correctly but weren’t the first to do so, take heart! Next week, T-Shirt Trivia will return on Tuesday and you’ll have another shot at it. Thanks for participating and for reading TheStockBandit.net!

Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
www.TheStockBandit.com

As part of my ongoing effort to clothe homeless traders, I’m starting a weekly fun segment called T-Shirt Trivia! For the next little while on Tuesdays, I’ll put up a random question (which may contain multiple parts), and the very first person to contact me will win a T-shirt from TheStockBandit.com!

Buying BIDU at $150.00 proved to be a mistake for this poor trader. There’s always hope though. Let’s hear it for wireless networks!

Only a few rules apply:
1. You must use the contact form when you submit your answer.
2. Include your name & mailing address when you submit your answer.
3. Only the first completely correct answer submitted will win a t-shirt.

Now, let’s get started!

Because we trade for the money, and it’s about more than “just the Benjamins,” this week’s trivia question pertains to some “paper” of the past. The first person to correctly answer (first & last names) whose pictures are on the front of the following U.S. currencies wins this week’s shirt:

- $500 Bill
- $1,000 Bill
- $5,000 Bill
- $10,000 Bill

If you know the answer, send me your name & address via the contact form, and the first to correctly identify who’s on the front of each bill wins. Good luck!

Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
www.TheStockBandit.com

Trading requires lots of “knowing when’s.” Knowing when to buy is as important as knowing when to sell. Knowing when to trade big is as important as knowing when to cut back on your position size. And knowing when to be active is as important as knowing when to walk away from the screens and do nothing.

The market is in a tough spot right now Read more »

It would be nice to have a crystal ball. But that’s not what trading is all about. Timing is everything. Although we might accurately predict the next move of a stock or the market itself, as traders we must still place the corresponding orders to enter and exit positions at the right times and in the right directions in order to profit. Simply understanding the direction to trade in won’t help you near as much as knowing when to get in and when to get out.

While I think it’s important to be able to locate and use chart patterns and technical analysis for trading, I sure don’t think a trader’s ability to tell the future (or backtest the past) will make him a profitable trader. Chart pattern recognition is certainly helpful to traders, but what about execution? What about psychology and knowing when to ride out a pullback versus recognizing a reversal and knowing when to bail out? The learning curve can be steep. Some things you just have to learn by trading.

Don’t get tied up trying to hone your prediction skills! Every trader is going to go through times of being right and being wrong. Successful trading is about damage control when you’re wrong and pressing it when you’re right. What’s most important is staying in sync with the market and adjusting your trading size and frequency at the right times in order to maximize your profitability.

Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
www.TheStockBandit.com