All Entries Tagged With: "Trading Education"
Houston & South Texas Traders…
February 8, 2012 at 10:01 am
If you’re a Houston trader or are located around the South Texas area, make plans this Friday to see me present live in conjunction with Worden!
On both Friday & Saturday (Feb. 10 & 11) at the Worden TC2000 workshop, I’ll be teaching live. It’s at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott (1601 Lake Robbins Drive, The Woodlands, TX 77380). The workshop starts at 10am and ends at 4pm, and I’d love to see you there either day.
Specifically, I’ll be discussing Formulating Your Trading Plan (Friday 1:30 – 2:45) and Locating Trades & Evaluating Risk (Saturday 11:15 – 12:30). I have a lot of good stuff planned, plus you’ll see the new version 12 of TC2000. I’m in the rotation with Michael Thompson and Peter Worden, so I’m excited about being there and giving you some insights for better trading.
Make plans to be there by pre-registering or just show up (it’s free) – but get there early, it’ll be a full house!
Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Producer of The Bandit Broadcast
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Competition
January 30, 2012 at 9:32 pm
One of the many harsh realities of trading is that it takes a lot of intentional effort.
That means you intentionally prepare (both mentally and with an actual game plan), you intentionally execute (have the discipline to stick with your method), and you intentionally improve (by reviewing results, keeping an open mind, working with other traders to expand your abilities, etc.).
The fact of the matter is that if your competition is outgunning you, the way to start having more success is by outworking them.
When I was in 8th grade, I decided to take up golf. Being in a town with a huge presence of great players (including 8 PGA Tour pro’s), I had an uphill battle given that so many of my peers had already been pursuing the game for a few years. They were better than me, and I knew I had to outwork them in order to catch up to them or surpass them.
The same mindset applies to your trading. If your competition is getting the best of you, then you’ve gotta step up your game and work harder. Don’t be afraid of it, nothing worth doing is ever easy.
Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Producer of The Bandit Broadcast
Follow TheStockBandit on Twitter or get our free newsletter to keep up!
DFW & North Texas Traders…
December 2, 2011 at 9:51 am
If you’re a DFW trader or are located around the North Texas area, make plans next Friday to see me present live in conjunction with Worden in Dallas!
On both Friday & Saturday (Dec. 9 & 10) at the Worden TC2000 workshop, I’ll be presenting in the afternoon. It’s at the Doubletree Hotel Dallas near the Galleria (4099 Valley View Lane
Dallas, TX 75244). The workshop starts at 10am and ends at 4pm, and I’d love to see you there either day.
Specifically, I’ll be discussing Preparing Like a Top Trader in Today’s Market. I have a lot of good stuff planned, plus you’ll see the new version 12 of TC2000.
Make plans to be there by pre-registering or just show up (it’s free)!
Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Producer of The Bandit Broadcast
Follow TheStockBandit on Twitter or get our free newsletter to keep up!
Apply What You Learn or Stop Learning!
September 15, 2011 at 1:06 pm
For whatever reason, a theme hit me this week that I think is highly important to share with you here.
It all started when Tyler recently pointed out that many traders get caught in the nonstop cycle of learning, and he brought forth some excellent points. Most notably that many traders mistakenly aim for breadth of knowledge rather than depth. I think he’s dead right.
Then I ran across another article along the same exact lines, this time aimed at entrepreneurs, highlighting information bias as the tendency to seek information even when it cannot affect action.
After all, what good is information if it’s not altering or improving your actions?
As a trader, you can learn and learn and learn and not see improved results if all you’re doing is learning. Read that sentence again, I’ll wait. In fact, learning without practice will do you no practical good.
In other words, to find greater success as a trader, yes you need to learn, but you absolutely must incorporate that new knowledge into your approach. Without it, you’re wasting time learning!
Learning Isn’t Bad…
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m passionate about traders learning more, which is why I’ve produced so much quality material through the trading courses, service membership, and the hundreds of free articles and videos for you here on the blog.
And I fully embrace the always-be-learning mentality, so long as it’s for the sake of (1) staying humble and teachable by the market, and (2) to keep growing so you’re equipped to adapt when necessary.
But It Can’t Stop There
Beyond the learning comes the application, so never leave that all-important step out of the mix.
Bella just brought up the highly valid point of how to learn from another trader by seeing their approach, internalizing their rules, “tweaking them, working on executing them, and then internalizing these improved rules” for better results. It’s one thing to learn what someone else did with a trade, but it’s much more to take elements from it to improve your next trade.
That’s what customized application looks like.
The whole idea of putting knowledge into practice is being in the habit of taking what you’re learning and then putting in the mental effort to decide how it fits with what you’re currently doing. It’s about considering ways to implement the new info rather than simply storing it away for a rainy day.
So by all means, keep learning, but only if you’re willing to apply it. Otherwise, spend your valuable time on something else.
Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Producer of The Bandit Broadcast
Follow TheStockBandit on Twitter or get our free newsletter to keep up!
How Traders Get a Raise
June 22, 2011 at 11:56 am
Every business has overhead (some more than others), and although you may not have a brick-and-mortar storefront, you certainly have overhead as a trader.
It’s business 101 that to make more money, you either bring in more revenue or you fatten your profit margin by cutting costs. Plenty of posts on this blog discuss ways to accomplish the former, but today, we’ll talk about the fastest way to achieve the latter.
The Elephant in the Room
Traders rarely stop to consider the biggest expense they face, which is usually commission costs. The fees we pay to enter and exit trades are no doubt a cost of doing business, but once you’ve hit a certain experience level with your trading, it’s likely that your attention has diverted to strategy and execution (which is fine). By default, however, you’ve ignored one expense which can easily run into the mid 5 figures over the course of the year if you’re an active trader.
Even if that’s not the case with you, it’s still worth taking note of just how much you’re paying on commissions. Newbie traders recognize this when they come to the market with small accounts, and they soon realize that they’ll need a sizeable move in the stock just to overcome their costs.
Regardless of your situation, take heart! There is a solution…
NEGOTIATE YOUR COMMISSIONS!
Aside from why you should do this, here are a few reasons why you can do this…
Apples to Apples. Transaction costs have come down tremendously in recent years for everyone. Technology has greatly improved, which isn’t cheap, but the fact is that when it comes to the standard trading platform features, virtually everyone has similar technology. Occasionally you’ll find something very unique, but you can most likely accomplish your trading on a variety of platforms, which means you aren’t tied down to any single brokerage. They know this.
Move the Line. Every brokerage has the capability to lower your commissions. So, get creative if you need to. Work the numbers and find out if there’s a threshold you need to meet in terms of monthly trading volume in order to get an improved rate. Find out if they’ll waive your platform fee (if you pay one) at a certain level, or switch from a per-trade to a per-share commission structure.
The Advertised Rate is a Starting Point. The displayed homepage commission price which brokerages show is a number most people will gladly pay, but it doesn’t have to be “the” number. And the more active you are as a trader, the more you should view it as simply a starting point for negotiations. Every brokerage knows their margins, and they know the rock-bottom price which they can offer. I can guarantee you that’s not their advertised rate. They have room to move, and often all it takes is simply knowing you can ask for something a little lower. And while these are certainly not used-car salesmen, the same principle applies…if they let you walk away, then they really can’t deliver the price you’re asking for.
Competition Abounds. Brokers are highly competitive and motivated to get your account, and they know there’s lots of turnover in the industry. That means they can lure you away from your current firm, but it also means if they don’t retain your business you’ll go elsewhere. So if you’re looking for a new platform to trade on and you’re hunting brokers, ask for a reduced rate. Odds are, if you find it offered elsewhere, you can get that rate matched. And even if you’ve been with your current brokerage for quite a while, there’s no harm in asking for a lower commission rate. Remember, if they don’t keep you, someone else will earn your business, and they don’t want to lose you.
You don’t have to be a smooth talker to pull this off. Call up your broker and ask what they can offer you. Worst case, they tell you no and you’re exactly where you are now. But in many cases, you’ll be able to cut down your transaction costs, which can lead to a big pile of money by the end of the year. How is that not worth asking for?
Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Producer of The Bandit Broadcast
Timeline of a Short Squeeze
June 3, 2011 at 11:17 am
Active traders couldn’t help but notice the moves in VHC over the past couple of months.
Coming from relative obscurity in the 12′s, the stock caught fire from late-March into early-April, running to nearly $30 in just a few weeks. It then settled into a wide congestion zone as it did a good job of digesting that massive run.
We ended up with a very broad symmetrical triangle pattern, which also resembled a huge bull pennant when the preceding rally was included. Here’s a look at the run it made, along with the pattern I’m referring to:
Now, symmetrical triangles can break in either direction, but when found within the context of a trend, it never hurts to watch for an upside resolution. After all, these triangles are simply areas of indecision, and given the prevailing trend was up in this case, many were looking for that trend to continue once the period of indecision was resolved.
In mid-May, however, the stock began to falter as it undercut the lower trend line of the triangle. It appeared as though some further profit-taking was about to kick in, so the tide shifted. A hard breakdown was quickly embraced by short sellers aiming to profit from a move to lower levels. Volume picked up with the distribution, and multi-week lows were made. Here’s a look:
But as the stock began to bounce, the selling never resumed. Bulls sensed a failed pattern in the making, and they pressed the long side for another run. Bears, meanwhile, recognized they were trapped, and quickly began to cover their shorts. The resulting melt-up was quite impressive, as the stock tacked on more than 48% over the course of just 7 trading sessions. Here’s a look at that run:
As you can see, the day it peaked (June 2), it also reversed lower. Thanks to an exhaustion gap in an already very extended stock, we saw a last-gasp attempt at a push higher before the inevitable pullback kicked in, brought about by profit-taking.
Since then, the stock has corrected a bit further, and may have more room to rally in the days and weeks ahead – who knows. Rather than guess at what happens next out of this non-pattern, let’s consider some useful lessons from this short squeeze of the past couple of weeks and see what we can learn.
3 Takeaways:
- Obvious patterns don’t always play out as expected. The massive symmetrical triangle / bull flag setup had a ton of eyes on it, and had it broken out initially to the upside, it may have produced another ramp higher. Instead, it broke down first, catching many off guard – ultimately in both directions. Wait for your signal, and never underestimate the importance of keeping an open mind, and be ready to react to whatever comes along.
- When you determine you’re wrong, get out. That might sound elementary, but simply doing that could have avoided a lot of pain for those adding to their shorts as VHC reversed higher or simply not covering until the pain was too great. There is room in this game only for those who exhibit discipline, all others will fund the ventures of those with that trait.
- Always consider the other side of your trades. This is important on the front end, before you enter, but it’s equally important during your trade. Those caught leaning short in VHC needed to consider the opportunity the bulls were facing once the breakdown level was reclaimed ($23 broken on 5/16 and reclaimed on 5/26). Don’t take your eye off the ball, even after you’ve made contact with it. The home-run you think you’ve just hit might only be a single, and that’s alright. Weigh the alternative, and if you find yourself on the wrong side of the balance, call it a trade.
The next time you’re caught in a short squeeze or you see one developing, keep in mind how far they can go – it will either give you an opportunity to exit your short sale with less pain, or hop on board for a quick momentum ride.
What experiences or thoughts would you add to this?
Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Producer of The Bandit Broadcast
Pivot Points to Watch 5-25-2011
May 25, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Working the charts today, I’m seeing a ton of stocks sitting just beneath descending trend lines, all of which are potential pivots for bullish moves.
In the video below, I take 5 minutes to run through a couple dozen setups to keep an eye on, highlighting the setups and pivot levels to take note of.
Thanks for joining me for today’s video, until next time…
Trade Like a Bandit!
Jeff White
Producer of The Bandit Broadcast
