Tools of the ‘Trade’ — How I Work (2011 Version)

This is an update to the post I made back in 2006. What I do hasn’t changed much but some of the tools have changed over the years. In short, the changes are: I’ve changed brokers/trading platforms — a couple of times. Schwab shut down Cybertrader and sent me scrambling to find a new place [...]

Tight Stops and Risk/Reward Ratios

Cameron just left a question for me in the comments to last night’s recap. He asked: I’m looking at your way of thinking about the market. One of the biggest questions I have, though, is regarding your stops. You said you set your stop at just .20 over your short dollar amount. With all of [...]

Filters I Use to Create My Universe of Tradable Stocks

I was recently asked about how I determine my “universe” of stocks. That is the stocks that I consider fair game to be traded. I use different filters for swing trading and day trading but they do have similar criteria. In both cases I’m trying to find liquid, volatile stocks. Once the filter’s applied I [...]

How I Monitor So Many Stocks for Narrow Candles

I guess I need to keep the “how I trade” post at the top of the site and put in in flashing lights or something. I wrote that post to answer 95% of the email I recieve yet I still get the same questions over & over. I ‘d better hurry up and make a [...]

More on Partial Profits

Vince had the following questions about how I trail my stop loss orders and take partial profits: Mike – it is great to see your trades – it helps many of us – great job. Question – you seem to acknowledge that at 2R you take partial profit and also at the same time you [...]