Brian Earl Spilner said:
Heineken-Ashi said:
Brian Earl Spilner said:
I spent the entire week expecting a bounce and buying here and there.
Today, the one time it looked like there was certainly more pain coming, I cancelled my orders and lowered all my limits. Of course, that's the moment everything decided to rally.
I've given up trying to understand how this market works.
Looks to me like the smart money knows exactly what you are going to do and is prepared to whip your butt every time.
Friend, I'm going to offer something to you. I highly recommend you listen.
Stop gambling.
Stop guessing.
Stop throwing darts.
Black out the noise and focus. What is your goal? Are you a day trader? Swing trader? Long term hold?
Whatever it is, focus on the time period that suits that style. If you are a day trader, you need to know where the macro market is, yes, but should primarily be on hourly, 5-min, or 15-min candles. You enter on a confirmed trend and exit when the trend shows first sign of uncertainty. No ifs or buts. Use an indicator like RSI or MacD if you want, but don't trade with it, only let it act as support to the trend. Don't hold overnight unless you are trading futures. If that means no opening of trades in the last hour, then so be it.
If you are a swing trader, you probably need to pay attention to some fundamentals. Does it cash flow? Is it in a rising or declining sector? How is it performing in relation to it's history. How is it performing in relation to how it performed based on fundamental indicators like book value, earnings, etc. How is it guiding over the last couple of quarters? Is there a trend? Once you have a picture painted, then pull up the chart and TRADE THE TREND. If it looks uncertain, then wait. If it's trading at 3x of book/share, but historically operates at 5x book/share and is guiding upwards on revenue, then it's a buy. If it's trading at 3x book/share, but historically operates at 5x book/share and has had declining earnings and is expecting revenue to decline, then its a hold. Just because something is beat to hell doesn't make it an auto buy.
And if you are a long term trader, do the same as above but with an outlook looking backward and forward years instead of quarters.
Be smart. Make smart decisions. Not impulsive ones.
"H-A: In return for the flattery, can you reduce the size of your signature? It's the only part of your posts that don't add value. In its' place, just put "I'm an investing savant, and make no apologies for it", as oldarmy1 would do."
- I Bleed Maroon (distracted easily by signatures)