12/31/2012

Day Trading For a Living

Day Trading Stocks, NEW School



 $AAPL trades - 6 win, 3 lose - overall: $8.77 (X lot size) - Go: Day Trading For a Liviing - http://goo.gl/jOEyb

Day Trading Stocks

12/29/2012

Day Trading Stocks - NEW School


High-Speed Traders (HFT – High Frequency Trading) Race to Fend Off Regulators

The Wall Street Journal – December 27, 2012
Writers: Jenny Strasburg at jenny.strasburg@wsj.com and Scott Patterson atscott.patterson@wsj.com

My Introduction:
Most traders wonder, what the hell is High Frequency Trading (Traders – HFTs)?
The answer to the question is both simple to answer and, at the same time, a mystery.
It’s simple to explain: traders, using unique software and extremely fast data feeds, both of which are neither affordable or location practical for the average day trader, make extremely fast trades, split seconds, with huge lot sized, for pennies and more gains.
HFT is a mystery because we have never used their software and don’t really know how HFT influences the markets – can only guess, at this point in its history.

Day Trading Tips


Trading Brokerages – Why they Shrink and Go Out of Business!

Intro:
The markets have changed, The players have changed. The investing and day trading game have all change to the detriment of small and large brokerage houses alike. And you wonder why trading volume is off no longer; it’s all about change. And for those who refuse to change with the times – you lose, yes, you will get you’re a$$ kicked big time.

Traders Magazine Online News, December 27, 2012
John D’Antona Jr.

“A three-year decline in trading volume and investors’ continued migration to computer-driven and algorithmic trading may mean the end of an iconic fixture on Wall Street: the small brokerage firm.”
“…the relentless forces of dropping trading volume, especially in U.S. equities, and the loss of business to more popular electronic trading platforms have contributed to the continual grinding down of firms’ capital base, choking off many of these smaller firms.”
“The average daily volume for U.S. equities has fallen 36 percent since 2009, and volume hit just 6 billion shares traded in the third quarter, the lowest level since the onset of the financial crisis.”
“Worse yet from the brokers’ perspective is the toll all this is taking on commissions. Indeed, the average fee to trade a share of stock fell 31 percent over the past three years, according to Investment Technology Group.”
“It is definitely a challenge for some of the smaller brokerages, especially those without the scale to get them through the tougher times,” said Packy Jones, chairman of JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC, a brokerage based in Westlake Village, Calif.
Packy Jones
Packy Jones
Credit: TradersMagazine.com

My comments:
Volume may be down, but as long as companies have stocks there will always be opportunities to day trade individual stocks for big money wins.
The key is learning to trade the new day trading game, but not on your own. You need a NEW School day trading coach.
As far as investing is concerned, that game, in my opinion, carries with it unacceptable risks – particularly risk of major price action against your position, while holding overnight.
This is when any number of market, news, company performance changes, and big money trading tricksters can pop the price against you 5%, 10%, 20%, seemingly in a flash, no matter your stops, especially your stops getting triggered post normal market hours, or get jumped over completely – getting you killed, when least expected.
Don’t even think of holding past 4 pm!

12/27/2012

Apple Stock (AAPL) - Fibonacci Trade $4+


APPL (Fibonacci) $4 win - 5 trades, 3 win, 2 lose - $6.38 candy day - love this NEW game! More: http://www.daytraderswin.com/how-to-day-trade-online

http://screencast.com/t/kOBmpnPxS - charts



12/24/2012

Day Trading Rules - Senate Banking Committee


 Turf War Plays Out – Day Trading Rules – Senate Banking Committee Hearings

(click above link for more) 12/19/2012
For what you see with your typical day trading software is not exactly what you get – for day trading results that is – think: “40% of the volume in over 3,000 securities was tradet off-board.” How the hell do they get away with that? You would think that all trades should have complete transparency to make the playing field level for all traders. Think again.
“..exchange officials cast aspersions on alternative trading systems, or dark pools, while ATS executives criticized the regulatory structure supporting exchanges.”
“Exchange executives told committee members that the sheer volume of trading done off-board was harming the price discovery process. They suggested that ATSs leaked information and needed to come under stricter regulation.”
These rules that relate to a wide spread of specialized trading systems are not even available to the general public. Nice. And you woder why both traders and investors have been losing trust in the markets since the financial/real estate crash, as reflected in overall volume declines. And most claim there is huge capital just sitting on the sidelines waiting for the economy and markets to change. Maybe. Maybe not.
eric_noll
Credit: TradersMagazine.com
Eric Noll, Nasdaq OMX Group’s head of transaction services
“Eric Noll, Nasdaq OMX Group’s head of transaction services, echoed Mecane. “Our concern is about the primacy of price discovery and price formation,” he said. “To the extent that those are being negatively impacted by current market structure, those issues should be revisited.”
bob_gasser1
Credit: TradersMagazine.com
Bob Gasser, chief executive of Investment Technology Group
“Bob Gasser, chief executive of Investment Technology Group, agreed. “There has to be some consequence for a system wide failure of the type we experienced with Facebook,” he told the committee. “Our clients suffered. Other broker-dealers suffered.”
“Representing dark pools were Dan Mathisson, Credit Suisse’s head of U.S. equity trading – “He wants the regulators to take a “fresh look” at the system, which dates back to 1972. “Somewhere along the way, market data became a government granted windfall at the expense of the investing public,” he said.”
The day trading rules are about to change? We’ll see, maybe in my life time.
John McLaughlin, Day Trading Coach

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12/07/2012

Apple Rebounds in Flat Market



Wall Street Journal – Top Stories in Markets  December 6, 2012

Apple Rebounds in Flat Market


 “Shares of Apple AAPL +1.90% recovered from early losses and after the 6.4% tumble they took on Wednesday, the biggest one-day percentage drop in four years.”

Apple Computer's Headquarters
Apple Building – Source: WSJ

Yesterday’s decline alone wiped off $39.4 billion worth of Apple’s market capitalization, or roughly the combined values of Yahoo Inc. YHOO +1.27%
“One real positive thing is the market isn’t falling apart even though its former leader isn’t leading,” said Mr. Colas, ConvergEx Group chief market strategist.(http://www.linkedin.com/pub/nick-colas/7/393/a62)

Mr. Colas, ConvergEx Group chief market strategist
Mr. Colas, ConvergEx Group chief market strategist
“Apple shares dropped $37.05, or 6.4%, to $540.86 Wednesday as investors debated the reason for the steep drop. Some cited reports that a trading firm was requiring more collateral to trade in Apple shares. Others pointed to a report from research firm IDC that said rival Android tablets are gaining traction. And chart watchers noted Apple stock is approaching a “death cross,” when a stock’s 50-day moving average drops below the 200-day moving average. That is seen as a sign further declines could follow.”

“A slew of factors — declining investor confidence in the tech juggernaut, worries about Apple’s looming “death cross” and concerns about losing tablet market share to competitors such as Microsoft Corp MSFT +0.41%Amazon.com Inc. AMZN +0.24% Google Inc. GOOG +0.94% and Samsung — have weighed on the stock. This week the stock is hovering near its mid-November lows. Tax-related selling ahead of the fiscal cliff  has also hindered the stock.”

As Dow Jones’ Tomi Kilgore points out, the way Apple is trading right now suggests the stock’s 50-day moving average could cross below the 200-day moving average by the end of the week.


Apple chart 12-6-2012 – Source: WSJ
“We’ve already noted that over the last decade Apple’s stock has a fairly mixed track record when a death cross appears. The indicator — which takes place when the 50-day moving average crosses below the 200-day moving average — typically has negative short- and long-term implications for stocks and major indexes.”

“Options traders piled on to the sell off in Apple on Wednesday morning, and trading indicates they see more big swings ahead. Options trading indicates investors think this morning’s violent move could be repeated. Implied volatility in Apple shares, which reflects expectations for future stock moves, jumped more than 15%. That shows investors think the stock will see bigger swings over the next month–and it boosted the price of options contracts. Implied volatility is a key element of options pricing.”

My Comment: What goes up usually comes down. The big question is how much will the short term down trend continue? Not much to day trade these days but Apple.

Traders sit on hands for weeks, some think months – may continue for the year. I closed the trading room this week and thinking of taking more time off as volume is risky for new traders in early learning mode.

John McLaughlin, Day Trading Coach
http://www.daytraderswin.com/day-trading-coach-day-trading-guide-day-trading-advice-2/ 

More Info:http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000133706  

Apple CEO Tim Cook – interview by Tim Cook, NBC (“Made in America”)
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12/06/2012

Fund Managers - Window Dressing


Window Dressing

http://online.wsj.com/home-page Thursday, December 6, 2012

Fund Managers Lift Results with Timely Trading Sprees

(“Window Dressing” – “marking the close” or “portfolio pumping,” is a form of “window dressing” – “employed by asset managers to make their results look better at the end of the quarter.” “But regulators say marking the close violates prohibitions on deceptive trading in the federal securities laws.”)
“A Wall Street Journal analysis of daily trading in roughly 10,000 stocks since 2004 found that on the final trading day of each quarter, there was a sharp increase in the number of stocks that beat the market by at least five percentage points, then trailed it by three points or more the next trading day.
Regulators and market analysts have an explanation for the unusual pattern. They say some money managers wait until the waning moments of the quarter to bid aggressively for more shares of a stock they already own, which drives up the value of their entire position in the stock. That, in turn, boosts their performance at the very moment when they report results, making their funds look more appealing to potential investors. Even if the jump in stock price is only temporary, the managers can attract new money and earn higher fees.
The practice, known as “marking the close” or “portfolio pumping,” is a form of “window dressing”—a term for a variety of techniques employed by asset managers to make their results look better at the end of the quarter. Some forms of window dressing, such as selling losing stocks right before reporting quarter-end holdings to investors, are perfectly legal. But regulators say marking the close violates prohibitions on deceptive trading in the federal securities laws.”
Window Dressing-Wall Street Journal
Source: WSJ analysis of stock prices S&P Capital IQ

“Iridex has a market value of $36 million, making it about one-twentieth the size of the average U.S. “micro-cap” small stock. The day before Iridex’s June pop, the stock had been down 22% for the quarter. Thanks to its last-minute surge, it closed the quarter down just 5.4%. Just like that, the company’s market value rose to more than $37 million, from less than $31 million the prior day. Almost all that nearly $7 million gain came in the last five minutes of June 29.
Since the beginning of last year, the SEC has brought at least three cases against money managers for allegedly window dressing stocks in their portfolios. SEC spokesman John Nester says window dressing is an area of “ongoing interest” in the agency’s investigations. Outgoing SEC chairman Mary Schapiro, speaking about securities fraud in general, said in an Oct. 11 speech that the regulator is “using newly developed analytics to identify suspicious trading patterns and relationships among multiple traders and across multiple securities.”
According to SEC filings and the managers, none of these firms have reported selling any Iridex shares since that day. James Mackaness, Iridex’s chief financial officer, said in an email that he is “not aware of anything” that could explain the jump in price on June.”
A stock jump on the final day of a measurement period can boost a money manager’s fees. Hedge funds typically collect annual fees equivalent to 2% of total assets and 20% of profits. Regulators and industry experts say a fund that already has a substantial holding in a small stock can drive up the value of its entire position by purchasing as few as 100 additional shares at a premium to their market price in the final moments of trading at the end of a measurement period. That can be enough to boost the entire fund’s performance for the month, quarter or year—potentially attracting performance-chasing investors.”
Source: WSJ
“Recent cases brought by regulators show the difficulties of documenting that the shadowy practice causes material damages to other investors.”
More Info:
More Info:
My Comment: And you thought your using a money manager was a sure thing. Learn to trade you own risk capital; then you know what’s real, have full or near control, with Wealth Building the final prize.