Simple trader

This is why it is better not to trade during FOMS minutes (for newbie traders;)).

Never had such problem. Just open SPY in Yahoo finance or Finviz - it is SPY that I am using;)

I am trading US stocks only.

Hi, rabcnesbit 1. Yes. 2. 1-min only. 3. 1-min. 4. Entries – I just want to see situation when stock stops to follow SPY or goes in opposite direction (but not so far to "eat" all potential). Then I look for consolidation. Usually better entry point when SPY is near it`s support/resistance points (Close of previous day, day high/low, other levels) because there is chance that SPY will change it`s direction. Exits – there is no difference for me what SPY makes if my stock goes in the right direction (I am just trailing). But if stock doesn`t react on positive SPY`s move for a long time and stays at the same place it is bad signal (for example stock doesn`t go up when SPY stopped it`s move down and goes up).

Today SPY was strong all day again: short pullbacks and higher lows. In such days I recommend to trade only beautiful tight consolidations and today there were very many of them. In attached picture I have filtered the best ones from my WL (there were more different charts in fact). I traded COTY, RLGY (first consolidations), PNR (at $53.5), UPS (at $101) and ENB (at $41, a few lots only because of close strong resistance on daily chart). You have to be patient and wait for your signals only. Some days are very rich for good setups, some days, conversely, very poor.

On friday SPY was very strong all day. Usually when SPY makes only short pullbacks it is hard to find clear strong/weak stocks. So I try to find stocks with good daily charts and beautiful consolidations on intraday charts. On friday I found strongest stock on daily chart with good breakout level and good triangle consolidation.

Today was very weak day (down during all day) when even the strongest stocks didn`t have a chance. In such day better not to trade reversals (even with the best setups). See attached printscreen how strong stocks didn`t go up and stayed near their lows. In other circumstances these stocks could fly up like rockets. Some years ago I tried to catch reversals of strong stocks till session close and finally I was exhausted by quantity of stop-losses catched. If you see that strong stocks don`t go up/ don`t react properly (or you made some trades but they failed) you have to stop trading. In such situation monitoring of stocks behaviour helps me (other stocks without my setups can start moving earlier so I can see their reaction).

Strong/weak stock from watchlist can demonstrate continuation of strenght/weakness next day. I catched SBUX on Wednesday but didn`t trade it. On Thursday it was in my watchlist again so I tried to trade it. This stock was stronger than SPY on the daily chart + stayed on the wednesday`s level strictly.

Some of my friday trades. It is not enough to have strong/weak stock behavior for me. I need good entry point with good stop-loss level (consolidation with volume spike bar usually) - see example with THC. In other case I can make trade with small volume only (200-300 shares). I try to make few trades with good volume than to waste energy for a lot of small shady trades.

Trix, I am not interested in students and other commercial teaching services or in investors. So I don`t need to show my account. Also it is not a trader`s diary. For me TL is great informational resource to search information about different trading styles, to find answers for questions. In my opinion it is better to read, analyse and try (making real trades) and again analyse (your own trades) than to look at useless beautiful statistics. I show how strategy works and how I choose stocks to trade + some my thoughts. Many years ago I read a lot of useful information here (for example about VBA, volume) and now I am sharing with some information (there was a lot of work before - I made print screens and videos of my trades every day, analyzed them, tried different strategies). Maybe it will help to newbie traders (plus I consolidate and structure my thoughts for myself). About beautiful charts - of course it is not so beautiful every day. There are trades with stops and there are days without trades (and it is not easy not to trade). And Yes, I am filtering a lot of stocks to find beautiful charts (and I am trading only best of them) because they give best risk/reward ratio.

There are good days and bad days. To be in profit you have to be consistent. Today was a good day - SPY was volatile. Usually to have a good movement about $1 and more, 30-60 min consolidation is needed. Here is my WL. Any ideas what stocks (two of them) I traded today?

Tuesday (09-01-2015) - didn`t find any good stock. Market was choppy. Sometimes there are such days. Wednesday - made some trades. Thursday - was hard to trade trends. After 11:00 market changed direction and was weak. Even if there were strong stocks for some period of time down bars broke support levels (even the best ones). Thus if you see that strong stocks don`t go up after good support levels and a lot of strong levels are broken (when stocks are strong they make higher lows and don`t break their support levels) be very careful or don`t trade this side in this day. I tried to trade CRUS and ABBV - unsuccessful. As I knew that market was very weak I didn`t wait my stops and covered my positions before. Friday - market was weak but it is rarely if previous day was weak till end of the day next day also is weak all day. So I tried to trade - some of them attached below as usually (MSI, ESRX).

Only one trade for today - GPOR. And as usually - some stocks didn`t trade (weren`t sufficiently clear for me - just now it is pretty clear how to trade them ), some stocks didn`t see in the right moment.

Today market was hard to trade: - quick return after short movement from good consolidations on new daily high/low - strong/weak stocks didn`t make good movement - support/resistance levels with volumes in the basement were broken - stocks for short moved within previous day`s range When I see such situations I try to trade very cautiously.

Here are my two trades and strong stocks from my WL for today. Note that your setup/pattern have to be pretty simple and clear for you. If there is no your signals simply don`t make a trade.