Trading Nanocap & Microcap Stocks – What To Look For
In 1996, I started my trading career on 110 Wall Street, NYC as a proprietary equity trader. I was exposed to trading investment grade stocks listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ exchanges with prices greater than $5 and having market capitalizations of over $100 million. My mentors at the firm traded only these and thus so did I. For the next 18 years, small and mid cap stocks were my bread and butter. Mega cap stocks like Exxon and IBM were too liquid for me to tape read so I tended to stay away from them. Then in 2014, I stumbled upon Twitter as a...
read moreDo You Have The Right Leader-Mentor In Your Stock Chat Room?
Year 2016 is turning to be another dismal year for institutional fund managers on top of a lousy 2015. Some prominent hedge funds are down over -10% already for the year. How has your own trading been? Are you falling prey to the markets like the other sheep portfolio managers? For those who need some guidance and have joined stock chatrooms, an important question to ask yourself now is how has your Mentor/Leader/Teacher (MLT) been performing in your room the past 6 months? If your answer is terrible or not too well, then it may be time to...
read moreCelebrating Our 1st Year of MookTrader!
It has been exactly one year since I have launched MookTrader.com. My original vision for the site was to create a close-knit community where I and any member can share trading ideas with one another. Sharing knowledge only increases one's chances at success in this business. Learn from one another. Even after twenty years as an equity trader (8 years on Wall Street as a prop trader, and the rest as a self-employed trader working from home), there are things I still do not know about the markets. That is why sharing ideas and discussing...
read moreThe Art Of Taking A Loss
It is easy to take profits in a winning trade. You ring the register and figure out how thicker your wallet just became -- a very much enjoyable experience. But the same cannot be said on taking a loss in a lousy trade. To the struggling trader or investor, it means "How much did my brokerage account just go down in value by?", and "Have I made enough money to cover my rent or car payment this week?" -- questions which all induce stress just thinking about them. Losses are unavoidable in daytrading and the key to making consistent big money...
read moreHow To Get Better At Day Trading: Competition
Looking back at my early days on Wall Street, I can confidently say that one of the most crucial environmental factors that helped me get to where I am today is COMPETITION. With my type of personality, I don't like to be the loser. I want to win. I want to always come in first. At my trading firm Worldco, the company had an intranet system that displayed the TOP 10 P&L's (Profit & Loss) and the BOTTOM 10 P&L's of the day. Everyone at the firm could see how much the biggest traders made each day, as well as how unfortunate the worst traders...
read moreMaking Small Money Each Day But Then I Get Smoked And Lose It All
I've heard this question/comment way too many times throughout my trading career: What do I do when I make decent money each day but then one day I lose everything I made the past entire week? It's like a vicious cycle over and over. The above scenario happens to everyone including even the best day traders. The key here is to realize that you can successfully make money each day in general. Losses are inevitable but trying to keep them smaller is what every trader would like. If you can make consistent money trading stocks at least four out...
read moreEvery Trader Should Know Their Stock Positions’ Average Costs
As a result from time spent on Twitter and in my stock chatroom tweeting trading ideas and reading people's responses, it is very alarming to me that most traders do not know how to calculate their average position cost in a trade (their breakeven point) --- and yes even some traders who have more than 5 full years of trading experience! Shocking right? If a trader buys 1000 shares of $AAPL at $127, he or she knows that their breakeven point is $127 minus commissions/fees. But once a trader sells a partial amount like 300 shares, most traders...
read moreDon’t Be A Cocky Trader
One of my life philosophies I try to follow these days is to be a humble and modest person. Keep your chin high but don't brag about your success or act arrogant. When I was in my early 20's working on Wall Street making as much money as Fortune 500 company executives, I was all wet behind the ears to this new money wealth game. I acted pretty arrogant and my proprietary trading success at such an early age was getting to my head. Now in the 40's, married with kids, I can look back and see that I was "young and stupid" by acting so pompous....
read moreDerisk Losing Positions When You Are Up Huge
Every trader has a huge day once in a while. When I say 'huge' I am referring to a trade or a bunch of day trades where I end up making 10 times+ what I normally reap on a normal trading day. Last Friday May 1st I had one of these huge days. I was long 16,000 shares of $ENOC coming into that Friday (it closed Thursday at $11.05). I've actually been swinging this core position for two months after it tanked down to the $11's and have been adding and selling a little here and there bringing my average price for the entire position to $10.93....
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