Saturday, December 18, 2004
12/18/04 Homework
Every morning when I get up, usually between 5-6:30 CT, the first thing I do is go into my office and check the monitors. Sometimes, I will check in the middle of the night, even if I don't have a position on, just to see what is happening. It can be addictive I tell you!
Every morning I fill out an Excel spreadsheet that helps me get a handle on the markets for the day. Call it a Market Scan. I look where all the futures are trading, gold, oil, SP500, Bonds, Euro. I also look to know where all the economic indicators are or when they are going to be released. It's no fun having a position on when a number comes out and blows me out of a position. God forbid Greenspan says something. These are the things I try to do everyday.
Once the SP opens I have a notebook in front of me that I keep track of the way the markets are reacting every 15 minutes. I like to see if the SP and Bonds are moving together or inversely. I have noticed that there are certain times of the day that have sudden, sharp spikes of volume and volatility. You will see the sudden spikes up or down and I will try to fade them. I have only been doing this about 1 week but I am getting better. I only hope to be more consistent on these Spike trades before I move up to another setup. I have several other setups I would like to explore but I can only concentrate on one thing at a time. A typical male I suppose!
Trader X
Every morning I fill out an Excel spreadsheet that helps me get a handle on the markets for the day. Call it a Market Scan. I look where all the futures are trading, gold, oil, SP500, Bonds, Euro. I also look to know where all the economic indicators are or when they are going to be released. It's no fun having a position on when a number comes out and blows me out of a position. God forbid Greenspan says something. These are the things I try to do everyday.
Once the SP opens I have a notebook in front of me that I keep track of the way the markets are reacting every 15 minutes. I like to see if the SP and Bonds are moving together or inversely. I have noticed that there are certain times of the day that have sudden, sharp spikes of volume and volatility. You will see the sudden spikes up or down and I will try to fade them. I have only been doing this about 1 week but I am getting better. I only hope to be more consistent on these Spike trades before I move up to another setup. I have several other setups I would like to explore but I can only concentrate on one thing at a time. A typical male I suppose!
Trader X
