TraderFeed

• Relative Volume Update: How Much Volume and Movement Can We Expect During the Day?

  Number of comments: 1
  How much volume--and how much movement--can we expect in the S&P 500 Index during each segment of the market day? Relative volume tells us how the current volume compares with recent norms. Below we see each half hour in the ES futures, the median number of contracts transacted during [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 06, 2009, 8:50pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Lessons for Developing Traders: More on What Moves Markets

  Number of comments: 1
  In the first post in this series, I offered a perspective on what moves markets that I wish I had learned during my early years trading. In this follow up post, I will offer a second insight that I wish I had learned in those formative years: what moves [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 06, 2009, 2:55pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Sector Update for December 6th

  Number of comments: 1
  
  Last week's sector update found that Technical Strength, a proprietary measure of short-term trending, was mixed last week, with many sectors showing no distinct trend. Financial shares, however, displayed an ongoing weakness at odds with the rest of the market.
  
  This week [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 06, 2009, 10:02am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Reflections on Winning and Losing

  Number of comments: 2
  * Overcoming failure;
  
  * Excellent trades come from reverse engineering failure;
  
  * The psychology of taking losses;
  
  * Emotionally intelligent ways of losing;
  
  * I generated a couple of good trade ideas on Friday simply by following the Stock Twits stream, [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 05, 2009, 6:56pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• What We Wish We Had Known When We First Started Trading

  Number of comments: 1
  I recently began a series of posts for developing traders, outlining what I wish I had been taught when I first began following markets and trading.
  
  I'm pleased to see that Bill Luby from Vix and More has picked up the theme and offered the three' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 05, 2009, 8:30am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Cultivating a Quiet Mind

  Number of comments: 3
  "When we think of psychological well-being, we naturally think of joy, pleasure, and vigor. A different facet of well-being is serenity: a mind free of distracting thoughts and feelings. In many ways, serenity is vital to elite performance: a mind at peace is one that can be fully focused on" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 04, 2009, 9:04pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Persistence and Emotional Resilience in Trading

  Number of comments: 4
  In the past, I've written about the importance of emotional resilience in trading. The resilient trader is one who can weather setbacks without losing either self-control or self-confidence. The common element between the trader who goes on tilt and the trader who becomes gun shy after losses' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 04, 2009, 3:56pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Using a Basket of Stocks to Track Market Trending

  Number of comments: 0
  
  Here's a screenshot of the 40 stocks I follow in my basket: five highly weighted issues from eight sectors: Materials, Industrial, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples (left column); and Energy, Health Care, Financial, and Technology (right column).
  
  Note the particular weakness among commodity-related stocks (Materials, [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 04, 2009, 11:17am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Morning Briefing for December 4th: Watching Intermarket Correlations

  Number of comments: 1
  
  On the heels of a very favorable jobs report, stocks (ES futures, above) are once again knocking on the door of bull highs. Perhaps the most interesting moves in the wake of the jobs data, however, were in U.S. interest rates, where 10-year Treasury yields [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 04, 2009, 9:25am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Perspectives on the Bull Market in Gold

  Number of comments: 1
  
  Gold (above) has been in a seeming parabolic rise, even as other commodities (such as oil) have stayed rangebound of late. What is the significance of the gold move and where might gold be headed? Here are some worthwhile perspectives:
  
  * The problem [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 04, 2009, 8:42am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Readings on the Thursday Radar

  Number of comments: 0
  * Geeks dominating the trading world;
  
  * Excellent reading selections from Afraid to Trade;
  
  * Some favorite quotes on success and failure;
  
  * Great line from Charles Kirk: Anyone who thinks trading is exciting is doing it wrong;
  
  * Thanks to a [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 03, 2009, 10:19pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Lessons for Developing Traders: What Moves Markets

  Number of comments: 6
  This is the first post in a series that I'm directing toward developing traders. I'm going to write about topics that no one told me about when I was learning the ropes. If that can help accelerate the learning curves of up-and-coming traders, I would be delighted.
  
  So what [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 03, 2009, 4:59pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Midday Briefing for December 3rd: Non-Confirmations Across Sectors and Asset Classes

  Number of comments: 2
  
  We've been consolidating near the top of the multiweek range in the ES futures, after having registered a bull high yesterday. Note, however, that we did not see fresh bull highs yesterday in the Russell 2000, NASDAQ 100, or S&P 400 Midcap stocks. We also' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 03, 2009, 1:26pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• The Right Trading Mindset

  Number of comments: 0
  
  The counterparty on your trade might have done their preparation and might have come to the trade prepared.
  
  Really, really prepared.
  
  If you were going to represent yourself in court against a professional trial attorney, you'd want to be very prepared.
  
  If' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 03, 2009, 9:19am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Are You Prepared to Win?

  Number of comments: 0
  "It is an artificial distinction to think of simulated trading as practice and live trading as real performance. All performance is practice if it occurs in the framework of concrete plans for self-development. The evolving performer asks: What will I work on today? How will I work on it? How" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 03, 2009, 8:52am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Two Worthwhile Trading Blog Sites

  Number of comments: 1
  Just a quick note to highlight some very good trading material on a couple of blog sites. First is the blog for SMB Trading, which is coming up with consistently good posts about intraday plays and the process of trading. Some recent gems include Dov's blog on the importance [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 02, 2009, 10:56pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Morning Briefing for December 2nd: Near the Top of the Range

  Number of comments: 2
  
  The daily chart of the S&P 500 e-mini (ES) futures nicely illustrates the multiday range that we've been in, with multiple attempts to pierce the 1111/1112 area. I am watching that price area closely to see if rally attempts can broaden. Recent attempts have lagged' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 02, 2009, 9:21am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Why Traders Keep Losing Money

  Number of comments: 4
  "Imagine a mutual fund run by several money managers. Some of these managers are relatively astute and quite attentive to market data and patterns. Others tend to take their eye off the market ball and consistently lose money. The overall performance of the fund, averaging the returns of these managers," [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 02, 2009, 3:55am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• A New Blog and Keen Insights From Simon Gillis

  Number of comments: 1
  It's a distinct pleasure for me to introduce a new blog covering financial markets, gold, and good wine. Simon Gillis is an accomplished hedge fund money manager based in the U.K. I can personally attest not only to his fine taste in cuisine, but also to his keen insights [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 01, 2009, 7:09pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Market Summary for December 1st: At a Range Top

  Number of comments: 1
  
  We can see that the S&P 500 Index (ES futures, above) have recovered all of their Thanksgiving losses, as traders shake off the prospects of widening credit defaults. We're now at the top of a multiweek range, with the 1111/1112 area as resistance.
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 01, 2009, 4:07pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Sentiment Leads Price: Another Look at Cumulative NYSE TICK

  Number of comments: 4
  
  Here is my chart of SPY vs. Cumulative NYSE TICK as of the time I received an email from a reader/trader opining that stocks were "topping out". It was ironic that he sent the email at that time, because I had just committed to the [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 01, 2009, 1:48pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Measuring the Day's Sentiment With the Cumulative NYSE TICK

  Number of comments: 1
  
  Here's a look at trade this morning (Central Time) in the S&P 500 Index (SPY), plotted along with the Cumulative NYSE TICK. The market was hovering in the 111.10 area for quite a few minutes, but it wasn't difficult to play for a quick upside' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 01, 2009, 11:47am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Morning Briefing for December 1st: Bearish Sentiment Dominates

  Number of comments: 1
  
  Props to the excellent SentimenTrader service for the catch on the rise of bearishness yesterday, particularly in the morning trade. The CBOE equity put/call ratio, calculated for each half-hour period, exceeded 1.0 in mid-morning; by the end of the day, it was a still-elevated [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 01, 2009, 9:32am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• The Value of Trading as a Performance Activity

  Number of comments: 9
  Is trading a useful activity? A thoughtful reader writes:
  
  "I am unable to reconcile as to how traders are providing any value to the society by what they are doing. I accept that we may be called providers of liquidity (which I really doubt we are) or guys who" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 01, 2009, 8:06am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Using Trading Journals to Learn and Relearn Trading

  Number of comments: 4
  Trading journals can be effective tools in changing trading behaviors. They can also be helpful in tracking and working on performance. A while back, I wrote on the topic of formatting journals for trading success. The stimulus for that post was the realization that traders often use [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 6:47pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Are Traders Showing Risk Appetite or Risk Aversion?

  Number of comments: 0
  
  One indicator I like to follow during the trading day is the relative performance of small caps and emerging market stocks (EEM; chart above) relative to the large cap indexes, such as the Dow Jones Industrials and the S&P 500 Index. When traders are operating [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 3:13pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Midday Briefing for November 30th: Recognizing Range Trade

  Number of comments: 2
  
  Today's trade thus far has illustrated many qualities of a range day:
  
  * Oscillation around the volume-weighted average price (VWAP; red line);
  
  * Relatively flat VWAP line;
  
  * Mixed volume transacted at offer vs. bid (bottom histogram);
  
  * Mixed distribution of [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 12:33pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Morning Briefing for November 30th: Wide Pre-Market Range

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  9:33 AM CT - I've added the top chart (100,000 contract bars) to show how we've traded within the overnight range thus far this morning, oscillating around the day's volume-weighted average price (VWAP; red line). The inside bar between 8:59' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 9:14am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Weekly Stock Market Volatility Continues to Wane

  Number of comments: 2
  
  How much price movement can we expect during a trading week? As we can see from the chart above, that measure of volatility has been dropping steadily through 2009. The red line shows the average weekly high-low range, expressed as a percent, over the past [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 5:50am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Indicator Update for November 29th

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  Here we see a few continued signs of market weakness, despite the rise of large cap indexes to new price highs this month. Note how the number of stocks registering fresh 20-day highs vs. lows [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 29, 2009, 9:16pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Sector Update for November 29th

  Number of comments: 1
  
  Last week's sector update noted that sector performance had weakened from the prior week, accompanied by relative strength among Health Care shares and relative weakness among Financial issues. On the heels of Friday's weakness and default fears coming out of Dubai, we saw a [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 29, 2009, 3:11pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Fresh Weekend Perspectives

  Number of comments: 3
  * Thanks to Mike at SMB Capital for this link to a major leaguer who has the right attitude about learning; here's Mike's take on Friday's post-Dubai news trade;
  
  * Removing the self from performance;
  
  * Food stamps now feed 1 in 8 Americans' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 29, 2009, 4:28am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• A Tale of Two Housing Markets: No Recovery at the High End

  Number of comments: 2
  Back in July, 2008, I posted on the topic of variation in housing inventory. I also showed how housing inventory was radically different across cities of similar size. Later, in January, I posted on the lumpiness of housing inventory in my region of Naperville, IL.
  
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 28, 2009, 4:06pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Novelty: A Key to Psychological Change

  Number of comments: 4
  My first post in this series dealt with the importance of processing market information in novel ways: fresh viewing can lead to new and better ways of doing. (See links included in that first post to assess your own learning styles).
  
  Nowhere is this principle more important than [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 28, 2009, 8:20am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Risk Management and Opportunity Maximization in Trading

  Number of comments: 0
  A while back, I wrote on the topic of how to lose money the right way. If there is a holy grail to successful trading, it probably is risk management.
  
  Risk management isn't just about keeping losses down; it also means taking maximum prudent advantage of opportunities' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 8:37am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Is the Dubai Debacle a Game Changer?

  Number of comments: 3
  
  Here we see the falling yields on 10-year Treasury notes, as the flight to quality in the wake of Dubai default fears has driven those yields back toward October lows.
  
  The effect of falling interest rates is to reduce the rate of return [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 7:26am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Holiday Reading on Trading Success

  Number of comments: 1
  * Emotional Intelligence and Trading - Part One
  
  * Emotional Intelligence and Trading - Part Two
  
  * Greatness in Life and Trading
  
  * Greatness and Performance Improvement
  
  * Self Coaching Linkfest: Moving Your Trading Forward
  . [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 26, 2009, 5:39pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Midday Briefing for November 26th: Thanksgiving Day Massacre?

  Number of comments: 5
  
  
  The S&P 500 e-mini (ES) futures (top chart) and the NASDAQ 100 (NQ) futures (bottom chart) have moved back into their October ranges, on the heels of reports concerning a delay in debt payments by Dubai World. On the heels [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 26, 2009, 1:11pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Thanksgiving Day Readings

  Number of comments: 2
  I hope you have a great Thanksgiving vacation and, more than that, hope you have much in your life to give thanks for. Gratitude does wonders for one's attitude!
  
  * Six questions I draw upon to prepare for the trading day;
  
  * Excellent interview with Rob [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 26, 2009, 7:09am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Midday Briefing for November 25th: Cross-Currents

  Number of comments: 1
  
  
  Many cross-currents in the markets lately: yields on 10-year Treasury notes continue to decline (top chart) in the wake of continued Fed ease. That has given the green light for USD selling and strong performances today in the euro and [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 25, 2009, 2:16pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Morning Briefing for November 25th: On Breakout Watch

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  While stocks (ES futures, top chart) remain in their multiweek range, we can see that the euro has broken to the upside vs. the U.S. dollar (bottom chart), with continued strength in gold, but weakness in oil. Both the NASDAQ [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 25, 2009, 9:34am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Goal Setting and Well-Being: Antidotes to Frustration

  Number of comments: 1
  Note: Previous posts in this series are:
  
  * How to Overcome Frustration in Trading
  
  * The Well-Being Hypothesis: A Framework for Addressing Frustration in Trading
  
  In the most recent post in this series, we saw that frustration generally only disrupts thought and behavior when it [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 25, 2009, 5:28am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Quick Tuesday Reads

  Number of comments: 1
  * Here's a questionnaire to assess your mood during trading;
  
  * High frequency trading would get a lot less frequent if Congress passes a .25% trading tax;
  
  * Two qualities we find among successful traders;
  
  * Feeding government and starving private enterprise;
  
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 3:22pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Midday Briefing for November 24th: Slow, Range Trade

  Number of comments: 0
  
  Stocks (ES futures, above) have settled into a range, as trade has become quite slow. We broke below the 1100 area mentioned this morning, but since have consolidated just above that . Small cap stocks are once again underperforming large caps, and we're seeing weakness' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 2:07pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Information Processing, Learning Styles, and Trading

  Number of comments: 2
  One frequent experience I've had as a writer is to begin writing about a topic and then discovering new ideas about the topic that I hadn't intended to include in my article or book. It's as if the writing became a kind of brainstorming, helping me arrive at insights that [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 12:22pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Morning Briefing for November 24th: Continuing in the Range

  Number of comments: 0
  
  Pre-opening GDP and housing numbers did not move the market significantly, and we remain in the multi-week range (ES futures, above). The area around ES 1100 level has been important support this morning and has been a significant level during the multi-week range. We need [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 9:34am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• The Well-Being Hypothesis: A Framework for Addressing Frustration and Lapses in Trading Discipline

  Number of comments: 3
  The first post in this series highlighted the link between frustration and loss of discipline in trading. Stated in a different way, lapses of discipline tend to be state-dependent: we enter a frustrated, angry, confused, or discouraged state and that colors how we process and act upon information. A [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 7:08am EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Monday Perspectives and Observations

  Number of comments: 0
  * Important post on making adjustments to changing market conditions;
  
  * Disgust as an important element in the psychological change process;
  
  * Which days are bullish around Thanksgiving?
  
  * Good look at health care stocks and other ETFs;
  
  * Put/call ratio [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 9:37pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• A Look at a Trading Range Across Markets

  Number of comments: 2
  
  
  Here we can see a broad trading range in the S&P 500 e-mini (ES) futures (top chart) and in the euro (bottom chart). A look at commodities (DBC, for example) shows similar rangebound action.
  
  I noticed that we [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 5:59pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.

• Midday Briefing for November 23rd: Reversal

  Number of comments: 1
  
  
  What started out looking like a trend day to the upside in stocks (top chart) faded out, as the dollar strengthened vs the euro (bottom chart) and Aussie dollar and commodities beat a hasty retreat.
  
  Interestingly, however, we [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 2:18pm EST
  by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.