Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: : Buy 5327.75 stop 5322.00. Blue skies above, no short levels. 

Wednesday’s results: The short at 5296.25 was filtered out during the CPI release volatility.

The World Index: (+100/-100) rises from -7 to +14 with Asia Bullish and the western world mixed. 

Catalysts: Jobless Claims, Philly Fed MFG Index, Housing Starts/Building Permits, Import/Export Prices @ 8:30. Industrial Production @ 9:15. Fed Speakers today: Barkin & Barr @ 10:00, Harker @ 10:30, Mester @ 12:00, Bostic @ 15:50.

Quick Tip: Confirmation

Here’s a great quote from Jesse Livermore that deserves your attention, “Do not anticipate and move without market confirmation—being a little late in your trade is your insurance that you are right or wrong."

In our effort to succeed we can devote too much effort to predicting the future. The problem is that our predictions are correct just enough of the time to keep us predicting. The feeling of getting into a winnin...

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: : Buy 5231.25 stop 5227.25. Short 5296.25 stop 5300.75 (filtered out during PPI release and Powell speaking due to potential volatility). 

Monday’s results: Neither trade triggered in a narrow range session. The levels remain on the chart. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) remains at -7 with sentiment mixed on continued low volatility. 

Catalysts: PPI @ 8:30. Fed’s Cook @ 9:10 and Powell @ 10:00. 

Quick Tip: Anchored VWAP

If you’re looking for a new trading approach using a technical indicator I highly recommend Brian Shannon’s book Anchored VWAP.

VWAP means Volume Weighted Average Price. The basic version of the indicator is available on many trading platforms. Essentially, it starts calculating at the open of the market and combines price, time & volume to determine the average price as the day passes. It looks like a moving average on your chart. 

Brokers use VWAP to demonstrate to their big institutional clients that th...

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 5185.25 stop 5181.75. Short 5249.50 stop 5253.50. 

Monday’s results: Shorting 5206.50 triggered at the close of the cash market and wasn’t taken. If you converted it to a swing trade it was only worth 4.25 points. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) drops from +60 to +29 as the Bullish sentiment fades on lower volatility.  

Catalysts: Fed’s Kashkari @ 11:30. 

Quick Tip: Intuition

The best way to start trading is to have a plan with an edge and the discipline to execute without emotion. 

Once you’ve arrived there you will have considerable experience and that leads to intuition. The interplay between these two can often be the difference between a profitable trade and a significant loss.

Experience is gained through considerable time observing markets, making trades, witnessing cycles, and understanding economic indicators. 

Intuition, on the other hand, is more elusive. It's that gut feeling or 'sixth sense' that you mig...

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 5065.00 stop 5059.25. Short 5142.00 stop 5146.50.

Thursday’s results: The buy at 5054.25 stopped out. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) soars from +8 to +60 with the all open major markets Bullish.

Catalysts: Non-Farm Payrolls @ 8:30. Final Services PMI @ 9:45. ISM Services PMI @ 10:00. 

Quick Tip: Trading Styles

Yesterday you chose your primary asset class to be trained in, stocks, options, futures, or Forex. During that training you’ll be learning a rule-based trading strategy. (If you missed the prior blogs click here to read them). 

The best way to get started trading is to have specific rules to follow. Entries and exits. Position size. Risk management. All these rules combined are your strategy. Eventually you’ll have more than one strategy but to start it’s best to focus on mastering one. 

Strategies can be lumped into basic styles. Trend Following, Mean Reversion (reversal), and Breakout (momentum). There are ma...

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 5054.25 stop 5049.50. Short 5127.75 stop 5132.25.

Wednesday’s results: The short at 5092.50 was filtered out during the FOMC volatility. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) soars from -50 to +8 with the open major markets mixed on lower volatility. 

Catalysts: Jobless Claims & Trade Balance @ 8:30. Factory Orders @ 10:00. AAPL reports after the close. 

Quick Tip: What to Trade

Yesterday you determined your time and starting capital commitments. Next is the asset class you’ll trade. (If you missed the blog click here).

Best choices… 

Position Traders (weekly time commitment): Stocks (high capital requirement) and Forex (low capital).

Swing Traders (daily time commitment): Stocks (moderate capital), options, Forex, and futures (all low capital).

Day Traders (hourly time commitment): Stocks (moderate capital) and futures (low capital). 

You can see now that finding the market you’re best suited to is a combination of your...

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 5004.75 stop 5000.25. Short 5092.50 stop 5097.50 (filtered out during FOMC from 14:00 to 15:00).  

Tuesday’s results: Buying 5082.75 stopped out.   

The World Index: (+100/-100) plummets from -7 to -50 with most major world markets Bearish.

Catalysts: ADP Employment @ 8:15. S&P MFG PMI Final @ 9:45. JOLTS, ISM MFG PMI @ 10:00. Crude Oil Inventories @ 10:30. FOMC Rate Decision @ 14:00 and Press Conference @ 14:30. AAPL reports after the close.

Quick Tip: Time First

A friend told me he wanted to start trading and asked what he should trade, stocks or cryptos. 

The asset you choose to trade is not decision #1. Your first consideration must be time. How much time do you have and want to commit to trading? 

A retired empty nester has all the time (and likely money) to trade whatever she wants. Her brother who is still working 50 hours a week and raising a family is far more limited in selection. 

After you know your tim...