Results of Thursday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Shorting 4543.75 ran for 51 points to the buy level at 4492.75 that bounced offering 13.50 points. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 4439.50 stop 4436.00. Short 4510.25 stop 4516.00.

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) slumps from +37 to -36 with most major world markets Bearish on rising volatility. 

Catalysts: PPI @ 8:30. UofM Preliminary Consumer & Inflation Sentiment @ 10:00. 

Quick Tip: Open Trade Management

Money messes with our heads. Until you get a grip on the emotions associated with winning and losing, you’re unlikely to succeed. 

Here’s a viewpoint I learned from one of the all-time great traders, Larry Williams: “More money is lost due to overstaying positions (greed) than exiting due to the fear of losing money.” 

Your fear...

Results of Wednesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buying 4489.00 stopped out. The Breakout offered only 7.75 points. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 4492.75 stop 4487.00. Short 4543.75 stop 4548.25.

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) rises from +29 to +37 with all major world markets neutral to Bullish on low volatility. 

Catalysts: CPI & Jobless Claims @ 8:30. 

Quick Tip: Proactive Waiting

Plenty of time in trading is spent waiting. Waiting for a setup, waiting for an economic release, waiting for a profit target. Lots of waiting. 

Here’s how to make this productive: Get proactive. Get in the habit of asking “What if…?” questions. Answer them. In doing so you’ll be making decisions in advance and be able to act on the spot. No wondering, guessing, procrastinating or flat-out missing the...

Results of Tuesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buying 4485.75 caught the bottom of the session and ran for 38 points to the next volume level (unpublished, click the button below to join and receive all the levels). 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 4489.00 stop 4485.25. Short 4543.75 stop 4548.25.

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) jumps from -57 to +29 in a world of mostly mild Bullish sentiment. 

Catalysts: Nothing on the economic calendar. Deflation in China. Waiting on the CPI. 

Quick Tip: Lemonade

Reframing your thinking is like turning lemons into lemonade. Yesterday is a great example of when you should be reframing your thinking and thus your attitude. 

The suggested buy caught the bottom of the session and ran a healthy 38 points. However, the actual bottom of the session was the suggested stop loss! To the tick!

OK,...

Results of Monday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Neither suggested trade triggered and both levels remain on the chart for today.

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 4485.75 stop 4482.00. Short 4543.75 stop 4548.25.

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) falls from -14 to -57 with most major world markets Bearish on rising volatility.  

Catalysts: Nothing on the economic calendar. China’s economy disappoints. Waiting on CPI.

Quick Tip: Get Another Strategy

For the past two days neither of the best volumes levels offered here triggered a trade. Patience is required for sure. 

The alternative is to trade more than one strategy. The key is to find a strategy that is complementary, not competitive with the others in your trade plan. 

Two popular styles to combine are breakout/reversal and trend following. Price is always in one...

Results of Friday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Neither suggested trade triggered.

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 4485.75 stop 4482.00. Short 4543.75 stop 4548.25.

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) falls from +21 to -14 in a world of mixed sentiment and low volatility. 

Catalysts: Nothing on the economic calendar. Earnings season slows. Waiting on CPI. 

Quick Tip: Lose Enough 

A popular formula for determining your risk on any given trade is the Fixed Percentage rule. You pick a percentage, usually 2% or less of your trading account, and that is the most you can risk on each trade.  

It works great because as your account grows your risk can increase giving you the opportunity for greater reward. Conversely, if you’re in a drawdown you will be risking less. 

While that formula is fine for the math side of the equation,...

Results of Thursday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buying 4512.00 ran for 14.00 points. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 4485.75 stop 4482.00. Short 4598.50 stop 4605.50. 

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) jumps from -46 to +21 in a world of mixed sentiment and low volatility. 

Catalysts: Employment Report @ 8:30. AAPL disappoints. 

Quick Tip: Quick Tip: How to Diversify   

The two primary methods to diversify your day trading are by asset or by strategy. 

In other words, you can trade one strategy across many assets or one asset across many strategies. Neither is better for everyone. It’s a matter of personal style. 

I recall one excellent equities day trader I worked with who only traded ONE stock (at the time it was Intel, INTC). He claimed his focus on one stock...

Results of Wednesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buying 4551.75 only offered a 6.50-point bounce. The breakout was the better trade, joining the trend, running for 16.25 points to the next level where price formed the bottom of the session. :-)

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 4512.00 stop 4507.00. Short 4598.50 stop 4605.50. 

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) eases up from -86 to -46 with most major markets Bearish but less so than yesterday. 

Catalysts: Jobless Claims @ 8:30. Final Services PMI @ 9:45. ISM Services PMI & Factory Orders @ 10:00. 

Quick Tip: Small Account Trading

Having a small account shouldn’t prevent you from swing trading stocks. You won’t be trading AAPL or TSLA or NVDA. Even their options can be expensive for a small account. 

So how do you find stocks you can afford to...

Results of Tuesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Neither trade suggestion triggered in a narrow range day. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 4551.75 stop 4547.25. Short 4598.50 stop 4605.50. 

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) drops from -36 to -86 with all major world markets very Bearish. 

Catalysts: ADP Payrolls @ 8:15. Crude Inventories @ 10:30. US Debt downgraded.  

Quick Tip: When to Follow

As Thomas Paine said, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.” How does this apply to trading? 

From a stock trading perspective “leading” implies one has performed exhaustive research and has uncovered a stock that has positive fundamental, technical, and marketplace metrics. The analyst knows nearly as much as the executives running the company about its prospects, but not all...

Results of Monday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Neither trade suggestion triggered in a narrow range day. Both levels remain on the chart. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 4569.00 stop 4564.25. Short 4628.50 stop 4632.75. 

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) dumps from +36 to -36 with most major world markets leaning Bearish on low volatility. 

Catalysts: ISM MFG PMI & JOLTS @ 10:00. 

Quick Tip: Think Big

Without goals people drift through life never achieving their true potential. This is not an opinion but documented fact from numerous psychological studies. No goals? Little progress. 

Small and “reasonable” goals are typical for most people if they bother to set goals at all. Yet, they require the same attention as big and “audacious” goals. Really. But there is a difference in the path. The...

Results of Friday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Shorting 4615.00 caught the high of the session (again) and ran for 26.25 points. Feel better about the win by donating a slice to my preferred charity, the Alzheimer’s Association. Click here.

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 4569.00 stop 4564.25. Short 4628.50 stop 4632.75. 

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) rises from +21 to +36. 

Catalysts: Chicago PMI @ 9:45.  

Quick Tip: Fast Moves vs. Melt Ups

Friday’s reversal is a great example of the counter-intuitive nature of trading. 

Price was moving up quickly and your signal was to sell short. The parabolic move is better seen on a time-based chart (our trading chart above is a 2-point range bar). Staring at that strong bullish move, joining the trend probably felt like the...