crazy nq-move

Atlantic

Atlantic

hello mini-traders,

usually i don't care much about what moves the markets - but today i wonder if anyone has an idea what moved the nq almost 60 pts in just about one minute (at 11.02 am est). i mean - imho this can't be considered as "normal" market action. glad that i wasn't in a trade ...

any ideas?
 
Fake, I bought 1000 AMD as I thought Bin Laden got caught, as soon as I saw that S&P futures wasn't following it up I dumped it for a 5 cents loss.
 
yeah I got pulled into that on the qqq...but ended up with a small gain...the reason I went for it is because that is one of my favorite five minute chart patterns...here's an example:
check the pattern in the upper left corner...thats what the 5min e-mini and qqq's were forming
uptik2000
 

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I usually trade NQ but I'm not trading today. After seeing that NQ spike I'm glad even though I may have been long into the spike.

A spike like that, out of the blue with no Fed action, scares the hell out of me. Futures traders know that bids and offers get pulled when there are economic numbers or news but thats an adverse situation that seems hard to plan for.

Obviously it appears that a trader at some big firm screwed up on an order and disrupted the market since the S&P futures did not have a corresponding spike. I'm wondering what (if anything) the exchange is going to do about it.

I don't think the full sized NQ (pit traded) spiked nearly as much though it did spike considerably.
 
Originally posted by Hitman
Fake, I bought 1000 AMD as I thought Bin Laden got caught, as soon as I saw that S&P futures wasn't following it up I dumped it for a 5 cents loss.
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Hitman

What was your reason for buying AMD? Is that your default stock for any news related market spikes?
 
Well, I can't tell you how many times I got burnt trading those flags last 7 games or so. Instead of getting a second leg most of the times the market just fell on my face.

And this is WITH me ANTICIPATING flag breakout's instead of buying the actual breakout, if I bought the actual breakout's I would have been the lone bag holder on most of those trades. Stocks may go up 10-15 cents where I get filled and bam, it tanks.

Don't get me wrong, I trade a lot of flags myself, but there have been no second leg whatsoever (or even if there is, it is too weak). It has been far more profitable to fade flag's than buying them.

The reasons I took AMD:

1) Had it been an actual news release I knew for a fact that I won't be able to get into the first tier's. I saw SOX popping and I went to AMD immediately as it was trading near intraday low's, just consolidating. I would never take something like ADI on a move like that.

2) AMD is a cheap stock and if I was wrong there was very little to lose other than the spread (which is tiny in this stock). It is supremely liquid and it lags behind every SOX move. I could not get into a lower risk trade than that. And on 1000 shares just 20-30 cents would have been a very decent trade given the way I have been playing last a few days.

3) The stock was consolidating, not already ripping, as you know I have made the "no breakout" rule in this market, you have to buy as close to the consolidation as possible.
 
HItman-

What time period chart were you looking at AMD on?

one other thing I do in general...if I'm going to take a trade I like it to be already going in the expected direction. What I mean is, on the long qqq trade I took w/ the flag formation, it was a good long for me b/c: 1)it was green at that point 2) it was above the 20period MA on my 5 minute chart...so if I'm going long I like it to be going in that direction

does anyone know if this ENE problem will bleed into other co's or political figures? I have a friend that's a trader at another energy trading firm, but he hasn't gotten back to me? Hmmm...
 
Glad to see you stock traders also finding that flags do not work anymore (anticipating or otherwise!)

I WAS in the NQ just before the move, but I expected up move to be stronger slightly sooner on a wave count. Wasn't happy so scratched the trade about a minute before the big up and down.

Also heard a report on the same time on webfn that big volume shorts had been entering the market last night and this AM, which proved the decider.

Even though I would have turned a small loss into a reasonable profit I am glad I did not - it was over in less than a minute. Wouldn't surprise me now if that turns out to be a major top!
 
I use 5 minute charts. Longer term trend mean nothing until we are actually out of this trading range. And that QQQ trade

The problem I have with flags right now, is that more often than not they actually mark the end of an uptrend. The specialists got a lot smarter and will often print that new high before tanking the stock.

This is precisely why I have seen people making solid money shorting breakout's, it actually became a valid strategy!
 
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