Thank you jim on all the info, sincerely appreciated
what i meant by my question whats the timing mechanism is whats ur rule or timing on when you buy these stocks to capture the 1-2% move...we also all know catching every move or even near every move is close to impossible......but the point iam asking is with the percent changes above when r u buying and selling, ex div date or near it if i understand correctly??? thats what i was meaning by whats the timing mechanism
thanks
OK, so here goes (and as a disclaimer, this always works great on paper)
First, I threw out the concept of buying a stock for a dividend - how much capital do you want to risk to earn 4% over the course of a year?
Here's a chart of FTR - 2 days, 15 minutes:
How many trades do you see?
What are the percentage gains here?
Here's a chart of F - 10 days, 15 minutes:
How many trades do you see?
What are the percentage gains here?
Let's assume you see a minimum of 2 trades in each chart (4 if you like to short), you have a potential of 4 to 8 trades over a ten day period tracking two companies. We can see the 1-2% range, so that's 4% to 16% over two weeks or 104% - 416% over the course of the year if you are fully invested.
"it is impossible to catch every move" to paraphrase your comment. Yes,
you are 100% absolutely correct, it is impossible. But I would ask how many trades do you need to make over the course of a year to make an acceptable return? What this demonstrates is that it's possible to make a pretty good living by having the discipline to wait for your price levels - and
your trade potential increases exponentially if you add additional companies. My entries are based on price levels that I deem as "safe" based on historical support -
you can chose an entry price OR an entry yield. Ask yourself "why will other people buy this stock?"
My exits are rule-based and I typically get out the same day if I realize 2%, and will bail the next day at 1% (this was the hardest part of my trading journey). If macro events are blowing in my favor, I may hold out for a little more. However, keep in mind that every position you have carries an opportunity cost in that your capital is tied up in the trade your in, so you may miss the next one. I've come to the conclusion that you'll never be able to catch every trade no matter how much capital you have. I may be wrong, but it keeps me sane. I typically scale into my positions and don't necessarily day-trade. Once the exit door opens, I walk through it - it may be two weeks, or may be 2 minutes.
The last variable in all this is capital allocation and I've found that if I'm willing to invest 5% of my account per trade,
and I follow my rules, I can grow my trading account 50 basis points per week. If I risk 12.5%, I can grow my trading account 100 to 200 basis points per week. If I risk 25%, I can grow my trading account as much as 500 basis points. I max out at four positions, so at the 25% level, I'm fully invested. At that juncture you need to study the message threads on psychology, because seeing your account grow at that pace (or fearing you can lose at that pace) becomes very counterproductive.
Hope this helps - happy trading!