Preparation for the day

I know that the context of the site is daytrading, but I really am not qualified to give advise on that field. I have however been a position trader for the last several years and been fortunate to have been successful (at least in terms of my own goals) with it.

For my own Prep as a position trader once a month I scan monthly charts of stocks showing good earnings growth (I define "good" as having an IBD RS of 70 or better) and look for stocks showing chart patterns that I like. I tend to focus on long bases near relative lows and pullbacks from highs. Once I have this list (Most months it is between 20 and 40 stocks) I will look at the weekly charts each weekend looking for continuation patterns. That tends to give me a list of between 2 and 8 stocks that I will look at each night for chart patterns to buy. I do not short stocks, but I would assume a good shorter might reverse this, but I can not say for sure. My activity level is is much lower than most people who post here at 1 to 5 trades a month, but it has worked for me.
 
As an alternative to Springer, might I suggest a glance at the Latest Broker Ratings where an unfolding soap opera should hold your attention.
 
nice answer backdoc.
I did not reply too seriously because the board is so much weighted toward very short or scalp trading.
I used to love your style of trading. I used software to speed up analysis (few software can handle this kind of trading). But the pace was too slow for me. I did not like the drawdown either.

Nowadays (after a very high pace NQ trading) I target the time frame inbetween.
Because I know all my rules, they are coded in software. The software does the work of preparation the night before (it's rather simple, I am just lazy, so the software works).
The important point of my preparation is to go through the charts and the rules. And, maybe most important, to remind me what to do if..

I play the 'what if' game for all my positions and targets. no 'what if' about news (you can never prepare for all possible news!). the preparation is simply about knowing what to do if a trade goes up, then goes up more, or goes down, or down more, or sideways (!).
so it gives me several stories per trade, based on direction and speed/volume in that direction.

that's it. But I do that every morning quickly. the night before I do that before sleeping (so it gets deep down the brain).

have a plan. trade the plan. be prepared for all the twists. then trading is less thrill, but more profitable !

tntneo
 
Originally posted by tntneo
this is too fun to resist...
I switch on CNBC, that usually gives me a big laugh, really big.
Usually coffee comes next, but not if I am still laughing.
That's pre market.. at the bell I switch it off.

tntneo
More...


I recommend watching CNBC the way N. Taleb does as he discusses in his book 'Fooled by Randomness' - keep it on throughout the trading day, but turn the sound down to zero so whenever you look you only see mouths flapping. If you pretend they are talking in chinese or lip synching to 80's music the effect is even better too:D
 
I am a super heavy scalper so I do very little to prepare,

VB (vertical bar analysis) on my three stocks and check for news
Knowing the futures indications is nice to know as well.

The most important item that I take care of before I trade is cleaning the pipes! I usually go twice in the morning to make sure that I am light and won't be taken away from the screen for emergencies.

The human body spens more energy on digestioning than any other process, my blood circulates much better when it is in my head instead of my gut.
 
i generally check some news, check what the world markets did...drink plenty of coffee to get things working....cause you don't want to have to run to the men's room at 10am, so its good to get it all out early...
then i listen to Howard on the radio...while I set up the software and scan through a few charts
and I too watch a little Springer show during lunch
 
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