Originally posted by gotrader
Well Don, some of it depends on what your trading, cash or futures. When trading the S&P Emini I'd have to say that in an established downtrend one would not want to buy when the Prem is negative, unless one is covering on weakness, or after a major extension to the downside. However, in and uptrend, a negative Prem signals a pull back (not necessarily a reversal although at extremes it can be) and can often be a conservative longside entry. The Prem rarely stays negative for long, never gridlocks negative...it oscilates....and usually has a consistent range (and best a micro trend within the range.) I wrote a little about this last week. Now, if youre trading cash stocks,
it may seem counter-intuitive to buy during a negative prem, until the spread Arbs sell the futures (during a high +Prem) and buy the cash. But, by that time, the meat of the move is past, since cash does tend to move up right along with a rising futures market, in an uptrend at least (unless the futures are fading cash selling.)
Perhaps you meant to say don't buy while the Prem is waning "going negative" i.e. oscilating back down from positve to the negative end of its range. Here I agree its best not intervene negatively, dont buy a falling market, let it bottom and turn before entering long. Are there other considerations that effect trading the cash stock market, from your experience, that Im failing to observe?--Peterg