I've been successful trading C for quite some time. I have an intimidate knowledge of that stock and a bag full of edges. I know when to do what strategy and am masterful with execution and use of routes. It has gotten to a point where I truly am shocked when I have a down day. I wake up every day knowing I will be positive $300-1000. This month only had two days where I was negative in C, out of 23 trading days. While I'm not killing it, I'm able to grind out a nice living.
On March 6th, 2011, D-day is coming. Citi will reverse split, 10:1, and become a $45 stock. Without going into details in my current strategy in C, I will say that I primarily exploit the spread and the rebates. As a $4 stock trading with a one-penny spread, the bid-ask difference is effectively .25% of the stock's value. Ergo, if I make the spread 20 times in a day, I'm making a 5% gain on the stock. Also, the rebates for adding liquidity on the highest-paying venues - BATS and EDGX, are $2.60 and $2.70 per thousand, while the rebate for taking liquidity on NSDQBX is $1.40; meaning I make between .05 and .1% of the stock's value (slightly less) just for getting in/out.
Alas, C has 5 weeks left. It will be no more. There are no similar stocks. Calling a stock like SIRI similar is ignorant; it does 1/10th the volume. S, ALU do 1/20th-1/10th the volume of C but move completely differently and have much more risk for all my styles. I'm not going to try to trade those stocks because they'll sucker me into thinking I'm trading C and then bam, I'll take a huge rip.
So the time is now to develop a new strategy. I can wait until May 6th, but then I will be heavily pressured to make money. Since I know my edge will die, I'm going to start working on new strategies in April. I'll still trade my bread and butter stock, C, and hopefully make next month what a low-income worker makes in a year. But my main focus will be on developing new strategies and learning.
When I start out, I'll probably go into too much detail for my own good, which will be a chance for people to learn. The more I feel I'm onto something, the less specific I'll be with what I'm doing, but I'll still post results and trades.
I think I tried creating a journal many years ago when I didn't know what I was doing but forgot to post in it, just like the diary my parents gave me when I was eight.
My initial plan, which is subject to change based on my performance and feel, is to focus on the financial sector and mostly just trade BAC. I'll also be trading C after the split, while it is in-play. If after a week or two it dies down I'll probably leave it alone (my guess is it'll trade like a slightly thicker JPM, which is ick!)
Either tomorrow or early next week you'll see my first entry.
Hopefully I can find new edges, help others learn, and get helpful feedback from the community. Wish me luck.
On March 6th, 2011, D-day is coming. Citi will reverse split, 10:1, and become a $45 stock. Without going into details in my current strategy in C, I will say that I primarily exploit the spread and the rebates. As a $4 stock trading with a one-penny spread, the bid-ask difference is effectively .25% of the stock's value. Ergo, if I make the spread 20 times in a day, I'm making a 5% gain on the stock. Also, the rebates for adding liquidity on the highest-paying venues - BATS and EDGX, are $2.60 and $2.70 per thousand, while the rebate for taking liquidity on NSDQBX is $1.40; meaning I make between .05 and .1% of the stock's value (slightly less) just for getting in/out.
Alas, C has 5 weeks left. It will be no more. There are no similar stocks. Calling a stock like SIRI similar is ignorant; it does 1/10th the volume. S, ALU do 1/20th-1/10th the volume of C but move completely differently and have much more risk for all my styles. I'm not going to try to trade those stocks because they'll sucker me into thinking I'm trading C and then bam, I'll take a huge rip.
So the time is now to develop a new strategy. I can wait until May 6th, but then I will be heavily pressured to make money. Since I know my edge will die, I'm going to start working on new strategies in April. I'll still trade my bread and butter stock, C, and hopefully make next month what a low-income worker makes in a year. But my main focus will be on developing new strategies and learning.
When I start out, I'll probably go into too much detail for my own good, which will be a chance for people to learn. The more I feel I'm onto something, the less specific I'll be with what I'm doing, but I'll still post results and trades.
I think I tried creating a journal many years ago when I didn't know what I was doing but forgot to post in it, just like the diary my parents gave me when I was eight.
My initial plan, which is subject to change based on my performance and feel, is to focus on the financial sector and mostly just trade BAC. I'll also be trading C after the split, while it is in-play. If after a week or two it dies down I'll probably leave it alone (my guess is it'll trade like a slightly thicker JPM, which is ick!)
Either tomorrow or early next week you'll see my first entry.
Hopefully I can find new edges, help others learn, and get helpful feedback from the community. Wish me luck.
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