Trading Plan

[deaddog]

1. trade only the 11 State Street S&P 500 SECTOR Spyders.
I think there will almost always (but not always) be some sector worth a trade, whether it’s defensive or offensive.
I’ll keep listing my trading plan items as they develop in my head.

since I’m hew here, if you think this exercise makes no sense, that’s fine, just tell me. But tell me why.

You might get better oportunities with small or midcap stocks. The S&P 500 are all well established companies and won't present the opportunities that smaller cap companies do.

Follow O'Neils suggestions about price and volume.

Oops!! I mis read the post. You want to trade ETFs. Same advise. ETFs don't present the opportunities for swings that a swing trader can take advantage of.

 

[KGTrader4]

Let me suggest Stan Weinstein's book, Secrets for Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets. It costs only $22.87 for the paperback copy. If you have Kindle, you can get a copy for $9.95 on Amazon. Worth every penny. Stan Weinstein wrote only this 1 book. Read it cover to cover. For trend following, I suggest Michael Covel's book Trend Following, $26.31 paperback, kindle version $14.87. In his book, Michael Cover breaks down the actual returns of the top successful hedge funds using the trend following strategy to trade the stockmarket. If top hedge funds, are employing trend following, why shouldn't the retail trader? It is far easier to place a trade, making sure your trade is aligned with the major trend. Odds are already in your favor, with the backing of top hedge funds on top of that.

Thanks. I will probably order those books. May not wait to finish them before I start trading though, IF I think I’m ready.
I’m in the process of my second reading of How To Make Money in Stocks, by William O’Neill, I’ve read Mark Minervini’s Think and Trade Like A Champion, and I’ve also read Brian Shannon’s book Technical Analysis Using Multiple Time Frames, which I’d highly recommend. I’ll probably read Shannon’s book again.

 

[KGTrader4]

You might get better oportunities with small or midcap stocks. The S&P 500 are all well established companies and won't present the opportunities that smaller cap companies do.

Follow O'Neils suggestions about price and volume.

Oops!! I mis read the post. You want to trade ETFs. Same advise. ETFs don't present the opportunities for swings that a swing trader can take advantage of.

for now, I’m looking to just get my feet wet, get a rhythm. As a noob, the advantage of using ETFs, is to eliminate possibility of big gap openings, which small and mid caps are more prone to. What I might do though, is Trade the equal weight sector ETFs, rather than cap weighted Spyders.

 

[smallfil]

Thanks. I will probably order those books. May not wait to finish them before I start trading though, IF I think I’m ready.
I’m in the process of my second reading of How To Make Money in Stocks, by William O’Neill, I’ve read Mark Minervini’s Think and Trade Like A Champion, and I’ve also read Brian Shannon’s book Technical Analysis Using Multiple Time Frames, which I’d highly recommend. I’ll probably read Shannon’s book again.

Mark Minervini gives Stan Weinstein credit in learning to read market phases. He notes Stan Weinstein's influence as helping make him a better trader.

 

[BKR88]

I like swing and position trading rather than day trading

I like the weekly chart for swing trading & usually trade ETFs rather than individual companies.
Clean charts with simple trend lines or S/R ... S/D.

 

[easymon1]

how to go about starting to trade (swing/position, not day) with a methodology.

Man you are on the path to save yourself a LOT of Time imho. +1

Do you have clear answers to the 'Morse Vital Three' Questions?

A tip of the hat to Robert Morse for his post from which this was lifted,
'What triggers a buy or a sell to open?
What triggers an exit?
How do you size your trades?'

from: What would You say belongs in a solid trading plan?
https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...solid-trading-plan.340340/page-4#post-5031706

As time passes if you want a more comprehensive business plan look in on this gem
https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...solid-trading-plan.340340/page-2#post-5011924

 

[KGTrader4]

Thanks easymon, good stuff.Don’t have those answers yet, other than vague thoughts in my head. But I’m getting close

 

[Leob]

My advice.. in some point in your journey try to focus on one market. This have it advantage.
Multi time frame single market. Specialized.

 

[easymon1]

Thanks easymon, good stuff.Don’t have those answers yet, other than vague thoughts in my head. But I’m getting close

Is there a need to reinvent the wheel to start with?
Here's a good article that takes a look at getting started:

How Do You Start Trading Without A Methodology?
https://www.smbtraining.com/blog/how-do-you-start-trading-without-a-methodology

"... know that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You don’t need to spend years doing groundbreaking research to get off the ground. As a matter of fact, it’s actually quite easy to get started on the right foot. And the answer may surprise you."

 

[fan27]

I’m 71, retired. Plan to commit what amounts to 2% of my total investable assets to start with.

Good move. You can afford to make lots of mistakes and trade real money as you fine tune your plan.