What You Don’t Know About Prop Trading… but Should
In this special extended webinar, Amber Capra breaks down everything you need to know about the exciting world of prop trading: Amber covers the world of prop trading from A to Z, including:How to determine whether prop trading is right for youWhy you need training, community, and ongoing coaching to succeedHow you can qualify for 100% tuition reimbursement in our prop programThe different licensing requirements for US and non-US tradersDetails about different trading platforms, including Fusion and LightspeedHow profit splits workHow much capital you need to get started as a prop traderRisk management techniquesWhy you need a ‘Forced Discipline’ risk management programWhether or not you can prop trade on a part-time basisTips for avoiding pitfalls that can hurt your trading careerHave a question about prop trading? Call 1-888-998-3548 or email us at info@t3live.com Learn About Our Omega Prop Program
Continue Reading -->Why You Need a Trading Checklist
Checklists can save your life. Literally. Anesthesiologist Peter Provonost studied how 100 Michigan hospitals inserted central lines (also known as intravenous tubing) into patients’ chests. . Central lines deliver lifesaving medications, and proper installation is critical for avoiding life-threatening infections. 30% of the time, surgical teams skipped 1 of 5 essential steps in the process. But by using a simple checklist, the infection went from 4% to zero, saving 1,500 lives and nearly $200 million. That’s not all. Checklists keep planes in the air. Checklists keep nuclear power plants operating safely. And checklists can keep traders like you avoid simple errors that can cost you money. Here’s a simple checklist you can use to avoid errors when they’re most likely — the order entry process. Before we get to the checklist, make sure your trading platform is set up in a way that works for you. For example, many trading platforms let you set defaults for trade parameters including share size. You can also often set little things like how your mouse interacts with the platform. Depending on your settings, you could even place orders with a single mouse click. And set your chart time frames in a way that corresponds to your actual trading. Since all platforms allow you to save your screen layouts, keep yours saved so you can always go back to square one. So take a half hour and go through your platform’s default settings. This will reduce the risk of placing accidental orders, or of accidentally looking at the wrong charts. Now let’s take a look at an actual order entry checklist that can prevent you from making errors: Step 1: Ask Yourself If You Have a Good Reason for Making This Trade Since they’re constantly bombarded with news, data, and ideas, traders are always tempted to act impulsively. You can counteract this tendency by asking yourself: do I have a good reason for doing what I’m about to do? Often, that will be enough to stop you from getting in bad trades. Step 2: Form an Entry and Exit Plan If you’ve got a good reason to make a trade, now it’s time to decide on an entry and exit plan. Know where you want to get in, and where you want to get out. You should have a stop loss to minimize downside risk, and a target price that gives you room to make a solid profit. This will prevent you from getting in a trade, and then asking “so what do I do now?” Step 3: Double Check Your Ticker There are two types of “fat finger” trades. That’s what happens when a trader hits the wrong keys on the keyboard, and a whole lot of money ends up in the wrong place. In 2015, Deutsche Bank’s foreign exchange desk accidentally sent a hedge fund $6 billion because of a simple typo. If you’re not watching carefully, you could very easily buy Advance Auto Parts (AAP) instead of Apple (AAPL). You could mix up Agilent (A) and Alcoa (AA). Or Dominion Energy (D) and Dupont (DD). Step 3: Double Check Your Share Size Let’s say you want to buy 100 shares of JP Morgan (JPM) at $80. That’s $8,000 — a decent chunk of change. But what if you accidentally pop in another zero, and buy 1000 shares? Well, you just made an $80,000 trade. That’s an an extra $72,000. And if the stock suddenly drops $2, you’re down $2,000. Had you bought just the 100 shares you wanted, you’d only be down $200! Step 4: Double-Check Your Expirations and Strike Prices on Options and Futures If you’re trading any instrument with an expiration date, like options or futures, you must absolutely double-check the expiration dates of what you’re trading. You’re often looking at dozens or even hundreds of small numbers on a single computer screen, and it’s easy to make mistakes. Make sure you select the right the expirations and strike prices. This is especially important if you’re entering an order with multiple legs. You may fool yourself into thinking you’ve found an especially attractive calendar or butterfly spread, when in fact, you just got ripped off! Step 5: Perform a Post-Mortem Analysis of Your Best and Worst Trades We recommend that traders keep a diary of their trading activities so they can accurately track their trading history. We’ve found that this piece of advice is mostly ignored. If you’re not willing to take this step, at the very least, do after-the-trade breakdowns of your best and worst trades. Was your rationale for the trade correct? Did you get lucky? What could you have done better? How did you know when to get out? Be honest with yourself, and you’ll start to understand your true trading nature.
Continue Reading -->The 7 Deadly Sins of Trading, and How You Can Cure Them
Greed, for the lack of a better word, is good. That’s what Gordon Gekko said in the classic 1987 film Wall Street. And indeed, a little greed goes a long way. Greed can push you to work harder to bring home a bigger paycheck. It can push you to save more money for retirement. But greed can also eat you alive… even if you have all the money in the world. Greed is only one of the 7 deadly sins you’ve heard about from religious texts or pop culture. And as you’re about to learn, they all apply to trading, and they all have cures if you understand them. Lust is often associated with sexuality. But there’s another kind… the lust for money and power at all costs. That’s a recipe for disaster for 2 simple reasons. An obsession with making more money can push you to take bigger and bigger risks. You’ll put yourself in harm’s way when there’s no good reason to. It can also push you to cross ethical and moral boundaries. Remember, once you cross that line, there’s no turning back. The Cure for Lust Replace your desire for money with a desire to learn. As you become a more skilled and experienced trader, you’ll likely earn more money. So focus on building your skills and gaining experience, NOT the potential rewards of skills and experience. It’s like dreaming about buying a Ferrari before you’ve even had a job. It’s downright childish. Grow up, get good, and the rewards will come. 44% of lottery winners go broke, according to a 2015 study by the Camelot Group. Why? Because most people can’t handle sudden wealth. Traders are no different. Once a trader achieves financial success, he’ll be tempted to overindulge in everything from food to clothes to travel to cars to real estate. An upgraded lifestyle means upgraded living expenses So what happens when that trader has a bad month or bad year? Panic, frustration, and inaction. When the mortgage is due today and there’s just $28.71 in the checking account, it’s pretty dang hard to focus on the charts. The Cure for Gluttony As you earn more money, save a higher percentage of what you take home.. Let’s say that after a year of trading, you have $25,000 left over when all your taxes, trading expenses, and bills are paid. And let’s assume you feel comfortable spending $7,500 of that on “fun stuff” like new clothes, travel and entertainment. That’s 30%. On your next $25,000, take it down to 25%. And the $25,000 after that, reduce it down to 20%. The exact numbers don’t matter. The point is, by scaling down your spending, you’ll keep a safety net in place for the rough times. It’s okay to want a bigger house, a nicer car, and private school for your kids. And it’s okay to dream about having $10 million in your bank account. But if you’re trading just to make money to buy more stuff… go do something else. To become a great trader, you must love the process of trading. It’s not easy to stare at computer screens for 9+ hours a day, trying to make sense of news and charts and price action. Most people burn out from it. But the best of the best can’t pull themselves away! The Cure for Greed Revisit what you really love about trading. Is it the process of scanning through 200 charts to find the one that speaks to you? Is it the rush of adrenaline you get when you nail a trade? Or is it just plain fun? Your trading results are important. If they’re not, you shouldn’t be in this business. But it’s equally important to enjoy the process. So shift your greed for money to a greed for sheer enjoyment. Experienced traders often get nostalgic for the ‘good old days’ before high frequency trading, decimalization, and overactive central banks. Many of these traders run into trouble because they do more complaining than learning. Instead of learning new skills, they get left behind. Evolution is a cruel beast. And it comes for the weakest traders first, the ones that don’t adapt. It’s 2017. The strategies you use today may not work 3 years from now. What are you gonna do about that today? The Cure for Sloth Put yourself on a regular schedule for continuing education and personal development. Don’t give yourself the option of NOT improving. You could set a goal of reading 2 new books a month. Or learning 4 new chart patterns. Or writing out 3 case studies about your best — or worst — trades of the month. The possibilities are endless. And don’t forget about improving your non-trading self. Some of the biggest trading lessons are learned away from the desk on a racquetball court… or on a wild boar hunt in Texas. (seriously) An angry trader is one that just lost money, and is on the verge of losing more. If you’re angry, you’re impatient. If you’re impatient, you’ll make more bad trades. And if you make more bad trades, you’ll get even angrier. That’s when the ‘revenge trading’ starts. That’s when you lose $2,000 in the morning, and you’re determined to ‘make it up’ with more trading. Before you know it, you’re down $5,000. And then $10,000. And so on. And so on. The Cure for Wrath Clean up your mess as best you can. And then walk away from your trading workstation. Don’t come trade again until you have your anger out of your system. Talk to your buddies, watch a funny movie, or take a walk. But get it out of your system. And if you feel like you’re getting out of control too often, seek professional help. Anger won’t just hurt your bottom line. It will also destroy your body. On Wall Street, you can make $1 million a year and still feel poor. Why? Because the guy next to you made $2 million! Traders are competitive by nature. It’s no wonder so many love
Continue Reading -->Weekly Sentiment Update: Can We Ride a F.O.M.O. Wave to SPX 2500+?
Permabulls always say everyone’s bearish. And permabears always say everyone’s bullish. But let’s look at the actual numbers to see how the crowd actually feels. Last week, traders swung to a moderately bearish stance. But yesterday, the SPX blasted up to a new record high of 2418.71, so let’s see just how quickly sentiment is turning. (click here for a primer on these 5 sentiment indicators) 1) VIX Spread – Bullish Last Thursday, the VIX spiked up to 16.30, but it’s collapsed back down to 9.83, butting it within range of the the 9.56 generational low on May 9. Last week, the VIX curve nearly inverted, but the 3-month curve is at +4.0, indicating traders not pricing in much near-term volatility. Or in plain English, folks are bullish. 2) CNN Fear & Greed Index – Neutral The Fear & Greed Index is at 56, up from 45 last week. F&G operates on a 1-100 scale, and a reading of 56 is neutral. 3) AAII Sentiment – Bearish The latest AAII Sentiment Survey shows that 32.9% of individual investors are bullish, up from 23.9% last week. This 32.9% reading is below the 38.5% long-term average, and indicates that individual investors are not particulary trusting of the market. 4) CBOE Equity Put-Call – Bullish The CBOE Equity-Put Call ratio was at 0.59 yesterday with a 3-day moving average of 60.3. These numbers are under historical norms, indicating that traders are not buying many put options. Therefore, they are bullish. 5) ISE Sentiment – Neutral The ISE Sentiment Index is at 92 this morning (92 calls bought for every 100 puts). The 10 day moving average is 92.3. These numbers show higher put demand, but they’re actually in-line with recent averages, so I’ll also lump it in as neutral again. Conclusion Out of 5 sentiment indicators, we have: 2 bullish (+2 from last week) 2 neutral (-1 from last week) 1 bearish (-1 from last week) The numbers indicate that we’re seeing much less fear than last week. So the important question to ask is whether we’re on the verge of outright forth. I’m going to guess no. The AAII Sentiment Survey indicates that individual investors are pretty skittish. Typically, at tops, you see the masses wanting to get in. On a related note, a recent Gallup poll showed that just 54% of US adults have participated in the 2009-2017 bull market. From 2001 – 2008, 62% of adults owned stocks. On a second related note, have you noticed the sudden BitCoin craze? Crypocurrencies are going up 5% or 10% a day, which looks like the 1999 dot-com boom all over again. If there’s froth, it’s in BitCoin, not stocks! (not that BitCoin can’t double or triple from here…) Looking forward, I’m wondering if the bears are destined to capitulate on a sudden wave of F.O.M.O. (fear of missing out), driving up SPX to 2500+ in a blowout move.
Continue Reading -->Red Dog Rules Volume 1: Facebook’s Journey to $150
One half of life is luck; the other half is discipline – and that’s the important half, for without discipline you wouldn’t knowwhat to do with your luck.-Carl Zuckmayer Welcome to the first edition of Red Dog Rules, an all-new trading and technical analysis video series by Scott Redler, Chief Strategic Officer of T3 Live. You’re going to learn how Scott attacks the market through real-world case studies and tutorials so you can take your trading to the next level. To Scott, trading is a marathon. It’s not a sprint. That’s why he takes a practical, rules-based approach to the market. Markets change, stocks change, and sectors change. But one thing remains the same — the importance of staying disciplined and grounded.In fact, the most successful traders focus on reducing risk above else. Why? Because one major mistake can knock you out of the game for good. In this edition, Scott gives you an in-depth look at one of the hottest stocks in the market, social media giant Facebook (FB): Watch this video and learn:Why the biggest risk you can take in the market is NOT participatingThe dangers of being lured in by the bears’ negative stories, like the claim that Facebook was set to lose 80% of its users by 2017The technical analysis signals that told Scott Facebook was ready to rockScott’s 3 favorite moving averages rulesHow the cup & handle pattern worksP.S. Don’t forget to sign up for Scott’s video on his favorite trading strategy — the Red Dog Reversal — below!
Continue Reading -->Dynamic vs. Static Risk Management for Swing Trading
Are you one of the many swing traders that takes the same level of risk notwithstanding the market conditions? Do you always trade “a thousand” shares just because that’s an easy number to remember? Do you have a hard time picking the best stocks for swing trading? I will discuss some finer points that might help you to become better at managing risk. First and foremost, the T3 Trained Trader (T3TT) should have a Trading Plan outlining his/her money management rules. Here you should establish parameters such as a “maximum loss per week-month”. When establishing a maximum loss per trade (because no one can know which trade is going to work out), the T3TT has to decide whether he wants to follow a more “static” approach where all the potential losses will be similar, or whether to adopt a more “dynamic” set of guidelines created with the purpose of governing when to be more aggressive, less aggressive, or not active at all. You have to understand the fact that not all market conditions present the same odds for a particular trade. Let’s say, for example, that market “x” is in an up-trend, and has pulled back to support over several days. Today we get a reversal bar, and then the reversal is complete. In this case, the swing trader will likely find several high odds entries both today and tomorrow (depending on the tactics used, many of which are taught in our T3 Technical Strategies Course. The third day comes along, the market continues to climb, and some more entries might be executed. As the market continues to rally, the odds of every new entry following through will diminish, as the probability of a reversal to the downside in market “x” is greater. Based on this scenario, a swing trader might enter into larger positions on days one and two, and might reduce his share lots as the market continues to climb. There will be a time when the market has climbed for 5 or 6 days in a row, and so the T3 Trader will devote more and more of his time to manage already open positions, by selling partial lots and raising stops, instead of being too active in entering new swing positions. (He might be more active in micro trading activities though) Using some modified version of this basic concept, the T3 Trader can implement an intelligent way to participate in the markets, while reducing the risks of getting caught with big positions on a reversal contrary to his positions. Trade Well!
Continue Reading -->How the 3-Bar Rule Can Help You Deal With Failed Setups
Our Trading the Pristine Method® Home Study Course teaches traders a unique approach to trading candlestick price patterns. What make it unique? It is 100% objective and systematic, and eliminates all guesswork from the buying and selling process. We teach identifiable patterns that stocks trade in, and then show the exact strategies of what to do in each stage of a stock’s movement, including how to enter, manage, and exit the trade. That said, not all trades work. No pattern makes money 100% of the time, and the failures must be watched for 3 reasons: 1) To see and capitalize on a “new opportunity” when a pattern fails but immediately sets up again 2) To know how best to manage a position before it fails by evaluating the charts objectively. 3) To help you in disaster management mode in the event you are in a position that has failed. One Failed Pattern we teach is the Three Bar Rule. Whether that means to exit the trade or enter as new opportunity depends on the overall pattern and market environment). Let’s assume you entered a stock with a perfect “quality” price pattern that suggested an immediate move up with bullish market internals. It could have been a T3 Buy Setup (T3BS), a Climactic Buy Setup (CBS), or a T3 Breakout (T3BO), timed with the futures at the 10 a.m. reversal period. The T3 Three Bar Rule states: If the setup is not doing as suggested within three (3) bars, either exit or reduce the position. That begs an important question, “How does one know when the setup is not doing as suggested?” Note that this must be used only in the time frame being used. Some traders will incorrectly bail on a daily setup because the intraday pattern is not moving. They should be using the daily chart to judge the setup. Here are a few questions to ask in considering whether to close a trade early before the stop is triggered: 1. Did the trade violate every single reason for entry? Did it take out major intraday pivot lows? Is it a healthy consolidation that might actually be an opportunity to add to your position? 2. Assess the situation from the standpoint as if you were not in the trade, based on your training. What would you tell a friend about the technical setup? Is the pattern’s “quality” decreasing? For example, are the intraday charts getting very volatile, with overlapping bars, No Follow Through (NFT) to bullish/bearish bars; Breakout Bar Failures (BBF), shakeouts, etc.? 3. How far has the stock already moved? Is the current stop and reward-risk still adequate? 4. Are multiple time frames in alignment? 5. Are market conditions (broader market, sector analysis, and market internals) favorable for the trade direction? 6. Did the stock move with the sector and market internals, or is it lagging, showing relative weakness? 7. What time of day is it? Is it a low volume doldrums summer day with everything going sideways, or is your position underperforming? 8. Is the position distracting you from other trade opportunities? You must overcome the temptation to act prior to gaining information needed out of fear of missing the trade. Selling out of fear that the market will move against you must be fought. You must have the patience and discipline to logically apply the setup. Always have at least two scenarios when entering trades, no matter how bullish or bearish. This will keep you open to other possibilities. Remember, anything can and will happen at times.
Continue Reading -->Red Dog Rules | Episode One | Facebook
One half of life is luck; the other half is discipline – and that’s the important half, for without discipline you wouldn’t knowwhat to do with your luck.-Carl Zuckmayer Welcome to the first edition of Red Dog Rules, an all-new trading and technical analysis video series by Scott Redler, Chief Strategic Officer of T3 Live. You’re going to learn how Scott attacks the market through real-world case studies and tutorials so you can take your trading to the next level. To Scott, trading is a marathon. It’s not a sprint. That’s why he takes a practical, rules-based approach to the market. Markets change, stocks change, and sectors change. But one thing remains the same — the importance of staying disciplined and grounded.In fact, the most successful traders focus on reducing risk above else. Why? Because one major mistake can knock you out of the game for good. In this edition, Scott gives you an in-depth look at one of the hottest stocks in the market, social media giant Facebook (FB): Watch this video and learn:Why the biggest risk you can take in the market is NOT participatingThe dangers of being lured in by the bears’ negative stories, like the claim that Facebook was set to lose 80% of its users by 2017The technical analysis signals that told Scott Facebook was ready to rockScott’s 3 favorite moving averages rulesHow the cup & handle pattern worksP.S. Don’t forget to sign up for Scott’s video on his favorite trading strategy — the Red Dog Reversal — below! Scott Redler Enter your text here…
Continue Reading -->Feeding the Ducks?
An historic contraction in volatility this year cooked up a whack-a-mole stew of selling volatility. Every time the market got hit, it was just another Sunday at Church for the Buy the Dip Congregation. Lately, it seems like it’s Sunday every day. The bounce back from last Wednesday’s air pocket set the land speed record for baptism by fire with the market jackknifing back into safety before you could say Lazarus. Never underestimate the scent of a ‘free lunch’ to lure the best and brightest financial engineers on Wall Street, the only place where the caboose always is in front of the engine. In other words, it’s always the derivatives, leverage, and tangential strategies that drive the money train. You don’t make the billions the banks and hedgies do with plain vanilla. When a political snowball from hell rolled onto The Street last week with the SPX hovering just below all-time highs and option expiration just days away, players who sold volatility were in jeopardy of choking on their own free lunch strategies. So in the best tradition of a bull in a China shop, it looks like players had no choice but to throw a Hail Mary into the fray and put on a Squeeze Play beginning last Thursday. What better way to do this then to let Wednesday’s selling run its course and close on its low before jacking this 18-wheeler back up out of the blue. Well it wasn’t completely out of the blue. Mr. Geometry lent a hand with the SPX closing directly 90 degrees off the key 2401 level last Wednesday. While a week ago, all hell broke loose and it looked like the SPX would finally test the key 2280-2300 level or worse, today, the hall of mirrors at 2400 is back in play… again. This must be the 7th attempt to covert 2400. I’ve lost count. The action certainly speaks to the idea that ‘There’s Something About 2400′ as we flagged before March. Some think the bulls have run out of money with a Big Seller sitting on 2400, or that there’s a lot of hedging going on there. Maybe, but underneath the surface, a handful of ‘Nifty Fifty’ names have been ripping higher. These include our old friends AAOI, SHOP, LITE, TTD, PFPT, WDAY and IRBT as well as the runaway Chinese Brigade, WB, SINA and SOHU. If I owned a major fund, this would be my strategy: I’d keep the indices flat below a ceiling of say 2400 and buy my belly full of stocks, keeping the crowd in suspense and competition at bay as they sold each time the index kissed 2400, only to be rejected. Then I’d add to my longs on each pullback. Once and only once I was ready, I’d let the SPX vault 2400 and start feeding the ducks, distributing positions into the quacking now that the ‘coast was clear’. I’m just sayin’: if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck… The bulls would love nothing more than to get a close meaningfully above 2400 going into the long weekend. With names like X creeping higher as flagged yesterday and IBM catching a bid this morning, and with energy names getting a lift from $50+ oil, the junkyard dogs may create enough of a tail wind to chase the SPX over 2400 into early June, where a possible time/price square-out is on the table. However, I’m not so sure a breakout is an all clear: if the SPX satisfies our long outstanding target over the next few weeks, the bite of the bear may ultimately prove worse than the bark of the bulls.
Continue Reading -->Weekly Sentiment Update: Some Fear Is Here. But Maybe Not Enough.
Just when everyday seemed to greet me with a smile Sunspots have faded and now I’m doing time Now I’m doing time ‘Cause I fell on black days -Chris Cornell (R.I.P.) Permabulls always say everyone’s bearish. And permabears always say everyone’s bullish. But let’s look at the actual numbers to see how the crowd actually feels. Last week, traders swung to a moderately bullish stance. But yesterday, as the Trump/Comey controversy heated up, the SPX dove -1.8% — the biggest one-day decline since September 9, 2016. That’s a span of 172 trading days! So let’s take a fresh look at sentiment and figure out whether the bears are still growling. (click here for a primer on these 5 sentiment indicators) 1) VIX Spread – Bearish This morning, the VIX is at 15.89, putting up 66% from the 9.56 generational low on May 9. The curve is nearly inverted and the 3-month spread is at just +0.1, which means that traders are very fearful. 2) CNN Fear & Greed Index – Neutral The Fear & Greed Index is at 45, down from 63 last week. F&G operates on a 1-100 scale, and a reading of 45 is neutral. 3) AAII Sentiment – Bearish The latest AAII Sentiment Survey shows that just 23.9% of individual investors are bearish, down from 32.7% last week. This 23.9% reading is well below the 38.5% long-term average, and is the lowest level since November 3, 2016 — the week before the Presidental election. 4) CBOE Equity Put-Call – Neutral The CBOE Equity-Put Call ratio was at 0.73 yesterday with a 3-day moving average of 0.62. That 0.73 number above historical norms, but this number was also very, very low from Friday to Tuesday, so we’ll call it Neutral. 5) ISE Sentiment – Neutral The ISE Sentiment Index closed at 88 yesterday (88 calls bought for every 100 puts). The 10 day moving average is 94.2. These numbers show higher put demand, but they’re actually in-line with recent averages, so I’ll also lump it in as neutral. Conclusion Out of 5 sentiment indicators, we have: 0 bullish (down from 2 last week) 3 neutral (up from 2 last week 2 bearish (up from 1 last week The question everyone’s asking is obvious: is there enough fear in the market? Now, sentiment is undoubtedly more bearish this week, perhaps best illustrated by the spiking VIX and its nearly inverted curve. However, I’m not sure sentiment is bearish enough to immediately form a bottom. The CBOE equity put-call ratio did spike to 0.73. That’s a mark of fear — but it’s not an extreme level. It actually hit 0.96 in mid-April. I’d love to see a spike above 0.90, and a dip in the ISE Sentiment Index as well. That would mean traders are aggressively buying put options for downside protection/speculation purposes, which is what you see at the point of maximum fear. In hindsight, that 9.56 extreme low in the VIX may have been a sign of true froth. At the time, other sentiment indicators were pointing bearish, but at that point, traders were pricing in almost no volatility, and thus no fear. Now we’re about to see if the volatility train is ready to leave the station after 6 months of nothing.
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