backman, drsvelte, Fortinwit...thanks for the welcome!
(strange names ~ hehe)
To clarify a few things....
"gary indicates that last year his longs were not his strength, shorts were...why trade the "weaker" side of his system?"
I want to trade more shorts...but I recognize that I have an unconscious bias toward longs - I'm working on it...I think it's just a comfort zone thing due to past success with a long only strategy. I'm focused on learning the short side - as you said, it's an "emotional thing".
Trade size...Hmmm, I never even considered using dollar amounts - I've always used even share numbers in 250/500/750/1000 increments. I'll give that some thought.
Limit/market orders. I guess I'm not a purist because I do use limit orders. I usually wait and watch the first 30-60 minutes to pick my entry. I am experimenting with running my update and scan about an hour before market close in order to pick an entry "ahead of the crowd".
"I'd be uncomfortable having 10-12% of my capital in any single position..."
Really? I guess our risk/reward model is different. Of course, it isn't 10-12% of my invested assets...only of my "working capital" that I've earmarked for income generation. My "long term" side isn't traded short term.
"don't put all your eggs in gary's basket until you demonstrate to yourself that it's actually working...real dollars, real trades"
Good advice. Thank you. I'm trying to move into this methodology slowly and carefully. Taking the emotion out is the biggest challenge. It didn't help that I began with this the day before the "Brazil scare" and hit most all my stop limits. Grrrrr.
"I don't rely on the charts alone - I look at IBD, Zack's, and sometimes fundamental data. This is probably blasphemy to Gary, but, again, its about my comfort."
Heck, I do too. I check profiles and First Call (I want to understand the company's business, if I can) and I've learned the hard way to check scheduled earnings announcements! I'll even admit to checking Yahoo/SI/Motley Fool boards to see if there's anything "unoffical" floating around...not to base a decision on, but to get the mood of the crowd.
"The other change is that I play options. I don't want a lot of risk capital playing these techniques, yet."
I've never used options. To be honest, they seem too complex and expensive...though I understand the payback can be huge. Am willing to learn...but I've done just fine without them. I've been doing this fulltime for almost two years now...and hope to never return to "real work"!
Thanks again for the warm welcome and the kind words. Am looking forward to learning from all of you.
Regards,
David |
