I don't necessarily disagree with what you have said....I have just taken what I and some of my cohort have labeled as my "grassy knoll" mentality.
I have firm beliefs that each move of the stocks that I watch, which are trading between 300k and 1.2 million shares a day are moved by a small hand full of traders in the course of a day. These traders can be little guys like me..or the likes of Goldman. I see the stops and starts repeat themselves consistently in the course of the day. I believe that if Goldman wants cheaper shares in the AM session, they will begin to short or sell on the ask through any means wether using their ID or ACRA, INCA, ISLD ...etc....I can see the shake outs come, the false pops come and the collection of cheap shares for later selling. To me, they are all like playing the room at a Halloween party....my insight is not necessarily "who" plays, but what game they will play when they show up on the L2 screen. Since I understand the fundamental concept that all the players want cheap shares to sell later for a profit, I simply tag along....or behind..or just a bit ahead if possible to take what their activities will give.
I suspect my trading style will not work in rapid moving, large volume issues. But in those few that I have taken an interest in, this style has worked for me. I also believe the phrase, Play what you see, not what you think, which is also the heading of one of SI trading treads, is the most valuable mind sets one can fixate upon.
I should also say that I have seen time and time again in these stocks that I watch, a strategically placed buy or sell for often no more than 1k shares, stop a rise or a decline in price, COLD.
That said, trading style and what one sees is not debatable since if it works, the proof is set. If it fails, then debate and learning is deserved.
I have never been good at trading large volume shares, and have often not done well with position trading. I seem to have found a nice nitch taking small repeated profits from those stocks that move under 3/4 of a point a day. I also believe these types of trades are inherently safer than all other methods of trading from a loss of capital standpoint.
Shootie |
