I have a specific list of 250 stocks that I follow very closely. I read the 10-K's and watch the news closely. Why is the list so big? So I have something to trade each day, should I decide to...this might be referred to as my long-term portfolio options.
Then there are the day plays. I watch stocks that take a bath for a couple of days after. I watch stocks that rise for no reason. I love good volume on a stock on any particular day. And I am constantly looking for stocks that move in concurrence with the S&P futures...
I love consistent stocks. CSCO, AMAT, MSFT, INTC, etc. Stocks that trend rather than jump.
Lately, I have been getting crushed on shorts -- holding too long...
With regard to level II, I have a spreadsheet I've created from the nasdaqtrader.com web site on each of those previously mentioned 250 stocks as to which MM's are buying/selling over particular periods of time. My data goes back 15 months. I look for who underwrote the stock and who does M&A work for the company...etc. I like to try and find the active MM(s) for a stock I am trading for any given day.
With regard to buying/selling, I pick a stock based on the strategic factors outline above. On a tactical level, I simply use the MM information to try to obtain the desired prices...and momentum.
My problems right now stem from the fact that although I am strategically right almost every time, my tactics are really weak. For example, BRCM on Friday. I waited and waited after the open for it to fall, fall, fall -- then got in at the perfect price and watched it jump back up 7 1/4 where I dumped. Great trade right? Nope, my buy was a split fill for 25 shares for a whopping $187. And so it goes...making teenies and losing halves...
All this and it's still the greatest job in the world... |
