Down in the trenches with trading tactics
In my last blog post, I made an argument that the details of patterns do not matter--get the idea and the big picture right, and everything else is much easier.…
What’s going on? Thinking conceptually about patterns.
When I started trading, like many people, I was drawn to traditional technical analysis. I spent hours and hours studying different variations of patterns, often after creating the charts myself…
Four things you need to know about quiet markets
How many emails do you get promising to show you how to find "hot stocks now"? How many screeners out there want to show you the movers and shakers in…
Lessons from a reader: trade review of CREE
I received a good question from a long-time reader on a trade he executed in CREE. Here's Jim's (edited) question: I’ve been trying to swing trade for a few years…
Trading Edge vs trading edge
I did an interview a week or so ago with Abraham Thomas, one of the co-founders of Quandl. I love doing interviews because a thoughtful interviewer makes me ask questions…
Four steps to mastering your fear of trading
Every trader faces fear, sooner or later. In a perfect world, we'd be fearful at exactly the right times and use that fear to manage our risk, but we all…
AUDUSD: Short-term inflections or trend change?
One of the key challenges for discretionary traders is balancing short-term and longer-term information. Err too far on either side, and bad things will happen: Focus too much on short-term,…
Exits: know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em
We all focus a lot of attention, perhaps too much attention, on where to buy and sell a market, on where to enter trades. Today, let's spend some time looking…
Reader question: what’s wrong with Fibonacci?
Matt asked a question that I sat on for quite a while. I wasn't sure how to write a reasonably concise answer to a good question, but I'll try today.…
Patterns within patterns
One of the problems swing traders in stocks face is correlation; the sad reality is that stocks mostly move together, and trades in stocks mostly win and lose together. If…
Resources for learning Python
I received a good question in response to my previous post on starting to learn Python for finance. Here's Mark's question: Thanks again for all your work and all that…
First steps in Python for traders
I've written a bit on the difference between high and low level programming languages, and on why I think Python is the right choice for many traders today. In this…
No, it’s not all the same.
In my last post, I showed a quick test of a simple system applied to the futures markets. The point of that post was to show how a simple quantitative…
Testing a trend-following approach in futures
In this post, we'll take a look at a common trend-following trading idea: channel breakouts (also called Donchian channels). I want to share with you a way of looking at…
Choosing a programming language for finance
So let's assume you've read my preparatory posts (here, and here), and that you're on board with the need to learn to do your own analytical work in the markets.…
Getting your hands dirty: tools for understanding the market
Continuing on the theme of my last post, I want to take some time to dig into the options you have when you think about doing your own testing and…