The hardest thing about trading

The hardest thing about trading options is patience..

Well that.... and picking the right direction. That helps too.

What do you trade? Can you watch it during the day? This market...since it is consolidating "picking a direction" is a challenge. This is why I am looking for squeeze patterns. I posted on the squeeze topic this... META on 2/7/23 was showing a squeeze on the 55 and 34 so at 3:14 off an 8 chart I purchased 5 $190 calls and sold @ 3:56 for 7.10. This did a strong pull back and fell to 6.65 at the close. I will be watching this first thing in the morning on 2/8/23. Squeeze is still there."

However, I did get in and out quickly because of the location of the candle on the 55. It *could* pop in either direction so META was the one I watched right at the open on 2/8. Because of the squeeze I saw on META on a 55 chart after the open on 2/8/23 at 11:06 I bought 4 Feb 185 PUTS. I was immediately up over $150.00. You know I don't hang around. I sold with a profit of $250.00 BUT if I held on overnight today at 3:24 my profit would be $1,46.00. All I use is moving averages, GW's setting on the Bollinger bands and GW's settings on StochRSI.

Yeah, I can sometimes watch during the day, but it's not consistent. Usually I get busy with work and while I'm sucked into that things can swing against me. I use the 233 and daily/weekly charts. I'd prefer to stay in a trade for at least a few days if possible. Still my hardest struggle is knowing when to exit because I keep hearing GW in my head saying, "you stay until the trade is over and you have the correct amount of reasons to leave". The problem is you can go from having NO reasons to leave to having 10 reasons to leave within a single candle. And then your nice profit has become a small loss all within one candle.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2023 11:42PM by RichieRick.

Staying until the trade is over can mean it is over when you say it is over.

Before entering a trade see if GW's green line is going in the same direction of how you plan to trade.

If you are staying or planning to stay only a few days perhaps you should use a 55, 233, daily and maybe a weekly to see the full trend. If you are in for only a few days...well okay let me put it this way..._{.if it was me}...I wouldn't use the weekly at all. I would use a weekly if I was buying stock or buying way out in time like Sept or Nov. and then I would combine that with earnings or dividends.

There comes a point IMHO where too much information causes stagnation and invisibility.

What do you trade? DOW? Nasdaq? S&P? META? HD? APPL?

I am in a META PUT right now (2/10/23) and fully expect it to hit $175. but I'll be gone before it does....yep I am out with $160 profit in @ 10:43 out @ 10:52. Moving averages, Bollinger Bands, and price scale.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2023 10:54AM by Darcy3.

Usually I trade the TQQQ and IWM indexes. Also a small handful of stocks like zm, ddog, roku, spot, fivn, w, amat, amd, dash, net. I probably trade the TQQQ more than most. The options are cheap compared to others like tsla.

As you know I am an Investopedia follower. I know nothing about the TQQQ so I looked it up on Investopedia. I knew that just because an option is cheaper doesn't make it the best bet. The loss is far greater because of the amount of options a person buys. I looked up the TQQQ and according to Investopedia, "TQQQ is built for short-holding periods and is best suited for day traders." ARKK is an ETF and the top 6 stocks in its holdings are solid...TSLA, ZM, EXAS, ROKU, SQ, and SHOP. Its options are also inexpensive. Would I trade it? Nope I am not a ETF fan and especially the TQQQ. Why? Because the TQQQ is a derivative. Investopedia: "The TQQQ is a 3x leveraged ETF based on the QQQ (a Nasdaq-100 Index ETF). Because it is leveraged, it uses derivatives contracts to amplify its returns based on how the index performs. As such, it does not actually hold the shares of any companies. Instead, the unleveraged QQQ itself owns the companies in the index." For me that makes it hard to trade. Why would I want to trade harder?

Now think about this if you buy 20 options of TQQQ at 1.16 you pay 20 x for the cost of the trade for a total of about $2,333. If I am reading this correctly if the option drops by .02 your loss is huge. Too risky for me.

What I do on stocks like TSLA for example is I wait for the spread to be .05 sometimes if it is on the move (volume exploding) I will get in for a dime spread. I follow that more than I do the cost of the option. I seldom trade after expiration because the options are too high. Currently I have been watching META and with the market "fall" the options have been cheap.

Hmm..... I didn't know TQQQ was leveraged. That certainly explains the behavior I often see on the charts. I'll just quietly remove that one from the basket. lol.

Now that's one of the things I love about life. Ya get to learn something new everyday. Also life is a tough teacher. First you get the test, then you get the lesson.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2023 11:24AM by RichieRick.

RichieRick Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
"First you get the test, then you get the lesson." Yes, and sometimes we convince ourselves we don't need to do the lesson. Oh brother was this me for so long! Finding out what works for you is best and from what you have said TQQQ may not be what works for you.

For years I practiced and lost, lost and practiced. I was determined that I would "get it". S/O read a section in "Technical Analysis For Dummies" and worked on a technic he read about and combined that with 1-5 creating the "E". After S/O left for his new home in the sky I just couldn't touch a chart but when I came back, I decided I was going to sit down and do this thing because he wanted this to work for us so much.

I began with what I knew. I went back and listened to 1-5 and something jumped out at me. GW's Christmas Cross is based on moving averages and the Bollinger bands are ( AH-HA!) based on moving averages!! (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bollingerbands.asp)

In 1-5 GW said, "turn your candles off", I never studied candles for that reason and still don't other than seeing color and height.

Next I stayed with Qharts. S/O and I learned that the way we traded we didn't need all the bells and whistles GW had us sign up for. It cut our cost in half. I tried TorS charts and I just don't like them.

I needed support and resistance. I use the 20 MA and the center of the Bollinger band setting given by GW to show support and resistance. Knowing I hate holding overnight I settled it in my mind that a fast trade was for me, not as fast as S/O's. I knew that TECH was for me because they move faster than the DOW. DOW for me is for buying stocks.

I didn't need a "buck up" since I was not holding overnight AND I didn't care if I could have made more if I stayed...I cared that after I made $80 to a $100 plus I was done for the day. It was more than I started my day having. (BTW while writing this I traded NVDA. I got in at 12:43 and out at 13:03 on a Feb 225 call. Made my $165.00 and will be heading to the grocery store when I finish this post.)

Support and resistance is very important when trading as I do. I mark gaps on my 8 chart because they become support and resistance as well as moving averages. When the gap lines are broken on my 8 chart, I take them off not immediately but within a few days.

The very first chart I look at is the 8. I will look at the 21 and 55 to see if I will get a run. I am not talking about the option I am talking about the stock moving that much before it hits resistance or support. If it has at least a dollar move I know I can clip at least .30 to .50 of that move and often the option by 10 or 10:30 has moved in a direction that allows me to trade it. If not I wait and sometimes that trade isn't ready until after lunch. (See my NVDA trade time for today)

TIP....GW's green line (which is a moving average given on the candle chart)....if it curves up especially on all charts look for a call, down look for a put. Not saying play it because other small charts will tell how long it will last. But it is a SIGNAL! The red line...candles!

Wow! Thanks for sharing Darcy. Very insightful, and definitely food for thought.

I used to listen the GW on the 1-5 cds so much I could practically recite the entire thing word for word.

R

Darcy3 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What do you trade? Can you watch it during the
> day? This market...since it is consolidating
> "picking a direction" is a challenge. This is why
> I am looking for squeeze patterns. I posted on the
> squeeze topic this... META on 2/7/23 was Cbd products
> a squeeze on the 55 and 34 so at 3:14 off an 8
> chart I purchased 5 $190 calls and sold @ 3:56 for
> 7.10. This did a strong pull back and fell to 6.65
> at the close. I will be watching this first thing
> in the morning on 2/8/23. Squeeze is still there."
>
>
> However, I did get in and out quickly because of
> the location of the candle on the 55. It *could*
> pop in either direction so META was the one I
> watched right at the open on 2/8. Because of the
> squeeze I saw on META on a 55 chart after the open
> on 2/8/23 at 11:06 I bought 4 Feb 185 PUTS. I was
> immediately up over $150.00. You know I don't hang
> around. I sold with a profit of $250.00 here
> https://telegrambetting.club/ BUT if I
> held on overnight today at 3:24 my profit would be
> $1,46.00. All I use is moving averages, GW's
> setting on the Bollinger bands and GW's settings
> on StochRSI.


Wow, this sounds like you know what you're doing! It's great that you're able to get in and out quickly and make a healthy profit. What strategies do you use to identify trading opportunities? Do you have any tips you can share with us?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2023 06:01AM by JamesBasej.

That's a tricky situation to be in, I totally get it! I think the best way to go about it is to https://sharpedgeshop.com/collections/small-kitchen-knives sure that you have a risk management plan in place before you enter the trade, so you know when it's time to get out. That way you can adjust your strategy accordingly and still come out with a profit.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/09/2023 02:38AM by JamesBasej.

That's a great point, GW. It's definitely a difficult balancing act to stay in a trade long enough to maximize profits while still being able to recognize when the trade is going against you and needs to be exited. It takes a lot of practice and experience to get it right. But don't forget, you can always look at historical data to gain an understanding of patterns and trends that can help you make better decisions in the future.

JamesBasej Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That's a tricky situation to be in, I totally get
> it! I think the best way to go about it is to
> sure that you have a risk management plan
> in place before you enter the tojiro knife set, so you know
> when it's time to get out. That way you can adjust
> your strategy accordingly and still https://www.viberate.com/ out with
> a profit.
Good luck!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/2023 07:53AM by JamesBasej.

Darcy3 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The hardest thing about trading options is
> patience..

That's definitely true! Patience is key when it comes to trading options, especially if you're trying to take advantage of short-term opportunities. However, with the right strategies, you can start to see returns much sooner than you might expect.