Category Archives: Risk Management

How to stockpile a trade position one step at a time

Arguably the single most important skill a trader needs to master in trading any market is to cut your losses short and let your profits run.  This is simply another saying of managing risks and maximizing opportunities.  However, this is easier said than done.  Ever tried to cut your losses short but only to see [...]
Also posted in Trading Strategy | Tagged CHF, entry, EUR, FTC | 2 Comments

4 fundamental entry signs for trading and why they are not that important

Much has been written about when to buy stocks, forex, or other instruments.  In fact, it is the topic that is written the most about in trading.  As if there’s nothing else to trading than timing your entries.  On the contrary, I have come to realize that timing for entries is actually the least important [...]
Also posted in Trading Signal | Tagged entry | Leave a comment

Adapting to changing market volatility with a statistical position size table

We know that prices can go up or down.  We also know that the quality of these ups and downs can be very smooth or very choppy.  As such, it’s not surprising that the trend and volatility of a market form the two universal characteristics of a price action.  No matter which market you trade, [...]
Also posted in Quantitative Tools, Trading Strategy | Leave a comment

Auto bailout shakeout December 13, 2008

To bail.  Not to bail.  To bail.  Not to bail.  Friday’s market gapped down big time on news the bailout failed to pass the senate on Thursday night.  Then just hours later, rumours were surfacing about the White House stepping in with the TARP money.  As of Saturday, FP headline reads White House holds off [...]
Also posted in Stocks | Tagged DRYS, exit, market analysis, SKF | Leave a comment

Covered SLW, FRO, and WFC short puts

The market broke my intraday support line today (pink line, first graph).  What appeared to be a good Monday turned out to be very disappointing.  I cleared the last of my short puts (i.e. long) about 5 seconds before the close when the market gained some footing.  These plays are purely for risk management purposes, [...]
Also posted in Stocks | Tagged exit, FRO, market analysis, options, SLW, WFC | Leave a comment

4 errors and lessons from being long just before the October 2008 crash

S&P 500 review I have been waiting to go long in this bear market for a few weeks now, hoping for a bottom soon (first of my errors).  Then on week of September 29th, I decided to go all in (error #2).  S&P closed at 1099 that Friday.  A week later, on October 10th, the Friday [...]
Also posted in Self Assessment | Tagged market analysis, post-hoc analysis, S&P 500 | Leave a comment

Reducing overall market exposure according to market volatility

With VIX at a multi-year high and the current market turmoil, it seems to be a good time to write about market volatility. Market volatility is a two-edged sword.  Day traders dream of catching the 800 point swing in the YM contracts.  Yet, most would lose more being stopped out before giving up and then missing [...]
Posted in Risk Management | Tagged S&P 500 | 1 Comment