By Cliff Clark
Do you know why you would like to start a trading business? Have you really thought long and hard about it? Do you know if you have what it actually takes? If not I think it's time you started to think about it.
To start with make a list of the reasons you'd like to start a trading business. If your main reason is to make a quick dollar, head straight over to your local casino or maybe try the lottery or any number of get rich quick schemes. Many people are attracted to trading because of all the advertisements that promise to make them rich with almost no effort. They think this will result in early financial freedom. It can do that but not without dedication and hard work.
But my question to you is do you have a passion for trading? Do you love trading? Do you strongly believe in your heart and mind that if you put forth the required effort that you can make your trading business a success?
Why is it important to be passionate about your trading business? Because passion helps you achieve your goals and can make your dreams a reality. It helps you to think big. It can take you from good to great. Michael Jordan was one of the best examples of someone who was driven by an incredible amount of passion. He had a rare intensity of focus on what he loved and believed in, basketball and himself. Jordan's passion took from good to great.
If you want to create a successful trading business, enjoy the process of becoming a trader and make sure it's your passion, let your passion take you from good to great. If you are not in this for the right reasons you will not succeed.
2 trades for me today with +1.5R total
1st Trade QCOM +2R
148.39/149.97 exit 143.25
12% gap down under pivot support and 50ma after a strong daily double top rejection,. I took it on a congestion breakdown with a fairly wide stop, leaving my 2R target 50c over its ATR, slow but consistent move down with great RW, hit my target on the penny before it bounced.
2nd Trade AQB -0.5R
9.40/9.70 exit 9.56
I rarely trade stocks under $10 and even more rarely short them. I liked this daily chart as it broke its uptrend channel and stayed under a strong 9.50 support line enough room to its daily 50ma. I entered after a pullback with a fairly wide stop but only 1/3 of its ATR used at the time. It failed to break down with the strong market open and stayed in a narrow range.
I actually broke my plan with this trade as I lowered my stop to a pivot where price made a big bounce earlier at 11am with a large seller sitting there. My thought was that if it breaks that level again then it will likely...
1 trade for (-1R)
I took a BD on QCOM. I was worried about the target being close to the daily range, so I took a tighter stop on the 2 min chart. I am looking through PTS right now, most of the examples have 2 options for where to put your stop. It looks to me like one of the stops would be at the bottom of the main consolidation area, and the other at the bottom of where there has been a shakeout or turnaround bar (if there has been one). Due to the daily range I took the tighter one on this. In hindsight it seems obvious to take the wider stop, but in the moment it looked ok.
I was then looking at the 15 min 3BP on QCOM, but the reason I used a tighter stop in the first place was because of the range. The 15 min 3BP would have needed to have gone even further than the wider stop on the 2 min BD, so I didn't take it.
