Is It Friday Yet?

This week started much like Friday as the market acted with uncertainty while waiting on government actions related to Chinese companies and agreements on the next round of economic stimulus.

The end of the week is generally not good for traders – the market just doesn’t like traders on a Friday.

With a hint of déjà vu today (the Dow and Nasdaq moved in opposite directions), it might be a good time to determine best practices as a trader before Friday rolls around again.

The market has been erratic and volatile while creating a lingering uncertainty for traders.

Friday has a reputation as a day when the market catches traders off guard or too extended and then rips apart their accounts. It’s a good day to avoid trading.

The end of last week was a time for caution in the market. Add non-farm payroll to the aforementioned concerns, and they day pleaded with traders to be cautious.

So what to do on a Friday (or any erratic day)?

Here’s some thoughts:

• Enjoy the day and not trading
• Use the time for planning
• Review all open trades
• Evaluate recent closed positions
• Learn from negatives and positives 

Anytime there is a high level of uncertainty, focus on caution.

Being active in trading doesn’t mean trading just to be active. “Active trading” doesn’t result in the rewards people expect.

To use a baseball analogy, the best batters don’t swing at every pitch. As expected, batters who swing at every pitch strike out a lot and spend more time on the bench than running the bases.

Big-time hitters are patient and know what pitch works for them. When the ideal pitch comes across the plate they make the most of it. Consistent singles and doubles boost batting averages more than home runs, just like consistent trades boost trading accounts more than a “big score.”

So use Friday, or any other day where trading deserves any extra bit of caution, to implement the thoughts above.

The Simpler Trading live, online chat rooms can be a welcome pause for traders exercising their patience skills.

Whether you are interested in stocks, options, Forex, or futures, these live connections offer a chance to observe our full-time traders assessing the markets and trading using their personal styles and a variety of strategies. This environment allows for observation, practice, and applying patience before jumping into any market or specific trade.

Watching and waiting presents more pitches, or trades, that could pay off with a big hit.

We Saw: a split session of positive and negative in indexes – 

• Nasdaq sliding further with lagging tech sector
• Dow and S&P 500 keeping up the win streak
• Gold still golden to start the week

We’re Watching: continued bullish sentiment across markets –

• Cautious with any open trades facing earnings reports
• And taking any upside plays
• Setups in: MRNA, QQQ, GOOGL,