Hey Market Pilots,On June 30th I wrote a piece about the SPY coming into the Daily 50 SMA and how we know when the bounce would be confirmed. I described how price can sometimes bounce exactly off a moving average or push a little past it before moving up. For my style of trading, I look at the lower time frames to see how that bounce is going to develop.  In the previous article I specified what I wanted to see from the charts in order to confirm the next … Read more

Hey Market Pilots, New traders often ask me how much money do they need to have to be able to trade. My first answer is “none” because I suggest they paper trade before using real money. If for no other reason than to learn how to use the platform and avoid pushing the wrong button. I speak from experience because when I was in college, I was guilty of pushing the wrong button which cost me more than I would like to admit. The other reason to start with paper … Read more

Hey Market Pilots, Last week we had an exact double bottom bounce, which also coincided with a bounce off the Daily 50 SMA. This made for a very strong 4-day run into the 4th of July holiday, giving us traders fireworks of our own. The setup was also boosted by good economic numbers that came out Thursday morning, but the charts said price was too extended and therefore faded towards the end of the day. Now, where do we go? My expected behavior of the market after a bullish holiday … Read more

Hey Market Pilots, Happy (almost) 4th of July! This holiday is all about America’s independence as its own country, making decisions for the promise of a better future. Sound familiar? It should. Most traders around the globe are attracted to the markets for the same reason: independence. More to the point, we want to be self-sufficient and provide for our own in a way that we determine is best. But this is easier said than done.  In search for independence, each trader has his own journey with ups and downs. … Read more

The drop right after the June 10th FOMC meeting was fairly obvious for me to see and Moxie subscribers were able to take advantage. We took off most long positions and then went long UVXY for some insurance which turned out to pay handsomely. The market is now testing that low again, but this time the Daily 50 SMA is involved.  What does this mean and where do we go from here? Typical price action would suggest that the SPY should bounce off its Daily 50 SMA since the moving … Read more

Hey Market Pilots, How is a new trader supposed to learn to trade other than looking at historical charts or experiencing it live, one day at a time? In the old days, these were the only two options and while studying historical charts has been the most common, I believe it presents some gaps when it comes to how we as humans learn. Learning how to trade in real-time has its own issues. Mainly being too slow as you have to let each day or minute go by in order … Read more

Hey Market Pilots, You can be right on a stock, but wrong on the timing. And sometimes things just happen that you have no control over no matter how good the setup is… Let me explain what I mean.  One particular trade that comes to mind recently is QTT and my favorite Moxie Trampoline setup. I took a trade the other week on QTT because my rules were fulfilled and the chart looked worthy of an attempt. This was even during one of my live trading sessions so I was … Read more

Hey Market Pilots, Yesterday was Father’s Day so I wanted to take the time to tell you a little bit about my dad and how he got me into trading. You all are reading this because my dad was the one who exposed me to the world of trading when I was small enough to sit on his lap (comfortably). I had some various paths over the years, but it was consistent reminders about trading stocks like this, “You should learn this for your own benefit,” that kept me coming … Read more

Hey Market Pilots, Sometimes it is ok to do nothing in the market. In fact, Jesse Livermore said it was the waiting which made him the money; Waiting for a setup to form and waiting for a position to appreciate. And markets aren’t always clear. There can be chop during consolidation which makes entering a position treacherous or just a waste of time.  It can be challenging as a trader to be inactive, but it is a skill that must be learned. Overtrading is a real thing and we waste … Read more

Hey Market Pilots, Our abilities as humans to recognize patterns, even if those patterns aren’t identical, is a profound ability. I use the example of a box to help elaborate on how we need to view market patterns. Imagine 100 packages arrive at your house. They all came in a box, right? But none of them were the same. Some of them may have had stickers, tape, rope, or a bashed corner. Some were long, some were wide, others big, or small. No matter the kind of box arrived, we … Read more