I happen to be a very methodical planner, but impulsive trader. It’s an odd combination, sort of like watching and old professor go nuts inside of a laboratory trying to create Frankenstein for no god damned reason. I start off my days, as most gentlemen should.
Breakfast is austere, nothing more than a cup of earl grey tea and a piece of toast or maybe a greek yogurt, with the sounds of classical music being played, gently in the background. I turn on the CNBC and chuckle as the comedians tell funny jokes to the cameras. I pen a blog, email important people, text Jeremy (our IT guy/my partner on the site) threatening messages regarding the servers and then sit down to give the market a look over.
I have a list of stocks that I am willing to buy, procured, diligently, the night before. I look it over and think about a few of the names, request research on the ones that interest me, then watch the market open for trade.
As soon as the market opens, I turn into Dr. Jekyll, screaming at people and punching plants in the face. All of my watchlists are immediately shredded to pieces, then burned. Frantically, I search through the most active list and most up list, looking for trends. I want to see a common theme. I am looking for correlations and reasons to buy into a given sector. If the sector isn’t hot, I’m not interested. This is trading after all, not investing.
From about 10am to 11, I speak to some friends about the markets, pick their brains for ideas.
I do another blog.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been spending my trading days inside 12631. I love it so much, I don’t think Chess and RC will be able to kick me out. Jeremy tells me over the past week 12631 broke all activity records in its 2+year history. The room has never been so lively. All day long I am posting thoughts about stocks that pop up on my radar inside 12631, before I buy them or even think about buying them. It’s just a great place to hang with people who are serious about making money. Hat tip to Chess and RC for that.
I switch back to The PPT and post comments in there regarding stocks that look good, maybe create another screen to find some trades for members, or post some research.
I find a stock worth buying.
For the next 10 minutes, I am entranced with getting orders filled. Typically my trades are anywhere from $50k to $200k per, with normal positions sized up to about $2-3 million. I know to some that sounds like a lot, but for people in my industry, it’s chicken scratch.
When I am buying stock, I do not micro-manage the fills. I want in the stock, so I buy it. If I am afraid of moving the stock higher, I buy small, with plans to buy more later.
I blog again.
By the end of the day, I have probably blogged 5-10 times, spoken to 15 people, left 10-20 PPT messages and 50 12631 comments, filled 10-20 orders and sucked down 4 oversized mugs filled with the blackest earl grey tea (milk and honey) the earth has ever produced.
Then in the after hours I build a watchlist of stocks to buy for the next day. You know the routine: rinse and repeat.
NOTE: Someone just reminded me that I tend to chat it up a bit on Twitter too, yelling at the internet in grossly sardonic manner.
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