@zamirikpo, as you rightly said the market is dynamic and people trade based on strategy that fits their risk profile and day to day working live hence the option for buy and hold.

The 8k loss was during my early days and as you rightly said, there was no stop loss hence the huge loss. Since then I have improved significantly on my money management, having a defined entry, exit and take profit point before executing any trade. I will be quite interested to see how you do your day trade, but as I said, the nature of my job is such that I cannot day trade as it saps the energy out of me.

Moving forward, what we could do is share ideas, most especially on stock picks, tend analysis and the general situation of the market. From time to time, I would test your day trade strategy and see how I could gradually test the strategy over time. There are times when I am out of contract and might be possible to do this before i get back to work. In short, always keep your mind open and keep your options open to possibilities.

Let me know your time schedule, where you are based and we could work out a skype session to have a chat and build up a trading forum from there. I am sure like minded people will join and share there strategy as we move along.

For me my details are as follows
location UK
email - jimoh.jobs@hotmail.co.uk

Reach out to me and I will add you to my what app profile. let me know once you send me an email so that I could check the box and send you my mobile number for whats app.

Market In the last 20years on a Monthly graph.

The graph below shows the price movement of the S&P500 in the last 20 years. The current Bull market started March 2009 till today, rising by 300%. We have seen temporary corrections along the way, but not sufficient to reset the whole market and start all over again as it was evident in 2002 (following .com boom) and 2009 (following the banks and housing market crises).

The Market has been stimulated by various stimulus packages resulting in sub_zero interest rates in countries like Japan, hence it will be right to say that this has been an artificial boom.

The last one year has seen no significant change in the direction of the market, the last 3 yellow arrows pointing down shows points at which market rally had failed 3 times. We seem to have hit a resistance at that level and drifting sideways ever since.
The Momentum graph shows that the market strength is week, exactly at zero. Actually, it was at a negative value, just approaching zero with a possibility of increasing.

The last week had shown a strong and positive trading week, I have attached a weekly graph of SPY showing the point at which the market would likely break the support and move up further. Judging by the performance last week, and the trend of the solid yellow line approaching the grey, it looks more likely for the market to move higher rather than fall over.

As we are not predicting the market, we can only check on weekly basis and make decision on how to trade the following week.
Right now I will trade with caution until the following factors are well aligned.

1. The price breaks through the white line at point A.
2. The yellow line crosses above the grey at Point B ( at this point, I will start trading aggressively)
3. By the time the stochastics is above and steady over 50 ( Point C), we should be in a fully confirmed uptrend and would continue to trade with confidence till the market condition changes

Before then, we will keep analysing the market and identifying stocks with great prospects ready to break out from consolidation.

sure jide, we would definately share ideas on stock pics.....and other vital info in the stock market. like u rightly said the strategy we choose depend a whole lot on our time schedule.....day trading requires full concentration for about 3hrs a day on a good day ,maybe more if the market delays.

i look out for that breakout set-up, on the daily ,hourly or 5minute chart. as a business man i have the advantage of being able to plan my day to suite the market. back here in naija ,the us market starts at exactly 2.30pm.....so i do my business in the morning and by noon am gearing up for the market ,surfing and scanning for the right stock to trade.

i trade in seconds.....buy and sell, at most 5-10 minutes if i have a next to perfect entry. am based in Asaba, Delta state....i've not traded for too long, although i spent 6months paper trading.

as a day trader my frustrations are not being able for find my set-up(breakout of resistance or support)....sometimes its difficult. but once i find it, na sure money. i hope the pix i uploaded shows....

i would add u on whatsapp so we could chat more. trading the stock market is a sure way of making extra income, some guys i know live and survive solely on the us stock market. the Nigerian stock market does not have the volatility needed to make money.

the usual trend is to develop from being a day trader into becoming a swing trader like u, so u would indeed be an important resource for me...although i intend to day trade until i can raise enough cash to buy and hold....for days. once u can take money off the stock market ,it builds ur confidence and extends ur risk margin.

i opened my account with suretrader and was given margin of *6 of my initial capital......

nice thread jide....nice one.

jidearms what do you think about trading indices only

got a high win rate there

dow and us500

NonFarmPayrol:
jidearms what do you think about trading indices only

got a high win rate there

dow and us500

Thats great... in fact that is what I was discussing with my friend last weekend. He trades the indices but he was telling me it was a bit diff compared to trading stocks. I have not really looked into this but would be great if you could throw some light into it. I have a good understanding of the technical analysis on when to trade it or not. Another things is that he trades a 1min chat and that is too stressful for me.

Let me know what you trade, time frame, how it differs from buying and selling stocks.

@ Zamirikpo
Ideally the plan to get to a point where trading could be my backup income, and considering the state of the country now, foreign currency is vital. Right now I buy and hold although my cash is minimal now as I learn new trading strategy.

Moving forward, this thread will be moved onto a Blog room which is more interactive and where people could meet in a chat room.
It's good to hear that “ suretrader” opens account with *6 Margin as people kept asking me how to open one from Nigeria, but what is the capital requirement to have this opened?

Jideams:


Thats great... in fact that is what I was discussing with my friend last weekend. He trades the indices but he was telling me it was a bit diff compared to trading stocks. I have not really looked into this but would be great if you could throw some light into it. I have a good understanding of the technical analysis on when to trade it or not. Another things is that he trades a 1min chat and that is too stressful for me.

Let me know what you trade, time frame, how it differs from buying and selling stocks.

DAX DOW AND US500
4HR CHART IS BEST. I TRADE PULL BACKS ON A TREND

i dentify trend with 21 ema
trend based on engykfing and other strong patterns

@Jide
Minimum cash requirement is 500dols but from experience u need at least 3000dols to trade profitably.....cos u would get margin on d sum....so ur buying power would be around 18,000dols.....with dis u can buy more shares .....and make money.

All,

Please find below my possible breakout for the week. As you all know the breakout might not happen this week but there is a high probability it does depending on the general market. Last week closed on a good note and if the trend continues this week we might high a new market high in the last 12 months

Happy trading, let us follow up next weekend... drop any ideas or questions during the week and I'll pick you as the week progresses.

Nice on guys, just finally reactivated my account on TD ameritrade. For FX issues i would have funded it, will do that before end of June, and will be ready to join you guys.

Keep it coming...

@jideams thank God you are back.

k

The Market week ending 5/06/2016

The Market continue to show improved performance ending on a strong buy. The week before the last showed a full blown green candle, indicating that there was a strong buy during the whole week although volume was lower than the previous week. Last week started off with a sell (profit taking from the previous week) but as soon as the profit taking was over we had a buy on the last 3 days with increasing volume.

This is an indication that the market is gathering momentum and we might eventually cross point A (see the weekly graph).
See the graph below for the performance for last week on both daily and weekly graph.

Conclusion.
Market is showing a strong movement on the up side, the yellow line 20days moving average has touched the 200 days moving average (the grey line) which is what we have been waiting for. A full confirmation will be for the yellow to fully cross the grey with the momentum pointing up. From this point I will start analysing new stocks breaking out, indicating we are in a full bull run.
Please bear with me I cannot provide a daily post for now as I am in the process of building a blog where all these information will be transferred.

Please check out stockmarketpickinfo.com, this thread will later move onto this site for better interaction and video updates. In addition, you will be able to download stock picks and other articles for your own read.
As the site under build, it will be offline at various times during the week, hence the need to continue to update Nairaland.

The Market Monday 6/06/2016

Following the positive performance last week Friday, the Market advanced further today gaining 0.51% on the S&P 500. The Market showed positive sign following the decision of the Us government not to increase interest rate. The result is cheap money in circulation pushing them market into 7months high.

Note, the overall condition of the Market is an indication of the best time to trade, 3 out of every 4 stocks (75%) follows the market hence the need to pay attention to the state of the Market.

Checkout http://stockmarketpickinfo.com/ (note, this is work in progress)

Although the Market continue to show improved performance hitting 18,000 Mark on the Dow today, there was a pull back at the end of the day showing some level of sell off.

As previously discussed, the Market sentiment should be analysed from the perspective of a weekly graph as this shows the trend and the traders general perception by the end of the week. The daily graph has been provided to ensure that we keep in line with the daily activity, but the weekly graph provides a general overview of market sentimentfor the week. This is applicable to individual stocks as well.

Thumbs up Jide. I am a virtual trader who is about to start trading with real money. TDAmertrade.com is fantastic but don't you think that the $10 execution fee is on the high side? I mean for a high frequency trader like myself. Is there any way the cost can be brought down. On a trading day I make nothing less than 4 orders. Tht execution fee can really eat through the profits if any. Please where are you based?
I have been wanting to get a good trading platform here in nigeria but my feaRs as you pointed out is on their efficiently. I don't a situation where I exits a trade at N5 but but the order won't be execute till maybe the stock droPs to N4

Jideams:
The Market week ending 5/06/2016

The Market continue to show improved performance ending on a strong buy. The week before the last showed a full blown green candle, indicating that there was a strong buy during the whole week although volume was lower than the previous week. Last week started off with a sell (profit taking from the previous week) but as soon as the profit taking was over we had a buy on the last 3 days with increasing volume.

This is an indication that the market is gathering momentum and we might eventually cross point A (see the weekly graph).
See the graph below for the performance for last week on both daily and weekly graph.

Conclusion.
Market is showing a strong movement on the up side, the yellow line 20days moving average has touched the 200 days moving average (the grey line) which is what we have been waiting for. A full confirmation will be for the yellow to fully cross the grey with the momentum pointing up. From this point I will start analysing new stocks breaking out, indicating we are in a full bull run.
Please bear with me I cannot provide a daily post for now as I am in the process of building a blog where all these information will be transferred.

Please check out stockmarketpickinfo.com, this thread will later move onto this site for better interaction and video updates. In addition, you will be able to download stock picks and other articles for your own read.
As the site under build, it will be offline at various times during the week, hence the need to continue to update Nairaland.

@Zhirinovsky,

One the critical decision to be made while trading is the choice of your trading platform. Presently based in the UK and I use TDameritrade as my platform and Thinkorswim for each trade. This is hosted by TD Ameritrade and as you have confirmed, it cost 10 dollars a trade. There are other
platforms like E-Trade that charges 5 dollar a trade but I have not really tested them. I started off with TD Ameritrade, and It took me a while to master the platform. Subscribing to another platform will take another learning curve with some pit falls.

When I was new to TD Ameritrade, I set a stop loss on a trade incorrectly and it cost me 8000 dollars at the end of the day. Trust me, I actually went to bed crying and did not trade for another 4months. I thought of what I could have used the money for (holiday, new car, mortgage payment) and the list goes on.

So my advise is to take your time to look for one that suits your need and your budget, test it with real money and then decide what is best for you.

Keep the question coming, do not forget to check stockmarketpickinfo.com as i gradually build out the posts.

Stock Review

XRS

Description
TAL Education Group is a holding company for a group of companies engaged in provision of after-school tutoring programs for primary and secondary school students in the People's Republic of China (the PRC). The Company is a K-12 after-school tutoring services provider in the PRC. The Company offer tutoring services to K-12 students covering core academic subjects, including mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography, political science, English and Chinese, among others, as well as, through its Mobby tutoring services, young learners tutoring services for students aged two through eight. It delivers its tutoring services primarily through small classes (including Xueersi Peiyou and Mobby tutoring services), personalized premium services and online course offerings. Its educational network consists of approximately 289 learning centers and approximately 267 service centers in 19 cities throughout China. (source Google.com)

Analysis
This is a stock I have been trading for the past 3 month with a net gain of 11.27%. Right now I need to make a decision to sell the stock as all my indicators are pointing to a weak upwards movement. Yesterday the stock dropped by 3.67% taking off a reasonable chunk of my profit from over 15%.

The decision now is to either hold or sell, but this will be made at the end of the week. Pending that time, a stop loss will be required in case of any unforeseen event.

Attached is a weekly performance of the stock over the last 2 years, you will see from the green vertical line that the price has respected the solid yellow line ( average price in the last 20 days) and had always bounced back once the price reaches that level (solid yellow line). For that reason, I have set my stop loss at exactly that level. I do not expect the price to come to that level as the stock rose by 1.2% yesterday after market, indicating that buyers had come in after the trade to pick up bargain.

As previously said, 3 of my indicators has pointed to a negative but these are lagging indicators. Price movement is the ultimate indicator in this case, hence the reason why I have set my stop loss at 52.04.

If price moves above 52.04 as expected due to some buy in, I will sell, take my profit and look for another stocks to by. I have decided to sell as all my 3 indicators has pointed to a negative and this confirms the upwards movement is under pressure.
Let us check this again next week to see if it was a good decision.

Stock Review

PAYC

Description

Paycom Software, Inc. (Paycom) is a provider of cloud-based human capital management (HCM) software solution delivered as software as a service (SaaS). The Company's solution is based on a system of record maintained in a single database for all HCM functions, including talent acquisition, time and labor management, payroll, talent management and human resources (HR) management applications. Talent acquisition includes applicant tracking, on-boarding, e-verify and tax credit services. Time and labor management includes time and attendance, scheduling/schedule exchange, time-off requests, labor allocation and labor management reports/push reporting. Payroll includes payroll and tax management, Paycom pay, expense management, garnishment management and GL Concierge. Talent management includes employee self-service, executive dashboard and Paycom learning. Human resources management includes document and task management, government and compliance, and benefits administration.- (source google finance.

PAYC continued

Although the general market is week as it approaches the resistance, PAYC is showing signs of consolidation awaiting a breakout. The price change has been constant for the last 4 weeks and the volume traded has been very low during the corresponding week. Even if price had drifted down a little bit during the last 4 weeks but the volume had remained low, this would still be regarded as a positive sign. We will continue to monitor the stocks for the rest of the week hoping it would break out.

Once there is a break out on high volume, with a good overall market trend, we would buy the stock, set a stop loss (risk profile) and a profit taking zone. This will provide the opportunity to show how to enter the market, define our risk profile, determine our profit takin zone up from and completely eliminate emotions that trails buy, sell and hold.

Below is the fundamental analysis of PAYC. Fundamental analysis describes how a market is performing fundamentally. It looks at the sales, debt, return on equity PE ration. In short it looks at the health of the company. The choice of a stock is based on fundamental analysis but the choice of when to buy and sell is driven by Technical analysis.

How much brokerage fee do they charge (all order expenses inclusive)?
How long have you been using SureTrader? Any hitches?

zamirikpo:
@Jide
Minimum cash requirement is 500dols but from experience u need at least 3000dols to trade profitably.....cos u would get margin on d sum....so ur buying power would be around 18,000dols.....with dis u can buy more shares .....and make money.

https://www.nairaland.com/3141918/over-15-roi-phase-investment#46548977


Check this out!!!

@zhironsky I've used suretrader for over a year now with no serious issues apart from their fees which for me eats deep into my profit. They charge 4.95dols per trade, so to buy and sell u need 10dols . so if u trade 5times a day u burn 50dols.....plus some ecn fees which is quite small.

Sounds great. Hope there are no problems in trading from nigeria

zamirikpo:
@zhironsky I've used suretrader for over a year now with no serious issues apart from their fees which for me eats deep into my profit. They charge 4.95dols per trade, so to buy and sell u need 10dols . so if u trade 5times a day u burn 50dols.....plus some ecn fees which is quite small.

@zhironsky , I live in naija and I trade from here just get a strong and fast internet connection....whatever network that works fastest in ur area. Then u must paper trader for at least 4months....believe me u need it......and it cost money.....around 50k a month to paper trade on suretraders platform......first 2weeks of paper trading is free sha.....do u have any trading experience.

Mr jide I rly appreciate what u are doing withthis thread but my question to u isthis do blv that u can beat the s&p 500 by engaging in active trading?

realnas:
Mr jide I rly appreciate what u are doing withthis thread but my question to u isthis do blv that u can beat the s&p 500 by engaging in active trading?

You will have to throw more light into that.. Not sure what you mean by beating S&P500. Do not try to beat the Market, the market is a monster that cannot be tamed by anyone. Its like going to the ocean to grab a cup of water and expect the volume to drop.

Once you can trade the market and not loose money, you have already succeeded, the next step is to make steady income in bits. If you try to out run the market you will be crushed.

For those heavily trading in Margin, I would advice you to not use more that 50% of the value of your equity as margin unless you know the trade is 200% guaranteed. Margin will wipe out your money faster than trading your own money.

So please explain what you mean.

Hi Jide, this is a nice one. Thanks for championing this. Zami be careful with Suretraders on those commission. If you trade too fast they will eat into your hard earned profits. I am following and I will be contributing my picks too. I do not day trade. I am a swing trader with a good bias for position trading. Remember folks if you are presently active in market watch for Brexit effect.

Hi...quant......pls expansiate on the (if I trade too fast part)....I don't quite get it. I day trade in seconds......I take 10cents when I get it and hold the rest of my position to break even at worst. Some of my trades take seconds.. And are u based in naija.

zamirikpo:
Hi...quant......pls expansiate on the (if I trade too fast part)....I don't quite get it. I day trade in seconds......I take 10cents when I get it and hold the rest of my position to break even at worst. Some of my trades take seconds.. And are u based in naija.

By trading too fast I believe he was referring to the number of trades you make a day. 5 dollar a pop is the cheapest you can get, I trade at 10 dollar a trade but I do not day trade so it is not much of an issue. If you have large sum of money you are trading, then 5 dollar should not be an issue. So you will have to weigh it and find what is most ideal ( day trade or swing trade). Trust me, you cannot find anything lower than that.

Yea...I have been paper trading on marketwatch for over 6 months and it is absolutely free on marketwatch.
What is the 50k for? It is a fee b4 paper trading or are you gonna trade with it?

zamirikpo:
@zhironsky , I live in naija and I trade from here just get a strong and fast internet connection....whatever network that works fastest in ur area. Then u must paper trader for at least 4months....believe me u need it......and it cost money.....around 50k a month to paper trade on suretraders platform......first 2weeks of paper trading is free sha.....do u have any trading experience.

@Jide tanks..... u r correct, some days when d market is too choppy I end up over trading racking up to much in trading fees.....cos we go in and out fast.


@zhirinosky.....pls educate me on how to go about paper trading on MarketWatch I have a couple of friends who have held back on paper trading becos of the fees. With suretrader u pay $150 to paper trade for a month. Never heard of MarketWatch paper trading,tot they only do news. Thinkorswim and light speed traders offer very restricted versions on paper trading .....with them u can only paper trade about 10stocks listed on there platform......which isn't good enof.....so educate me on MarketWatch.

Glad to see this thread is back and running again. I recently signed up for TD Ameritrade paper account to learn options trading. They start you with $199,999 though I'm not sure if this is standard or not since I also have a live account with them.
You guys should also look into this new broker called Robinhood, www.robinhood.com it's 100% free, there are no commissions.

@Jideams, what book would you recommend to someone trying to learn charts?

YerYer:
Glad to see this thread is back and running again. I recently signed up for TD Ameritrade paper account to learn options trading. They start you with $199,999 though I'm not sure if this is standard or not since I also have a live account with them.
You guys should also look into this new broker called Robinhood, heard it's 100% free, there are no broker fees.

@Jideams, what book would you recommend to someone trying to learn charts?

YerYer,

I believe you use the thinkorswim platform, the same one I use for trading analysis. If not, you will have to download that and install it. You can adjust the the amount to what you want. I tend to adjust it to about 20k giving me the option to trade 4 stocks at 5k each.