Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Good morning Market Mover Traders and Watchers! 

A funny thing happened this morning.  Well, actually it wasn't that funny at the moment.  We got a kitten a couple of days after Christmas from the shelter.  He has been an interesting cat, to say the least.  We have never had a cat, or really any animal (except a fish) before, so this whole experience is unique and, honestly, quite strange.  Many people have told us that our cat must be bi-polar, on crack, or overall totally crazy.  Some of our babysitters vow never to come back because the cat literally attacks them.  My kids cry at night when they are in bed, because the cat jumps on the bed and attacks their heads.  We figure that as soon as he is "doctored" (if you know what I mean) his temperment will be calmed considerably.  That "doctoring" should happen next week.

Anyway, I was awakened to my son screaming because the cat had scratched him.  I reached for my iPhone (it sits in a docking station over night to charge), wondering why my alarm on the phone hadn't gone off.  The iPhone was not there.  It had been taken.  Suddenly it all came together.  My almost 6-year-old son, Nick, had sneeked in to my room before 6:00 AM and took my phone so he could play Asphalt 5 - a racing game I was introduced to by Sean Larsgard.  Thanks Sean.

So I nearly missed my trade all toghther.  I awoke - thanks to the cat and my son's scream - at 6:23 AM.  I have a habit of actually getting my laptop all set up the night before - attached to the double monitor and all wired.  I actually even open the MMT News Server and MMT University and get all the numbers ready and everything.  That way, when I get to my computer in the morning, all I have to do is "awaken" it and open my trading program (GS Trader) and I'm off to the races.  Thankfully I had it all prepared and my prediction lines in before 6:25.  Whew.

What a trade today's trade turned out to be.  It was forecasted to move 2-3 points at 6:30 and barely moved at all.  I got filled shot at the low end of the announcement candle, and then, based on marginally positive news, the market moved upward - ever so slightly. 

I determined to hold on to the trade and keep my stop-loss at 2.5 points (exactly where I had set it from the get-go).  I did move my profit target - just because there was almost no way I would ever be able to get a full point on the low volume that was part of the market today. 

After several minutes, I was still in the trade - but the low volume caused almost no movement whatsoever.  I weathered a totally lame Redbook Retail announcement, and the Industrial Production announcement as well with no real market movement on any of them.  Then, coming up on a full hour in a live trade - which for those of you new to MMT, that is a LLLLOOOONNNNGGGG TTTTIIIIMMMMEEEE, I wsa able to get 0.5 points of profit and exit my trade.

So, in reality, I traded three different announcements today.  All in one "swoop".  (P.S. I'm NOT bragging).

Have a great day!