How I trade

Someone asked me on wallstreak how I trade, so I thought I would try to outline it here. To share and mostly to reflect and reinforce some habits.

I scan for stocks using daily 1-2 year charts, usually at night. I do this to find stocks that are setting up for nice moves. In a normal market I would use 1 min/5 min chart to time my entry into the stock and hold on for 1-5 days. But in this market I simply use the daily charts to develop a bullish or bearish lean towards a stock. I will then proceed to day trade it based on how the market is acting that day. This market is so day to day that it is impossible to have a strategy that works for anything more than 36 hours.

If volatility ever comes back down (next year?), I will have to adapt my strategy to take advantage of extended moves in stocks. But for now, I can easily get a 3-10% move in 2-3 hours, which is good enough.