larry levin

The world of trading has many parts that seem a little foreign to new traders. There are plenty of catch phrases, symbols, and other banter that can be intimidating or even confusing at first. One of the biggest sources of confusion includes the shorthand that you see for many markets...

Monday was another down day for the S&P500, but a rather pleasant day for the Dow. Caterpillar and Shitibank had nice rallies going for a while. Both finished well off of their highs. AAPL and GOOG on the other hand were slammed all day long. Are they in a race to see which will reach...

I've already covered some of the better known patterns like doji (Tip #18) and engulfing (Tip#19) now it's time to add harami to your candlestick chart pattern arsenal. Let's take a look at what this technical signal looks like, and what opportunities might be presenting themselves when you see...

The market is back to the races in Q2 today with a whole lot of green on the board. Stocks, oil, gold, and commodities all finished higher today. The reason: the news folks were touting the manufacturing numbers from February. Yes, the ISM index of national factory activity rose to 53.4...

Breaking news: There has been a precipitous rise in both online poker activity and napping during early 2012, most notably between the hours of 8:30am and 3:15 pm CST. From the financial floors to the computer screens, the trading universe has been bored, bewildered, and baffled by the lack...

Bens Twilight Zone Power Point The market closed lower for only the second time in the last ten trading sessions, yet it can hardly be considered a pullback. Instead, it was just another lethargic trading day with mostly sideways action and light volume. Its been about as exciting as watching...

In my opinion, every trade you consider should be laid out ahead of time with a roadmap. A complete map should have an off ramp or a place where it makes sense to enter the market. It should also have exits for your destination (profits) as well as off ramps for emergency exits. This part of...

Before we get to the moral hazard piece, I have to mention rollover. Thursday is the first day of rollover, which is when the March ES futures contract changes (rolls) to June. We call it top step in the pit. In the past we would trade the new June contract on its first day (Thursday) but now...

Stop orders are often used to try to protect profits. Take the stop order to another dimension and use it to reverse your position and open another trading possibility! When you place a stop order, it is only activated if the market trades at or through the stop price. These stop prices are...

Yesterday I said Wednesdays data will be bigger than Tuesdays data which are; GDP, Chicago PMI, Beige Book, and Ben Bernanke speaks to Congress. Moreover, we will get the results of the European LTRO Act 2. Although some are saying the LTROs are not the QE equivalent of Ben Bernanke, it is...

Markets are powerful things. When you first start trading, you are likely to hear a lot about the risk that comes with the potential opportunities in trading. Don't just pay it a lip-service. It is important that before you risk one dollar, you understand and respect how the markets work and...

For most traders, charts are like their road maps to potential trades. Technicians see potential patterns, key clues that they interpret for trading opportunities. Fundamentalists see confirmation of news stories or supply and demand dynamics playing out in the price fluctuations. Charts are...

On the heels of another MASSIVE European continent sovereign downgrade, plus the promise of UK & French downgrades, the market was saved again with a rumor. It wasn't just any rumor though, but the same old nonsensical Greek bailout rumor that never seems to grow old. With only a few minutes...

Todays early signs of life in the market were arguably due to the large drop in the Euro. And by early signs of life I mean the drop of US equities at the open. We dont care which way it moves, just as long as something is happening. Sadly, when the Euro slowed its trading pace, which usually...

Todays missive R&R - is not about rest and relaxation, but rollover and rumors. Thursday begins the S&P500 futures rollover. This is when traders switch from December (the current contract) to the next contract month, which is March 2012. Stock futures trade quarterly. Please switch all of...

Wednesday is supposed to be D-Day for the banking mafia. Will the Europeans have it all worked out by then and by worked out I mean sufficiently screwing the taxpayers or will they continue bickering? Whatever the result is Wednesday, Ill bet they agreed on more meetings. In the mean...

One thing that I see that catches traders up all the time is knowing their limits. There are times when it is probably wiser to step away from a trade or not trade at all. Sometimes the best favor you can do for yourself is to take a break. It doesn't matter who you are or what kind of...

One of the biggest moments for the markets can come when there is a key news release or fresh fundamental data. Buyers and sellers seem to wrestle with the potential outcome, and in the case of larger announcements, volatility goes through the roof. The problem that I see some traders struggle...

In Tip #14, I talked about some of the basics for technical analysis. Trends and simple chart patterns are just the tip of the iceberg for technical analysis tools. There are many advanced tools that technicians use to try to find signals in the market price. One of the terms you might hear...

The open for any trading session can set the tone for the days trade. Barring any major fundamentals, it can signal whether or not traders are going to be primarily bearish or bullish, or neutral and cautious. The start of the day can set the stage for your own trades as well. Starting off with...