For questions related to trading. Typically used for Stocks trading, can be used for Options or other trades. Related tags are day-trading, trading-volume, online-trading.
0
votes
1answer
48 views
How do I calculate two standard deviations away from the stock price?
How would I figure out how many basis points "two standard deviations" is based on the current spot price?
For example, the S&P 500 is trading at about $1671.20. What is two standard deviations ...
0
votes
1answer
21 views
Money Flow index (MFI) and deciding when money flow is positive or negative?
I was recently looking at the calculation for MFI - the money flow index.
The calculation is as follows (From Stockcharts):
* 1. Typical Price = (High + Low + Close)/3
* 2. Raw Money Flow = ...
-4
votes
0answers
71 views
How to interpret a sharp cup and handle pattern
As per the cup and handle pattern
The construct of the cup itself is also important: it should be a
nicely rounded formation, similar to a semi-circle. The reason is that
a cup-and-handle ...
1
vote
1answer
51 views
Why do more floating shares mean less volatility for the stock?
In the article Investopedia explains 'Floating Stock', it states:
The more shares of floating stock are available, the less volatile a
company's stock price is likely to be, and vice versa
I ...
-1
votes
1answer
49 views
How to use a stop and limit order together?
If I own a stock that trades at 100$, and I want to sell the stock if it either goes to 95$ or below and also if it goes to 105$ or above, is it possible to do so? Do I need to use a stop order or a ...
0
votes
1answer
51 views
When shorting stock, why does buying to cover help limit a trader's loss when the stock rises?
In these investopedia articles, they are giving the impression that 'Buying to Cover' is preferable than getting a margin call:
Investopedia - Buy To Cover Definition
Investopedia - Short Covering ...
1
vote
1answer
39 views
Why bid and ask do not match the price at which the stock is being traded [duplicate]
For a particular stock, the stats look something like this:
Price: 54.55 $
Bid: 54.54 $
Ask: 54.55 $
Now if I place a market order, will it get executed at the Price (54.55 $)? My guess is yes. Now ...
1
vote
2answers
141 views
How can I make a profit by selling a stock short?
This link states:
Shorting (or selling short) allows professional traders to profit
regardless of whether the market is moving up or down, which is why
professional traders usually only care ...
6
votes
4answers
228 views
Why did my limit buy order execute at a lower price?
A few weeks ago I started to trade American stocks. I have an IB account. Yesterday, I encountered a strange situation. I'm using the IB API.
9:30:56 I sent a limit buy order to IB (Buy MSI at ...
-1
votes
1answer
59 views
List of CFLEX 2.0 brokers
Apparently, one can trade CFLEX 2.0 with CBOE's trading platform: http://www.cboe.com/institutional/pdf/cflexqrg.pdf
However, I talked to CBOE, and they said I still have to go through a broker to ...
5
votes
3answers
223 views
Why is the bid-ask spread considered a cost?
I know the obvious costs of trading stocks, like commissions, fees and taxes. But I also hear people saying the bid ask spread is part of the transaction cost. Why is this the case? One of the ...
2
votes
4answers
278 views
Is candlestick charting an effective trading tool in timing the markets?
In the world of technical analysis, is candlestick charting an effective trading tool in timing the markets?
If used correctly, how accurate can they be in picking turning points in the market?
1
vote
2answers
58 views
Is backtesting concept reliable?
I've been using technical analysis approach for several years right now and currently explore the algorithmic/automated trading techniques.
It seems that one of the most important aspects of creating ...
5
votes
3answers
112 views
Choosing the limit when making a limit order?
I am a long term investor that periodically (several times per month) adds to existing positions. I usually place my orders for stocks before the market opens. I use limit orders primarily to protect ...
9
votes
3answers
184 views
Foolish to place orders before the market opens?
I was wondering if it is unwise to place orders for stocks/ETFs before the market opens. I am almost always buying to add more to existing positions. I don't have any time during the day to make ...
0
votes
0answers
40 views
Books about investing and finances [duplicate]
I'm a python developer and I'm pretty interested in trading. Are there good books on finances and investing for programmers? Or just for beginners? I have studied some economics in college, but not ...
1
vote
0answers
96 views
Calculating the profit earned from a leveraged futures contract
How do we calculate the profit/loss of Futures contract? For example, If I had a Futures contract that had $10 000 as the underlying, it had $1000 margin and the Futures contract itself was worth $3. ...
0
votes
1answer
213 views
How to trade large number of shares?
I'm a day-trader that trade stocks which have a minimum Avg. Daily Volume of 1M shares.
Until now, and because of my "R" size, I've entered a positions relatively with a small number of shares (No ...
0
votes
0answers
48 views
US Equities: Gainers by Market Cap Dollars (not percent)
There are quite a few web sites that offer daily gainers based on percentage of price for US stocks. For example:
http://finance.yahoo.com/gainers?e=us
However, I do not want to use the metric of ...
0
votes
2answers
74 views
Can an online broker charge a fee just for registration, without any deposit?
Can any broker like TD, TradeKing, Schwab, etc, can charge me just because I have entered my details and open an account in their website?
Even if I didn't deposit anything?
0
votes
0answers
86 views
Stock Analysis, Which time range to focus on?
Google Finance allows me to see zoom in/out to see the graph for 1 day, 5 days, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, year to date, 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years.
Which time ranges should I focus on for day ...
8
votes
4answers
767 views
Buying a small amount (e.g. $50) of stock via eToro “Social Trading Network” using a “CFD”?
On LinkedIn I saw an ad claiming I could buy some AAPL stock for as little as $50. I clicked and came to a site called eToro that calls themselves a "Social Trading Network". It appears the buying of ...
8
votes
2answers
113 views
What are the cons to using a brokerage account for day to day banking?
I've noticed (for awhile now) that my online discount brokerage account carries many features of a traditional bank account:
Online bill pay
Direct Deposit
Checks
ATM Card
FDIC or SIPC coverage
Cash ...
0
votes
1answer
75 views
Steps/Procedures to open an online stock trading account in the US
I follow the business news regularly and I have an avid interest in markets. However, having said that I have not had any prior stock trading experience, though I have practically seen some trading in ...
2
votes
3answers
145 views
How can I tell if a forex signaling service is legitimate?
I hope this question is within the scope of this site.
We are considering using a signaling service. Is there a way to know if an internet site is a legitimate service or just a fraud? In particular ...
5
votes
2answers
110 views
Does it make sense to talk about an ETF or index in terms of technical indicators?
For example, a story today talked about SPY approaching support levels. Given that the price of the ETF is essentially determined by the price of its constituents, does this even make sense? Do ...
3
votes
2answers
127 views
Can the purchaser of a stock call option cancel the contract?
Let's assume there's a company, XYZ, trading at $11/share today. I purchase a call option @ $15 for $0.05.
Do I need to keep funds in my account to satisfy the contract? I know my counter party ...
0
votes
2answers
167 views
Bidding/Asking Fraction of a cent
I know that stocks below $1.00 can be traded to 4 decimal places, but is that possible for stocks above $1.00? On a list order transactions, one can find prices like $2.2801 despite most ecn brokers ...
1
vote
1answer
151 views
Online Trading Software: What does blue vrs red highlights mean?
I'm trying to understand the following table in terms of colouring. I realise this is specific to a particular product but a lot of other products seem to use red, blue, black as a color code scheme ...
-1
votes
2answers
132 views
Are binary options really part of trading?
I watched many videos and read many tutorials about binary trading.
If I really understood it, you bet that a quote/currency/stock market/anything will rise or fall within a period of time.
So, ...
1
vote
2answers
88 views
Precious metal trading a couple questions
I live in China, the national bank here allows you to buy silver on something called RMB/SLV market. Basically i'm displayed a bid and ask price, at the moment both are around 5.7rmb.
I'd like to ...
1
vote
1answer
133 views
The spread goes to the market maker, is the market maker the exchange?
I understand that the bid-ask spread is the difference between the price a buyer is willing to pay and the price a seller is willing to take for an asset. I also understand that this difference goes ...
8
votes
1answer
243 views
FOREX: Pair Trading, What is Really Happening?
I am starting to study FOREX again and one thing about trading on the
market through means available to me personally is that one can take
positions on 'currency pairs'. This has made little sense to ...
2
votes
3answers
744 views
How can foreign investor (residing outside US) invest in US company stocks?
I am a small individual investor (less than $100K) and would like to invest in US stock market. My invest style is to buy-and-hold a good US's company stocks.
I checked couple discount brokers. All ...
3
votes
1answer
558 views
Quote driven and order driven financial markets
I know that
an order driven market is a financial market where
all of the orders of both buyers and sellers are displayed, detailing
the price at which they are willing to buy or sell a security ...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
Does a market maker sell (buy) at a bid or ask price?
From http://www.fool.com/ddow/2000/ddow000509.htm
Assume you want to sell some of your shares of EVE at the current
"market" price. The lowest ask price from sellers is $16.00. The
market ...
1
vote
1answer
76 views
Usage of a sell stop order
From Wikipedia
A sell stop order is an instruction to sell at the best available
price after the price goes below the stop price. A sell stop price is
always below the current market price. ...
5
votes
1answer
847 views
What does it mean to long convexity of options?
In this Bloomberg video, Curnett talks about volatility and the convexity of options. Specifically, he says;
"The spread between the VIX sitting there at 20 for a period of time and this realized ...
2
votes
2answers
104 views
What is a straddle?
I have heard the term straddle when referring to options many times. What would it mean if I wanted to enter into a straddle position?
4
votes
2answers
167 views
It is worth using a discount stock broker? I heard they might not get the best price on a trade?
I read somewhere that using a discount broker such a Trade King could actually cost more money because they may not be able to get the best price on a trade. Is there any truth to that? I am currently ...
0
votes
1answer
110 views
What is currency trading and how does currency trading work? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Layman’s guide to getting started with Forex (foreign exchange trading)?
I have heard that people are investing in currency trading, but i don't have any idea about it. ...
4
votes
2answers
272 views
Where can I find ETFs that go up when the market goes down?
If the general market index goes down, is there a concept of an ETF that will go up on those scenarios?
1
vote
1answer
394 views
Where to find a list of online U.K. stock brokers that permit trading in U.S. stock markets?
I am currently a beginner investor, in the U.K., and I would like to know what are the best online international stock brokers. That is, I wish to trade stocks that are listed on U.S. stock exchanges. ...
6
votes
2answers
103 views
When I google a ticker like XLE or something, I see a price which updates frequently (about every second or so), where can I find this for options?
Is there an options ticker I can google to get this equivalent? Or any free place where I can see the quotes updating more regularly? I know the bats order book sh
2
votes
6answers
276 views
Investement for beginners in the United Kingdom
Apologies if this question has been asked elsewhere. I live in the UK and earn a decent salary. I have never invested in shares or stocks, or bought a government bond. But I have recently started ...
6
votes
4answers
805 views
Is it true that 90% of investors lose their money?
Many investment gurus state that majority of investors fail and then offer a proven "[insert fancy name] investment strategy" that will make you successful. The number usually starts at 90% and often ...
2
votes
1answer
225 views
Why is there such a large spread on bid/ask during extended trading?
I've noticed on a few stocks (NYSE:WHR, NYSE:PHM), that during extended hours trading, the bid/ask spread becomes extremely large. For example:
Mar14th WHR closed at ask $78.10, and bid $78.30, and ...
13
votes
4answers
3k views
Algorithmic trading in linux using python
Is there any real time trading platform in linux in which one can test automated trading scripts written in python by ordering to a broker in a trial or demo account? Is IbPy the way to go? But IB ...
1
vote
1answer
97 views
Metrics for screening stocks for pivot trading
I've been looking for tips on screening stocks that are a good fit for pivot trading. I've tried Ameritrade, ShareBuilder, NASDAQ and some other screeners but I don't see a metric for volatility which ...
2
votes
1answer
174 views
Does technical analysis work on penny stocks?
Does technical analysis work on penny stocks? If yes, and we're talking about stocks that trade under $3, is there a point at which it stops being effective?
If yes, does technical analysis work the ...
