“What is the best asset class to trade? What is the best instrument? Stocks vs Forex vs Crypto?”

There are pros and cons to trading each, but more importantly, there are key differences in the actual market structure you need to be aware of.

Let’s dive right into some of the key differences between each of these asset classes.

Stocks vs Forex vs Cryptocurrency Market Hours

The Crypto markets trade 24/7. They are a continuous market that allows traders to take advantage of the added freedom around-the-clock market brings. Obviously, this does bring some downside risk of the market sliding down while you are asleep, but automatic stop losses and take profit orders will help. 

The Forex markets trade 24/5 on most of the major pairings. Markets typically open on Sunday and close on Friday. The times in which markets open are based on the country and currency the pair you are trading is located in, but typically they are all open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.

The stock market is much different than the crypto and forex markets, trading 5 days a week from 9:30am to 4:00pm every day. Pre-market starts around 7am as well, but the main market action is from 9:30am until noon, which is the window we focus on.

Pick the instrument that suits your lifestyle and timezone the best. If you live in Hawaii, the market opens at 3:30 AM for you, so maybe you’d prefer to do crypto or forex. If you work at night, maybe day trading the stock market is the choice for you.

Kunal Desai’s Thoughts

After navigating the markets for over two decades, Kunal will further elaborate on what you need to know about each instrument, and how to find the best instrument for you:

Movement

A lot of people do think the markets trade similarly to each other, and while to an extent that may be true, there are some differences you need to be aware of. 

The crypto market is very volatile. There can be sudden drops and sharp price hikes that can affect you. It is an ‘unregulated market’ that is purely regulated by supply and demand with a limited number of market makers being involved (unlike stocks). Just know when trading the crypto markets, you have to be prepared for anything. Trading smaller alt-coins is like the wild wild west, you never know what will happen in the next second. Always be prepared to stop out or take profit quickly. 

The Forex market trades much differently than the crypto and stock market in the sense that it is the most manipulated. A lot of traders ‘swing trade’ forex more than day trade due to this fact. Very few successful retail forex day traders exist.  Day trading forex is very difficult, as you are up against some of the richest and smartest traders in the world with automated strategies.

Forex is notorious for having a lot of fake-outs like these:  

Finally, the stock market due to its more limited trading hours obviously moves differently than the forex and crypto markets. It is a very volatile market, but as stated before, there are certain times of the day when the movement and activity are increased. During the ‘opening session’ which is from 9:30am until noon, volatility in the markets increases and a lot of traders are able to day trade these moves for quick money. During lunchtime from 11:00/11:30AM until roughly 2:00pm-2:30pm, ranges condense and activity slows. Finally, during ‘power hour’ following lunchtime into the close, stocks tend to pick up in action and volume.

The Ratio of Retail to Institutions

This category is something that not a lot of people talk about, but it is very important to know. Let’s dive right into it.

The crypto market has the highest number of retail traders and investors out of these three asset classes at the moment. Yes, this may change and is starting to change as time goes on, but for the time being, just know that the crypto market is dominated by retail traders. That means there are a lot of small orders going through and a lot more volatility that is generated as a result. There are not too many institutions positioning themselves in the smaller alt-coins, but mainly the larger coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The good news, this means that the technical analysis is much cleaner, and it is easy to get a read on the emotions of the market.

The forex market by far has the highest number of institutional traders and investors, which makes it one of the most difficult markets to trade. Big banks pump millions and millions of dollars every day into this huge market, working to stabilize it. That is what creates great liquidity, but a ton of fake-outs and traps. 

The stock market finally is a good mix of the forex and crypto markets in terms of retail to institutional involvement. There are more institutional investors, funds, and banks getting involved in the stock market than retail investors/traders, but there is still a good amount of retail traders that influence the movements of the market.

Now, whatever market you decide to jump into, you have to follow this same formula if you want to be successful. You can’t skip steps. You can’t skimp out on your education, rush into trading size, or ignore certain key steps in your journey. 

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The post Stocks vs Forex vs Crypto: Which Should You Trade? appeared first on Bulls on Wall Street.

Certain stocks and setups carry characteristics that can be extremely dangerous for all traders. Everyone slips up time from time, but limiting losses and errors that stem from bad stock and setup selection can be avoided by following this guide.

Let’s jump right into the 5 characteristics of stocks that you avoid putting your hard-earned capital into:

Low Liquidity/Low Volume

Getting caught in stock with low liquidity/volume is never fun or easy to get out of with minimal damage. If a stock has not traded sufficient volume for the day (~500k shares on the day is a good gauge) and has a very large spread, avoid it. You never want to get caught in a position with size that you can’t easily get in and out of a stock of without big slippage.

This video lesson will show you how to run stock scans in TC2000 to filter out and avoid illiquid names:

Major Press Release Coming or Earnings Soon

Sell the news is one of the most highly regarded and well-known proverbs on Wall Street. If you know a stock is coming out with some sort of major PR piece, FDA announcement, or earnings release soon, avoid it. Especially if you are looking to swing a position in a stock like this, it can be an extremely dangerous gamble. Taking a position in a stock before any of these events is pure gambling. Wait until the news settles out and the market digests it, then take the easy and simple trade in the direction of the newly established trend.

Consolidation

Range trading is tricky. Especially if you are newer, trying to play within tight consolidation ranges is a 50/50 shot. If you see a stock just consolidating for a long period of time, wait until it fully breaks out in either direction with volume and establishes a trend, then ride that momentum out of the consolidation. Just like this image below here shows, you never want to enter a stock in the middle of the ‘sideways consolidation phase, but right after the breakout when the volume and activity out of the range comes flying in.

Micro-Float Stocks/Float Rotation

If you are shorting a stock with a float under 10 million shares, you are playing with fire. Stocks with small floats usually are prone to float rotation, which is a devastating characteristic of a short squeeze that could trap you on the short side. Float rotations and low float stocks are easier to play into momentum on the long side, but still can be more dangerous as well than playing other slower-moving mid-caps/large-caps. If you see a stock float rotating and it has a very low float, look to avoid the setup altogether if you are newer. If you are more experienced, focus on longing into increasing volume at key support levels, but avoid the short.

Crowded Stocks

This goes sort of hand and hand with the point we made above, but stocks that are crowded, pumped, or hyped up too much especially by the public or on social media should be avoided. Due to the amount of eyes on it, the price action is usually choppy and not natural. Random squeezes and dumps, usually these stocks are the most manipulated by algos and are ones to avoid risking your hard-earned money on. 

If you want to learn more about our process for finding the best stocks to trade and how to trade them, apply for our Live Trading Boot Camp!

The post 5 Characteristics of Stocks to AVOID Trading appeared first on Bulls on Wall Street.

Learn how to use this setup in our latest video lesson, where I recap a recent short squeeze trade I took in $NNOX:

What is a Short Squeeze?

A short squeeze is simply an increase in a stock’s share price because of short covering. When you short-sell a stock, you borrow shares from your broker and then look to buy/cover them at a lower price.

However, if the stock keeps going up, shorts will have to cover their position in order to avoid a big loss. As short-sellers scramble to cover their positions, they have to buy their shares back from their broker, causing the stock price to increase rapidly in value due to the increasing demand.

Short Squeezes = Short Term Trades

Treat a short squeeze trade as a short term trade, such as a day trade or a short swing trade. In order to trade short squeezes successfully, you have to have good timing. These are not trades to marry.

Pay attention to a stock’s short interest, which shows an approximation of the number shares short a stock. Stocks with high short interest are good candidates for this setup, especially when combined with a technical pattern. You can see a stock’s short interest on shortsqueeze.com.

Thoughts on the Overall Market & Stocks to Watch 

In the last few days, we have seen signs of the market putting in a temporary base and beginning to rally. This is a great time to pick up some strong stocks that have pulled back with the market in the last couple of weeks.

Here is video lesson from this morning where I run through some of the best stocks to watch this week:

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The post How to Trade Short Squeezes: $NNOX Example appeared first on Bulls on Wall Street.

It is NOT some get rich quick scheme or trying to find the next small cap stock that will go up 1000%.

It is overcoming your psychology and mastering the mental aspect of it. These 7 deadly trading sins are the threats to all traders. Once you can overcome these consistently, you will be well on your way to successful stock trading.

Over the next 7 days, we will be breaking down all 7 of these sins in detail and teach you how to combat these destructive tendencies. Here are the 7 sins of trading:

1. Revenge Trading

Revenge trading is the easiest way to turn a normal red day into an account blow up. Revenge trading occurs after you have had one or several losing trades, and you start to get emotional. You want to make back the money you just lost, so you start forcing trades on subpar setups. What happens after is that you end up losing even more money, you become even more emotional, and you start to spiral out of control.

2. Gambling

It is very easy to treat trading like gambling. Gambling is addicting by nature, and many new and inexperienced traders fall victim to this addiction. Just like in a casino, it is possible to make money in the stock market without much effort. But you will not make money consistently, and will end up losing money in the long run. The only way you can make money in the stock market is by trading a proven system with an edge. Doing anything other than this is just pure gambling, and will result in you losing all of your money.

3. Emotional Attachment

Emotional attachment in trading will prevent you from making rational decisions. Emotions cloud your judgement, and do not allow you to view market information objectively. Emotional attachment to stocks causes you not to buy and sell at the right times. Traders who get emotionally attached to stocks they own often turn into bag holders, as their emotions prevent them from respecting price action.

4. Slothfulness

The stock market is mechanism of moving money from the lazy and unprepared to the patient and hard working. Since the stock market is random, it is possible to make money buying and selling randomly without doing any technical or fundamental analysis. However you will not keep the money you make, and will end up losing money in the long run like most people who try to trade for a living. You are going up against some of the smartest and richest people in the world when you trade.   

5. FOMO

Fear of missing out haunts traders of all experience levels. There is nothing worse than missing a 20% move in a stock that was on the top of your watchlist. This often causes traders to chase and buy way too high. Traders will often hastily jump in the next stock that moves with the expectation that it will make a monster move. The stock ends up just being a subpar setup, they lose money, and they become even more emotional.  

6. Fear

Scared money does not make money in the stock market. Fear manifests itself in many different forms in trading. You cannot let the fear of losing money deter you from making a trade. You cannot let the fear of a winner turning into a loser cause you to take profits too soon. In trading, you have to risk money to make money. If you’re afraid to lose the money you are risking, you are likely trading too much size.

7. Ego

You cannot let your ego get in the way of taking a loss. Losing traders will believe so strongly in their trade thesis, they won’t obey their stop loss because they don’t want to admit they were wrong. Stubbornness is the number one cause of account blow ups. You have to put your ego aside when you participate in the stock market. No one wins 100% of the time, and losing trades are inevitable. Do not let your ego get in the way of your ability to make rational trading decisions. Care more about making and keeping your money than being right.

Free Webinar 

We are doing a free webclass on December 17th where we will go over all of the 7 sins in even more detail, show exactly how to overcome these and, build a bulletproof mindset. Mark it on your calendar and join us live.

The post The 7 Deadly Trading Sins Series appeared first on Bulls on Wall Street.

What Is A Blockchain Stock?

We have seen a wide variety of blockchain related catalysts in the past few months.  These stocks will often have very little to do with cryptocurrencies, but they will often breakout on just a press release involving some random association with the blockchain world. Most of the catalysts on the stocks running are very exaggerated. Some have been as ridiculous as just changing their company name to incorporate the word “Blockchain”. Others will claim they are buying mining rigs, without ever showing any proof of making any purchases. Regardless of what the catalyst is, any mention of cryptocurrencies or blockchain has been sending stocks up hundreds of percent.

How To Trade Blockchain Stocks

Blockchain stocks have a probability of going up huge, but you still have to learn how to find patterns that will give you a good entry while managing your risk. A common characteristic of these stocks with blockchain catalysts is that they gap up big. This means that you need to wait a few minutes after the market is open for a pattern to form on the stock before trading it. Stocks that gap up big in premarket will often sell off at the open, as people take their profits. Once you see the stock start to consolidate, make higher lows, and start to reclaim VWAP you can look for an entry. These stocks are so volatile that if you chase blindly you will risk losing a big portion of your account in a very short period of time.

Examples of Recent Blockchain Stocks

WATT:

NETE:

LFIN:

We can see all of these stocks have a similar pattern. Most of them offer great momentum plays to the longside for the first couple days after the big gap up, but they tend to fade off soon after. This is because they’re usually running on some nonsense PR that just mentions blockchain randomly like we discussed above. You have to be careful playing these to the long side after day 3 after the initial gap up. You don’t want to marry these kind of plays. We go through even more examples in our recent webinar:

Blockchain Stock Watchlist For 2018

• NETE
• LFIN
• WATT
• GCAP
• RIOT
• OSTK
• XNET
• DPW
• MSRT
• CNET

Update From Today

I don’t want to say I told you so but I told you so. Today was another huge day with Blockchain stocks. OSTK, XNET, and CNET were great profitable trades today and all three are Blockchain Stocks. Check out my trading day performance a day after our Blockchain stock webinar. CNET was especially a monster today. This trend is only going to continue in 2018 and I want to help get you prepared to take advantage of these opportunities.

60 Day Trading Bootcamp Starts January 9th

We teach our students how to trade these type of plays in our 60 day bootcamp. Our next one starts January 9th. We will help you learn how to trade from A-Z and put together your very own trading plan so you can go out and take advantage of plays like this. To claim your seat for our next start date please email Maribeth@bullson.ws.

Course Features

• 28 Live Classes (via webinar)
• Classes are recorded for playback
• Q&A Sessions, Quizzes, and Homework
• Market Recaps
• Trading Simulator
• Personalized Trade Plans
• Access to Private Student Community
• Lifetime Access

Chat with us live right now using the “Chat Now” button in the lower right corner and we can answer any questions asap! See you in class.

The post How To Profit On Blockchain Stocks In 2018 appeared first on Bulls on Wall Street.

There are many great free trading resources out there that can contribute significantly to successful trading. If you’re a new trader looking to keep expenses low here are 6 great free resources:

Finviz.com: Pretty much has everything you need for researching stocks on one site. Has daily percentage gainers and losers of all listed stocks, a stock screener with pretty much every filter you can think of, and has great fundamental statistical overviews on all stocks. They have a daily chart with indicators and lists the press releases of every stock in chronological order. It will link directly to all the press releases directly as well.

Marketchameleon.com: Live pre and post-market data with the highest percentage gappers. Great site to check before the market open to help you prepare your watchlist if you don’t have a paid scanner like Trade-Ideas. Has futures and forex quotes as well.

ThinkorSwim: Excellent free charting software that comes with a decent scanner and all the indicators and features you need to trade successfully. You can get live quotes if you setup an account with Think Or Swim (you do not have to deposit any money in the account), and will get access to their trading software. They also have a simulator and a ton of other features worth exploring.

Tradingview.com: Great site with free charting software with live quotes. The free version even allows you to put indicators on your charts. Has a decent stock screener and links to all the press releases of the companies you’re trading.

Edgar Company Fillings : Can look up any company filing from any listed company in the US stock market. If you’re a trader that relies heavily on fundamentals, this site is your bible for trading. Even if your strategy does not focus on the fundamental aspect of companies it is worth using to look at the press releases of companies before the market opens to better understand the catalyst behind a stock that is gapping up or down.

Shortsqueeze.com: Website where you can look up the short interest and a lot of other useful information about a stock’s share structure, including the float and percentage of the float that is short. It is useful to consult this in addition to other sources like Finviz and Yahoo finance to check the accuracy of statistics like the float of a company, as many sites will often report different numbers for these statistics.

2 Spots Left in Our Live Trading Course!

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The post 6 Free Resources Every Trader Should Be Using appeared first on Bulls on Wall Street.

Hey guys! Here is an important day trading lesson on a trade we took last week in $labu. Pre-Market on our BullsVision I was walking our traders through what I thought was a stock that should get absolutely crushed for the day.  When we have a big picture idea like that its important to really time your entry as a good idea is just that its a good idea. When your day trading you still need to time your entry or the heat you take on the trade will take you out of it before you can profit.  So after walking our traders through the setup what did I do at the open?  I shorted it first candle and the stock started to squeeze to the upside! Now in the past I would have gotten stubborn and taken a big loss and it would have knocked me out of the day.  I see this with many new traders just taking that small loss and realizing there is a bigger play coming is so hard! But thats what I did here I took a small loss and re-entered at a much more explosive spot.

This is very important as many of you know I’m day trading a 2000 dollar account in front of our students for our small accounts program.  Im trading with the same parameters that our trading bootcamp students who trade for me in our Fund trade.  2000 dollar account.  2 position limit with 400 shares max size.  All our bootcamp students who complete class are eligible to trade with us and use our capital and tools to trade this type of account. As they are profitable I allocate more capital to them.  For those of you guys that have completed requirements or need info always email me with any questions  kunal@bullson.ws

Guys we are starting our new trading bootcamp in January! We do live classes 4 days a week.  Our students have lifetime access to class and can retake as many times as needed.  Here is the info fill it out for a free trader Assessment

The post Risk Management Lessons for Day Trading appeared first on Bulls on Wall Street.

Whenever the market is choppy or bearish, I get a million questions about how I’m surviving.

“How much have you lost?”
“Have you blown up?”
“Did you get killed in the market today?”

The truth is, I thrive during market volatility! Today in particular, I made $5500 trading names such as $vblt $fit $nflx $tsla $ziop etc…

See, that’s what non-traders and struggling traders don’t understand: just because the market isn’t doing well, doesn’t mean you can’t make a ton of money. One of the great things about momentum day trading is you don’t have to ride the Dow into the ground like the big Wall Street funds; a good day trader is agile, taking advantage of whatever the current market environment is to make money. Make your money on what’s hot until it’s not – then move onto the next thing. It works equally well – sometimes even better – in a crashing market. Why? Because there is a ton of volatility, which day traders thrive on!

Now I know a lot of you are looking at all the red on your screen and doubting your future in the trading business. I used to be in the same position, stressing over what the talking heads on CNBC were saying and wondering how much money I’d lose when the $SPY took its next nosedive. But over time I developed a system to not just deal with market volatility, but to OWN it. While I like to post free content, like this video I just did on trading exhaustion gaps,

I really dig into my system in the 60 Day Trading Bootcamp. In the Bootcamp, I go over every single aspect of my trading system in live webinar sessions, then make sure you remember it all and learn how to actually apply it with homework, quizzes and a simulator. You’ll leave my classroom with the skills and confidence to tackle huge down days with a smile on your face and dollar signs in your eyes.

Of course, nothing beats learning live, right? If you’ve seen any of my photos, you know I play as hard as I work.

So you’ll be excited to know that you have TWO opportunities to see me in Las Vegas in the next two weeks!

The first event will be September 25th – 27th. Traders4ACause is a charity founded by Nate Michaud, AKA InvestorsLive, to raise money for several great causes. Once a year, Nate brings together a panel of awesome hosts (including yours truly!) to share their trading knowledge. You can learn more, and register, HERE.

After that, I’ll be speaking at the Trader and Investor summit, which runs from October 3rd – 5th. I’m thrilled to be included in this three day, info-packed event! I’ll be speaking alongside some great traders and educators, including host and founder Timothy Sykes. To learn more, or register, visit the Trading and Investor Summit page. 

Feel free to email me kunal@bullsonwallstreet.com if you have any questions. See you soon!

The post How I am Thriving During the 2015 Stock Market Crash appeared first on Bulls on Wall Street.

Most newcomers have preconceived ideas about the typical day in the life of a day trader. While you may envision a glam but gritty environment steeped in living-on-the-edge excitement, veteran traders know that the reality can be very different. Here are 8 things you’d never learn on your own…or that might take you an awfully long time to figure out.

1. Trader, Know Thyself

While day trading may seem formulaic, it can actually be the opposite of cut and dry; in fact, the different styles of day trading are heavily dependent on the personality of the trader. From scalping to intraday trading and everything in between, there are many options for trading styles, and nothing binds a trader to a single one. Bulls of Wall Street offers comprehensive training for everyone from total beginners to those who have mastered skills and are ready to make trades.

2. But Also Know When to Quit

Prematurely abandoning your trading style at the first indication of poor performance is a huge mistake; one of the most critical tasks of a day trader is to commit to a single style and stick to it. When you find a style that works for you, it’s important to give it time to do its thing. The sooner you commit to a strategy, the sooner you can set aside ambiguity and focus on the end game: making money.

However, there’s a little known flip side to this equation. The best day traders also recognize when a style or type of trade isn’t working and make the necessary adjustments. You need to learn to recognize when to stay the course and when to jump ship.

3. Think Outside the Stocks

While even the most novice traders have some basic understanding of stock markets, the vast majority of newbies are unaware of the multitude of other markets accessible to day traders—from currencies to options to futures. It’s critical to keep in mind that not all of these markets are created equally. Choosing the right market is as important as making the right trades.

4. To Market, To Market

So how do you choose? Several considerations influence which markets offer the most profitability. These include concrete aspects, such as your initial trading deposit and your location, as well as more variable factors, including the trader’s personality and location. Futures markets are a good starting point for novice day traders as there are many types to choose between. Keep in mind that some markets will not be available depending on the tick value and initial margin.

5. Location, Location, Location

While night owls may have more options, day traders are inherently limited by location because of varying market trading times. On the flip side, accessibility is at a premium when it comes to online trading. Ultimately, traders require little more than Internet access and a computer to begin turning a profit. From a beachfront penthouse in Costa Rica to a balcony overlooking Bourbon Street, trading can and does happen anytime and anywhere.

6. Bring On Da Noise

Day trading is a science and art. One of the greatest challenges faced by day traders of all levels is “noise.” The phenomenon of non-stop back-and-forth information exchange can lead to “whipsaw” losses for traders who are unable to distinguish between meaningful and meaningless information. You’re best bet is to develop a strategic trading system—along with the discipline to see it through—to prevent noise-induced overtrading and instead capitalize on real opportunities.

7. The Calm Before, During, and After the Storm

While your Hollywood-influenced vision of traders may involve a trading pit, brightly hued jackets, and frenetic gesturing, the reality is completely different. Because trading involves many monotonous hours in front of the computer, patience is essential. Those who respond to boredom by “making up a trade,” are setting themselves up for disaster. Unchecked emotions—including boredom and panic—can lead to losing trades. The truth is that some traders don’t make a single trade on any given day; this can be preferable to making a rash or desperate move just to do something.

8. Fake It ‘Til You Make It

Many novice traders get their feet wet by trading in simulation—also called paper trading—to practice dealing with the unpredictable emotional responses. Simulated trading offers the identical experience to trading live, except orders are simulated by trading software instead of sent to the exchange. Simulation lets you experiment with markets and trading systems until you find your own trading system. It’s also a useful way to familiarize yourself with your trading software. Bulls on Wall Street’s Trading Bootcamp offers critical live simulation so that when your own real money enters the equation, your emotional response will be mitigated by experience gained in simulation.

It’s possible to earn a full-time living through day trading, but the learning curve can be steep. These insiders’ tips and techniques can help you bypass the typical beginner’s challenges and begin your life as a profitable day trader today.

The post 8 Things About Trading You'll Never Learn On Your Own appeared first on Bulls on Wall Street.