My Typical Trading Day Routine
I believe routines are important when seeking consistent results or evaluating performance. By following a routine, a trader can get involved in the process of trading each day, rather than getting wrapped up in analyzing results. Evaluating results certainly has its place, but it can be a hindrance to trading your best from day to day.
My routine begins in the morning about 90 minutes prior to the opening bell. I come into my home office and get my computers up and running. I have 3 PC’s and 4 screens which I use each day. I take a look at the news and see what headlines may have an effect on the day’s open (CNN.com), as well as what stocks may be in play due to news on them (updated throughout the day at Chuckhughes.). I then start to load up my watch lists into quote windows, as well as into my Real-Time Streaming Stock Alerts windows. I use Trade-Ideas Pro, which alerts me the moment stocks hit new highs or lows, or any of a number of other criteria are met. It also helps me search for patterns or volume moves intraday, which I find useful for day trades.
Once I have loaded those lists, I then turn to my primary brokerage account which is Cyber Trader. I use the Cyber Trader Pro platform, which has every tool I have ever needed to execute trades and monitor positions. I use the Market View windows for quote lists, but my favorite feature of this direct-access trading platform is their conditional alerts feature. So during the premarket, I set conditional alerts for my swing trading newsletter picks, by using time, bid/ask, and price conditions. I can set these to automatically generate live orders once they trigger, or simply to alert me once the conditions are met. I generally set them to get me into at least a partial position, and then I will monitor the pilot position and add to it as I see fit. Once I am in the positions, I then set automatic exit alerts as stop-loss orders to close out the trade for me if needed. This not only saves me valuable time, but it allows me to focus on remaining positions rather than second-guess whether or not I should exit. Let me say that many more times than not I am quite glad to have had an automatic stop order generated for me using these conditional alerts! Nothing is worse in trading than fighting a losing position and regretting not getting out at the originally planned stop-loss price.