MY TRADING TOOLBOX

I am an option trader – through and through. My bread-and-butter has always been trading options throughout my professional trading career. Within the last few years or so, I feel like my mind has started to open up to other strategies and thoughts about how and what to trade in the markets.

Having spent almost 3 years at a hedge fund, I had the privilege to see inside the minds of other traders who often had very different styles compared to mine. None of us were every “right” or “wrong”, we just understood that there will always be different styles and strategies between us which will work or not work depending on the situation in the markets at hand.

Experience sometimes makes you humble and appreciate the process of stepping outside of your comfort zone and trying new things. For me, I am fortunate to be able to expand my trading strategies at my own pace. I guess it’s one of the perks of working for yourself – YOU decide when you want to learn something new during working hours.

The new tool I’ve been perfecting in my trading toolbox has been day trading equities. Often times, certain stocks will make an exaggerated (some would say irrational) move in a certain direction which is a great opportunity to take the other side of the trade – however, not ALL stocks have options on them (in case you haven’t noticed) so these have been my candidates for short-selling.

I’ve been working with the traders in Nate’s chat room at Investor’s Live for about 2 years now and have to say that everyone there has been extremely gracious and helpful. While I’m still primarily 90% an option trader, I still have a few screens dedicated to this new day-trading venture. So far, it’s been going well and I’ve been lucky enough to notice that there is some “crossover” between what I’ve been doing for years and the day trading strategy.

As a professional trader, don’t ever be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. It goes without saying that you should ALWAYS trade smaller size when trying out a new strategy until feel confident and see real results.

Nate’s Chat on my screens: