How I improved my trading in 2009

Posted by Tom C.

2009 has been a good year for me, but it has been made better by a small tweak I made a few months ago. Many of you may already do this, as it is not a "hidden secret". But I have never incorporated it into my trading on a consistent basis.

What am I talking about?

Watching the whole dollar level (and to a lesser extent the .50 level) for support and resistance. Many times price will move towards my target but stop just shy of it. A few months ago I started plotting a dotted line at the whole dollar level and the .50 level, and a majority of time they are responsible for price turning. I also use these levels as an additional filter for entering trades: if I have two setups that are equal, but one has me entering a stock at $25.89 and one has me entering a stock at $30.10, I will take the latter setup because I realize the higher risk with the former - price could turn at resistance from $26.00.

Simple, yes. And as I said above, many of you may already watch these levels. But if you don't, I highly recommend it.

In regards to my post at the beginning of September on the big picture, not much has changed. Price is still climbing through the retracement zone (RZ), and there is no clear indication on direction for the remainder of 2009.

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