Wednesday, April 11, 2007

How To Trade: Blog Linkfest Volume Two

Last week I prepared the first volume of blogs that feature "how-to" trading information on their sites. My intention was to introduce readers to sites they might not have been familiar with. I also assembled a collection of TraderFeed posts dealing with trading methods. This week we'll look at some sites you might be familiar with, but some features of those sites that might surprise you.

* The Kirk Report - Many readers know Charles Kirk's work from his wide ranging collection of links. He also researches hot sector ideas on his site and conducts screens of promising stocks. These are great ways of developing stock ideas for trading and investing. What many readers don't know is that The Kirk Report also contains a site-within-a-site for members who have made a modest donation. (That member site is being upgraded, BTW, and will be rolled out later this week, including a new stock screener. More on that later). Included in the members' site are Kirk's trading notes--including specific stocks he's tracking and trading--and his open positions. He maintains a set of links to stock screens and conducts monthly Q&A sessions for readers. A resources page introduces readers to the tools he uses in his own trading. This is not a daytrading site. Rather, it focuses on stock selection for swing trading and active investing. If stock picking is your edge, this is a fine resource.

* Trader Mike - Readers are familiar with Mike's market recaps and his regularly updated links. Recently, he has also featured very well written how-to daytrading articles from Michelle B. Mike breaks down his trading methods for readers and shares the tools of his trade. He offers perspectives on day trading and outlines his trading results. The "Key Posts" on his home page outline many of the trading ideas he holds near and dear. These provide quite a trader education in themselves. His posts are also broken down in a cloud of "frequent topics", making it easy to seek information on the topics that most interest you. I like the fact that Mike emphasizes risk management and position sizing, not just trade ideas. Great resource.

* Trader X - Trader X offers one of the very best pure how-to daytrading sites on the Web. His style of trading is radically different from my own, but it is very clear that he has a method that he follows consistently, the method exploits stock momentum, and it works for him. Numerous charts on the site illustrate setups and also grade those setups for trading purposes. The site maintains a collection of "key post" links, which describe the essentials of the trading style. He uses candlestick patterns, with an emphasis on price, volume, and Fib levels. Although he shares his trading rules and responds to questions about his trading, he makes it abundantly clear that the way to learn this kind of trading is to study thousands of charts. Grading his setups gives X a high win percentage. Clearly he has thought his methods through and has provided a fine resource for traders by illustrating these methods each week.

Volume Three of the How-To Linkfest is on its way. There are many more sites that offer fine trader education. In my opinion, the sites I'm highlighting offer more practical, actionable content than most high-priced trading seminars. What you learn after scouring them is that there is no one best way to trade. There are many methods and many timeframes. The key is finding models out there, reading about them, trying them out, and seeing which best fits your ways of thinking and your risk profile.