Scatty On The Markets... your questions answered here!

Discussion in 'Technical Analysis' started by Scataphagos, Oct 15, 2021.

  1. I just had hip surgery and will be laid up for a while. I can either lie in bed and watch old Gilligan’s Island reruns or do something else. As there are TONS of false notions about the markets and trading, I’ve posited the notion that I might benefit the mankind of market traders by answering some of ET-ers questions. (I did this once before about 15 years ago and answered ~200 questions over a weekend.)

    So.. who is Scatty? “Scatty” or “Scat” is short for Scataphagos… Greek, loosely translating as “shit eater”… a clue as to how seriously I take myself and is in deference to the election of Obama.

    Why should you bother to listen what I have to say? (1) I’m long-time experienced, (2) I formerly managed a mutual fund timing service where clients paid me to trade their account for them… Much to my dismay I never got into the “big time”, but I was a big fish in a small pond for a while with ~$60 Million under management. I won the 1994 US Investing Championships in 3 categories plus had other “top 5” finishes. (3) I started my investing career with a $25/month bank draft into Templeton Growth Fund and grew my trading account to “8 figures”. (And yes… While some have deduced over the years though I’ve never admitted it until now… I am that "Gnome” guy. If you don’t know the reference, no worries… you won’t hurt my feelings.)

    So… I if you think an old timer with those credentials might offer insight into your trading, tune in.

    If enough people say they’d be interested, here’s how it will work…

    1. I will answer general questions about trading, the markets and Price TA. I won’t answer questions like, “I bought a call for $1.00 and now it’s trading at $.50. What should I do with it?”

    2. I’m not an options expert. I know generally enough to have passed the Series 7 securities license exam and have traded some for myself. Options are not my preferred vehicle. These days I trade ETFs and index futures.

    3. Questions will be posted with a time stamp. If I answer a question with a later stamp than yours, yours won’t get answered… no reflection on you, just that your question likely has already been answered, is too specific to be of general interest or I simply don’t know or have no opinion.

    4. My answers will be factual, at least in my mind. If I’m “iffy” on something or don’t know, I’ll say so. I’m not going to blow smoke up anyone’s skirt pretending to know something I don’t.

    5. If you’re on my “ignore list”, I won’t be answering your questions, of course. (You’ll never know what you’re missing out on for being an ignoramus or having pissed me off. :))

    6. If you’re want to “razz the thread”, don’t bother. You won’t get a rise out of me. You will simply be ignored.

    7. ONE question per post, please.
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2021
  2. CALLumbus

    CALLumbus

    Hey man, I hope that you dont have too much pain, and that you can jump around very soon again !
     
    Laissez Faire likes this.
  3. NoahA

    NoahA

    Hope you have a speedy recovery.

    So the big general question is where you see the markets going. I think most are shocked by how high they are now given how bad some of the fundamentals look. It seems like fundamentals no longer matter, as long as the FED keeps playing their game. (Good news is great, bad news is also great since it means stimulus) So going with the idea that the markets are now just a function of the FED's intervention and there is no real price discovery, is it even possible for the markets to crash in any meaningful way?

    As a PA trader, its of course easier to just follow price, but this also means that if you're looking for certain things to happen that may have before, when fundamental stuff actually mattered, then perhaps the game is much different now so they will no longer happen like that.
     
    Laissez Faire likes this.
  4. Handle123

    Handle123

    If you think you have great pain from hip surgery, wait till you answer questions years later since last time you done this. I hope you have speedy recovery my friend. But I will ask you some questions so you not thinking about your hip too much.

    Do you ever take counter trend signals?
    do you use slope of price to enter/exit market?
    What are your thoughts on Doji bars?
    Do you M/W/D and intraday in your decision making for entries/exits?
    Partial profits or one target, trailing stops?
    Do you carry any long term stocks?
    Do you trade for capital appreciation or dividends?
    Do you use a flat percentage stops or chart patterns even if risk is beyond your norms?
    What your thoughts on inside and outside bars.
    Ever trade commodities?
    How do you trade megaphones?
     
  5. Follow price. Best and safest you can do.

    Forecasting is not my forte... but I see the markets managing to go higher, "regardless" because of the psychology behind Fed printing.
     
    SimpleMeLike and NoahA like this.
  6. Aw, come on man... you know as much about this as I do. Too many questions at once.

    (I tried to answer your multiple questions but my page management fumbled and I lost it all.)

    :)
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2021
  7. deaddog

    deaddog

    I trade what I call momentum stocks. Stocks that are going up.

    Is there an indicator you would use to rank momentum stocks?
     
  8. deaddog

    deaddog

    Please enlighten us.
     
  9. "Momentum" has a couple of different (subjective) metrics. I like to "rank" issues from a specific date... those that have gone up/down the most/least from a beginning date.
     
    deaddog likes this.
  10. I've already stated all the "enlightenment" I've got.
     
    #10     Oct 15, 2021