Blog focus: The Disciplined Investor
Last Updated on Saturday, 27 February 2010 06:34 Written by Saturday, 27 February 2010 06:34
Coverage: trading, quantitative analysis, technical analysis, fundamental analysis
Platform: wordpress
Reach: Newsflashr: #11, Alexa: 137065, feedreaders: unknown
Updates available: RSS, twitter, facebook, podcasts
Premium services: sales of book “The Disciplined Investor”, promotion of managed investment service
Frequency of posting: several times daily
Monetization: primarily through promotion of book and managed investment service, plus display ads that appear to be for affiliate programs
This is Andrew Horowitz’s site, and not surprisingly it focuses on the strategy outlined in his book, The Disciplined Investor. The strategy – Horowitz calls it “QuantaFundaTechna” – begins with quantitative stock screens that filter stocks for size, sector, earnings growth, rating, corporate structure and price momentum. Next, fundamental overlays are added to refine the list. Finally, technical analysis is considered for entry and exit points.
The best way to get a sense of how Horowitz synthesizes these different approaches is to look at his review of an actual stock, such as this review of Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM).
Learn MoreBlog focus: TraderFeed
Last Updated on Sunday, 7 February 2010 02:33 Written by Sunday, 7 February 2010 02:30
Platform: Blogger / blogspot hosted
Reach: Newsflashr #6, Alexa: 63893, feedreaders: unknown
Updates available: RSS, email, twitter
Premium services: author serves as a trading coach but site is not used to sell any premium services
Monetization: none
Brett Steenbarger’s TraderFeed covers the gamut of trading psychology, from mental outlook and preparation of trading to interpreting indicators that reflect crowd psychology. Steenbarger also covers the world of proprietary trading, with insights from his role as a trainer/consultant to the SMB prop firm that publishes the SMB Training Blog.
There’s a lot of blogs that address some of these topics in isolation, but few synthesize them as well as Brett Steenbarger. For example, take a look at his recent post describing the role of relative volume in a trending market.
Learn MoreBlog focus: SMB Capital Training Blog
Last Updated on Tuesday, 9 February 2010 05:06 Written by Sunday, 31 January 2010 10:50
Coverage: proprietary trading, technical analysis, trading psychology
Platform: WordPress
Reach: Newsflashr (not ranked), Alexa: 279948, feedreaders: unknown
Updates available: RSS, email, twitter, youtube
Premium services: sells training programs and company offers proprietary trading programs
Monetization: premium services only; no advertising
SMB Capital Training Blog is, by far, the best blog from any prop trading firm. The Chicago-based firm believes in disciplined training, and candidly discusses how difficult trading can be.
A recent post on the failure rate of prop traders is a must-read:
Learn More“Numbers abound about what the failure rate is. Some say 95 percent. Others claim 80. We had a college student fly across the country to visit us who was writing his college thesis on this very subject. He came in at 90 percent. At a big bank the whisper number is 55 percent. I had dinner last night with a close friend that relayed the head trader at a Tier I investment house was bemoaning the worst part of his job- letting failed traders go.
These numbers above include far too many people who should have never tried. There are too many bad acting firms who promise early riches preying on the monetarily ambitious, who have no passion for trading. These noobs are merely hunting for the next big game in our economy. And these pikers get included in the failure data. The market spits out these miscasts. And so the failure rate may be high, but really is not relevant to those who deserve an opportunity.”
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