Its a stock pickers market

The markets
Remain under a bit of pressure but there are still opportunities, some of them are more wild than others like $VRS yesterday. Its a very thin name that wound up being up nearly 400 percent on the day. I was a big chicken yesterday and failed to pull the trigger when the opportunity arose, the spread on the stock was crazy and with it getting circuit breaker halts every 10 minutes it was just to volatile for me. However, it only takes one hit like that to make your week which makes it so compelling.

What you don't want to do is chase something like that and wind up getting burned.  There is nothing wrong with inaction if you don't get the setup you are looking for. You may miss a big run and it will be painful to watch but it builds discipline. Discipline is what will keep you in the game for years to come. This is a journey its not a race take your time and recognize that there are going to be missed opportunities. Patience, discipline and a plan are the keys to your success.
     
There were a lot of decent setups and quick plays out there but you had to be quick as the markets were a bit choppy.  

Morning movers and other stocks that caught my eye

$STXS pr thin name do not chase it, $OPXA pr like the daily, $NBIX pr last night big gapper, $ABIO like the daily, $USAT pr last night red to green maybe, $SD pr 50day bounce?, $AFFX pr, $BBRYcontinuation?, $GALE pr decent daily , $NAVB pr 2 dolla holla 50 ma bounce, 


Seeking Alpha

Today's Markets:
In Asia, Japan -0.6% to 15814. Hong Kong +0.1% to 22713. China +0.1% to 2047. India-0.45% to 20693.
In Europe, at midday, London +0.3%. Paris +0.3%. Frankfurt +0.5%.
Futures at 6:20: Dow +0.4%. S&P +0.4%. Nasdaq +0.45%. Crude +0.45% to $93.85. Gold -0.1% to $1236.50.
Ten-year Treasury Yield flat at 2.97%.

Today's economic calendar:
7:45 ICSC Retail Store Sales
8:30 International Trade
8:55 Redbook
1:00 PM Results of $30B, 3-Year Note Auction

Notable earnings before today's open: CMC, IHS

Notable earnings after today's close: APOL, MU, TCS

As many of you know, I have teamed up with Noanet Trader (@NoanetTrader) in his chat room. Noanet is a great trader, genuine person and now a close friend that shares the same goal as I do: trying to help people become better traders.

Our chat room is unique in our approach: The room isn't just about throwing out stocks for people to follow on and trade. Noanet and I encourage just the opposite. 

Its NOT about "giving people a fish so they can eat for a day, but about teaching people to fish so they can eat for a lifetime."

We want our members to find their own trades, and we try to provide them with the tools and knowledge to do just that. Noanet has tremendous discipline and focus on minimizing loss and maximizing gains, he shares his strategy real time on both, daytrade and swing positions.

The trading strategies that Noa outlines on his blog and in the chatroom, attention to detail, along with his genuine concern for his members is refreshing and its an honor for me to be part of it.

Here is Noanet's blog post including what some of our members are saying they learned from us

From Noanet's Blog:

What A Year It Was

In Just Rambling on January 1, 2014 at 4:33 pm

Reflecting back on the year that was, I am astounded by everything that happened. Exactly a year ago I decided to start a simple, no-frills “lemonade stand” blog and add my voice to the universe of traders and financial bloggers. I had no plans or expectations for it.

Today, a year later, and mostly as a result of the feedback and requests from people who liked my blog and the way I approached trading, the blog has morphed into a growing trading mentoring service with a great community of aspiring and experienced traders.

First of all, none of this would be possible without Howard Lindzon and his incredible market platform, StockTwits, where thousands of traders share trading and investing ideas. Posting my ideas and activity on StockTwits took my blog from complete obscurity to getting nearly 700 daily visitors from 90 countries within six months.

Being on StockTwits also allowed me to meet Tim/VegasTrader66, a great trader, an even better human being, and now a good friend. Tim repeatedly nudged me to start a swing portfolio and I finally relented and did so this past August. He also encouraged me to pull the trigger and start the trading service. I did so only after getting him to promise to be my partner in this venture and this is where we are today.

Yesterday in the chat room, one of our members suggested we ask everyone about the key things they learned from us in 2013. The following is some of the feedback we have received:

• Many thanks to both of you guys. Minimizing my losses, taking profits, patience are few things right off the bat. – JP
• My portfolio, since I joined your service, has grown by almost 100%. Conservatively several hundred K. Seriously. Not all due to you and VT’s influence, but worth noting – LL
• So far the best thing I learned here is patience, waiting for my price, and not chasing and getting caught by the falling knife.  I still have a lot to learn but feel better about 2014 knowing I have you guys in my corner. – CW
• After flopping around and blindly following advice of others and losing 4K I made some changes.  I found VT and NT on stocktwits and started following their blogs, after they started the chatroom I decided to join and now I’ve made back almost all the money I’ve lost.  I’ve started to learn when to enter, when not to chase, and also to take profits along the way (lots of singles add up to many points, where swinging for homeruns often leads to strikeouts).  My goal is to be better at recognizing setups for breakouts.   Thanks VT and NT for the interactive way of learning. – IK
• Your time and guidance have been invaluable to me, have saved me a lot of money, thank you very much. From NT I’ve learned about stop losses and that a dollar not lost is a dollar earned. I also learned a lot about patience and timing and that not all trades are successful. From Tim I am learning the difference between being a trader and becoming a successful trader and have developed a healthy respect for charts.From both of you I have developed trust. I am not a pro and trading may never become my primary source of income, but when I do trade I am grateful for both of you and for helping me increase each trades chance for success. – DS
• A profit is a profit.  Don’t forget to take them and then also pay yourself.  It can be a dinner out, clothes, massage, etc — but remember to reward yourself when you have made money !! – NAB
• …you guys are helping me “unlearn” bad trading philosophy and practices (doubling down, going in too big, turning day trades into swings when they were not designed to be swings, etc.). Thanks again for what you do! I believe it will be life changing for my family and I in the long run! – FV

What will 2014 bring? I wish I knew, but if it’s half as good as 2013 was for myself, Tim and our member fiends. I will personally be extremely happy.

If you are looking to improve your trading skills (swing, intraday, or both) in 2014, we would love to welcome you to our community. Try us out, free for 10 days.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN

http://wp.me/P3QO4L-QJ