Reading the Tape

["T-Bondtrader" <t-bondtrader@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Stewart, as you say, we are not far apart in our method of trading - the
same instrument!

For the benefit of others, I attach a .gif file of some of yesterday's and
today's action.  If you made all the wrong decisions and bought when you
should have sold, I cannot see where a stop in the market would have made
any difference - if you set stops as I do and trade with a similar r/r/r.
But most people set their stops far too close and get taken out needlessly.

There are ways of dealing with the 'melt down' situation, but when people
really want their stop to work for them, it is usually when 'they' declare
a fast market and your little order is stuck at the bottom of the pile.

For example, when Ruben  resigned the bonds tanked $700 a contract and you
can bet you would have been filled at the bottom.   A couple of minutes
later and it was back to normal.   A stop simply would not have saved your
bacon, which is what it is supposed to do.  (In the Spoos, the very same
move was $7,000 and just where do you think some people will have got
filled.....???!!!!)

The attached chart only tells a small part of why one would have sold all
day today, because there are a lot of factors not detailed as such, but I
know with your experience you will know what I am talking about.   Anyway,
I hope it will provide some food for thought for those who want to see what
they should see, with the dear old bonds!

Best of...

Bill Eykyn
www.t-bondtrader.com







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