Do you tend to trade a fix list of stocks?
Or you follow certain scanners like volume breakouts, gaps?
How much stocks do you prefer in your watchlist?
Depends on your risk reward ratio, goal
For day trading, having a list of 5-10 fixed stocks (preferably heavyweights) helps as we get used to the chaal (patterns) of the stock
For delivery based trading, definitely random stocks depending on various factors like fundamentals, volume, TA and so on
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I have been trading breakouts, gaps from a population of around 200 stocks.
At times, I feel this is overwhelming.
The reason, i posed this question is i am checking peeps who trade a fix list of stocks or a small population of say,10-20 stocks.
Confining to a strict list of stocks, does that make things manageable or you tend to miss things out since the population is rather small?
I am referring to day trading.
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Trading manually over many stocks is quite tough to do, esp if you are going to look at it all day.
We can use scanners to do some of the work. I used to do that over 60+ stocks few years back and eventually was able to find some success. I even used ahk automation over nest ( apis came later) to do most of the execution for me too. All i had to do was select the stock and the entry point on the chart and let code take care of position sizing, setting limits, triggering stops on entry trigger etc.
Even with all of that, i eventually got really tired of it ( after an allergy episode on a trend day …) and decided to approximate it and automate. Big bonus of automation was reduction of emotional turmoil. For me, i don’t think trading intraday like this was worth it and thankfully i stopped in time. Automation also allowed me to scale up easily without the issues that people normally seem to face with more volatile pnl in rupee terms.
Anyway, what might be easier is to focus your entries over limited period so that your work gets done quickly. Depending on the edge, you may still want to hold the trade for full day ( that’s what usually works best, costs are high ). Perhaps supplement your discretionary work with some backtesting too. Good luck …
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plus, I track the stocks that are buzzing in market
I used to go through a lot of scrips earlier, but it’s eye soring
now I use scanner & I individually go through handful of 20-30 stocks each day (manageable)
about hundred which are sub divided into different sectors but I rarely go through it, it just exist
unerstanding price action moves in stocks is easier than index, no need to check OI, sgx, VIX
& accuracy is high as well
what do you say?
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I tend to trade only 2 stocks say which has a max gap or a volume break. But the population of these 2 stocks comes from 200 stocks.
Yes, i do use a scanner which pops the condition i am looking for. The end result is around 4% per month.
Now, i want to know how people do who only focus on one instrument. Maybe, i can go max with handful of stocks say 6, and trade what i see. Instead of waiting for scanners.
What will be your 6 stocks if you have to trade intraday?
I am looking for ideas. I feel mental block. Hope, your answers throw some light around.
I cant look at charts whole day. Max i can look 1 and half hours. Automation do removes emotion, but on my end i feel it also limits returns.
Thats the reason, i want to put a select few stocks, and trade without a scanner.
But what will be that few good stocks?
That’s very good already if these are real market returns. Try to scale it up and compound.
There is no reason to assume that. Both have pros and cons. Some things cannot be automated but just as same we cant execute some things without automation. At the highest level, perhaps its more true - market wizards ( in the book) tend to trade with discretion i think. Atleast the last one as per someone had only 1 systematic trade i think.
That’s part of your research really. What kind of stocks work best with your system. Does not have to be a fixed list either, you can try to sort based on different things and check what helps. Hard work …
Individual stocks tend to change behavior too, so static list may not work as well for say next 5-10 years. Ex Eicher use to be butter smooth in breakouts few years back. No so much anymore.
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it’s doesnt have to objective
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I usually dont write answers, just thought to reply you as I was in this situation once upon a time, now I trade only Index but will let you know what i did when i was in this situation.
I never used scanner as I dont have one, I dont rely on others(got many free from many sites but not consistent, even from brokers). I dont wander for more than 3 stocks because looking at 3 stocks simultaneously itself a hectic job. I relied on price action after following all indicators indicators on sometime later came to know its useless.
So how did I select the 3 stocks( have 3 screen so 3 stocks). I shortlisted 10 FO stocks which has high volume for the last 6 months to 1 year. then among the 10 I shortlisted 3 stocks which had min 1 to 2% movement daily or u can call high beta stocks( diff between high and low intraday). Then based on price action which ever i feel I got my signal I’ll trade, either long or short.
This is how i traded stocks, just how I did, If u find useful you can try.
Why did I changed from stock to Index, 3 reasons mainly. 1st the margin rule. 2nd smart money was even smarter as they knew very well what retail will think so had a lot of false patterns, false BOs, false setups, SL hunting.
3rd is i used to miss my entry looking at 3 charts simultaneously, when looking at one chart i miss the entry on other and vice versa which frustrated me a lot and finally decided to move to index.
Index is the most difficult to trade but am ok on concentrating on 1 chart rather than 1+ as my setup is mostly based on price action.
hope it helps.
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I have only one complaint against you.
Your answer just pulled me out a conundrum.
It’s like the 
effect, where a small flap of its wings can have a ripple effect somewhere.
Please, don’t hold yourself from giving answers. This is the beauty of having a community.
You never know how much you helped someone. And hey thanks again.
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Thanks for your comments, Still I just work on charts everytime looking for something I have missed and thats why I have come this long as an individual in trading all alone without any mentor or a friend. hence I didnt have time for community. will take your suggestion and try to spend more time.
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Damn. Your story resonates.
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4% is actually reasonable!
I am a positional trader and investor. So, I have scanner of fundamentally strong shares and look for my setup to happen in them mostly. My number of positions then depend on the number of setups available. Often it crosses 20, sometimes it is 0.
I like to trade 7 to 9 stocks that are of sound companies. They are from different sectors, and you may call them ‘blue-chip’ stocks.