Retail Traders Adapt To Choppy Stock Market

As higher inflation and a more hawkish central bank loom over the stock market, retail traders must adapt to a trading environment that is hot one day and cold the next.

And, often, that hot and cold market movement can happen in a single session. This choppy range is expected for the foreseeable future.

The team at Simpler Trading daily adjusts to what the market is delivering and finds price movement that can be exploited.

Crypto offers different view of stock market

With another day of mixed results across the three major indexes, Simpler’s traders turn to alternate chart signals for insight into where price action might be headed.

One of the darlings of market analysis the past several years was cryptocurrency. Any insight in this arena faded with losses in Bitcoin (BTC) and more recently thanks to the FTX cryptocurrency exchange collapse.

Sometimes it is worth revisiting technical analysis signals that once again begin to gain a little momentum. Henry Gambell, Senior Managing Director of Options Trading at Simpler Trading, is keeping his eye on Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH).

“Crypto has really taken a back seat since the FTX debacle, but with fresh daily squeeze signals we may have reason to start looking at this market again,” Henry said.

He looks at cryptocurrency markets as a helpful metric when considering the level of risk in potential trades setups

One way to look at cryptocurrency is in relation to the dollar. As the dollar rises it puts pressure on crypto, particularly Bitcoin. He looks at Bitcoin and Ethereum because each offers futures contracts which hold some similarities to the stock and options markets.

Henry can apply squeeze strategies to these cryptocurrency tickers to anticipate market movement.

“This is a setup worth studying,” Henry said.

News events push market into choppy range

The stock market this week faced a cavalcade of pressure from news events.

Economic and inflation data releases kept the market mostly down across the board this week. The Dow, despite closing higher by more than 120 points on Friday, suffered its third straight week of losses.

In the market today, the Dow closed at 33,826.69 points to rise .39% (adding 129.84 points on the day). The Nasdaq dropped to 11,787.27 points for a .58% loss while the S&P 500 slipped by .28% to 4,079.09 points.

Much of how the market reacted to all the news caught many traders off guard. Henry is anticipating the market to continue along a choppy path with a high level of uncertainty.

“Are we really getting ready to push into fresh new highs or is this going to be more of a range-bound market?” Henry asked. “At least right this second, I’m vouching for range-bound.”

‘Zen master’ leads Simpler Trading team

There is nothing more valuable at Simpler Trading than our biggest asset — our people. The information, resources, and experience our traders deliver reaches around the world.

Whenever the markets are uncertain and risky — like much of the last few months — the Simpler Team stands tall as a calming voice in the middle of the chaos.

In this uncertain market environment many retail traders struggle with the psychology of trading. This is where the “zen master” of Simpler – Henry – stands out as an options strategies mentor.

Henry is one of our traders making an impact.

Retail traders throughout the Simpler Trading online community – including the professionals on our team – marvel at Henry’s zen-like insight as he rapidly breaks down hard to understand market topics. This allows retail traders to take in the information and apply it at a personal level. 

Henry leads by example in his simplicity as a trader and in life. He meditates daily, and shares his insights across multiple trading rooms at Simpler. Traders respect his strict analytical approach to the markets as a focused and conservative directional trader.

Focus on journey to pursue trading opportunities

One key trait that other traders have pointed out is Henry showing how he is able to sit squarely in the middle of a never-before-seen market environment and dissect complex trading setups.

Trading is a risky endeavor and not all trades work out. Traders who learn with Henry — the “Zen of Simpler” — can understand the reality of how loss isn’t the focus but a part of the journey within the trading lifestyle.

For Henry, the next trade is the one to pursue.