The StockTwits® Edge: 40 Actionable Trade Set-Ups from Real Market Pros

CHAPTER 12

Trading the News

Mike Bellafiore, @smbcapital

Trading is an extremely difficult career and lifestyle, but Mike and his team at SMB Capital believe they can teach traders how to succeed. And this focus on mentorship is really paying off—their students and customers are thrilled with the results they're getting. As the economy has changed and young people find it difficult to get started on careers, the art of trading will become a more requested skill. I also believe that trading, like fishing, can be learned and the skills are great ones to have no matter what business you end up pursuing.

I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.

—Henry David Thoreau

THE PROPRIETARY TRADER

I thought I wanted to be a lawyer. I was clerking for a federal magistrate in Connecticut during my first year in law school, driving my worthless Honda Civic back and forth between Bridgeport and West Hartford. I remember saying to myself: I don't want to do this. All these people are really nice, and bright, and hardworking, but this is just not for me. To me being a lawyer was like having a book report due every day. And who ever liked that?

So for my last two years in law school I was exploring what else I could do except be a lawyer. One evening I drove down to Stamford and hopped on the Metro North to New York City for a visit with my best friend from home, Steve Spencer. It was someone's birthday, maybe his cousin's ...