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

CHAPTER 32

The New High Dip

Chris Stauder, @BuyOnTheDip

Chris loves to leverage his trading ideas via options, but he also knows how to manage risk. He is smart enough to be based in San Diego, and his tweets are often funnier than mine.

Dip him in the river who loves water.

—William Blake

THE MORNING PAPER

My infatuation for the stock market started at the breakfast table with my dad, reading the newspaper. I was probably 10 years old at the time, eating Wheaties at 5:30 A.M. My dad left for the station every day at 6 A.M. sharp. This, 30 minutes a day, Monday through Friday, was my introduction to stocks. On the porch: the Oakland Tribune and the San Francisco Chronicle. Dad would always start with the business section; me, sports. I loved our hometown Oakland A's and the Boston Red Sox—an odd combo, but I thought my Dad looked like Wade Boggs, Hall of Fame Red Sox third baseman, with his classic 1980s mustache. After I finished the box scores and scanned the league leaders, we'd switch. Dad would hand me the business section and ask, “What looks good? I'll give you $5,000 play bucks. Pick a stock.”

I remember staring at letters and numbers, looking for something familiar. In those days the paper would show the company name slightly abbreviated, the ticker symbol, the previous day's closing price, and the 52-week high/low, and then there was a little up or down triangle if the stock was at a 52-week high or low. The paper would also boldface the company name when it was at ...