TradeSelector is a swing trading stock picks service for US stocks/equities created and run as a partnership of two traders, Al Ruiz and Paul Ramshaw.

Al has been trading for more than 10 years and has a keen sense of market sentiment formed from ongoing education in technical analysis. In 2000 and in 2008, AL noticed something wasn't quite right about the market and exited most of his long positions, thus avoiding the debacle that was to follow. Paul worked in Foreign Currency Trading (FX) in Europe in the early 1990's and also has a perspective on the London and European markets that serves as a useful mirror for US trading. Paul is also a technical analyst with a keen eye for charts but also has a PhD in Political Economy that helps with understanding market drivers from a wider political and macroeconomic perspective.

What is Swing Trading Anyway?

The question we are asked most often is, what is Swing Trading? Everyone has heard of Day Trading and Buy And Hold investing, but it seems most people do not understand what it means to be a swing trader. Essentially Swing Trading is day trading for the regular guy with a job and a real life, it is day trading without the stress of being in front of your screen all day. It can all be done in a couple of minutes in the evening after the market is closed. Trade durations are usually over a period of anywhere from a couple of days to a week or more but usually less. We place our Stop Buy Limit Orders or Stop Short Limit Orders based on the Target Prices we pre-determine, then place our Stop Loss Orders once we are in the trade. There are different types of swing traders just like there are different types of day traders. We consider ourselves trend followers, we attempt to identify stocks that are moving in a bearish or bullish trend.

The Difference For Us Is...

Unlike day traders,  at TradeSelector.com we are looking for high percentage gains, we want dollars instead of cents. Our goal is to lock in 5% to 10% gains in 3 to 5 days. We will stay in a stock for as long as that stock is moving in our direction. Unlike buy and hold investors we place and aggressively move our stops to protect our gains. This helps us to maximise gains and minimise losses. We enter positions based on Technical Analysis, the study of Daily Price Movements and Short and Long Term Trends including areas of Technical Support and Resistance. We identify certain patterns that we know have the best odds of being profitable. Then we create a plan that includes the entry price, stop price and the most likely target price. We compare the risk to the potential reward and determine if the risk is justified. Day Traders are in a position for seconds or minutes and never hold a position over night whereas Swing Traders can be in a position from 1 day to 2-3 weeks or as long as the position is moving in the right direction. Buy and Hold Investors, can be in a position for ever, they will buy a stock close their eyes and hope it doesnt end up like GM, AIG, AOL, Lehman or any one of the other hundreds of companies that have gone bankrupt or are worth pennies after years of holding them.