Why Larry's Trading Day Starts 17 Hours Early Welcome to Trading With Larry Benedict If this is your first time reading Trading With Larry Benedict, thanks for joining us. You can catch up on all previous issues right here. If you have any questions for Larry, or feedback, shoot us a note anytime at feedback@opportunistictrader.com. | Daina’s note: For today’s interview, we’re doing something a bit different. As Larry has shown throughout this interview series, his approach to trading is meticulous and consistent. But it isn’t always easy to understand how he does what he does. So, I asked Larry to walk me through a day in the life of a master trader… and show you every step of his process...
Daina Schnese: Let’s walk through a typical trading day for you. When does the work begin?
Larry Benedict: For me, a typical trading day actually starts the day before... right when the market closes. So that night, I’ll look at how stocks closed, go through charts of trades I’m in or looking to get into, and how the market finished overall. It depends on how many trades I’m in. But, this part of the process takes anywhere from one hour to a few. I spend at least 30 minutes going over the day before… What I did right, what I did wrong, and what I might need to improve on for the next trading day. Then, I’ll leave my office around 5:30 p.m., get home, and wait for the Japanese opening at 7 p.m. ET. It’s important to pay attention to global markets… Inter-market relationships are huge, because markets can impact other markets drastically. 
Larry’s trade station I also always keep an eye on the futures market, which is open from 6 p.m. on Sunday to around 5 p.m. on Friday. But, my prep the night before the next trading day is more watching and paying attention to news and market action than anything else. I’ll usually watch the market, on and off, until I fall asleep. Sometimes I'll even trade through the night. But when I don't, I’ll still put in call levels just in case something big happens. A call level is basically an alert. It means a firm would call me and wake me up if the market made any big moves, so I don’t miss it. Depending on how things look, I might get up at 2 or 3 a.m. to trade the European markets. I don’t do that often at all. But, if it’s really active and busy, I will. See, a lot of what I do is trading our market vs. other markets.... Like, the Nikkei 225 against the German Stock Index… and or even one country’s debt vs. another country’s debt. Like I said, I don’t do that too often. I try to sleep as much as possible. For my health, and to stay sharp during the trading day. I usually get up around 6 a.m. to start preparing. That’s mainly reading through research and news headlines. Unfortunately, today’s market is a very reactive one. It can and will move off of the slightest bit of positive or negative news. And it doesn’t matter if that news is factual or not. The trading day itself is just executing on the plans I put together from the previous day - and occasionally overnight. I’ll be honest… it’s a bit of a blur. I’m in and out of at least 50 positions a day. Like I’ve said previously, I’m looking to take small gains on a large number of positions throughout the day. This is what slowly grows my pile of capital, so that when I see a home run lining up... I can make a big, profitable bet. Those don’t come around often. Most days I’m just taking those small gains over and over. But when they do, I pare down the number of positions I trade each day and focus on the big one. Then, the preparation continues again after the close of the U.S. trading day. All that’s left is just analyzing my current positions, making sure our P&L (profit and loss) from the day before is right, and adjusting where we need to. Then the cycle repeats... Daina: Wow, you really do live and breathe the markets. Do you have a favorite stock or sector to trade? Larry: I like to trade the S&P 500. That might sound a bit basic, but here’s why… I like the S&P 500 because it’s pure. By pure I mean, you might be bullish on a single stock. But, you may not make money off of it. The stock might have a seller you don’t know about, or bad news could come out at any point that could rock the company, or a million different things could happen. But, with the S&P 500, you don’t have to worry about that nonsense. If the market goes up, you can make money trading it. If the market goes lower, you can still make money trading it. It’s more difficult to get pure action in stocks. Daina: Do you ever trade any of the trendy sectors like, say, bitcoin? Or cannabis stocks? Larry: Trust me… We don’t have enough time left for me to get into those! Daina: Well, we’ll have to talk about those the next time we get together. Thanks, Larry.
Daina’s note: Next week, Larry will give his take on two of the most talked-about sectors of the last couple years: Bitcoin and cannabis. And, of course, he’ll give you his usual timely market outlook.
And, though it might be a bit early to mention it, I’m just too excited to keep it to myself. Larry’s working on something huge… It's unlike anything I've seen anywhere else. I can’t give you all the details right now. But here’s what I will say… I’ve never seen someone like Larry give back to their community in the unique way he’s got planned. Rest assured, you’ll hear all about it next week. About Larry Benedict... Larry is a former hedge fund manager with over 30 years of investing experience. He’s also known as one of the world’s best traders… and for good reason. From 1990 to 2010 – when he was actively running hedge funds – Larry never had a single losing year. Larry’s market commentary is frequently featured in Bloomberg, Barron's, and The Wall Street Journal, among other major news outlets. That’s why we’re publishing this limited-edition interview series over the next couple months. When we saw what Larry could offer to everyday investors, we knew we had to share everything we could with you. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions about this free e-letter, please drop us a line at feedback@opportunistictrader.com. And if this interview series isn’t for you, simply click this link to opt out now. | | 
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