The Prop Trader's Chronicles: Short-Term Proprietary Trading Strategies for Both Bull and Bear Markets

Preface

What do you do for a living up there in Canada?” The United States border official began his questioning while he examined my Toronto-issued passport. He was devoid of the type of smiles and overall casual, easy-going personality I had (surprisingly to many) come to expect of others in his profession. It was 2007, well into the post-9/11 world of Homeland Security. And I had encountered quite a few of his colleagues at the Niagara Falls border, having frequently traveled to New York to visit my ex-girlfriend. I am and have always been a fan of that city and, unsurprisingly, it continues to play a significant role in both my personal and professional life.

“I'm a trader,” I answered.

“A traitor?” The bald man asked, having clearly enunciated the second “t” without showing so much as a hint of a smile if doing so was even in his repertoire.

“I trade stocks for a proprietary trading firm.”

“What kind of stocks are there to trade, up there in Canada?”

“I only trade NYSE listed stocks right now, actually—at a firm in Toronto.” I had nothing against the Toronto Stock Exchange, but it just happened that I specialized in a style of high-volume ECN rebate trading on New York listed equities that was mostly impossible to duplicate on the TSX at the time.

“Got any stock tips for me?” He looked up as he posed the question and watched my facial cues as if to test the legitimacy of my claim.

“Mostly just scalp AMD lately—you know, the Pepsi of PC processor chips to Intel's Coca-Cola.” ...