Trading and Execution
The gap between deciding to trade and executing well is wider than most investors realize. These articles cover order types, execution strategies, slippage, market impact, and the mechanics of getting the best price — whether you're placing a single trade or managing a more active portfolio.
Short Selling Mechanics and Borrow Costs
Short selling requires borrowing shares before selling them, with costs ranging from under 1% annually for liquid stocks to over 100% for hard-to-borrow securities.
Designing a Written Trading Plan
A structured trading plan defines your entry criteria, position sizing, and exit rules before emotions enter the equation.
Using Options for Synthetic Exposure
Learn how combining a long call and short put at the same strike creates synthetic stock exposure with reduced capital requirements.
Margin Accounts, Leverage, and Regulation T
Regulation T sets the initial 50% margin requirement for securities purchases, while FINRA rules establish ongoing maintenance requirements that trigger margin calls.
Tax Considerations for High-Frequency Trading
Navigate wash sale rules, mark-to-market elections, and tax rate differentials that determine whether frequent trading is profitable after taxes.
Position Sizing and Risk-Reward Ratios
Position sizing determines how much capital to allocate per trade, while risk-reward ratios measure whether potential gains justify the risk taken.
Order Routing Choices and Smart Order Types
Order routing determines where your trade executes, affecting fill prices, speed, and rebates, while smart order types automate complex execution strategies.
Using Stop Orders, OCO, and Trailing Stops
Stop orders automate exits to limit losses and lock in gains, but understanding gap risk, slippage, and order type differences prevents costly execution surprises.
Glossary: Trading and Execution Terms
A reference guide defining 30 essential trading and execution terms for active traders and investors.
Managing Trades Through Earnings Season
Earnings announcements create 4-8% average price moves with elevated volatility, requiring adjusted position sizing, stop placement, and risk management strategies.
Algorithmic Execution Basics: VWAP, TWAP, POV
Every large order you send to the market leaves a footprint. Buy 50,000 shares of a stock that trades 500,000 daily as a single market order, and you will move the price against yourself by 0.5% to 2.0% before your fill is complete. That is $2,500 to $10,000 in unnecessary slippage on a $500,000 ...
Handling Gaps and Volatility Events
How to protect capital and exploit opportunities when stocks gap sharply or volatility spikes unexpectedly.
Broker Selection Criteria for Active Traders
Active traders need specific broker capabilities including execution quality, margin rates, and platform reliability that passive investors can ignore.
Measuring Slippage and Implementation Shortfall
Every trade you execute has a gap between the price you wanted and the price you got. That gap has a name -- slippage -- and it compounds silently across hundreds of trades into 1-3% of annual returns that simply vanish. Andre Perold formalized the complete picture in 1988 as implementation short...
Performance Attribution for Active Strategies
Decompose your returns to understand whether outperformance comes from sector allocation, stock selection, or market timing.
When to Use Alternative Trading Systems
Learn when dark pools, crossing networks, and other alternative trading systems provide better execution than traditional exchanges.
Maintaining Compliance with Pattern Day Trading Rules
Understand the $25,000 minimum, counting rules, and consequences of PDT violations to avoid frozen accounts and forced liquidations.
Trading Psychology and Discipline Practices
Identify common psychological traps in active trading and implement systematic rules that prevent emotional decision-making from destroying returns.
Trade Journaling and Post-Mortem Reviews
Build a systematic trade journal that converts expensive lessons into lasting skill improvements.
Leveraging Portfolio Margin Accounts
Understand how portfolio margin uses risk-based calculations to reduce margin requirements by 50-70% compared to Reg T for diversified portfolios.