In 2013, we proudly posted 117 articles here on our blog that consisted of ETF and stock picks, technical analysis of the markets, and educational articles related to our proven swing trading system.

As another fantastic year draws to a close, we are highlighting our 13 best trading strategy articles of the year.

The following list is quite handy if you just discovered our blog mid-year, or even if you simply would like to review our top blog posts of the year. Enjoy!

13 Top Trading Tips of 2013

In no particular order, here we go…

1.) Top 5 Qualities Of The Best Stock Breakouts

Not all stock breakouts are created equal. While the best will zoom 20-30% higher (or more) before taking a rest, others quickly fail and fall back down below the breakout level.

For maximum odds of a successful breakout, you need a checklist to make sure you’re not overlooking a key technical point. Here is our list of the top 5 qualities to look for when trading breakouts.

2.) How To Trail Stops On Winning Swing Trades For Maximum Profit

One of the most challenging aspects of swing trading is knowing when to exit a trade…specifically a winning trade.

Locking in your trading profits too soon (due to fear of a reversal) has a very high opportunity cost and can make it difficult to be a consistently winning trader over the long-term.

Conversely, being greedy by trying to squeeze every point out of the trade before selling is a surefire way to give back a substantial amount of unrealized gains.

The answer to this dilemma is scaling out of a trade by trailing stops higher along the way. Here is a clear explanation of how we do it.

3.) How To Trade Around Earnings Reports With Maximum Profits And Low Risk

When public companies report their quarterly earnings four times a year, many traders are unsure whether to exit their positions ahead of the expected earnings release date or to simply continue holding onto their trades.

Closing out a trade ahead of earnings can prevent the realization of large gains that come with positive reactions to earnings reports, but it also eliminates the risk of getting nailed if a stock drops due to a negative reaction.

Our trading methodology seeks to capture the best of both worlds. Click here to read the article.

4.) How To Find The Best Stocks To Buy BEFORE They Breakout

The best breakout stocks always emerge from a valid base of consolidation that consists of one of two types: cup and handle or flat base.

In this article, learn to identify both types of basing patterns to ensure the stocks you are buying are valid breakout candidates.

5.) How Monstrous Volume Powered This Breakout Stock To Our 37% Gain

Volume is one the most powerful, albeit basic, technical indicators at a trader’s disposal. Yet, many newer traders underestimate the effectiveness and efficiency of identifying volume surges that point to buying among banks, mutual funds, hedge funds, and other institutions.

Earlier this year, we bought and sold Bitauto ($BITA) for a 37% share price gain, and volume was one of the key factors that told us to hang on to this stock.

Here is our educational review of that winning trade, with a focus on how studying volume patterns can increase your trading profits.

6.) How Top Stock Traders Mentally Deal With Sudden Market Reversals

Regardless of how much we plan and prepare each new trade entry, things don’t always work out as anticipated (otherwise we would all be gazillionaires).

As such, it is crucial to always have a game plan for how to emotionally and physically handle unexpected changes in a stock’s price action. Check out how we do it.

7.) How We Traded The Breakout In Silica Stock For A 43% Gain ($SLCA)

After buying and holding shares of US Silica ($SLCA) for three months, we sold the stock in October for an average share price gain of 43%.

Using six annotated stock charts, we walk you through the anatomy of a successful breakout trade.

After reading this article, you will discover that a consistently winning system for trading breakouts does NOT need to be complex.

8.) How To Buy The Best Breakout Stocks On A Pullback

In a healthy bull market (all of 2013), a majority of the stocks and ETFs we buy are momentum-based breakout trades.

However, when leading stocks are breaking out like mad, it’s easy to miss the occasional breakout that you were stalking for potential buy entry.

When this happens, there is no need to feel you’ve missed out on the opportunity. Simply buy the first short-term pullback instead.

We raked in large profits with pullback trading in numerous instances this year. Read this article for references to several specific examples of how we did it.

9.) 4 Winning Tips For Profitable ETF Trading

In our nightly swing trading newsletter, we trade both individual stocks and ETFs, the ratio of which is dependent on market conditions.

After locking in a 44% gain on shares of Guggenheim Solar ETF ($TAN) earlier this year, we detailed 4 specific tips that helped us identify this ETF as a great trade candidate.

Find out about these same four traits we generally look for with most ETF swing trade setups.

10.) How To Avoid The Biggest Mistake Traders Make In A Bull Market

With the benchmark S&P 500 on track to gain about 30% in 2013, it’s easy to assume everyone trading the markets this year is raking in the donuts.

Unfortunately, this simply is not the case because too many traders and investors fall victim to one of the biggest mistakes (hint: not all stocks go up in bull markets).

Cruise through this article to find out if you’re guilty of the same mistake, and how to fix the problem if you are.

11.) If You’re Seeking The Holy Grail Of Trading, Stop Wasting Your Time!

Have you ever found yourself continually switching from one trading strategy to another, or one trading instrument to another, in hopes of finally striking gold by “getting it?”

If so, you may be guilty of seeking the (non-existent) “Holy Grail” of trading. Find out if you are headed down the wrong path and how to correct the situation if you are.

12.) How Winning In The Stock Market Boils Down To Simple Math

When I was a new trader, I was under the (false) impression that consistently profitable trading could only be attained by having an extremely high win rate (percentage of winning trades versus losing trades). As such, I constantly found myself unnecessarily complicating my stock trading efforts.

But when I eventually realized that winning traders only need to work a small mathematical edge in their favor, my trading account began growing at a rapid pace, while my personal stress level began decreasing at the same time.

In this article, learn why perhaps the single most important element of winning in the stock market is  simply making sure the math is on your side.

13.) Overview Of Our Simple Stock Trading Strategy

Our rule-based swing trading system consists of buying Breakouts (3 different types), Pullbacks, and Trend Reversals of leading stocks and ETFs with the top relative strength.

In this comprehensive article, see detailed, illustrated examples of each trade type, along with a few of our rules on often overlooked issues such as money management.

Originally a blog post, we moved this all-important article to the “Strategy” page of our main web site. Don’t miss it!

Honorable Mention

There is one more piece that I really wanted to include on our list of 13 trading strategy tips, but I did not include because the article was actually related to a specific period of broad market analysis.

On September 6, when many traders were still expecting further downside follow-through from a prior correction, we wrote about the Top 3 Reasons Why The NASDAQ Will Soon Breakout To A New High.

One day later, the NASDAQ indeed broke out to a new high and never looked back for the rest of the year. This prompted us to remain bullish on stocks throughout the fourth quarter, which has paid off rather nicely.

Even though it was originally a time-sensitive article, there is a lot of educational value in learning the specific elements we saw that enabled us to accurately anticipate further gains in the NASDAQ.

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