After a multi-day selloff I was waiting for some 5 min higher lows....RIMM did a 100%(13:00-13:10) retrace of it's last 5 min selloff, then put in a higher low(13:20), taking a stab at this one.
02/24/09: OK..This is for tues a.m.: I REALLY like ADBE long scalp(poss. over a 2min high). In best case.....ADBE gaps down, then I buy over the 30 sec. high. If it gaps up then have to wait to see how it moves and poss. buy the first higher low. WELCOME TO THE MIND OF A (PART TIME) TRADER.
geez, Solid results last week. This is good stuff. Remember it takes an A.B.Normal mind to profit trading stocks.
Scorpiano, Let's dig deeper into the mind and look back at last week, actually friday. How does a "trader" handle these situations?: You enter a trade(RIMM) and it gets .01 from tgt. You get ready to hit a lower price to lock in a gain but it falls out of your price tgt range. As it continues to retrace it actually sets up another buy pattern. Do you take the buy pattern? Is this what alot of traders call "revenge trading", trying to get back at a stock that took something from you(a profit)? If you do take the trade and both RIMM trades fail are you willing to take that loss, knowing you were .01 from your target on the 1st trade? What if both RIMM trades failed and I posted a $300 loss instead of a $800 gain. Are you willing to accept that swing in P/L? PART 2: You enter a set up that you love...the FAZ short! But you put in the WRONG STOP!!! Luckily it goes to the target, but what if this stopped you out 1st, then went to target. Then you realize your stop was placed wrong and the RIGHT stop would have kept you in the trade and to a profit of over $400. How does the mind of a "trader" handle this? As they say in the movies "these are based on actual events"....this is what actually happened to me on friday. These 3 trades made over $1200, but could've been $600 in losses just by "mental" mistakes......... These are the things each and every trader has to deal with everday. It's getting past these things that make you a good(read: profitable) trader. I am not one of the traders that post +$10,000 days, but I think most noobs would (AND SHOULD) trade on a smaller scale like I do, so reading this journal would be more of a help to them than a journal of someone shooting for a $1,000,000 profit. Just another day in the life...........hope this helps.