This will be the start of an online trading journal. About 3 weeks ago I opened an account with Scottrade. I have read several books and spent a lot of time IMO researching trading. I finally figured the best way to learn was to get in and do it. I was initially disappointed with scottrade features however they are improving with better order options. I have been watching CNBC on the day's I can trade. To date I have won more trades than lost however I am down $50. I get in with limit orders and lock in profits quickly and walk away. Some trades have gone up after leaving the trade and therefore I plan on using trailing stops in the future, although I don't like them when entering the trade. I am learning more by trading than anything else and plan on going forward in my trading career. I don't have any specific monetary goals but I do want an education. I hope I am not opening myself up too much for the bashers but I will take the positive with the negative and try to learn from both. Right now I am 200 into INTC at 27.16. I will probably sell it tomorrow morning depending on which way it goes and look for another trade. I am a short time seller with not enough capital to day trade. People says it will kill you. Not that this is play money because I don't like to lose but this is an education for me. Thus far I haven't done bad. I have done 6 round trip trades with only one being overnight. I have studied the charts and done a fair amount of homework and am actually doing better by not doing much other than watching a handful of stocks trading ranges and looking for an entry. I also like to enter on good news or better than bad news! While watching CNBC and hearing CYBX CEO denounce everyone including the Wall Street Journal recently, I got in and turned a fair profit on two trades with them. I go for small profits of around $100 and up depending on how many shares I am trading. Through my learning to this point I put a stop limit in at approx. 4% below what I buy in at as an initial stop and adjust daily if holding overnight. I have a margin account but try not to use more than $1,000 of margin. I have had some education in trading with a new platform. Two weeks ago I wanted to short KKD. I didn't realize that it wasn't shortable with Scottrade and ended up putting in a buy order (accidentally). I immediately sold at market (bad) and lost about $40 including commission. If I would have left it and put in a stop I would have made money that day. I am going to try and concentrate on the upside for now and move to downside when I am doing well on upside. Stocks of interest right now are TASR (always) CYBX (looking for FDA approval, or good rumor) MRVL (don;t remember why right now) and INTC (somewhere to put the money for the weekend) Hope to hear some good conversation from you all and I will keep posting. I can't wait for tomorrow!!!
Today was up and down. I watched INTC go down to 27.19 then sold when it went back up to 27.29. I ended up +12 after commissions. Not great but it is a positive #. I was watching DAL when other airline unions were making headway. DAL went up .14 in about 5 minutes. I called it and should have gotten in at 3.90 but hesitated and didn't enter. I later got back into 250 INTC at 27.19. I know it doesn't make sense to buy a stock sell then re-buy but I should have just held or stayed out. I will stick with this trade unless stopped out. I have a trailing stop at 36.09. I won't be actively trading tomorrow. That may be a good thing! On a side note I found out that Scottrade won't let me put in a stop limit sell order and a limit order at the same time to have stops on both sides. Is this normal for a brokerage? I like to have my possible losses and gains locked in. Until tomorrow!
Not much new today. Today I sold 200 INTC @ 27.39 (+26). I then put a limit on other 50 INTC @27.57 (day only - not triggered). We will see what happens tomorrow. I am looking at a couple more stocks right now for an entry position.
I didn't trade today, although I did watch INTC go up. I am still in 50 with them and will hold through tomorrow. I will get out if the uptrend slows or turns around. I will also be looking for another position to enter.
This morning after TASR drop bought 500 @ 11.25. I saw some info on the new lawsuit. It has been down as low as 11.07 but is back around 11.12 now. I will hold this position over the weekend unless something drastic happens between now and close. I also closed last 5 0 of INTC @ 27.39 +3 after commissions. Not bad, could have held over the weekend but wanted out of that one for now. I have been watching CYBX made some money on a drop and plan on getting in on the next pullback. Watching for fda approval.
Ok, today started out good. I sold 500 TASR @ 11.58 +151 after commission. Then I bought in 100 INTC @27.29 and CYBX 150 @ 36.90. At close I was up .25 on CYBX and INTC was down .12. I will be selling CYBX most likely tomorrow depending on how the market is going. I will be selling INTC with a modest gain within the week. I try to make approx. $100 / trade but settle for a positive # if the trade starts going against me. I cut short my loss at 4-5%. TASR is a crazy, kinda like a rollercoaster. I put in a limit order to sell at 11.41 and by the time the order was entered it had passed my limit and I was filled at 11.58. That is a lot of slip as it only takes a couple of seconds to enter and send an order and get filled. Happy Trading! Looking for another day of sunshine tomorrow. Any advice?
I feel I should have done better today with the market in a frenzy, however I faired about the same. I started out selling 150 CYBX @ 37.53 +80.5 after commission. I started out rough because scottrade was down on the open. I had to enter that order through a phone in. To my surprise the phone was answered on the first ring and I was able to quickly enter a limit sell with the broker. They told me I would only be charged an internet fee as that would only be fair. I should have entered a trailing stop as CYBX went to 38 today before coming back down. I am still holding 100 INTC. I also bought 500 TASR @ 11.15. TASR always seems to go down just after I buy, maybe I should take the hint that it usually closes low and be patient to get in. Tomorrow is another day!
If not CNBC then what? I am just begriming and want to go the right direction. Please help! In other news, today was a gut wrencher, I watched TASR go down to 10.00 and then back up to around 10.70 in a few hours. That was a tough one. I was having computer problems and most likely would have had a stop loss at 10.69 (5%). I will be holding on for now but I may close the position tomorrow and take the loss to regain trading capital. INTC is also down a small amount from where I bought. I will be holding for a quick pre-earning spike tomorrow or if none until after the earning call and selling Friday morning. If INTC isn't moving by then, I am out and on to money making trades. If anyone has any suggestions feel free to post. Like I said, I am learning. I will continue to post regardless. It helps me to review what I did good or bad for the day. A big thanks to Cramer who bashed TASR last night on Mad Money with a sell sell sell. It went way down before coming back. THANKS A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!