"Also, I trade only one set of stocks, always the same." Are these stocks all in one sector or in several? Do you trade them off of the futures at all? Thanks!
It is games like this that really frustrates me. A sizzling open turned into a blah as I suffered a total collapse in the afternoon and gave back most of my morning profits. 12700 shares each way on 5 of 13 shooting, +552 before commissions, +213 after, 1 bullet. Pre-Market: Bad unemployement numbers but positive news on energy stocks. 9:30: There are fake out's, but today's energy rally was for real. Took EP/KMI, got half a point on KMI but only filled 300 shares, got half a point on EP and left 1.5 point on the table. I really thought the XNG will trend today and I really wanted to hold, first shake out I was out of the position. Missed a beautiful XAL rally but took DNA on BTK strength for 50 cents. Got half a point off DHI on Home Builder sell-off. 10:00: Tried BJ but it would not go today. Got LEA for half a point on auto part rally. I was up $850 and that was my last winning trade of the day. 10:30: Tried MHO on home builder rally and lost 20 cents. Churned SPF as I tried to go long and lost 10 cents. Churned a lot of APD as I missed the chemical rally and really messed up 2:30: The critical mistake. I was long BJ/LAB/SPF/CY/APD, about 300 shares a piece. I thought SOX will complete a double bottom from yesterday's low. I thought the day was choppy and we will go back to the top of the range. I lost on average 10-15 cents a piece in each AND I missed the golden opportunity to go bullet. 3:00: Bulleted DHI and everything was going well. All of a sudden the stock went up 50 cents in my face as volume spiked. I pyramided some on the way down and it hurted. Some MOC for 600K came out and this stock trades on average 1.3 milion shares a day, ouch. I flipped a small position and the stock printed the quarter as I hit market sell, I really thought he will give me a decent fill like 30 cents or 40 cents, he filled me at the figure, the lower figure. So much for MOC plays. Very poorly handled position. Felt like a carbon copy of a game I had earlier this month. My bread and butter sectors worked great in the morning and in the end I was screwed by DHI/CTX. I gotta keep my composure tommorrow. 5 games left, I don't care how much I finish the month with, but if I can finish with consistency it will be a huge confidence boost as I have had no winning streak more than 4 games this year. Team Stats: 53100 shares each way on 31 of 59 shooting (52%) +1021 before commissions, -249 after Top 3 stocks: KMI, TXT, NYT Bottom 3 stocks: MHU, MWD, HI
I don't want to continue on this, as this is hitman's thread. Actually the stocks are in the same sector. NYSE stocks. I don't mind the futures, although clearly buyers are very shy if NQ or ES are going down for a while. Knowing very well the stocks is very helpful. Maybe it is more like knowing how their specialist work anyway. Another advantage for me is that I am much better trader focused that way, than when I jumped from stocks to stocks based on scanners or sectors. Playing a specialist game can be very profitable.
A gift of a run today as I had to thank my lucky stars to finish the way I did. That said I missed the closing bell and was stuck with two overnight positions. I have never done this before and quite honestly I am nervous as never in my life I held 1000 shares's worth of stocks overnight. 32400 shares each way on 13 of 19 shooting, +1684 before commissions, +984 after, 3 bullets. Pre-Market: No real news for me, at least not in the stuff I normally play. 9:30: Bulleted CMA, DHI, STT. Squeeze and I took a loss on all 3 (got into DHI a little bit late and I knew it too, a little patience would have been so much better). Between those 3 stocks I churned 17900 shares each way today and was down $100 after commissions across them. 9:50: Churned CCU, MGA, FMC and broke even on those three. Futures could not break out and I went back to churning my bullets again. 10:20: Thankfully I caught DO with 1000 shares for 30 cents and that was a nice lift. Got GSF for 20 cents and that was very comforting as well. Energy rally and I really should have held on to those. Churned SGY and gave up as I missed the big leg later in the day. Tried to short WB as I thought BKX was weak and lost 10 cents. 12:00: Tried SPF on home builder rebound and got just 10 cents. 2:00: Went on a shopping spree with the futures ripped. Took DNA, COF, MDC, LEN, BJ, KMI. BSC at various points of the rally and my P&L went from +20 to +1000. After the fills (as Dow broke below 10K) it pulled back to $750. Thankfully BJ finally broke out of a narrow trading channel in the end. 3:55: Took JBL as it dipped to the bottom of the bollinger band as I wanted a scalp. Still had BJ as the stock did not want to downtick it. 4:00: Our CNBC went off and I could not hear the closing bell, I tried to go for the final print but the order entry system stopped taking orders. I called risk and they could not cross me on the instinet. Yes, the market closed nice and strong, but JBL looks UGLY. I am really really worried about this one come Monday morning. That daily charts feels like it could be saving something like an account problem and bam gap down a few points on Monday. BJ looks better as a Tony Oz reversal, but still I wouldn't want to hold either one overnight. I am praying that I don't get killed come Monday morning, losing half a point a piece I would be down $500 to start Monday's game, not the way I want to begin a new week. Team Stats: I couldn't get the stats as on Friday the admin server went into maintenance mode. We finished solidly up however. Hopefully I don't get killed on Monday's open, I am really afraid of JBL however . . .
I would be nervous too Hitman I believe after hours CA had some issues and it may carry over to other companies like JBL. The news went someting like this ---Computer Associates International Inc. (NYSE:CA - news) declined in after-hours trading on Friday------ mmmmmm JBL might be a nice short fot the shortee but it won't if opens down 3 or 4 points. Hitman sleep tight and have a nice weekend---your pal shortee
Has it all finally come down to this...luck & hope? hehe PS it's monday morn, think qwik....what's you gonna do if we get a huge GAP DOWN!
There is no choice now. The risk guys told me to specify a limit order for a cross, and I asked for like 5 cents below the closing print. SPX looks more like a short squeeze than a counter trend move, COMP looks even worse. I missed closing bell by maybe a second or two. In this case there is nothing I can do except hoping and praying, a cross may still happen Monday morning at my limit prices, a 20% chance. Other than that I have to wait for the open print, JBL looks like a perfect short lol . . . Didn't join the rally, finished near the low, selling volume picking up, the only thing I can hang my hat on is perhaps the $20 price tag will mean a quarter point gap rather than a 50 cents gap or heaven forbid, multiple pointer. BJ I am not too worried. Regardless of how much they gap down (or up although that may be wishful thinking), one downtick I am out.
Well if you look at Dec 19 2001 JBL closed at around 25 bucks but the next day Jan 20 JBL open at 21 even. Now if you took home 500 shares of this stock on the 19 you would be down an even $2000.00 bucks. OOOh not good but think of it this way JBL declares chapter 11 on Monday morning they halt trading in this stock what is the worse that can happen. Just when you think there is light at the end of the tunnel it is really a train an the wreck is about to begin. Hitman have a nice weekend.
Hitman, I don't know these stocks, but I saw you talking about the SPX. It isn't too late to buy (or sell, I don't remember if you're long or short) some QQQ's as a hedge if you thought it would do any good. They are 33.67 x 33.78 on Island right now. Good luck.