Journal to get some HELP

Discussion in 'Journals' started by quotetrader, Mar 3, 2009.

  1. nysestocks

    nysestocks Guest

    BLASH and SHABL about 90%

    BHASH and SLABL about 10%

    If you follow what the majority do then you will always be like the majority!
     
    #21     Mar 5, 2009
  2. I can already see that this thread will turn out to be another edifying piss pot where everyone pitches in their 2-cents on what you should have done. In the end, you're better off not having created this thread in the first place because it will only mess with your head.

    I've created a tutorial of my own system based on pure price action, which I suggest you look into: Unholy Grail to Success. In it, you will know that there's definitely an underlying "logic" that governs price and that price do not EVER move in random as taught by academic hacks. Enough said and good luck.
     
    #22     Mar 5, 2009
  3. Hi Saliva-

    Yes I know what you mean, and I plan on bringing up very specific topics in the future here- ask questions about them and try to focus on areas where I need direction, and I'm sure many others in my situation do as well.

    Subjects such as:

    Price Action

    Judging Entries

    Level 2 use/techniques

    Study Material

    Use of certain indicators- such as Stochastics, and how to properly set them up.


    I will also post charts of my mistakes and attempt to get feedback on what others see as the error, and/or what they would have done differently.

    Thanks for the link- I took a quick look and it seems quite helpful- I will pour over it this weekend/week.

    Please do keep checking back on my journal, as I can use some experienced eyes :)

    Thanks for everyone's input & time!
     
    #23     Mar 6, 2009
  4. nysestocks

    nysestocks Guest

    It can be very beneficial to see what others do not know!
     
    #24     Mar 6, 2009
  5. Hello all-

    Here is a update on my trading:

    I have read the threads and info that others posted earlier for me to read and have tried to absorb as much as possible.

    I'm still going back and re-reading stuff to try and get it nailed into my head.

    I havent been trading in my DT account yet. However, I have been placing trades in my IRA account, which has no margin and has limited round trips. I have made money, but alot of it was due to luck.

    I had a particularly scary experience in FAS over the past 4 days that turned out in my favor only due to the miraculous timing of the Geithner announcement.. long story short, it was a horrible experience and has ingrained in me that I don't use stops like I should and need to concentrate on minimizing loss first and foremost.

    So going forward, I am going to enter actual stop loss order with every entry from now on.

    I will need a good reason to enter the trade- I will try to pick the best possible entry I can- but I still need alot of polish in this area.

    Thing I'm looking for are: trading near the bottom of an upwards trendline- waiting for support to show, and then a confirmation (higher highs, higher lows) before entering.

    I will also be sure to look back at a longer term chart before making these entries- so I will not mistake the center-line of a large, longer term channel for the bottom of a short term channel

    ..and also to note and other good reasons why my entry could go afoul.

    Upon entry I will immediately place a stop-market order a slight bit underneth what I deemed to be the support of the particular trade.

    These first stops will be very tight.

    This is a new development in my trading.. in the past I did not do this step.. I just kept "mental stops" (read: mental rules I would only so often adhere to)

    The reason I will keep the original stop TIGHT is because if the stock trades down through my support, my logic is WRONG and the trade needs to END.

    simple as that.. the sooner the better if its not doing what I thought it would.

    As soon as I can move my stop up to BREAKEVEN, while still allowing some logical room for the stock to wiggle, than will be done.

    And third- stop will continue to be raised as the position moves higher, place just under what I deem are good levels of support, that if broken, indicate a weakness in the trend/trade.


    So here is one of my first trades utilizing this new sets of rules for myself, and yes.. of course, I got STOPPED OUT.

    I probably didn't see something I should have, or made some other mistake regarding the entry/exit, and that's why I got stopped..

    but I am a bit happy about this trade because it only lost $140 which is quite manageable, and in the past I often would have turned this into a BIG loser.


    Your comment on this setup, logic, and outcome are all very appreciated..

    Charts and notes to follow:
     
    #25     Mar 24, 2009
  6. I was making a trade in FAS today.

    I chose FAS because its 3x long, and the account I'm trading has no margin (IRA account)

    I also purposely kept the share size down, because I have a tendency to trade way too big for my skill level.

    I figured that today FAS would probably trend for a good part of the day in one particular direct, once the opening noise got sorted out, and some support and resistance was established for the day.

    FAS had gapped down and then traded back up to the prev days closing zone.

    So I had a "high"

    Now I waited for a "low" to form so I could see where the day's range might be, and which way it was leaning.

    By 10:50 am it traded back down about 50% off its high and bounced up a bit- this was right around the 240 moving average (I picked up the 240 line from a previous post on prce-action and have been noting it since)

    It bounced there and slowly ground upwards, but not with much power.

    So I waited to see if it would hold or break thru. It it held, I figured we'd have an uptrend for at least the next couple hours, and try to get to the top part of the channel it was creating..

    By 11:22 it started it break a bit from its drang-along zone and I put in a market order, which filled at 6.97 once I saw it was moving above recent highs.

    I then entered a stop-market order at about 6.86, which was just under the last support level


    below are the entry charts
     
    #26     Mar 24, 2009
  7. This is the 3min chart at the time of entry
     
    #27     Mar 24, 2009
  8. FAS chugs along and I'm not doing too bad :)


    After it moved up a bit and bounced at 7, I moved up my stop to just .02 under my entry- at what seemed like the closest logical support of 6.95

    FAS continued to trade higher

    and than peaked at around 7.17

    I still had my stop at 6.95 at this point- and perhaps I should have moved it up seeing that the next support level was about to be tested along the trendline

    (I dont have the support trendline that I drew on the attached charts, but you can see where it would be)

    Looking back now, I should have moved my stop up to 7.05 or just below at this time.. that was the next logical support along the current trendline..

    But in my mind I was thinking I was in this for a couple hours, and I should give it some more room to breathe, so I kept my stop at 6.95

    FAS busted through that trendline with a nice big red candle at 11:45 and I see now that should have been my sign to exit.

    FAS stopped itself and tried to get back up into it trend, but failed around 11:51 .. which is where I suppose i should have entered a market order and got out.

    Instead I kept the stop in place at 6.95, let it wiggle a bit, hoping it would find some footing and bust itself back up into the trend

    Instead it started freefalling after making a lower high, it took out 7, which was another chance to beat a hasty retreat..

    and hit my stop at 6.95 which got filled way down at 6.91

    So I'm glad I got out with a small loss rather than a big one due to not executing mental stops.

    BUT I would like to have picked a better entry for FAS today.

    Still, it seems I picked a decent spot to get in, it just didnt work out.

    Does anyone see something I don't that would have told me to wait longer before entering?

    FAS ended up falling back down the 240 MA area and then back up, and then back to the MA area a few times all day- chugging along in a bigger channel before finally falling apart around 2:45 pm

    any insights or comments are appreciated :)
     
    #28     Mar 24, 2009
  9. Redneck

    Redneck

    Sir,

    I humbly submit this as food for thought; please feel free to ignore any/ all if you feel it does not apply


    Intraday trading S&R

    30 min S&R is more significant than 15 min

    15 min S&R is more significant than 5 min

    5 min S&R is more significant than 3 min

    1 min S&R means almost nothing


    Tight stops

    Grow to appreciate the intra-day ATR (think of it as a stock’s price breathing) on different time frames - if your stop is within this range (ATR) it will get hit more times than not (it’s easy money)


    Entering a Stop

    Ask your broker if you stop order is held on their server until executed / canceled, or posted – If it’s posted - I and everyone else can see it, and it’ll get run once enough of them (yours and everyone else’s) have built up


    Anything 2X / 3X is volatile by nature and will require bigger stops



    Regards
    Redneck
     
    #29     Mar 24, 2009
  10. this is the 3min chart around exit
     
    #30     Mar 24, 2009