Introduction: I begin work at a proprietary trading firm very soon. The U4 is sent and I'm waiting for confirmation so I can schedule the 7. I hope this only takes a week. Background: Since the beginning of the year I have been day trading with Tradestation software. My strategy has been to follow the same 15-20 stocks and ETF's looking for 1 or 2 low risk trades per day. I don't trade the opening and I don't hold over night. So far my my strategy has been profitable but unfortunately it is also unsustainable. I need to be making more money. There have been days where I did not see a single opportunity I liked enough to enter a trade. My conclusion is that I need to expand my potential trades and my knowledge of TA. I am looking at 1-5-15 minute charts. The trades: Risk management has been a priority. Generally I am looking for a risk reward of at least 1:3. Before I enter a trade, I have labeled both the profitable exit and the cover in the event of a loss. I have taken these stops every time without fail. I believe this consistency and discipline will make me a successful trader. Capital starvation: My current income situation will be okay because of a second part-time job. This provides me with greater objectivity trading and I hope it doesn't come at the expense of being burned out. Criticism is greatly appreciated, LaChenille.
The company that hired me transitioned into new ownership. In addition to that, the 7 and 63 took more time than expected (I did score over 90% on each one though, so I did not need to spend that much time preparing). On Monday I start my 4th week in the office trading on the simulator. Right now I'm only paying a seat fee. Once I go live the monthly overhead will double. I'm not sure if I will start trading real money in November. I also have not taken the 55 yet so I can't trade NASDAQ. I feel there are still plenty of opportunities for me to make money. Cruised through the Hall of Fame thread tonight and enjoyed reading some of the posts, particularly the author darkhorse.
Losses in SPY and POT in the mid-day afternoon session wiped out positive trades in CAT, FCX, and MON. Net -61.20 I seem to do better in less expensive equities.
3 losing trades in the morning followed by a nice trade in FCX. I was marginally positive but then lost those gains between 1:30 and 2:30 when I was basically churning my own account. I took the small short squeeze in the end in FCX but still ended the day -11.00 before commissions.
Hey, thanks for the question. There's really no idea-sharing or training class at my firm so I'm on my own are far as developing strategies (my older brother has been a day trader for about 5 years though). So far, I've tried scalping on the 1 minute chart. I would have to leverage positions to 500+ shares to make any kind of money and I'm not sure if this is really my best option. Because of that, I've been leaning towards catching big intra-day moves in the morning. Unfortunately, I'm pricing myself out with too small of stop losses. There's definitely an art to all of this- positioning to take big moves but not getting gamed out by head fakes, etc. I feel like I'm getting closer to a working strategy but the nuances are definitely taking time. I'm getting e-signal at the beginning of November and I think it will be a huge help. Currently, I'm using lightspeed (it's free) and it's been pretty disappointing. Do you have any recommendations or tips? Does this seem like a reasonable direction for me to be taking? Thank you again in advance.
Closed positive today, albeit barely. 2 for 2 in the morning and 0 for 2 in the afternoon, net $5.60! Anyone else a little surprised by the 2:36pm eastern candle? I hope I was the only one who got a little burned by it.
Another positive day, net $25.40. Long FCX, was up maybe 12 cents and let it ride down to +3 cents and figured I'd take a profit instead of a small loss. Well, it shot down another 4 cents (-1 cent from my initial position) then made a huge move up. I did a bit better on the other two trades, but the problem I have is not identifying profit targets when I'm buying a trend so I'm taking smaller profits than I should be. Still, 3 for 3 is great today.
Closed -96.00 yesterday. I'm still in the simulation mode so the money is not real. Because of that, I've decided that it's better to keep trading than to call it quits for a day (after -50.00 for example). I'm very interested in the SMB Capital Trading Blog. I'm reading One Good Trade right now and I think it will help solve some of my shortcomings. I took today off but I will be there tomorrow morning before the bell with a positive attitude. My #1 biggest problem is not properly reading the tape. My #2 problem is still technical analysis, I believe.
Started trading live (too early) in December. This is not the job I thought it would be. My biggest mistakes so far have been: 1) Not leaving the office when I reach my stop out for the day Fortunately, I do eventually leave and I am beginning to learn the valuable lesson of "living to fight another day." 2) Missing the good opportunities/not holding positions long enough, and subsequently entering into new (bad) trades as a result. Day traders can't be emotional like this and I have been punished nearly every time for this inexcusable behavior. 3) Not listening to more experienced/senior traders I am pretty good at chess and I scored well on my ACT's so why the hell am I listening to them? I have been so foolish in this regard. 4) If I get in with more size, I don't need to hold the moves properly This was probably the worst decision I have made from an entry-standpoint. My trading style has definitely evolved over the past couple of months and I will (most likely) turn over a monthly profit for the first time at the end of February. I look back at this journal and I am rather embarrassed at the naivety of my early posts. I hope people find it helpful though.