%% NOT real sure i do so much better with a big dividend like 1or 2% , like QQQ, or SQQQ; -that is life......................................................................................
Today was a total stock focused day. I've been meaning to do that since my historical stats (before 2019, in 2019 I was more focused in futures) indicate I do better in stocks. I did well on a few trending stocks. My big mistake was getting into an option with an illiquid name. ouch. last time with illiquid name. Then I missed my best futures plays so far NG!! It rallied hard. But I wasn't watching it. That would have been my week! I know a lot of you guys like to focus on one instrument. For me that didn't work. I feel like on nontrend day there's not much to play. Or I would get chopped into pieces. I guess I should still have all of my favorite futures instruments on display and add in trending stocks in the mix. That would balance things out and I can get the best of both worlds. For a good trendy stock I just hope on with size and just hold for hours or however long. For futures, I will wait for the optimal setup/play then jump in rather than constantly in and out like in the past. It was exciting and fun but net net wasn't much profit except for the occasional good run. I've not actively daytrade stocks in a while. it feels so relaxed compared to futures. In futures I literally watch every single tick! In stocks, I see a trendy stock I jumped on and can sit for 40mins to 1 hour with no problem. I wished I can do the same with futures then I can get my outsized gain to offsets the little losses. While today's P&L doesn't show it, I'm directionally in the right direction with my stocks trading. I cut losses fast and rode my winners. Except for the one errant options loss. I normally do well in options. I think I have to be supercareful with illiquid names. I'm glad I cut my losses fast else it would have been disastrous. So, I have the mechanics down. Ride winners and cut losses. Keep doing it and over time it should work itself out. On any individual trades it can be random but over the long run it should be a solid edge. Continue to refine my trading strategy and mechanics.
Brilliant analysis. I agree in that it would work, your plan there. All it takes now is to implement it. Ride the waves.
Just a question. Where do you trade cryptos? I looked at one place charging about 3percent in out and chuckled.
Traded stocks, futures, and options. Made $ in all 3 asset classes. But I got shaken out of a few good positions. I made very little. After I exited the stock, it went up $1.50?!! wtf?! I had 1000 shares so that's $1500 I left on the table because I got shaken out. MMs/specialist bring it down to shake out all the retail traders. They use that to accumulate the shares they need for their institutional clients. Then it zoomed up. On the futures end, I finally stop countertrending NQ. Made a little because I got out too soon. Had I stayed in it would have been a decent profits instead of just small profits. It's all psychological at this point since my signals are all the same. Need to hold onto winners longer. I feel I've made some much progress since the start of this thread. I can easily bang out hundreds with just 1 lots and small shares. I need to push myself to the next level to easily making thousands per day. I'm basically there with the exact same signals. Just need to hold longer. Then once I'm consistent with holding winners and let them run for as long as it will, then I can scale up with multiple lots and thousands more shares. I can see it and smell that vision. haha. So close yet not there yet. Need one more push to go to the next level. That's the next step. At least I'm cutting losses fast. So I'm still net positive for the day but the numbers could have been so much bigger! much much bigger. I even make money trading AH. Before in the old bad days, I lose lose $ in the RTH and then lose some more AH. LoL. Can't wait to say I can consistently bang out $5k a day... Hopefully that day will come sooner.. hehe
I'd stop that line of thinking if I were you. Just do what you can, and not what you think you can. You live longer. I went through a spate this year where I cut my losses fast. Turned out to be a bad idea, because the trades worked had I just let them work. Feb 14th and March 22nd were particularly painful. And this time, I'm coming down to the wire. My position was down over 600 points on June 3rd, and is back to about 80 points down as of today's close. Hell of a swing, eh? It will be all about the Fed this time, on Wednesday.
Agreed. However, I want to clarify. I would NEVER hold through a 600 points drawdown. What I meant with the post above was that it was normal fluctuations and I got shaken out when I should have stayed with the bigger intraday trend. This was the main point I was making earlier. I should have stayed with the trades rather than be shaken out by minor fluctuations. Left a lot of money on the table. Since my TF is intraday, 600 points is several standard deviations beyond my max loss points. In my old loser days, yes, I might have stupidly held through that and sold at the bottom or worse yet get margin call. Nowadays,my max pain point is significantly less. Haha. Trader99
Since I'm really good at reading charts(at least it's one of my relative strengths) but really bad and nervous when looking at fast moving bid/ask, should I just totally ignore the bid/ask when trading and just trade totally off my charts? I would be able to hold onto winners longer. IB even has a chart trading capabilities. I would just place my stops based on chart points and exit based on charts. Purely charts. Don't even look at the bouncing bid/ask which makes get out sooner.. what ya think?
Years ago I were in your shoes before I got hit hard due to a) I were too damn good at figure out intraday direction each day and b) I became more and more greedy for being right over and over again. I was so confident that I could catch a bigger fish each time if I held longer. The worst part is I quadruped my bets and then I averaged down on my bets when the price went against me because I was so confident that trend was on my side. Just 1 week and I lost over 6-figure. I hope that won't happen to you. Stay humble and discipline. Arrogant and greed are the enemy of a profitable trader.
This is not about greed. It's about executing according to your chart analyses and MAXIMIZING the opportunity you've identified at hand. Just happened again this morning. got in a good position as it starts zooming I got out. had I just held I would have been up about 5x. Oh well. It's a good problem to have. At least I'm identifying the right securities to trade and cutting losses when I'm wrong. Just need to refine riding winners. Looking at my yesterday trades had I held on to this morning went up even higher. But I'm ok with that since my signals are purely intraday. I'm not trying to do overnight or swing trades. I'm grateful that I can now easily bang out hundreds. Just need to push to take it to the next level with thousands.