Congrats on another positive day -- your trend is definitely up! Question on your 'shooting' stats: When you get out 'flat' (i.e., entry price = exit price), do you count those as wins or losses? Psychologically many times flats are definitely 'wins', even though you actually have a loss from commissions. Just curious....
what's wrong with those above mentioned, that you've given up on? they're f'ing hot!! asian girls too! comes down to this, if a girl is hot, cute, beautiful (pick from) and she's got a good mind, rather if she's lovely... then that's what it's all about, my brethren!! i'm not saying f anything that moves that's got a face, but know that when you find a winner, ride that winner and always cut your losses.
>Question on your 'shooting' stats: I count number of positive stocks after commissions versus total number of stocks traded. Individual pare in and out's are too much to count. If it is positive after commissions it is a winner, there is no such thing as a flat trade for me.
hitman you are so intense. a perfectionist ...you remind me of me we are our harshest critics and so misunderstood aren't we? :-|
Where is todays trading journal. I always look forward to reading it the trading day is not complete without it.
The 7 games winning streak came to an end as I took some hits off the open but managed to minimize the damage. 18400 shares each way on 10 of 23 shooting, +174 before commissions, -132 after, no bullets. Anytime you get a really big gap it is usually a very hard game, especially if there is no big reversals. I definitely missed a few really good shots that would have easily put me back in the black, but in the end I just could not score. Pre-Market: The gap, enough said, another upgrade in credit service . . . 9:30: Was filled on IBM, FRE shorts, used just 200 shares for IBM and got personal with the stock, I thought I was golden with futures down that much and IBM up 1.5 point (come on at least half point retrace), when he showed a 50K buyer I should have covered, never let something go more than 15 cents against you, a little hesitation I lost 50 cents. Had 400 shares FRE and lost 40 cents in that as he spreaded it up very quickly. Had MU, TXN longs and lost 10 cents on TXN, got out right before he ripped it, made 15 cents in MU, overall my worst open to date, definitely got too careless with 200 shares and let IBM went too far against me. Still, I was down less than 300, and I could have easily lost more than that had I went bullets. 9:40: Went long NSM, but SOX was just too weak, lost 10 cents. 9:52: The home builder rally, futures felt weak and I got just 30 cents off SPF on a small position and it went up 80 cents. Tried NOI on OSX rally and did not sit through the consolidation. Went long STT and got 15 cents on a BKX move. Deep in my heart I knew the market should bounce, but it just didn't feel like a strong bounce and given the market has been overbought I could not go aggressively long (and hold). Churned JPM/WDR/EMR as the futures went up very slowly and looked very vulnerable. 10:50: Played very small as the volume felt very weak. Churned a lot of home builders and energy stocks for that matter. I was down $400 going into the break. 2:00: Strong OSX rally, had HP and really should have scored 50 cents there, instead churned and in the end just got a quarter, didn't trust myself. Had ETN on auto parts rally and lost a quarter. Churned DO but did get a few scalps from SPF/LEN, also got a quarter from HIG. Last night when we had dinner together I told her that a few years from now, when and if I become a top tier trader in our firm, I would have fulfilled all of my career dreams, and I will get down on my knees, beg her to marry me. Because only then, I will know for sure, that we can live a life without limit, together . . . Until then, I am not worthy, and I have to keep fighting. Sometimes I feel the fatigue from the bottom of my heart, but when I think of her, I still find strength, even after a down day. I have not made money from Don's open strategy yet (been totally flat, but I find it a very helpful warm up routine, and relatively low risk as last two day's losses came from my execution flaws), we will see what happens tommorrow. Team Stats: 8 of 9 active traders 81300 shares each way on 32 of 74 shooting (43%) +1300 before commissions (7 of 8 positive) -460 after commissions (5 of 8 positive) Top 3 Symbols: BP/DAL/LEN Bottom 3 Symbols: ACF/MTB/FRE
Hitman, There's no question that your steadfast daily work ethic shows much promise to ultimate trading success. Your expressed acknowledgement of the number of hits to this trading journal is testament to the many "watchers" who support your endeavor, including myself. However, there is a certain undercurrent in your recent postings which seems to counter prior in-your-face exhortations about how arguably Worldco may be better than any other trading firm. After almost a year and a half at your firm you are only now starting to try the opening orders strategy that has been successfuly used at another firm? ....Long taught at Bright in part to aid ITS newbies to more quickly attain THEIR financial success. Eventually - even WITHOUT any Worldco OO automatic entry software - you WILL forge a way through your "execution flaws". And, as surprising (or alarming) as it is for others to learn, "....the profanity, banging and screaming that goes on around the [Worldco] floor...", I'll bet that you'll also find a way to overcome such a psyche-counterproductive trading environment (although it may only APPEAR to be background noise to you by now). I don't trade with Bright - to them I'm hardly more than a "usual suspect" at this point. I am (or was...) scheduled for a trading class at its corporate office next week. In fairness, I intend to give THEM a thorough looking-over. Oh, by the way, "....if heaven forbid, she [Princess] chooses Bright Trading, I [Hitman] will shine Don Bright's shoes and work there." Hitman, BE CAREFUL what you WISH for...!!! Your words keep telling on your mind's innermost stirrings.... Seriously, as well you took an unfair, ugly "hetero" slam, you can take this Freudian slip revelation as intended - a respectful jab! Hang tough, my man; don't let temporary fatigue along the way to Success and your ultimate Princess drown your dreams in the "cola"... You can keep your head as high as your Goals without it..!!
***After almost a year and a half at your firm you are only now starting to try the opening orders strategy that has been successfuly used at another firm ....long taught at Bright in part to aid ITS newbies to more quickly attain THEIR financial success? *** As much as I admire Don Bright's open strategy (imitation, or at least the attempt of it, is the ultimate compliment), I have to say it is far far far away from being an incredible edge that allows newbies to quickly attain their financial success. To be totally honest with you, the main reason I am doing this myself, is because it is such a high churn strategy, that if I can trade it profitably, I would love to teach it to my traders to get some much needed commissions. Like pairs trading (gee if the stock is tanking on me let me short another stock instead of getting out, essentially doubling the commissions), this strategy is way too good for the firm. Unfortunately, I could not even convince STOCKKBROKER to do this. As a matter of fact, I think you should not be doing this strategy without 6 month's worth of experience trading the open. The heart of this strategy is the exact same strategy Worldco traders such as myself been using all along: playing imbalances. Ok, the market just opened, banks are up 0.5%, C is down half a point, futures going up, we go long C looking for a gap-fill (anything more is just extra). EVERYBODY DOES THIS, THIS IS NOT A BRIGHT EXCLUSIVE, IT IS CALLED PLAYING GAP-FILLS. Don's open strategy, is essentially, the spray and pray version of playing selective gaps. You put in 50 orders and you pray you get filled on something. The advantage is of course, you get that very important first print, as the second or third print may be 10-20 cents away, which is like half of the move, and you will definitely get filled on more orders than eyeballing through your watch list, not to mention you get filled on shorts for free which you need a bullet otherwise, as off the open there are rarely upticks. The disadvantage is of course, you give up a lot of precision for the "area effect". Given the way stuff moves off the open, a newbie with underdeveloped risk management skills should NOT touch this strategy, period. This is a strategy that becomes worthwhile when you are finally playing monster size so if everything else break even and you take just a quarter point out of 2000 shares you get something to show for your effort. I also firmly believe a newbie should concentrate on develop proper research skills (something more than checking to see if there is news on IBM, like actually look at the news and think gee what are the correlated companies/industries, like look over some daily's), and this strategy encourages too much spray and pray. Last but not least I believe a newbie should not be trading big cap stocks, they simply can't learn proper tape reading that way. It is a strategy that simply sounds awesome on paper, but let's look at the things you are missing: 1) RISK, you are playing for quarters, and if you miss one important news headline you could get serious smoked buying a stock that is down half a point and next 2 prints it goes down another half. Yes, this can happen to big caps too, even worse is a sector wide sell-off, not pretty if you get filled on 3 drugs and PFE had some FDA news 3 minutes before the open that you somehow missed . . . 2) REWARD, this is the epitome of "spray and pray", as you really have zero control over what cards will be dealt to you. When you spend a boat load of time doing nightly charts, news research, and have a very well developed game plan, you want control over your positions, you want to be the one deciding what to take and when to take it. Doing this open strategy, and you will give up at least half of your research, as by 9:40 you already missed a lot of other moves. Sure, Don's numbers look very respectable, but at 2000 shares a quarter is $500. 3) EFFECTIVENESS, I really feel if the market trends you will get smoked doing this strategy, or at least it will be nowhere near as effective as what it is right now. I mean, when the market is choppy, gap-fills are more common than break away gaps (and those CAN and WILL hurt in a trending market if you are caught on the wrong side). On a day like today for example, when the futures was down almost 1% before the market even opened, if the market is so weak that it continues to collapse after the open, you will get smoked on the longs and you pray you have enough shorts to save your bacon, which may not even do it as anything that opens up probably has a news story you don't know about, and you will probably get smoked on the shorts too. If the market opens down and fills the gap you will definitely get smoked on any shorts you get filled on, as if they were strong when the market is down, as soon as the market comes back they will be even stronger, then you pray you get some decent longs to even it out. 4) EFFORT, you have to do a tons of research to make sure there is no news that you are not aware of with your basket stocks, and you have to be aware of the correlations (if you have a oil stock in your basket you gotta watch out for any Iraq news). You also have to hope for a low momentum open, as with any high momentum, smooth trending open, this strategy is extremely weak versus other strategies that simply pick one direction and load up the boat. Now, the reason I am doing this strategy, other than trying to convince STOCKKBROKER to generate more commission (lol), is because: 1) I rarely take stuff off the first print, and despite of its flaws, this is still the lowest risk way to play the first print. Sure it may not beat some news trader finding a really bad piece of news and bullet that thing off the first print and make a point or two, but you won't get squeezed half a point off the open either. 2) This is an effective strategy versus a choppy open, which quite frankly, is quite common in those days. Basically, it is an insurance, if the market is choppy I will probably make money with this strategy, if the market trends my main game will more than make up any losses this strategy may cause. 3) SIZE, since I am trying to push up my trading size, if I can eventually push my open size to say 1000 shares off the first print, and just make even a little bit money doing it, it will greatly help when I start to take my bread and butter positions, as I will be more aggressive for sure. 4) WARM-UP, you get in the zone of total concentration from the opening bell, and you trade stocks that move the market hence get a decent gauge of the overall market strength. Today based on my open orders I reduced my aggression, I am sure if I didn't do this strategy I would have probably done a few bullets and got smoked off them. Bottomline, I am doing it because I am not getting smoked by it, and it does seem to compliment my existing game. So far it is essentially as the same as sitting through the first 10 minutes without making a trade, except on choppy days it tends to give me a lift, on nice days it is just a distraction as I get to work with my bread and butter right away. Anyway, with or without this strategy, Bright's first year casualty rate, in one of Don's posts, is 50%, and after first year "70% of our traders make it", hence the overall survival rate is roughly 30%, or exactly what Worldco's is. I stand by my opinion that no newbie trader should even touch this strategy until at least six months into the game, it is a great strategy for the firm, just like pair trading is (which is another strategy that almost nobody at Worldco (that I am aware of) does), for the trader, it is comparable to scalping. ***the profanity, banging and screaming that goes on around the [Worldco] floor..."*** Try to find a trade floor without this kind of stuff, especially in this market.
I have to agree with Hitman on this the proof in the pudding. Don Bright has posted his results in a spreadsheet and although his numbers are good one would think that after trading for well over 20 years he would be making much more than a few hundred or so on the opening. Several 1k at the end of the month is nothing to look down on but once again 20 years plus of trading the openings I would think his numbers would be a lot more impressive. I mean Hitman at this point seems to be making 50 and 100 bucks there and here at the opening and he just started several days ago. I am quite confident that he would be disappointed in 20 years if he were just doing a little bit better than he is now which would be at par to Don Bright.