Journals and keeping records seems to play a big role in personal development. Hence, I thought it is not relevant to trading but found otherwise. My journal would share some insights I found. Trading journey: I began following business when I was in high school but it took a good 10 years before I put in my first trade. I did not begin by reading any books or websites but traded purely by sticking to value stocks. Very soon I realized that I need to make a decision whether I want to be an investor and hold long term or trade short term. My impatience made me a swing trader. My rude awakening to the market began during the most recent crash when I was vacationing in Yellowstone and the market tanked. My portfolio went down 25% but it was not too bad to cause panic. The more painful part was sitting through the the bottom at March. I got an intuition that I need to enter into some value stocks at the end of March but didn't know how to play it. I entered DTG, LVS, AXL at the their bottoms but got out quickly. The market move from March was a good time to learn to trade with the trend but constant economic turmoil and uncertainty made be shy away from the stocks. Some of my best picks were DRX, DTG, TVL, and GGWPQ. Ofcourse I did not stay long enough in them to make the kind of money that 10 or 20 baggers do. Since the beginning of this year I have been day trading when I think the market is holding up to news. I set a goal of $200 a day which I have managed to hit since January. My favorite stock right now is: BLC You can follow my blog at: http://monetarymuse.blogspot.com
I found that reading the news headlines on Bloomberg is a good indication of how the next day trades. As of the time of this posting there are: 4 negative stories and 2 positive stories. Futures are down 15. Asian markets are slightly positive. Tomorrow looks like a small positive day but should be a good opportunity to short after any rally.
Yes, I have a long way to go. I am sure no one has found the silver bullet to trading/making money. By the way "Simon group has made an offer for General Growth Properties or 10B". The news should move GGWPQ today....