My First Trade! - STP - Advice?

Discussion in 'Stocks' started by tommymoose, Aug 31, 2006.

  1. Hehe. I just looked at the chart for the stock of the original poster (STP):

    <img src=http://ichart.finance.yahoo.com/z?s=STP&t=3m&q=c&l=on&z=m&a=v&p=s>

    It basically went south 2 days after entry. In retrospect, that "breakout" had no volume behind it, so the continuation of the downtrend was no surprise...
     
    #21     Sep 25, 2006
  2. BCE

    BCE

    I see the original poster disappeared after the first day. :) Also the stock tanked after a small bump up. Was down to 23.29 yesterday. Wondering what you did? Hope it worked out well for you and you didn't average down or anything like that. :) That's the market. Just when you think you're a genius............:) As was stated by some of the posters helping you, the exit is more important to focus on than the entry. Hope it worked out or at least hope you learned some good lessons without getting hurt too bad. Good trading to you.
     
    #22     Sep 25, 2006
  3. Hey, I didnt disappear, there just haven't been any updates to the thread until today.

    I ended up selling half off at 28.75 to seal some profits, then got stopped out on the rest at 28.15. The head and shoulders scared me so I made sure to set the stop-loss tight. In the end only up 1.3%, but its better than losing money.

    Compared to other energy stocks, the PE of this one is rediculous - the growth of it makes up for it though, and according to the chart, it just might be worth it again - it was very bullish today after coming within a point or so of a couple previous lows. If I was going purely off technicals I'd just back in tomorrow, but I'm going to be staying out of energy for a bit.

    I actually trade alot less on technicals now that I'm a month or two in - and making more money. Anyone whos interested, watch RSH and TWX over this next week.
     
    #23     Sep 26, 2006
  4. woops duplicate post... editting > me
     
    #24     Sep 26, 2006
  5. tireg

    tireg

    this thread made me smile :)

    Seeing as the trade is over, congrats. My advise would be to keep a journal of your progress. Write down your trades and ideas and if you can, a screenshot of the chart(s) you were looking at and reasons for going into it.. as well as any feelings/doubts...

    This will effectively let you look back objectively at your progress and hopefully let you spot weak areas in your trading.

    Keep doing what you're doing.. you're learning!
     
    #25     Sep 26, 2006
  6. Good boy! You did what I said! :cool:

    As you can see, it's not rocket science, just managing your exits correctly.
     
    #26     Sep 26, 2006
  7. :) You guys have some good advice, thanks.
     
    #27     Sep 26, 2006
  8. BCE

    BCE

    Didn't mean that in a negative way. Just that you hadn't posted anything since that first day. You seem like you've put some work into all this and seem actually quite knowledgeable for a new trader. Good for you. Glad your trade worked out so well. Most all of us traders make some foolish errors when we're starting out. And that was a good idea to solicit some advice from more experienced traders. Good trading to you. :)
     
    #28     Sep 26, 2006