My apologies.I was meaning to give real-time examples for beginners. Please you can ask moderator to clean it.
Not all strategies work at all times, its wise to employ variety of strategies and lay off those ineffective.
yes for scalpers and true traders, this is an exceptionally tough year. unfortunately amany on this site are not traders but investors, they belong on yahoo finance boards
Well, being a newbie, I saw it go up to 26.95 in pre-market and said "Holy S---, I was hoping to go to 25, but maybe I can get 26." (It will go UP in open market right?) I was watching volume very closely (I use Schwab Street Smart Pro (SSP)) and it was just roaring v. the 50 day avg. (It's up to almost 25MM as I write) I got burned the other day with PCX, watching it go up and over my cost point for a nice quickie profit, and then drop like a rock below my cost in just a few hrs. (I'm currently down 12% on that one.) So I took HGSI out at 25.20 - a nice 23% profit for me. And that brought me comfortably back in the money while I watch my last three stocks try to get up closer to even. Then I might just step back and take a breath. I could do it right now, and walk away 14K richer, even after closing out 17K in current losses. I just printed out Prophets' "How to read charts" .pdf - 40 pp. I also have "Reminiscences", NYIF's "How Technical Analsysis Works", etc. etc. I keep saying that I need a breather in all cash with a nice (small) gain so I can study some more without laying golden eggs and s---ing bricks all at once I also bear in mind Dustin's original point here - "It's a dangerous market for newbies." I have no real idea, so I have to go with the more experienced guys like you and him. In the meantime, I'm still really hungry to make some more (not so I can just lose it back again, either BTW, I hope it's not crass to talk $$$ here. I'm not trying to brag or cry, I'm just trying to learn.
Also what makes this mkt particularly dangerous now is, if you take a large rip, your chances of coming back to b/e on the day is very slim since order flow has largely dried up, so you cant relaly use size that often which means less profits. its a vicious cycle
Dustin, I have the same thoughts as you. I managed to do well during the slow summer months when I was trading anywhere from 1k-8k share lots and doing about 1000 fills a day. Since september 1st I have been doing 100-300 share lots doing less than 20 fills a day. Very weird for me. I dont know if it is a coincidence but since the ban on flash orders institutions and trading companies have changed the way they buy and sell and I have not been able to identify how they are doing so. As a scalper I depend on solid volume to get in and out but lately there are too many price spikes to hold on to trades due to the lack of volume. I don't know if I should adapt or just wait to see if things will pickup. Not long ago I was faced with about 40-50 solid trading opportunities a day now I have 1-2 a day so I am sitting very patiently waiting for these while things dont improve. My advice to those going through similar situations is to be defensive and not stubborn. Don't let a few months jeopardize the year and your confidence.
1. Great work on HGSI! Did your other stocks cooperate? If they all went back to the green, you must have cleaned them today. Good for you, and you deserve it. You did not brag at all, but you should brag because it helps the people around her to see someone getting some lunch at wall street, where a lunch can cost a man his whole account. 2. You also seem to be patient. I am not as patient as you. I left some money on the table today with PALM. I shorted it above 12 (I think $12.17), but I did not have the patience to wait for the whole move to do its work. My models told me that it was heading to 11 and below. I got out way earlier around $11.60. It really hurts to miss. I was trying to take a profit and re-enter on a bounce. But I missed it when it re-visited $11.80, as I was waiting for it at $11.85. 3. I hope the reading of charts PDF will go well. Best wishes!
Thanks for the continuing encouragement, RF. No, I didn't close anything else today. My other three positions are "tradevestments" I bot just cuz I like the fundamentals (which is all I know right now) and the buzz, and the % off the upside (that's my "trading strategy for now"), but they recently went upside down on me. Two energies, I will most likely hold as investments (unless they really bounce, because I'm a little scared about the short term market, though not the long term). The third, a tech stock which must not be named reports tom'w at 4:30pm est. I'm ready to pull the trigger even if a substantial rise still doesn't make me nearly whole (if the news isn't good, it's ripcord pulling time), but will give back some loss, if that's the way it goes. I'm still so far from being a technical day trader type. But that's where I want to be. I am a "tape" watcher. Since I can't read charts, I just watch the price movement : 26.20, 26.30, 26.35, 26.30, 26.25, etc. That's how I sold HGSI today. But I ain't reel stupid, and I can feel which way the wind's blowin'. That's why I want to trade more and more frequently. I've already seen a number of my buy and hold positions get blown out by profit taking. And that's OK. For now. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, one of our cats just kicked an entire pork loin (dinner) off the cutting board and onto the floor where one of our bulldogs ran away with it and just inhaled it whole behind a sofa. Looks like we're having burgers for dinner. Just a liitle slice of life. BTW, I'm still keeping this public for the newbie educational value (if any). Oh, also, I don't completely understand shorting lingo either, but my arithmetic shows a .57 gain per share. That's gotta be at least lunch, and if you shorted several thousand shares, a helluva weekend getaway.