Thanks for the encouragement, 1R. You are hitting your stride, man! I admire your calm under extreme circumstances (CEG, RTT). (My 2nd trade yesterday was actually very small, only a $4800 investment to make $1000. A little patience would've netted $3000!)
+ $2495 FWLT up big in pre-market and there was a market-on-open sell imbalance, so I wanted to take advantage of early volatility and the gift of a bear rally to offload my Nov calls. The bid/ask spread was huge, so I entered a price in between and eventually got filled for a $2330 gain. Iâd convinced my husband to buy these calls a while back, too, and he had a larger position than I did, so I strongly suggested he close his position as well, which he did for a $3285 gain, making him VERY happy after last weekâs drawdown on the position. Saw BLK at 245 and desperately wanted to short the unshortable. The option spread was way too wide for me, though it turns out they wouldâve been quite profitable even if Iâd bought at the high ask. No way to predict that though. Watched DV hit new lows for the day and saw a good setup signal, but did not want to pick a bottom, especially with the extremely low volume. By the time I looked back at DV a while later, a good move was made and it turned out my signal was the bottom of the day. Placed an order for SHLD puts (the bid/ask is always wide, so you do your best here) and it actually got filled at the end of the day. I was surprised because I had a very low bid entered. The stock pulled back and I saw the bid move up, so I sold the position for the quickest $200 gain Iâve ever had (3 minutes).
+$165 Left $3500 on the table by not holding SHLD puts over the weekend. Tried to short and no shares available: BWLD, AZO, BABY, SNDK, ANN and PNRA. Bought PNRA puts, which Iâm holding. HSY hitting major highs from 40.70 to 44.32 in about half an hour. Bought puts cheap. Saw rumor news later that HSY in talks about Nestle acquiring them. Closed the position for a $200 gain.
+ 421 Another frustrating day because of no shares available to short on so many excellent short opportunities. SPWR was my top pick of the afternoon, but the bid/ask spread on the options was over $1, so I left it alone. PNRA fell rapidly then consolidated. I placed a target limit order which eventually got filled for a $400 gain. I hate using options with the wide spreads; if I couldâve shorted the stock I wouldâve made a lot more money. RKT making new highs for the day and the year. Shorted @ 46.15 and target was filled @ 45.80 for a $70 gain (very small position). I then bought RKT Oct $40 puts when it appeared the weakness would continue, holding overnight for a better gain, because I left major money on the table with both SHLD and PNRA puts by selling too quick. Last minute of the day, bought a couple AAPL Oct $135 calls. AAPL always has an option with a .05 cent spread and it's a dream to trade their options. I believe AAPL should rise again in the morning when all the day traders resume the positions they sold off end of today If AAPL draws down near $120 again, I will add significantly to the position, because most of the time a major support level is tested twice.
- $132 RKT puts did not move much even though the stock tanked and the bid/ask was so wide I exited for a $50 gain. Too soon, as it finally tanked enough to make a better profit later. Bought BUCY @ 50.72 after it dropped to an oversold position. It spiked to 50.91 and then fell hard before I could even lock in a small profit. My stop order took so long to fill there was almost .20/share slippage for a $225 loss which really pissed me off. Sold my 2 AAPL calls for a $120 gain.
+ $797 Lots of strong opportunities today, it was almost distracting. I need to remind myself to focus on a couple top picks for the early morning volatility and grab the entries when they present. POT was hitting lows and I bought a small Oct $165 call position. Added to the position when it dropped further. It rallied to provide a small profit but I hesitated, and it dropped again, crazy action. So I figured Iâd double my position if it dropped below the LOD. It never did, and eventually had a great rally. I placed a target order, and it filled for a $400 gain, then barreled forward for an additional $400 left on the table. MA tanking badly. It has major âpanic dayâ support at 182 and I bought Oct $195 calls when it failed to make a new low, figuring if the selloff continued Iâd add to the position below 190. It was all uphill from there and when it retraced a majority of the way back to where it tanked from, I exited the trade at nearly the best price after the fall for a $450 gain. An excellent âmeat of the moveâ play.
Did not day trade Friday. Holding another small MA call position over the weekend, figuring any bailout news next week would be to their benefit and they do move in chunks, hopefully chunking in my favor on Monday There's a typo on my MA chart from Thursday's trade. I closed the position when the stochastics indicated an overbought condition. I had accidentally typed "oversold".
just wanted to say good stuff i started following you late in the journal. thank you for posting this.
You're welcome! I'm trying to reach the point of not repeating my stupid mistakes. Three months of consistency and I'll regain a sense of high hopes
NoD, I wanted to start a conversation with you on the topic of "characteristics of entering a long". Given the current economic environment, I feel that longs are a bit trickier than putting on "safe" shorts in the form of a fade. Would you agree that fading a sharp rally to the short side is safer than fading a quick sell off to the long side given our current market conditions? What I really wanted to pick your brain on, and hope you will comment on, is what are some characteristics you look for, in price action or other indicators, for putting on a safe long position? If you could share your thoughts, put up some graphs of examples, I think myself and your readers would find it very helpful. Thanks in advance, -WOW SPWR!!!