NoDoji's Day Trading Log

I trade full time now, but not profitable yet. I'm a pdt, so I can trade all day with no restrictions. (I also do some short term trading in IRA accounts, which are bound by the 3-day rules.) Since my significant losses have been a direct result of not following my risk management rules, I believe that with very strict discipline I will be profitable. As you can see from this journal when I stick with my risk management, my losses are small. I've never used Etrade via the Blackberry.

 

+ $86

Placed order to short PRGO @ 33.21 which inexplicably didn't get filled. Placed order to short APOL @ 75.75, which also inexplicably didn't get filled. Tried to go long DLTR @ 39.12, no fill.

Shorted URS @ 34.40 and covered @ 34.20. Wow, actually pulled one off.

Tried to short URS again @ 34, no fill. Watching for another URS setup and realized that the Level II wasn't matching the prints, the bid/ask on the watch list wasn't matching anything, the last price on the chart was stuck, and my 3-min bars had turned into little lines. I guess this explained why nothing worked right today. Restarted system and things were back to normal, but it was too late to do anything. Damn!

 

+ $354

Shorted CBST @ 27.20 when it stalled overbought. Because I’m shorting an uptrender, I used a trend line to establish cover target of 27.00 for a $95 gain.

Shorted URS @ 34.90 when it stalled overbought. As with CBST, used trend line to establish cover target of 34.70 for a $110 gain.

Short WTR @ 20.65 on overbought and failure to break previous 20.67 resistance. Exited way too soon @ 20.53 for a $119 gain.

Shorted GYMB @ 24.49 on overbought and stall near HOD. It really held strong in that area, testing the HOD, so when it pulled back I exited @ 24.39 (which ended up 24.42 w/slippage ) for a $35 gain. Left money on the table with this one, but it seemed pretty strong at the time.

Bought CPB @ 29.86 as it dropped near a test of its LOD (which also happened to be its 52-week low; I thought soup was good food!). I set a stop at 29.66, which to me would be a major breach of longness. It dropped further to 29.73, then bounced a bit and the stochastic reached overbought at only 29.92, so I exited for a $26.50 gain. I should’ve been patient and bought back in at the retest of 29.75 for a much stronger run. Keeping this one on the long list since it’s near 52-week lows.

Shorted WTR again at 20.57 when it made a run to test 20.67 previous resistance and stalled. I was ready to exit at 20.70 and it actually hit 20.69 and pulled back. Exited at what I thought was 20.47, but got out with slippage @ 20.52 for just a $50 gain. I’ve never had slippage trading WTR before.

Lot of opportunities today; wish I’d had 10 of me.

 

- $663

Two steps forward three steps back. I traded a lot today, but a) exercised poor timing and followup, and b) let a couple losers outpace my winners.

Shorted FAF @ 14.23 and covered @ 14.11 for a $120 gain.

Shorted ONXX @ 30, it pulled back a bit, put in a stop @ 30.04, which got hit for a $15 loss. It stayed in that range all day then tanked perfectly end of day. Oh well.

Shorted FAF at too low a price @ 27.40, it ended up rallying and took out my stop for a $210 loss.

Bought POT @ 51.16 and sold a minute later @ 51.33 for $170 gain. Should have re-entered off the next test of that low for the real rally.

Shorted FAF @ 27.79 and covered @ 27.75 for a $43 gain.

Shorted COST a little too soon @ 52.75, and it took out my 52.95 stop and then proceeded to drop. Missed the double top short later in the day because I was busy losing money with POT.

Bought POT @ 51.26 and moved a stop to 51.30 when it gained. Pulled back and hit stop for break even with slippage.

Bought POT again @ 51.02 expecting a bounce, but it dropped quickly and I exited for a $300 loss.

Bought POT one more time @ 50.58 (picking those bottoms) and it dropped too far, so I exited for a $220 loss, then of course it bounced nicely into what would have been profitability.

So many great short opportunities I missed messing with POT. The lesson is: Stay off POT

 

POT has not been working for me as well. I traded AMZN, RIMM, ADBE and they have been pretty decent.

 

Hi Sparkwise,

POT actually worked well twice today, around the first major bottom. Had I held on to my trade instead of exiting so quickly it would've been a very nice $1000+ gain. Later, trading POT to the long side required accurate bottom picking because it was making one new low after another and my timing was off. Normally I wait for the first major oversold of the day for a bounce, or for a failure to make a new low. By trying to pick a bottom later with POT, I left myself open to stopping out, because I have a specific max loss and that is that. Can't hold and hope, even though it's frustrating to exit and have the price move immediately in your favor.

Unfortunately today I let my losers run the full allotment, but cut my winners way too quickly. Had I let my winners run the full allotment, it would've been a very green day.

I think is every new trader's biggest problem.

ND

 

Just a few trades, ended about break even, too lazy to bother with charts/blotter

Shorted SAFM early in the day and it languished. I had to go to a practicum so I covered for a $25 gain. Returned later to see it had dropped nicely while I was away.

Shorted SAFM again and got a partial fill, left it at that. Placed a bracketed order .20 cents either way. After hanging at that HOD forever, it suddenly broke to the upside and took out my stop in a nanosecond for a $70 loss.

Had a small POT call position from yesterday's low and when POT broke above $50, I set a target which was filled for a $50 gain. Kicking myself for leaving an addl $625 on the table when it made that great run up end of day. I wish I'd been here in the morning when it hit new lows, as I would've been long the stock.

 

+ $164

Shorted HOTT @ 8.68 on overbought stochastics very close to HOD and 52-week high. Actually put on the trade with the intention of holding it a while, but it dropped nicely and I took profits @ 8.45 on oversold stochastics for a $117 gain. I later shorted again and holding as it never hit my target profit (although it came quite close to hitting my stop).

Shorted a small position in COST @ 55.88 when it topped the HOD at an extremely overbought condition and pulled back. Covered @ 55.63 for a $51 gain.

Shorted CAL @ 16.95 as it topped the HOD and stalled, placed tight stop. Covered @ 16.76, catching most of the move for a $90 gain.

Shorted BIIB @ 47.20 on overbought stochastics close to where it had been bumping its head for quite some time. Since it was uptrending, I used a trend line to pick an exit @ 47.05 (47.08 with slippage), catching most of a very small move for a $56 gain.

Shorted CAL again @ 16.91 as it came near testing that 17.00 mark, and placed a very tight stop @ 17.05 which was hit for a $75 loss.

Shorted MA @ 149.09 as the bulls and bears fought it out not far from the HOD. Placed a stop near b/e, which was hit for a small commission loss of ~ $8.

 

Looking at the HOTT chart for today, I realized it displays some excellent trend line analysis for intraday trading, and I've attached an annotated version of my original chart post.

I've drawn a straight trend line at the original HOD. The first time it tests the HOD and stalls, it's a strong short opportunity as you can put on the trade with a tight stop. If you draw a trend line connecting the LOD to the next higher low you are taken to the perfect cover target price for that trade.

When the price retests the HOD, the stochastics are extremely overbought and it looks like another great short opportunity. BUT, the fact that it's made a significantly higher low, bouncing right off the lower trend line tells you not to jump the gun, but to wait and see what happens when it hits that resistance level.

It breaks through resistance, then pulls back to that resistance level. It's now extremely oversold at what used to be resistance and you could go long with a tight stop. Once that previous resistance level becomes support, the long entry is confirmed.

Now if you draw a trend line connecting the two highs of the day, it leads you to your long profit target.

Sometimes I think I'd be better off simply trading one stock all day long

 

- $230

Today was frustrating, but worth journaling all the gory details because it was a strong learning experience.

First thing in the morning, I placed a bracketed order with a cover target at 8.30 for my overnight short on HOTT, because I didn’t want to watch it languish all day.

FNF was on my short list because it’s been making new highs each day and was due for a pullback. Shorted it @ 14.37 close to the HOD with a stop @ 14.52 just above the HOD. For nearly an hour it ranged between 14.34 and 14.48. I should have simply placed a bracketed order as I did with HOTT, so I could move on to something else, but I wanted to watch it in case it showed extreme weakness, so I wouldn’t leave money on the table. After all that time it finally moved down to 14.34 again and I exited the trade at basically break even because of impatience, instead of trusting my reasons for putting on the trade in the first place which was that the damn stock was due for a pullback! Once I covered, it pulled back for two solid hours all the way to 13.54 before staging a real bounce. So $350+ left on the table as a result of thinking in terms of scalping small moves quickly instead of allowing a planned trade to work.

HIG found resistance in the morning around 16.45, pulled back, crawled up to 16.00 where I shorted at @ 16.04. The doji of indecision was formed on the 3-minute chart between 16.06 and 15.94. My reason for entering this trade was to capture one of the small quick moves it had been making all morning. However, since I shorted it on an oversold instead of overbought stochastic and since a doji was formed, I exited at b/e figuring it more likely to rally than to drop. It climbed to 16.20 and stalled again. I figured I could definitely catch one of the small quick moves, so I shorted again @ 16.16. It only dropped to 16.00 before moving back to my entry price so I again covered at b/e. HIG was clearly range bound and I was tired of it so I moved on.

NDAQ hitting the high ticker and extremely overbought, so I shorted @ 27.39 and placed a stop @ 27.59. It took out my stop for the loss, topped out @ 27.66 and proceeded to fall nicely right to where the trend line cover target would’ve been met. Now instead of staying with the stock and shorting again close to the 27.66 resistance, I moved on. That re-test of resistance was the short of the day, commencing a $2 share drop over the next 2 hours before staging a real bounce. By trying to pick a top, I got stopped out; had I waited for failure to make a new high, I would’ve had nice profits. The problem is that many times a stock drops precipitously off its first major run up of the day and it’s nice to catch that first drop when you can.

HLTH hitting the high ticker and I shorted @ 9.41 with a tight stop @ 9.51 because I am trying to pick a top again and if it doesn’t move in my favor I can always wait for failure to make a new high. It moves higher and because it showed strength instead of weakness, I cover at the trend line target of 9.38, so I end up exiting close to b/e. The low of that move turns out to be 9.37, so the trend line does its job for me. However, it quickly re-tested 9.48 resistance and then dropped very nicely, but I was too impatient and had moved on.

I had ORLY on my short list today and shorted it @ 29.55 when it rose to test the previous resistance of 29.56. I decided to be more generous in my stop, placing it at the HOD of 29.80. It climbed to 29.74 and pulled back. The trend line off lows would’ve taken me to a cover target of 29.15, but because the trade moved against me at first I got nervous and exited way too early @ 29.51. Again, lack of trust in my strategy cost me a good $150 of profit.

Finally, after all this time HOTT is breaking down! Because I held the position for a day and a half and because it seemed it would never break down, and because it stalled around 8.45, I CHANGED MY TARGET and exited @ 8.45 for a very small profit. It immediately continued it down trend all the way to 8.16 before bouncing. Aaaargh!

OSIP hitting the low ticker for no apparent reason, so I figured all the shareholders simply got tired of seeing the symbol OSIP in their portfolios. I went long @ 33.00 and it milled around. I could’ve taken a small profit but was hoping for a better bounce off that nice round number. Well nothing materialized so I exited @ b/e and again failed to stick with the stock and try again. Once it broke down 33, it had a very nice bounce to 33.34, which I missed by moving on.

Finally, the most frustrating trade of the day. I go long CPB which has been on my radar for days, hanging out at 52-week lows because in this Great Depression we’re in soup suddenly sucks. I go long @ 29.15 and set a stop at 28.95 (which in retrospect is HUGE mistake as the low of the year is 28.94, what was I thinking???) At first it bounces nicely to 29.22, then pulls back. It weakens and eventually breaks down 29 altogether, hits my stop for the loss, then bounces all the way to 29.33. Yes, I was taken out at the exact low of that move.

LESSONS:

• Trust your reason for entering a trade and don’t change your plan.

• If stopped out, wait patiently for the next opportunity on that same stock as it’s usually the best one.

• Place stops outside of lows and highs, not exactly at them.