NoDoji's Day Trading Log

Also, NoDoji, if you have any problems on this thread please let me know. I will do my best to keep it clean for you.

 

+ $226

I figured it would be a good day because a) I played 3 soccer matches yesterday all three wins, and b) Saturday I returned a bottle of nasty-tasting red wine vinegar and got $2.15 back. I was at customer service where lottery tickets were sold and I hadn’t bought a lottery in forever and a day, so I asked for a couple quick picks on the local Pick with my $2 change. Turned out the cashier had accidentally given me Powerball tickets and one of them matched the Powerball number, worth $3.00, a 50% ROI on my investment!

Short ANF @ 36.84 when it pulled back early on from a very strong resistance zone. After ranging for what seemed like forever it broke down a wee bit and pivoted, so I covered basically for a scratch @ 36.80 because I wanted to focus on ES. +$6

Short ES @ 1086.75, gave the 1 pt trailing stop another try because the setup was so strong I was sure it would break down hard, stopped out for +$32.70.

Short ES again @ 1085.25 pullback from a lower high, stop above HOD. Took a bit of heat and came within a thin hair of adding to the position @ 1087.25 just above the upper channel line, but still feel like too much a noob to try those tricks. The subsequent breakdown was nice. Since I was only trading 1 car, I took profits @ 1083.00 for +$107.70 on a pivot from below the lower channel line and also it was pulled back to the 20-period EMA on the 1 month 1 hour chart, so I expected a bounce to retest the EMA.

If I’d traded 2 cars or more I would taken partial profits there and swung the rest.

It dropped several ticks further and pivoted again. I offered 1084.00 (which was where price would go to reach the now-falling 20 EMA) for a re-entry to the short side, went to grab a cup of tea, came back to have missed a fill by 4 ticks and what breakdown to new lows! And if ever there was a move worth chasing, this was it, even though it had already dropped 6 pts from the pivot. Hit head against desk quite a few times…

Then I thought about shorting ES @ 1071.00 when it kept hitting resistance in that zone, but that's been such a strong “previous resistance became support” level lately that I hesitated to put on the trade and missed another 10 pt move! I offer this commentary especially for Hog: “Aaaaarrghhhh!”

Short ANF @ 36.34, covered @ 36.26 for +$14 when a tick above the LOD served as support, it was very oversold in 3 time frames and already had 3 down legs. Well, there was still one last little push on that trade, but alas without me.

Short ANF @ 36.51 shooting star off overbought. Again since I was shorting a stock still oversold on the larger time frames, was now attempting to establish an uptrend, and has followed the intraday MA’s like a GPS, I placed a 36.40 target at the now-rising 10-period EMA, lifted for +$20. It violated that law today and dipped another .16 cents before establishing the higher low.

Short ANF @ 36.38 when a weak attempt to reverse the down trend failed, leaving another shooting star. A break through that higher low could signal a strong breakdown to a new low. The breakdown was not momentous and I covered for +$10.

These little scalps were, of course, during the doldrums when I shouldn’t be trading, but after three 90 minute soccer matches yesterday, sitting at my desk was quite relaxing.

Short ANF @ 36.47 internal double top at a lower high, still looking for that new low, covered @ 36.41 pivot from oversold for +$11.

Bored with doldrums, played in my sim account, wanting to know what it’s like to be Neke. I scalped a quick and nifty $1815 net off AMZN Dec $120 puts, pullback from 125.55 HOD to oversold pivot, and left nearly $6000 more on the table on the continuation of that move down. I'll bet Neke doesn't leave that kind of money on the table

Short ANF @ 36.23, pullback from lower high beneath a falling EMA, targeted 36.10 just above the LOD which had served as very strong support, lifted when price bounced right off the LOD to the penny for +$24.

Kept an eye on RSH into the close, looking for a move to the long side on high volume, or breakout through the HOD, meaning all the day trading shorts who waited all day for a break down would be forced to cover.

Although it tested the HOD and broke through, there was not enough momentum to carry through and make the R:R worth it to me just 10 minutes before the close. It turned out to be good for a scalp to the short side off the false breakout, but I was already done for the day.

 

Thank you Oracle for your kind words. My journal has been by far one of the cleanest I've ever seen on ET and I thank everyone for playing nice here.

However, some journals just beg to be trashed and I'm sure IncNow will forgive all of us who conspired to turn his HIGH ENERGY journal into by far THE MOST ENTERTAINING thread on ET

I attached an early day chart of my ES trade and my missed offer, so if anyone wants to trash me for not chasing that move and then hesitating just before the continuation move, don't hesitate.

 

hi, back in the beginning of this thread you mention a thanks to "stu" for some info on internet backups, i havent been able to locate that information could you repeat the info. please. the thread is very interesting.

 

Uh-hm...back on track. Just as I expected. Back to boring green days

 

Yes, when I was just starting day trading I realized quickly that loss of internet connection could be a bit disconcerting especially if, say, you're trading something like BIDU that can move several dollars before you can blink, so I asked for some advice in ET's chat room and Stu (TheStudent) gave me some suggestions such as having a backup internet provider.

I now have two internet providers so if one fails the other kicks in, and of course a power backup on my PC.

 

Here in Michigan we are joining the Powerball lotto come the new year. that will give us double the fun because we are keeping Mega Millions. Double the fun.

Went Long at the +6 line , filled at 1081.x (x means even) at 0939 est and was doing pancakes and looked back, price was 1085.x so i took 4 handles. reentered two seperate times and took a handle each at 85.x to 86.x and also at 86.75 to 87.75. That was all done before 1000 est. = +6 handles.

Did no more Longs as observed the triple top and price losing steam at the then days high at 1088.50. Was casually looking for a reversal, not really expecting one...........just watching the screen and Court tv. ha I can not watch CNBC hardly anymore.

I was looking at 1084.x as a reversal spot but was not worried either way since i was +6 then. Anyway (sorry Nod,) i looked at the screen and price was tanking ..........i took the bait and sold at 1081.x and got a 5 handle gift, got out at 1076.x......price continued down and laughed at me. No problem i said to self. Chased again at 1075.x and yanked it at 1073.x for another 2 handles because at that time i was fully expecting a retrace and was trading profitable but really bad. I was not upset because i still was doing good. Took a final trade at 1070.75 and took it at 1070.50 for a measly tick just before it continued to tank down to 1065.00 area. That was my clue to call it a day. + 13 1/4 handles before noon. I passed on the afternoon.

Considering the number of handles up and down i did bad but yet great for a Monday.

PS: I do not hardly ever use trail Stops anymore. I prefer to just yank a profit and look to get back in. Thats where i missed a lot today. I like to mostly trade on the fly and all stops and yank points being mental.

 

Nod,

I looked at your post in the 2009 P/L thread, rarely do i look in there anymore.

I will not shoot you, ha. If you read my post about yesterdays trades you will see that after i traded the opening by the ORB and had a good start because there were no real whipsaws. Thats the easy side of trading early, mechanical trades just to get the fires burning.

ABOUT CHASING:
You can see that the triple top at 88.50 warned the big dogs to watch for the pack (traders) to consider going the other way brcause a mkt that will not go up will usually turn. Ok, i was aware of the 1084.00 as a possible reversal target but did not stay focused enough.

I do not like to CHASE, BUT. To chase or not to chase becomes a matter of experience at times. I chased the downmove after i failed to take what i considered the reversal point. There is a time to chase and a time to FUDGEDDABOUTIT. I will sit there and see price run away and make a fast decision if i want in or not...........ok, yesterday i wanted in and did it ....BUT was overly cautious and thats why i did not ride that beauty straight down. I took the trade based on what i saw but in the back of my head i was overly cautious for 2 reasons. #1 was because i had a decent profit as it was. #2 was because it was a chase and i am a bad chaser so i was thinking a retrace was surely about to happen. Thats trading under live fire, one side of brain says go for it and experience says be careful.

IF, no buts here, IF i took the reversal signal i visualized as stated i would have been MORE IN CONTROL because the reversal signal proved me right and i would have felt much more secure in the trade. SEE how that works?

Hope this helps .


PS: Some might ask: Well price was dropping like a rock, why be cautious? Well thats because the difference in pre-planing a trade at YOUR spot and chasing price AFTER it leaves you behind. If you do the trade early at your spot and it works.............you have a profit cushion to work with. When you chase you naturally are less secure in the trade. Thats the difference. It is easier to work a retrace for more profit instead of assuming you just got in LATE and price is DUE for a retrace to knock you out. :eek:

 

Spot on, Hog. And the problem with chasing when price is dropping like a rock and in an established uptrend is that it's VERY easy to get caught selling the bottom.

 

+ $48

Took no early live trades, waiting for the consumer confidence report before taking sides.

Sim traded CL for +$138 pre-market, then a bit after the open up to $232, then gave 2/3 of that back on a trade where I was stopped out to the tick (.01 cent above the HOD) before a move in my favor. Immediately got back in at a pullback zone and made almost all the lost profit back in about a minute. Two more quick CL scalps and I was up $395 on the day. These CL scalp trades off S/R are so fast, on average 3 minutes, it really is an ADD trader’s dream world.

In sim, where there are no monetary worries whatsoever, I hurled 50 ES cars short @ 1064.25 BEFORE the news with a 5 pt stop that was narrowly missed, and covered @ 1058.50 off the pivot low for a $14,135 net gain.

In sim, once again put on a large option play: Bought AMZN Nov $125 puts @ 6.60 shortly after the open and closed out @ 7.00 for +$3989; left another $18,000+ on the table by not re-entering on the double top for the real move down. If I continue to string together successful large position option trades like this, I will be taking this live and giving Neke some friendly competition.

In the live account, shorted RSH @ 18.17 pullback from overbought run up, covered @ 17.90 at oversold for +$52, a penny from the pivot of the move.

You’ve heard me rail about being disciplined on EVERY trade. Well, here’s what happens when you’re NOT:

I had 3 scratch trades on ES after the consumer sentiment by entering short waaay too long after the price drop, leaving me +$10 net when all was said and done. Then later I put on a short trade with a solid setup (pullback from a lower high beneath the falling EMA). Frustrated with being shaken out so often in my live ES trades lately, I got sloppy and put in a max stop loss ASSUMING it would never get hit in this weak market. I wasn’t about to get shaken out of this trade! OK, there were absolutely NO excuses for doing that, because there was a clear level at which the trade would be invalidated and that would’ve been a 2 pt loss, but I let my BIAS get in the way and of course it was hit for -$240!

Thank you, Market, for doing your job of reinforcing how important it is to BE DISCIPLINED ON EVERY TRADE!!!

I then attempted to claw my way back with a couple small winners in the chop, then decided the R:R was godawful in that whipsawing mess and waited patiently for a stronger setup.

OK, camera cut to crazy scene in which NoD tries to go LONG: Later on when ES was moving down to test the LOD, I bid at the LOD with a 2 pt protective stop in case of a serious breakdown, because next support at the lower channel line on the longer term chart would be around 1052.00. Price found buyers 1 tick above the LOD. 1 TICK! I didn’t want to chase entry because we were technically in a down trend, but it turned out to be a very worthy reversal zone worth trading.

Waited patiently again for a short setup, figuring the big dogs would return from lunch, think about overseas markets reacting to poor U.S. consumer sentiment driving our futures down overnight and would likely give ES one last push to test that LOD support level.

(Clearly I think too much.) :eek:

I shorted @ 1063.50 when a run to test the HOD failed and left a shooting star, and a second attempt failed as well. It took a few minutes of nervous watching because clearly this could go either way, then it broke down. I sadly hesitated to add to this winner when it was clear a test of lows was coming. My finger was on the trigger and I just couldn’t do it because of all the whipsawing today, but I will say this, that last trade was awesome from start to finish because I entered on a great setup, placed a stop at the invalidation point, and exited @ 1059.75 for +$182.70, when buyers left a higher low behind from previous support. That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

That trade really boosted my morale after recovering from my morning mess and I decided to call it a day!