+ $152 Shorted FFIV @ 23.43 on its way down from yesterdayâs high of 23.76. Trailed a stop and was hit @ 23.30 on the pivot for a $67 gain. Shorted again @ 23.25 with an initial cover target of 23.15 and a plan to hold and add to the position if it rallied and tested the HOD. The stock looked very weak so I canceled the cover order and decided to ride it. It dipped just below my cover target and then rallied all day. I didnât add to it yet, holding. Iâve done this kind of trading often enough to know itâs really a waste. I hope this is the last time I do this. Take the profits. Then take them again. Then take them again. OK, so this is my dumb trade management today, and Iâm willing to work it out or take the loss at some point. Shorted BBBY @ 26.05 as it pulled back from failure to make a new high, stop @ 26.20. Got stopped out at exactly the top. Reshorted BBBY @ 26.13, stop just above HOD @ 26.33. When it dropped I moved the stop to 26.23, but canceled it because I had this feeling the market makers were watching me through my monitors, because Bob said they do :eek: - lol. Sure enough it spiked to EXACTLY that price before falling below 26, where I covered @ 25.98 for a $72 gain. Shorted APOL @ 76.98 overbought and making lower highs. Willing to set a wide stop to HOD because I trusted this trade. Covered @ 76.76 almost bottom of the move for a $112 gain. Much smaller move than I expected, but the Level II said "cover ye shorts, stat!" and I'm glad I did. Shorted APOL again @ 77.38, overbought and testing previous resistance. Set target of 77.18 based on trend line, filled for $103 gain. CVC was brought to my attention in chat (thanks, Bob), shorted quickly @ 18.96, very tight stop (top picking). Covered on oversold @ 18.80 for a quick $83 gain. Shorted SVU @ 17.59 on pull back from failure to make a new high, stop @ 17.69. Trailed a stop to 17.55 which was hit for basically b/e. Had I left the original stop in place, couldâve reaped a profit on the drift down, but that strategy didnât seem so strong today. Shorted CAL @ 20.72 on pull back from new high and overbought, tight stop @ 20.85 just above HOD. I ranged for a while, pulled back to just below my entry price, then stochastic cross up indicated my stop would be hit, which it was for a $65 loss. Just as well, as it moved nearly $1 share up from there. Shorted CVC @ 19.21 on pivot down from new high, covered @ 19.06 oversold for a $74 gain. Shorted BBBY @ 26.47 even though stochastics were totally oversold, because it looked like a solid breakdown. Went to put in a target cover and order entry wouldnât let me, so I covered market @ 26.43 basically b/e. Just as well, because it moved right back up from the oversold condition. Shorted SVU end of day @ 17.91, even though very oversold because it looked weak, but covered @ 17.96 when it crossed up for a $22.50 loss. It dropped from there. Oh well. Looks like APOL had nice earnings report after hours, moving into the 83-84 range. I like trading APOL because it moves in solid chunks, and look forward to playing with its new range. Soâ¦it was not a very smart trading day for me, but Iâve heard it takes a couple years to become a solid trader, ergo I wonât spend too much time in the hair suit on the bed of nails.
+ $550 Shorted AMGN @ 59.45 when it pulled back from the opening high. Covered @ 59.15 for a $150 gain assuming it would stage a freshly shortable bounce near the LOD (59.06). Never assume anything, just trail a stop, damn thing tanked non-stop to just below 58.00. Someone kick me. APOL volatile as all get out on gapped up earnings play. I wanted to short above 87, but it was flashing price gaps by the second: 87.08, 87.60, 87.45, 87.16, so I closed my eyes and placed a market order short, filled @ 87.12. Dropped below 87 a minute later and I closed my eyes and placed a market order cover, filled @ 86.70 for a $210 gain. Shorted APOL @ 86.51, and it was still all over the map but not nearly as volatile as earlier, then it rested, drifted up very gradually through the morning, consolidated forever, broke to the upside, then broke to the downside, where I covered on oversold @ 86.31 for a $100 gain. And of course that was the true short signal. Added to FFIV short @ 24.14, set cover target @ 23.80 where it established strong support today. It immediately established a higher support level and rallied through the afternoon. Came very close to my target on the end of day selloff, then bounced again right off round number 24.00. Holding for Monday morning volatility play. Shorted SGR @ 28.18 on pull back from failed test of HOD, trailed a stop to 28.08 which was hit for a $50 gain. Shorted very small position POT @ 85.98 near the HOD, stop just above HOD. Trailed a stop and finally covered @ 85.53 when oversold for a $90 gain. Another one that continued down and I would've benefited by letting my stop manage the trade. Shorted SGR end of day @ 28.46 overbought, stop just above the previous 3-min bar. Covered too soon @ what I thought was 28.36, but filled @ 28.40 with slippage for a $34 gain. The stochastics indicated the true cover target, but it was so close to end of day I got impatient. Anyone in chat who didnât short AMGN, APOL and POT when I covered, shame on you!
I'll start posting weekly net tallies so I can tell if I'm actually making a living or not :eek: Week: $1572 Month: $1165
+ $702 FFIV was weak this morning so I targeted closer to Fridayâs low for a cover target and covered on the pivot off 23.70 for a $380 gain. Oh, the $$ left behind on this one⦠Shorted APOL @ 86.23, trailed a stop to 85.80, which was filled with slippage @ 85.88 on a very hard bounce, for a $175 gain. Shorted APOL again @ 86.49 and set a trend line cover target @ 86.29, filled for a $100 gain. Shorted BBBY @ 25.99 overbought near HOD. Plan to add above 26.50. It only rose to 26.25, making me wish Iâd waited for a closer test of the HOD. Took $57 profit covering @ 25.88 nonetheless when it finally pulled back. Shorted SVU @ 17.73 overbought and failure to make a new high, stop @ 18.03 above HOD. Moved stop to b/e, and wondered aloud of that was a mistake, which it was as I was filled and that was the exact top of the move before it fell. Alerted in chat to CHT, shorted @ 15.59, stop at 15.75, eventually moved to 15.69 when the price didnât move. Eventually stopped out for $45 loss. Shorted APOL @ 86.41 for small move, target of 86.21 filled for $100. Shorted SVU @ 17.64 on run up, stop @ 17.75, didnât take my small profit as it looked weak and got stopped out @ 17.78 with slippage for a $137 loss. Scalped $35 back from 17.67 to 17.63. Shorted APOL @ 86.84. Thought about covering @ 86.65, but decided to hold for better target. It had a nice rally off 86.65, but not high enough to add to the position. Wish Iâd taken the $100 and re-shorted. Iâm still torn between covering on oversold or holding, because so often I cover and the oversold condition means nothing as the stock continues down much further. Anyhow, set a target of 86.54, filled for a $150 gain. Shorted APOL @ 87.01 on pull back from new HOD (87.36) and failure to make a new high. Set cover target @ 86.61, but covered @ 86.79 for a $106 gain when stochastics pivoted up from not quite oversold. (And of course it dropped right through my target and below 86.00.) Shorted SVU @ 18.34 on pull back from break through HOD to new high, very tight stop because of âtop pickingâ, hit for a $58 loss. Short APOL again @ 86.40 overbought from bounce off last low, cover target @ 86.20. It was a perfect target just pennies from the bounce for very quick $100 gain. Shorted SVU @ 18.34 pivot down from overbought failure to make a new high. Tight stop hit for $52 loss. Shorted APOL @ 86.51 near dayâs end, holding unless filled in after hours. Can't complain too much because I exceeded my minimum daily target, but damn I am leaving money behind on my highest probability trades and need to separate those mentally from my lower probability trades which I'm having no problem managing.
+ $1200 APOL selling off in pre-market @ 86.11, drops hard on open, bounces hard, then retests the initial LOD and breaks down hard. I cover @ 85.01 on the pivot off 84.85, because itâs hugely oversold and 85 will be the nice round number bounce, which it is. Nice to start the day with a $750 gain. APOL retraced the pull back and I considered shorting again, but waited then thought it was too low to short (yikes) and it really tanked hard after that, breaking down to nearly a full retracement of its earnings gap. Shorted FFIV @ 23.14 looking to take quick profit on a dip, or build up bigger short position on a rise. Set target at round number 23, filled for $140 gain. Shorted CECO @ 20.03 for day or swing trade, looking for intraday retracement to around 19.85. After it went back and forth a few times I announced loudly in chat that I covered for a $100 gain, to try and trick the stock into tanking (which is what always happens) and it didnât work. Covered later for real @ 19.91 for a $126 gain. Long BNI @ 67.78 failure to make a new low, stop @ 67.48. Exited the trade @ 67.83 for a $24 gain when it weakened significantly after failing to come anywhere close to the previous resistance price of 68.19. Great decision, as it continued to hit new lows. Iâm attaching a chart of this one. Shorted CECO again @ 19.97, set trend line target of 19.80, 200 shares filled and it bounced off the TL like it was a trampoline. It attempted a couple weak rallies and fell back to my target for a $172 gain. Shorted WYE @ 38.00 when it pulled back off HOD, stop just above HOD. It dipped to 37.90, showed renewed strength on the level II and I bailed @ 37.94 for a $27 gain, just as well because it bounced and my entry price became support. Shorted CECO again, overbought off LOD bounce @ 19.72, looking for retracement to 19.62 before the close. It exhibited strength around my entry price and I decided not to hold overnight at this low entry price, because I donât know a thing about this stock or this company, so covered @ 19.67 for a $50 gain.
Thanks Hermit BTW, 1R is my trading guru. He sits high on a pedestal among the .0000001% of traders who can swing a $38K loss to nearly break even in one day. I believe I only shorted a stock ONCE before I met him here at ET, and never in my wildest trading dreams (and they are wild, I assure you) thought of fading contrary to a strong move, and now thanks to him it's my bread and butter.
(Thanks, mapa!) +$608 Lowered my cover target on HOTT swing trade from 8.08 to 7.88. Shorted CECO @ 19.50 because a) it looked very weak on Level II and b) was more than happy to add to it should it run against me. Covered @ 19.25 oversold for a quick $250 gain. Shorted CECO again @ 19.55 overbought off rally. This wasnât a true test of the HOD, so it rose a bit more before falling back. Set a 19.45 cover target based on 50% retracement of the HOD/LOD range, filled for a $100 gain. (Bos, as you know we left money on this one.) Shorted CECO @ 19.32 overbought, target 19.22. Target hit for a partial fill, completed the fill @ market for average exit of 19.235 for an $85 gain. Exited a bit hastily instead of waiting for test of LOD, which broke down shortly thereafter. Shorted WYE @ 37.88 on overbought lower high. Had an initial cover target based on trend line of 37.68, but buyers came in at a higher low of 37.71 so I covered @ 37.80 for a $43 gain. Shorted WYE @ 38.10 overbought near HOD, willing to hold and add if it ran to 39.00, as it makes strong retracements. However, my trend line target of 37.90 was filled for a $100 gain. It really broke down further, but I used TL instead of stochastics for a profit target because it had been uptrending. I guess the double top from the morning high was the kiss of death and I could've been more patient, but WYE is jumpy and has burned me before. Shorted WYE last 5 minutes of the day @ 37.88 on a run up, figured good for a quick profit. Target of 37.78 filled quickly for a $100 gain. This was basically an end of day volatility play off all the day tradersâ closeout momentum. I've always wanted to try it and finally got the nerve to.