NoDoji's Day Trading Log

Wow.

 

+ $288

I learned to check my IB account status each day and yesterday end of day I found an ESRX trade active. I was planning to short ESRX yesterday in IB but 5 DOMs took up too much screen space so I used Etrade. But I must’ve clicked sell in IB because I had a position on. I called this the “Hand of God” trade, because they opened lower in pre-market on announcement of a share offering. So what did I do? Instead of taking a very nice profit, I figure there’s more downside and place a stop at b/e which was hit. I am an idiot.

Targeted just above yesterday’s support on STEC, lifted for +$176. Solid exit, strong bounce off support as expected, just a few pennies from the LOD.

Short STEC again @ 17.40, pullback from failure to break previous resistance, covered @ 17.13, oversold: +$50

Ran a few trades through Etrade to generate some cash without having to transfer money and managed to generate $60:

Short URS @ 51.43, overbought, lower high, covered @ 51.13 oversold: +$50.

Scalped a bit of ESRX: +$15.

Shorted ANF @ 32.37, pullback from lower high, stop moved to b/e hit for -$5 commission.

End of day I shorted STEC @ 17.32 to carry overnight.

 

Hog, I am setting up my futures demo trading account this week, see what kind of simulated trouble I can get myself into.

P.S. When I sent you that video of me performing, you promised not to post it on YouTube!

P.S.S. Jeg, hush

 

Nod

I think you will like the demo, give the process a slow look and take your time. I think in years past many made tons of money in stock trading. In this modern age of electronic trading platforms and receiving a fill with the ability to cancell/replace on order faster than a person can pull their hand back from the mouse with "one-click" trading like TT offers the game changed from stocks to futures. ( Think richard Dennis and the turtles, Paul tudor jones, kover,in currency, etc, etc ). Even staid stock funds want in to the futures game.

Give the NQM9 a look also. That is the nazdaq futures where the ESm9 is the SP500 future. (both are e-mini).The NQ has a per-tick value of $5 where the ES has a $12.50 per-tick value. The NQ usually has a higher per-day range so compared to the ES the trader might use somewhat wider STOPS yet have a wider profit target.

HA, good one!!!! Yes i forgot you said not to post the video. Sorry.

I really do enjoy some of the songs from the late 50's and the 60's when life was more about growing up and falling in and out of love instead of blood and guts as today in movies etc. "Boy meets girl, girl dumps boy" then you do it all over again, ha.


have a good day, JOBS FRIDAY

 

+ $729

Seemed like everything I touched turned to gold today. Only one small loss and a more sensible stop would've made that a profitable trade.

Saw that I had 306 shares STEC short instead of the 400 I thought I shorted yesterday. Must’ve been a partial fill. Trailed a limit and covered STEC @ 16.87, close to yesterday’s support level: +$132

Wanted to generate some cash in my Etrade account for June bills, decent size short on URS at the open @ 50.91, covered @ 50.35: +$270.

Short URS again @ 50.61, covered @ 50.31: +$116

Short ESRX @ 63.92, pullback from HOD and looking very weak. Covered @ 63.46: +$89

Offered 32.40 on ANF’s 2nd run to test the HOD and missed by pennies. It fell too fast to chase.

Short ESRX @ 63.46 pullback from much lower high, covered @ 63.23 pivot off LOD: +$45

Short GILD @ 44.81 pullback from lower high, stop above previous resistance @ 45.05, hit for -$54. (NOTE: Placing stop just above HOD instead of the lower high would’ve kept me in a nicely profitable trade. The difference was so little it would’ve been worth the extra breathing room.)

Short ESRX @ 63.80 when it broke down through the intraday SMAs. I rarely short a stock that's moved so far down from the day's high, but that breakdown and the look of the L2 lured me in. I trailed a tight stop because a) I chased a bit to get in, and b) this one’s been bouncing pretty hard on pivots, covered at 63.49 for +$120. It would've been wise to cover half and place a wider stop on the 2nd half, as much more profit awaited with very little move to the upside.

Looked at shorting JCG around 26.38 as it pulled back from a lower high. Made the critical mistake of taking a bathroom break BEFORE putting on the trade. How many times have I done this? Will I ever learn???

Short JCG @ 26.23, overbought lower high, went to put in a stop @ 26.20 when it dropped and I left-clicked instead of right-clicked: +$12

Position sizes were 200-500 shares today.

 

oops, meant to say:

Sheeeeee's baaaaaaack!!!

 

Great to see things are turning around for you. Are you sticking to your basic setups, or have you changed strategy?

 

Thanks, Mike!

After vacation last month, I tried several different strategies when I switched to IB and after all was said and done, I realized that what worked so well before still worked really well. All I needed was to restore my confidence. A review of my few (but large) losses revealed exactly what I did wrong on those trades and since it was the same error on each of them, that makes it easy to avoid repeating it. (Not to say I'm incapable of repeating it; my mom always said I was stubborn as hell.)

Also, having a trading platform that allows me to scale in and out easily without getting eaten alive by commissions is making my trading life so MUCH more relaxing

 

Hello NoDoji. I just see your posts and want to ask. You said in some posts that stock is overbought or oversold. Which indicators you use during trading? Thanks.