1R, - $84 Only one trade today as I added stochastics to my charts and was studying them as a long/short indicator. They seem to be quite an accurate indicator, but I need to learn the idiosyncrasies of using them. I traded FLR near end of day and got in on a soft cross and pivot rather than a sharp one, so I ended up missing the strongest end-of-day entry and losing $70 instead of gaining a couple hundred (I didnât want to hold overnight). The sharp pivots appear to be the strongest indicators of reversals. Tomorrow Iâll do more actual trades based on this. I did not like STLD breaching $24 support level as that had appeared to be a firm level and was one of my reasons for putting on the long calls Friday. Fortunately, these are Nov calls and have some room to work. Waited all day for LDK to retest 51.50, put in an offer at 51.49 and NO SHARES available to short. Woe was me. However, my husband was able to short them at 50.90 end of day and make the money I couldnât. FWLT pulled back below 47.50 and bounced, so I added to my Nov call position as planned.
- $38 NVAX reported quite favorable Phase I/IIa results. Currently have nearly a $3000 gain on this one; not bad for small positions on a cheap little stock. Spent most of the day studying stochastics in real time again, and also studying daily charts as a swing trade indicator, which appears to be just as powerful as intraday. Adding to my FWLT call position yesterday proved beneficial as it hit b/e early this morning around 48.50/share, then moved into profitability late in the day. STLD found a new lower support level of $23, then moved up through the day. I donât care for the fact that previous support has now become resistance, but I still believe in the profit potential of this trade between now and November. Traded AAPL @ 173.90 in the doldrums off a soft stochastic pivot and exited the position for a $100 loss when it didnât move my way. The soft pivots seem to be a valid signal only occasionally and are good for a smaller move; most of the time the sharp pivots are the stronger indicators. Shorted LTD @ 20.38 off a sharp stochastic pivot, set a target cover price of 20.20 based on a test of the day's support levels, which was hit for a $90 gain.
+ $647 Bought MFLX @ 17.73 in my trading account as well as IRA accounts, stops @ 17.30. Iâve traded this stock before and like the strong fundamentals of the company. Chose this swing trade based on intraday and multi-day extreme oversold conditions, as well as higher lows on the double bottom after the gap down. I believe this one was way oversold on a .02 cent earnings miss. Revenues exceeded expectations and gross margins declined a bit in the 2nd quarter due to production capacity expansion costs, which will allow them to accommodate expected increased future sales. Also, they raised guidance on 4th quarter. Short term resistance seems well-established at 20. I will likely move the stop to lock in profits when it hits 18.50, unless Iâm stopped out at a loss first. CNC hitting highs and indicating a pending pullback on the daily chart, so I shorted @ 23.93 (mainly so I could say âdie CNC die!â in chat ) after a sharp stochastic pivot above the line. Placed a cover limit that got hit @ 23.60 for a $163 gain. Closed FWLT stock position to free up some cash at a $530 gain, leaving money on the table when it continued to rally above 51. FWLT Nov calls end the day at a value of $3250 and STLD Nov calls moved close to b/e today. STLDâs chart still looks scary now, but I like all the big buying volume that occurred today.
+ $3205 Studying stochastics further and have confirmed over the past 3 days that the first major oversold/overbought sharp pivot of the day is definitely the strongest, and paper trading Iâve had 90% success with this one. I am gradually learning to recognize some of the traps in the pattern formations, especially later in the day, and that wisely kept me out of several trades I would have normally jumped into. TEX climbed this morning and I closed my small SEPT call position for a $350 gain. FWLT had a great run up first thing I the morning, then quickly reversed and found lower highs and lows. I closed the Nov calls for a $2920 gain. Will look to put this trade on again in the 50 range. Scaled into a PCL short at an average price of 50.47, holding overnight. Offered at the bid 4.30 for 5 SPWR Sept 95 puts near the end of the day and got a fill on 1 contract. SPWR hit a double top today and I expect a reasonable pull back before a re-test. I really wanted 5 puts, but I guess the good news is I did get it at the bid MFLX swing trade basically stagnant all day. STLD holding up, Nov call position remains at b/e. No chart today, so I'll post my P&L here.
I'm leaving for the holiday weekend and wanted to post an end-of-month coda. In July I did what I did well and averaged $5900 a week. First week in August I strayed from my plans and my discipline and blew about 12% of my account. The following week I scaled back my positions and focused on disciplined trading, regardless of the P&L. I ended that second week with a small loss, but I was comfortable with it because I stuck to my plans for the most part and didn't do something stupid like try to "get it all back". I recognized my mistakes right away and logged them in this journal. The past two weeks I traded half my usual position size for the most part, except when I felt it was a very high probability trade. I averaged over $4200/week in this 2-week period. I kept the strictest discipline, traded the territory I knew (thanks, Hog), remained ultra-conservative, because there is always another play about to come along if I miss one (thanks, 1Reason). I am integrating a ton of intuitive knowledge into my brain by studying charts all day and "paper trading" my setups. Today I was about to put on three different trades based on my standard signals, but something told me to wait. Something about the Level II action, the retesting of S/R levels, the volume, all combined to plant a warning in my head. So the initial setup looked good, but there was more to the story and it's weaving its way into my psyche. Sure enough, these trades all would've turned very rapidly against me. I'm looking forward to constant improvement and hopefully paying back my tuition next month
+ $912 The remaining 4 SPWR puts got filled while I was away Friday, so I closed them early this morning for a $162 gain, only to watch them gain an additional $1200 value. A lot of stocks dropped on the ISM news even though nothing fundamentally has really changed for months. Scaled into FWLT Nov $55 calls yet again. Averaged down my STLD Nov call position because I havenât liked the action on this one and would like to exit @ 1.70 or better on the next bounce; it was nice to see a buying frenzy at the end of the day, for whatever thatâs worth. Bought MOS @ 99.35 because Iâve been wanting to pick up MOS since the last time it was in the 90âs and gapped up before I had a chance. Also bought MOS in two IRA accounts @ 98.85. Bought DRYS @ 68.93 â every time it moves this far from its SMAs, it tends to move back toward them at least $4 share. AAPL tanking, about to test the 200-day SMA; bought 20 Sept 165 calls @ 6.35 upon failure to make a new low. Placed a limit order @ 6.75 based on a test of the last resistance level, which filled for an $800 gain. Bought the position again @ 6.55 after the next higher low, and decided to hold for a larger move rather than take the small profit.
(Thanks 1R; the next long weekend is in October, so if my Nov option plays pay out before then, I will be happy!) + $1713 From previous overnight AAPL options experience, I learned that the opening breakout is a great time to take profits; you can always get back in if desired. So I used stochastics and a round resistance number on the 1-min chart to exit AAPL calls at the top of the first surge for a $1500 gain. They only reached slightly higher before falling back below yesterdayâs low. I canât figure out why I didnât continue to trade AAPL the rest of the day. Iâm obviously a lazy ass trader who needs to pick it up! Exited MOS early for a $275 gain on my trading account; holding positions in the IRAs as a long(er) term investment. FWLT was climbing and looking good, then sharply reversed to break August 2007 lows, where I added to my Nov call position, giving me an average price that requires the stock to hit 45.80 to be profitable, which I expect will occur before November, although Iâm aware that the market can remain irrational longer than I can remain solvent. Speaking of irrational, I have one word: STLD DRYS opened lower and dropped all morning. I averaged down my position for a b/e of 66.56, requiring a fairly small move for profitability. (I believe this trade has a very high risk/reward ratio, as the P/E is 4 and if they go much lower, I will likely own enough of a "dryship" to get a free cruise, plus they pay a dividend, something I discovered after closing my last DRYS swing trade and finding $200 in my account a couple weeks later.) Watched LTD at length for a short opportunity, but a) it was moving too slow for me, and b) they have an August sales conference call pre-market and I didnât want to risk an overnight hold. AMED is back on my watch list after dropping close to its recent support level.