November Trading Journals

oh then I say say to her, "we payed for your convertible with what?" Oh yeah, just me sitting in front of the computer all day.

 

Hitman, I can't thank you enough for these journals. As a hopeful wanna-be prop. trader they're invaluable.

I'm kinda confused about the costs at your firm. I read on another thread that you pay 1 cent per share. So when today you trade 20,900 each way for a total of 41,800 shares, multiplied by 1 cent that's $418. Yet you paid over $700 in commissions. What other charges are you paying that added up to around $300?

Sorry if you've answered this before but I'm a newbie.

Also, since you trade mostly listed stocks, isn't it harder to get out of a listed stock that's dropping than a NASD stock that's dropping?

Have a great weekend!

 

Hitman, I can't thank you enough for these journals. As a hopeful wanna-be prop. trader they're invaluable.

I'm kinda confused about the costs at your firm. I read on another thread that you pay 1 cent per share. So when today you trade 20,900 each way for a total of 41,800 shares, multiplied by 1 cent that's $418. Yet you paid over $700 in commissions. What other charges are you paying that added up to around $300?

Sorry if you've answered this before but I'm a newbie.

Also, since you trade mostly listed stocks, isn't it harder to get out of a listed stock that's dropping than a NASD stock that's dropping?

Have a great weekend!

 

hap,

He pays more for bullets.

 

i had a lot of listed stocks yesterday, almost no nasd. everytime it started dropping i could only hit the bid - no prints within the spread (which always increased to 10 - 20 cents). wonder how people can get out there without having quite a bit slippage...
otherwise if you trade nasdaq-stocks and they enter fast market you are down the same amount immediately.

both seem to be difficult

nice weekend

kev//

 

A great open turned into a good game as I misjudged the strength of the market and did not get that much needed second leg. That said, I haven't had a solid Monday in a long time and I will take it. 5400 shares on 5 of 7 shooting, +1050 before commissions, +926 after, no bullets.

Pre-Market: Not much.

9:30: It has been a while since I took 6 positions at a time but today I just saw so many good set-ups with all sectors going up and futures going straight up. Took LM, BR, PPG, NE, SGY, CRA and it was a diversified group covering XBD, XNG, OSX, CEX, BTK. Was able to get out of SGY/NE/BR at the top as energy indexes stuck at resistance but did not flip for bullets, turned out the downside move was a lot bigger but I still managed to collect a quarter off BR, 60 cents off SGY (although I got out a tiny bit too early as it made a rediculous half a point move before giving up for good), and 40 cents on NE. CRA opened unchanged and BTK was already up 2%, gift trade as I took 75 cents. PPG and LM I bought off the open print, PPG worked for a half but LM filled the gap on me and I had too many positions and didn't really pay close attention until it was too late, bad trade management there as I was up as much as $1400. Very bad execution there.

10:00: LM seemed have to bottomed as I took some and rode it back up to morning's high, recovered some of my morning losses (as I did smaller size with futures topping). PPG unfortunately was a very very bad trade for me as I took it again at 52 and did not get out fast enough, a quarter loss turned into a half loss despite of the fact that I pared some out. This stock is no joke when the momentum is there, get the hell out, I had plenty of time but I had a small position so I waited, for too long . . . Tried to bottom pick TYC and lost another dime. I had flash back of Friday's game when I gave up an acceptable (it was tough) $500 day and turned it into $50, there is no way I am going to let a $1400 game turn into a $600 blah, I was up $930 (lost the four digit psychological support) and I saw no real opportunities, I decided to hit the gym.

2:00: Churned a little TYC, not going to force it, time to clean up.

Haven't had a $2000 day since May, I really hope I can pick myself up and make a good run this week. A strong Monday hopefully points to a high scoring week. For the love in my heart . . .

 

My best FOMC game to date in term of raw execution. While my size was almost non-existent and I got out of two key positions too early, I am very pleased about the way I literally nailed the market at the bottom and pared out my final shares at the top. Very very good day for sure as it was a serious confidence builder, I am up 2K for the week and with 3 games left this may be the breakout week I have been looking for.

+1612 before commissions, +1131 after, 15000 shares on 8 of 13 shooting, 2 bullets. The news trader with his own trading desk hit a home run today as IVX was halted around 12:30-1:00 with bad news, he caught it on Bloomberg and he was able to pass bullets to all of his traders (MYL, WPI, WAT were related stocks they bulleted), very sweet trades, and an incredible example of a fine trading desk manager who cares about his traders.

Pre-Market: Little news, BJS beat earnings but a couple of other energy companies missed.

9:30: APC had a huge offer and it was tanking hard, bulleted EPG at 48.25, best trade of the day as I scored 50 cents plus a few extra scalps. I wanted to trade financials today but BKX/XBD was showing divergence, I had the choice of long banks or short brokers, and I put up BSC bullet and sold just a couple of hundreds shares, he squeezed and I covered immediately knowing there is a fundamental reason for the financials to rally today. Churned away some more BSC and AGE for commissions as I tried to pick the XBD bottom, finally found XBD bottom with GS and MER but MER did a lot of kicking and shaking and I could not make anything more than a tiny scalp off him. GS I did scalped some more but nothing significant.

10:30: I was up just $200 and I made a serious BID for what I thought could have been a breakout, had TYC, GS, MER, LOW, KSS, needless to say the breakout failed and I broke even on the trades but lost $50 or so in commissions.

2:00: Up just $160, with 2 bullets for potential shorts, I started watching the futures and a few select stocks. The market already sold-off substantially, and buy on the rumor, sell on the news should be changed to sell on the rumor, buy on the news. I re-read my journal from last FOMC, the key is to scalp the first leg, avoid the second leg, and go size on the third leg. Took a deep breath, it is show time, for the love of my heart.

2:18: Fed. rat cut announcement came out a few minutes later than usual and I could hear my heart racing against the clock. Saw a big offer on BSC driving the stock down and as soon as I heard .50 on CNBC and the offer was getting hit I took just 300 as a warm-up trade, the first leg will not stick and I am not going to use high quality ammo, but I want to burst fire some small shots to keep my mind sharp, took 40 cents there and out quickly.

2:35: The hardest leg, as I knew it will be a big pullback, the question is how much. Took a little PX on CEX strength and out for flat. Took some PPG and out for a dime loss. Futures pulling back a little and I almost went long again, but I am not seeing strength on big caps and I sold a little EPG with my bullet, immediately I realized that was my mistake from last FOMC game when I churned and flipped myself to death on second leg. Skip this leg, wait for the third leg, that is the key.

2:55: Took a little BSC and TYC, for small scalps, futures was at a critical point, and I wasn't sure whether it was the end of the second leg. Perhaps even more importantly, I didn't know whether the market will do it today, rally into the close.

3:00: Took some LM at 43.50, out for flat as futures seemed to have gave up, but all of a sudden I saw another uptick, then another, and TYC started to hit a huge offer at 51.60 there, I almost bought 1500 there but I wasn't daring, took 600 instead because the morning was so tough and choppy. Futures started really going up, took GS on a pullback at 84.70, missed a key fill at 84.71 to double my position, and I had just 300 shares and watched it go up to 85.20. I sold my small potato position in disgust, and watched it go up 1.25 point from there . . . Had I had a more substantial position, I would have definitely held half. TYC I got for a 30 cents move. I wasn't fully sure whether the third leg will break the intraday high for good . . . I almost gave-up but I realized at the last FOMC game, market rallied at 3:15, and it still had a chance today.

3:15: When I saw financials making new high's, I knew it was good, I wish I went heavier but I took 500-700 share positions in NSM (40 cents), LM (40 cents), PX (quarter), and TOL (quarter), not as exciting as say, the technology stocks, but I knew I was chasing laggers and I didn't want high beta stocks. By 3:45, I pared out my last share of the day, as I want no part of profit taking dips . . .

The two key flaws in my game was that I get out of strongest stocks too early and I should most definitely do more size, I caught both TYC and GS at their bottom of the second leg on futures, and I got out of both near resistance point (which could have been a breakout), just a little more patience would have gone a long way especially on a day like this when I had fundamental reasons to be bullish on financials. If I can't hold 200 shares of GS for a point how can I ever hold 2000 for a point? It was as smooth as you can possibly ask for.

Today's win extended my winning streak to 11 straight games, I am still riding the momentum that ended last pay period, and I want to do everything I can to keep the edge. I need to start more positions with 1000 shares, I have been on a hot streak and I really need a breakout here to reach the next plateau in skill level.

 

Some nice trading there Hitman. Keep it up and you will soon be running your own desk