I highly suggest you cut down on your size untill you know what you're doing. I've seen way too many rookies with big balls lose size in the beginning only to struggle for months trying to make it all back. Doesn't your firm have a risk management team (you're not at the andover subsidiary, are you?) Playing 10s of thousands of shares on MOC (which by the way do not work anymore!) and not knowing exactly how they work is pure suicide. Remember, even though you think it's not your money you're trading with, you have to treat it as your own in order to respect the way the market works.
When you say 6300 shares traded, do you mean each side or total? What is your average trading volume per day?
SB: I am Chinese but I speak Mandarin. Do you understand my poem? I am really sorry to hear that you ruined what was arguably the best possible start for a new trader. I can't believe your firm removed all risk management parameters for that MOC play, nothing in the market is 100%, absolutely nothing, and they should have gave you what you normally have, maybe a little more as far as share limit is concerned, but most definitely not super sizes as if you don't know how to handle size, pressure will break you. I am sure you learned all you needed to about MOC's, I did only one MOC in my career and it was like 200 shares early in my career (lol) and I sold before the last print. I am curious whether the senior traders got smoked that day, I know people who play MOC's everyday and quite successful at it. The problem is you have to realize 100K floor order for a stock like AOL is . . . nothing . . . and 100K in a thin stock would be a totally different story. That doesn't mean you calculate the percentage on the fly and buy the highest percentage's, you see by the time you see the MOC thing the order is already flowing and it quite possible for a stock to complete its order a few minutes before the bell and do nothing on that precious final print or worse . . . go down . . . It really takes a lot of skill to trade this consistently. In all fairness, think of it this way, even give the devastating loss, you still carry about the same P&L as say, most new traders at my firm 3-4 months or so into the game. You started in literally the worst possible month to trade (and I made a total of $900 in August, and while I have never considered myself a size trader, I have always considered myself a consistent trader), and it is absolutely amazing that you went positive so fast in so tough a market. Even more, I am absolutely amazed by your resilience, I can not imagine the pain of finally break even, about to collect that most important check in our career, only to be completely slaughtered by something like that. I can't tell you how many times it happened to traders at my firm, to dig out of their grave, game by game, dollar by dollar, only to take a shovel in the head and end up where they were before. A lot of those people don't dig their way back out again. I even know someone who broke even three times in his career and only to get knocked back down to 10K deficit each time and on his last try he quit for good. Now, as a new trader, your mental strength to battle the incredible odds, to stick to your dream, plain amazes me, and given how quickly you turned positive, I think you have HUGE potential if and when you dig out of your current hole. Keep plugging at it, that's all I can say. Ivy League: I meant each way, and on average I do 12K or so . . . I also think you are being too hard on him, it is very easy for a new trader to take serious size based on senior trader advices, the problem is they can not absorb the hit like senior traders can, and a 10K deficit will take forever for them to make back.
Ivy, I hear what you say. I don't normally trade that size and that way. I am usually very careful and conservative and I trade 300 to 600 shares max. It is that one day that I screwed up, but looking back I don't regret having gone through it, because it taught me a lot about myself and the way I trade. It is just a big blow to my confidence that's all. But who doesn't make mistke? Have to pick myself up, dust off and keep going.
Stockk, i dont understand this 'blow to your confidence'? you're fairly new to this, aren't you? did you think you couldnt lose? were you that sure of yourself and your trade skills? what is the origin of this 'confidence" that you lost? doug
...for being a bit harsh on you stockk. just a bit amazed by your firm's ability to let new traders go in with so many shares for MOC. which firm do you work for? (sorry if you already answered this)
Doug, As I said, I had a good Sepember, I went from down 3K to up $500 in a matter of 3 weeks. For a rookie that is a confidence builder especially I was only trading 200 shares!! Ivy, That's OK, well the firm wants to make money, and commisssion. I don't think Mr.T thought I would actuually load up on so many stocks with so many shares! When he found out, it was already too late. OOPS!
STOCKKBROKER, What is a MOC that you refer to when you bought all that stock? If you have a real passion for trading, you will make it all back and more. It may take a while because the markets are not as volatile as before but if you can survive now, you will do extremely well when the market eventually goes back up.