LOL, Okay, since you took the initiative to let Ken speak in his defense, I don't see why he should be treated any different than Steve Woods was on this thread (in which I did not participate) http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2239 After all, they both are in the advisory business. Some questions I have are (please feel free to add more questions). I don't need audits etc., Ken's honesty in a public forum will do. 1. In 2001, how many trades have you executed? 2. In the same time period, how many trades have you called in your chatroom? 3. How much money have you made trading in 2001? These three questions are enough for me. And please don't insult my intelligence and hide behind the SEC won't let me trade crap, because that is bullshit! Good trading! Bill
Thanks for the heads-up That is too funny. The NVDA man has changed clothing. I didn't realize that. This makes his post even funnier. He said, "Only those with a crystal ball can pick the tops and bottoms with precision on a consistent basis." LOL, Wasn't he the one who picked NVDA's tops and bottoms to perfection. Anyhow, back to the charts I go. I think I will stay away from the boards for a while. I gave you guys my two favorite setups. I hope someone else other than myself can profit from them as well. Good Trading Bill
Magna: An example would be PGR with yesterday's high, it looked somewhat weak off the open and IUX was coming in, I shorted it and got hit pretty hard. Another example would be DOX with last a couple of day's low, I bottom picked it but got out as soon as I "smelled" the danger. Some of those specialists are really really messed up, they absolutely must blow yoru stop (CAM) before taking it higher.
Quoted (Hitman) "I need quality ideas, just 1 or 2 of them, and execute them properly." Hitman, It too took me a while to "say" this, back a few years, but I must say that forming some sort of base by following the above quote transformed me. OT: To take it further, I got so frustrated with what I thought were stupid mistakes, and a lack of focus on what was truly important to my success. I traded a 4 stock "list" for 2 weeks without short-term charts (only daily charts), and a SingleQuote with time and sales (no level 2, no island book, etc.; I did have the futures up). Again, this was after I saw I was losing touch with the basic "laws" that I followed. I was letting myself become obsessed with things I knew were not going to help me much (OVER preparing, trying to "read" every other tick, adding this and that study...). I also found myself doing what you are talking about: trying to figure everything out; before I was ready to do so. Anyway, I had a great 2 weeks, and allowed me to refocus, and more importantly it allowed me to relax. From that point on it has been a whole new ball game. Of course this is what applied to me, and may not fit you in any way, or any of you for that matter. I just wanted to put that out because it may shed some light ... somewhere. Good Luck, Great Thread
Hey Hitman, I've been enjoying your thread since pretty much the first day I joined EliteTrader back in August or so. Have you considered trading less frequently and wait higher reward day trading setups, rather than scalp type trades? I've had reasonable success finding my setups the night before and just waiting for them to trigger the next trading day. Sometimes they all execute, sometimes none. Other benefits of this strategy is your plan will all laid out the night before -- no on the fly decision making. Plus you won't have to pay as much commissions or spreads as you'll be trading less frequently. One day earlier this week I made three round trip trades, came out ahead by a total of over 6 points per share for the day. True, that's an exceptional day, but you can see how you can make a living trading not so frequently. Just and idea for you to consider. -- Punter
Definitely helps to narrow the focus, easy day as I fully expected a rally today. 3900 shares on 2 of 4 shooting, +935 before commissions, +848 after commissions, no bullets. Finished with 1K this month, MCD money, stay tuned for October thread. Pre-Market: Retail downgrades, I saw a great set-up on the daily's for BBY, didn't take long position because of news, chart over news at all times. 9:30: Took NSM off the open for a 40 cents pop, nice and easy trade. Waited for a futures rip, took DD, KSS, DOX, DD/DOX didn't work, out flat, (DD did some awful shakeout's before it went the way of CEX), got 85 cents on KSS, already missed BKX rally on CMA/PNC lay-ups, sweet day, bad month, I am keeping it.
Hitman I want to thank you and all the other contributors to these threads for all of the valuable information you provide to everyone trying to get a handle on trading the market. This my very first post on Elitetrader, though I have lurked here for many years. The reason I am posting tonight is because I wanted to tell you that I have been following your writings and strategies and that for the first time I put one of them into effect. Generaly I trade ten to fifteen round trips a day scalping one or two stocks with 500 to 1000 shares. I was intrigued with your strategy of looking at sector and industry news and playing not the first tier stock in the group but the second or third tier stock in the hope that it will gap less and provide me an opportunty to get on board without much slippage. This morning, reading Briefing.com and the Solomon upgrade of the Chemical industry and DD in particular. I decided to put your strategy into effect and took ROH on the open at 30.72 gapping only 20 cents from yesterday's close. Had I played DD I would have been in at 36.35 for the same 20 cent gap but I would have had to watch it drop to 35.77 the low of the day before it turned around. That drop of 58 cents would have been too much for me and I would have closed the position for a loss. ROH, on the otherhand, fell to 30.66 only 8 cents well within my comfort level and then proceeded to move higher. I netted 1.78 on the trade and felt really good psychologicaly about how I planned and managed the trade. Again, let me say thanks for your journal and I am looking forward to the October jounal because I now have another weapon to take with me in this struggle we call daytrading. Steve