If Caylee Anthony drowned in a pool, why on earth would someone put duct tape over her mouth??? GUILTY.
7/6/11 Gross: +118 Shares: 15,400 Net: +33 -------------------------- 33 bucks, just got some gas money. Made it to +130 gross on like 3 tickets before 10:30. Couldn't get much going after that. 1. RIMM - Shorted RIMM at 28.68. Covered half at 28.15, and the rest at 28.06. Should have kept watching for the afternoon selloff. 2. OVTI - Bought OVTI at 32.01 as a buyer supported at 32. It eventually went. Sold at 19 cents and 32 cents. Held the last portion. It returned back to 32, I bought another portion. Scalped the rebuy at 15 cents, as I did not like that it returned back to the whole. Sold the last portion at 63 cents. Can't complain with how I traded it. I was able to hold shares to reach both of my targets. 3. URI - Shorted URI at 25.22 as a relative weakness play. Covered half at 25.04. Held the rest anticipating a 25 break. The price came in and stopped out my second half. I kept watching and opted to reshort above my stop level as the move seemed excessive. I was correct, however, it stopped me out at the last penny on a final emotional buying sweep. So be it. 4. INFA - Wish I played this a bit better. Bought at 60.76 as it broke a seller at 75 cents. I was only able to get 200 due to the lack of liquidity immediately above the 75 cent level. Sold a half at 60.97. Sold the second half at 61.09. I am not proud of my second sell. My second target price was 61.50. I took a few losses in other trades and wanted to secure the profits. There was no weakness, no reason to sell. I had every reason to continue believing that the moving averages would catch up and give it another leg higher. 5. MON - I was able to time a short entry near the peak of MON. I saw buying pressure slow, and then a refreshing buyer get hit. I shorted MON at 75.36. I covered at 75.21, a 3:1 risk reward. I knew this could easily push to the whole and break down to the 5 min 10 period. Unfortunately, I only had 100 shares and was not able to scale out. When I took the trade, 21 cents was my first target and I am working on trading more systematically rather than relying on gut instinct. I would have captured more of the move with 200 or more shares. 6. VHC - I bought VHC above 34, where size was present. Strong on the day, a typically dip buy. 34 did not hold and I was stopped out. I had the right idea. VHC isn't an easy stock. It made a great move when it finally did bounce, unfortunately it didn't do so at the clean 34 level. 7. S - Bought 900 Sprint on the news at 5.48. My target was 5.58 and it never got there. the iPhone news is unconfirmed. 8. V - I was trying to short V around the 87 area as it produced a new low. I felt V had a chance to correct down a bit. I tried it three times I believe, getting stopped out each time. Volume came in and reversed V to the upside. Clearly, not nearly as pretty as the winners mentioned above. 9. MON Round 2 - As MON sold off, I began looking for a bounce around the 75 level. Stopped me out. Didn't have much conviction in it, went for as a R:R play only. 10. POT and MOS - Had some morning losses playing the agricultural space. AGU began to sell off. I felt everything had correction potential after the big moves we've had recently. Shorted POT at 57.46, and MOS at 68.56. Stopped out of both positions. Not high quality stuff. -------------------------------- So I definitely identified some good trades / setups today. Some were executed better than others. I wasn't able to size up on anything. My problem today was again producing morning profits, and again, grinding my net P&L down via unneccessary trades. I really need to cut the crap and get selective. ------------------------------------- Rather than rely on my gut for exits, I have been picking two targets and pushing to reach them. So far this has produced a streak of positive net days, even though the gains have been small. I have a good feeling about the coming weeks. I think clearly my July focus should be on my selectivity. My recent problem pattern behavior has been grinding my net P&L down throughout the day while maintaining my gross.
Kurt. Just trade the the morning Only. Take the money & run. The AM session is all you need to be consistently profitable. Why spin your wheels?
7/7/11 Gross: -6 Shares: 18,400 Net: -107 ------------------------------ Couldn't get any decent winners in the morning, and then the market died. There were a lot of great opportunities out there throughout the retail space. Unfortunately, many of them were not ideal for me. I tried breakouts in QCOM and JWN in the morning. Both did not trade cleanly. QCOM fluttered down before going, which pissed me off. Traded TGT several times today, TGT did not trade well, I was surprised by the lack of action going on TGT after such a gap. Lost money in a DD breakout... OCZ - I bought OCZ at 45 cents, where a seller was holding it below highs. I got 500. OCZ broke and showed strength. It made it to 60 cents. I wanted 65, and my original plan was to take half off at 60. However, I let it settle a bit. And it began to seem as if this thing would stabilize at highs and continue pushing. I did not follow my plan and I paid for it. OCZ retraced the entire move. OCZ was my midday chance to make all my morning losses back. I told myself, just take profits and we'll move on to the next trade. Bought LVS on a dip to the whole. The whole held thanks to some baller, I got 300. Scalped 200 and let the rest run up to a sizable offer. heh.... Another trade messed up. I suppose scalping 200 just 10 cents above my entry made me feel good since I was down on the day. Last time I checked LVS went at least 30 cents easy. Strange how I scalp LVS and hold OCZ... Anyway, I finally caught a winner in KLAC. 5 min 20 period caught up with the trend. Gave KLAC a push from 41.50. I only had 200. I held to 42. KLAC went much further. My plan was to sell half at 42 and let the rest run. I opted to cut my day's losses. Shorted HRL near the end of the day, got a 14 cent move with 300 shares. Missed a sick trade in FST today. FST held 24 during its approach to new morning lows. Free money, too bad I was glued to OCZ. Closed the day with a few desperation / tilt trades. -------------------------------- Had a crummy morning getting owned in breakouts, even though I know that the smart money is in before breakouts. Only amateurs buy the breakouts. I was watching all the retail names today, M, JWN, DKS, etc etc. Just couldn't seem to find anything I really liked. Went over my recent trading stats. My R:R is hovering above 3 now, but my win rate is absolutely terrible. I need to boost selectivity. My recent winner - loser rate is like 30%. Well, let's see how tomorrow goes before I get talk too much about the week. Current focus: 1. Selectivity 2. Honor targets 3. No dumb money entries
You sound like your trading scared. You should add size if your comfortable with the setup like you were with ( klac). Try trading other high volume stocks. Your probably over trading which is a bad habit to have when nothing is clicking for you. Trading with less then 500 shares is tough. maybe you could step up size. Probably better off to trade Only mornings if that is where you make your money. This may fall on deaf ears but. You have to trade smart & lock in a profit consistently . What time do you get to the office to start watching the market?
I know... it seems like sometimes I go in and forget everything I tell myself. I shouldn't take anything that I'm not willing to size up in... I need to write that down... "Am I willing to get 900 of this?" Let's see how that question works tomorrow. My best time of day tends to be between 10:30 and noon, when stocks show that they intend to trend.
I agree regarding short side, especially when you get a stock that is selling off contrary to the market. It seems like you're still making gross profits, but commissions through overtrading bleed the gains. The numbers are key: Trading approximately 200k shares and making 1k gross means your gains are .005/share, so unless your net cost of trading is LESS than half a penny, you can't win. What is stopping you from narrowing down your watchlist to find an intraday entry from just a handful of stocks that you can watch on a daily basis? Otherwise, it's easy to get carried away by jumping around too many stocks. Best of luck with July.
7/8/11 Gross: +101 Shares: 17,400 Net: +5.3 ------------------------------------- I feel pain, both mental and physical. I'm supposed to go out tonight, and I don't want to. I could teach courses on trading, but once I'm at the keys, another person takes over. I take SO many losing trades its disgusting. I think I had like a 25% win rate today... I can't keep trading in this fashion, it is so draining, and disheartening. ---------------------------------------- 1. WNR - I bought 900 god damn WNR at the whole, 20 bucks. I held all the way up to 20.40. I got out of 200 in the mid 20s, 100 at 38. I decided, "I'm going to hold WNR, it is so strong, high short float, relevant strength, pure bullish activity in the box. This is going to close at highs." WNR retraced and made another attempt at highs. The moving averages began to flatten. A big bid got slammed. I exited 400 at 29. I exited my final 200 at 25. WNR closed at highs, up around 20.60. It never reached my original stop of 99 cents. I had a $250 trade up in the high 30s, and I only took off 100 up there. I bailed out of WNR at poor prices because I needed the money to deal with all my losing positions of the day. 2. TPX - Shorted TPX at 67.81. I added at 92 cents. I covered my position at 63 cents, as the 50 cent level held and the market began to tick up. Thin stocks can screw you in an instant. Good outs. I tried reshorting up at the whole. TPX made an emotion 20 cent sweep against me. Gave back half my gains from the first trade. 3. IMAX - I wish I had money, I really do. I was all over this trade. I loved this trade. I wish I could trade without worry of my future. It is an easy game if you have money to blow, in my opinion. I shorted IMAX at 28.56. I covered at 28.66, I was stopped out. IMAX had broken major support. It had no morning strength. It consolidated. As the market pushed down, it finally broke. IMAX made an easy move down to 27.85. I was so sure IMAX would work and I did not give the trade the risk it called for. 4. CRUS - Got short CRUS at 16.09. I covered at 15.97, as it struggled to break into the 80s. I felt AAPL was topping out, and this wouldn't break from its morning range. 5. CY - I noticed semis were weak today. I shorted CY as it set up at 22.80. I covered down near 50 cents, as things began to tick up. I traded this as well as I could. 6. TGT - Tried the TGT short again today. What a pain in the ass stock. The long didn't work, the short didn't work. It just sat there all day. I eventually just took it off the screen. Not sure what the hell was going on in this today, but I bled in it. 7. ALXN - ALXN is the trade that pissed me off today. It was right after WNR. I found this ALXN setup and knew if this landed I would have a great day. I bought as it ticked up from its consolidation at highs. It began to work. It felt so good. It made it about 12-15 cents, and thwack, came right back, and flushed everyone out. Even the short wouldn't have worked, as it snapped back and stopped all the shorts out as well. This one stung. After I realized I was only going to have like +20 net after WNR and ALXN I was pissed. I went searching for desperation trades, despite my daily call to get selective. ------------------------------------- I am not sure why I have so much trouble with selectivity. There are CLEAR differences between my losers and winners. I can deal with my botch job in WNR. I read the tape correctly, but did not scale out in any orderly fashion. I then let profit woes get into my decision. It was obvious that WNR wouldn't drop below 20 lol. I am glad I sized up in it, and held past initial congestion on a day where everything was only producing 10 cents moves. What I can't deal with is my dabbling in crappy stuff. Take a look at the winning trades today. CY - Had sector participation, and a level, and the daily suggested it was extended. WNR - Relative strength. Fantastic looking setup. Short float. TPX - Another stock due for a pull in. The tape suggested today could be a profit taking day, where extended stocks may correct a bit. It made new lows off morning consolidating. Market in its favor, along with moving averages catching up. IMAX - I didn't make money in IMAX, but the setup was there and I blew it. This was a virtual winner. The quality was there. Now, lets take a look at some losers: TJX: I was buying TJX as it rested at 55 for a while. There was no trend, no real setup. It was a dead stock (active yesterday but dead today). I then tried shorting it after I was stopped out. I just don't know why I touch this stuff. LL: LL was called out today. Sure it could very well make a decent move, retracing yesterday's sell off. However, there was no setup. There was nothing to actually suggest the trade had a chance. DKS: Shorted near lows in DKS, anticipating fresh lows. I did not wait for a trigger entry. The stock was dead. It could have made a move, that is why I took it. But the quality is no where near those mentioned above. EXP: Shorted as it made a new low, breaking the 75 cent level. No energy. Bids heavier than offers. An occasional sell sweep made me stay in. Market began to trade up and this one was over. -------------------------------- Today was painful. I'm so much better than this. I have so many psychological demons. I can read the market, read price emotion. I have market feel. I know the psychology. I need to find a way to trade a trade, without worrying about performance. And, I need to find a way to NOT trade. I don't think I will go out tonight with friends. No sense in blowing money at a bar if I can't take a girl home. No girl wants a man who can't beat commissions. No girl wants a man who finished a day like today, +5 net, despite having several good trades. That one chick I've mentioned before on here. Some guy who has her heart is returning from an extended time away. She will prob leave her BF for him. I did everything I could and nothing worked. I wrote her school essays, brought her flu kits when she was sick, sent her flowers, took her to concerts, complemented her, helped her start her business, everything a man can do. This guy is going to show up and have her, as easy as that. I suppose he has something that I'll never have, not sure wtf it is though. I hear he sent her a few poems when she was young. Guess he got her hooked at an impressionable age. Whatever. Successful traders also have things I do not, and even though I'm better than them, they win. It is much, much more rare to hear about a trader who started with little and gained a lot. It is much more common to hear about a financially secure trader to turned a good amount into a lot. I saw an ad for a prop firm on craigslist. They are offering a 2k / month stipend, PLUS $500 a month for unlimited trades. Good god, if you gave me that I would rape the market. That is sickening. Though, I'm sure the 2k stipend is reserved for guys who pull in money, which is something I would easily do, but I don't have the stats to prove it. Geeze, unlimited shares for 500 a month???? I would be rolling in dough. I could grind the market to bits. PLUS, a salary? So I don't have to worry about the basics, like health insurance and gas money????? LOL Phew, I wish I knew how that felt. ---------------------------------- Time to man up and deal with the problem. My July stats: Risk Reward = 3 Win rate = 25% In order to be profitable, I need to get selective, and get my win rate up to 50% at least. Have faith that the market with present good opportunities. The good stuff comes more often than you're willing to think. I don't know how many times I have to tell myself this for it to sink in.
I went to a party last night. Caught the eye of some females, and I genuinely had a good time with them. It was a good night. Maybe there is life after love. I asked one out today actually, awaiting a reply. I said, "I like you! Let me take you to the Olive Garden!" Let me tell you about the Olive Garden. That is where a man takes a woman. The Olive Garden is the foundation of a healthy relationship. Breadsticks, salad, pasta, wine. I order the Tour of Italy when I go. AND, I'd argue that its reasonably priced, unlike my commissions. If a woman says no to the Olive Garden, then I don't know who she is. A woman says, "YES" to the Olive Garden. Darden (DRI) is resting up near 52 week highs, and it should be. She's a feminist. Feminists are fun, because they have some fight in them. She's also pretty, intelligent, she's a catch no doubt. Only problem is, she goes to college in Minnesota, goes back in August or whatever. I also had a 20 year old flirt with me, which felt good. I didn't quite like turning 27, I feel OLD. She's cool too. I'm don't think I'm gonna size up on this one though, I sense potential drama, but hey, you never know. She's cute, seems fun, so be it. I am single, I should pursue multiple opportunities. That is definitely a possible character flaw of mine, I focus on one girl at a time. I need to loosen up and live a little. I was owning at beer pong, and then the competition hit a double isolation cup, turned the whole damn game around. I was on fire. Sometimes, even when you should win, you lose. Had a conversation about religion. I am agnostic, and I think athiests are morons. There is clearly more knowledge out there. If you deny the existence of MORE, you're an idiot. Anyway, my whole problem is that we can legion parts of your brain, and have a direct impact on your consciousness. I think people romanticize about their own being. I have a difficult time accepting that a consciousness created by a neural network will continue to exist when the neural network is no longer operational. However, its existence could carry forward in some undiscovered medium inherent in the fabric of the universe. That's all for today. My trading schedule for the week: Mon: half day Tue, Wed - full days Thur - half day Fri - full day I'm fed up, I'm sick of this crap. I'm going to be selective, and scale out in an orderly manner. I'm done trading garbage. I'm not taking positions under 500 shares. I am a good, theoretically profitable trader. If I had the commissions that you are all scoring, I would be net positive, which would also allow me to perform at a higher level. Need to make a few bucks for the Olive Garden. I attached a picture of what I caught when I went fishing the other day.
Did not go in today. My dog woke me up in the middle of the night by bringing a dead squirrel into my bed haha, and I had trouble falling back asleep. Ms. Olive Garden turned me down, she said, "While I really appreciate the gesture and your boldness, I think we're better as friends. Hopefully I'll see you at the next kickback." Owned. =/ For that reason, it was wise for me to skip the day, though it looks like we had a nice sell off. I expect we head down near range lows, probably a higher low. I wanted to get out of stocks in my 401k the other day, but there is like a 1-2 day delay. You can't time your exits well. Missed my opportunity. Ohhhh well. Just have to wait it out now, get out on the retest of range highs.