Thanks, spyder. It appears that one should always execute their plan fully. E.g., if you bot FORD a couple of days ago and failed to exit when it didn't reach FRV by EOD, you would be in deep pains this am. What's your take on diversification? Let's say we hold no more than 4 days, what's the max allocation you'd suggest for each trade? And, do you vary trade size due to own judgements?
I have personally experienced such pain when failing to follow my own plan. In the Original Journal, I discussed Jack's recommendation to divide one's capital into 4 'streams' and use each 'stream' for a different trade. For smaller accounts, one might use only two or three streams - according to Jack. With respect to position size, I have settled into a comfort level at 1000 shares (based on my current account size), but often significantly reduce that when circumstances warrant. By example, the TIE trade yesterday showed a bid / ask spread of .40 at time of signal. Not wanting to 'hand the house' a 400 dollar advantage right out of the gate, I reduced size to only 100 shares. A few traders suggested to me in the Original Journal gradually increasing share size might provide additional improvement to my P & L. I plan to enact this plan after the first of the year. Hope that helps. - Spydertrader
The 5% trailing will get you out from 26.40 peak * (.95) = 25.08. P.S. seeing how FORD usually moves, I would bail any chance I have. FORD is a gaming stock for MM.
All in all I am very VERY VEEERY happy with all the stuff SpyderTrader put together. But I am gonna add some here and take out some there to suit personal needs. I bail everything because I don't feel like trading today or holding stock over the weekend and want to do some reading perhaps. Thank you SpyderTrader! This stuff is actually fun! Good trading to all!
I am holding my first winning Hershey paper trade: TIE, purchased yesterday at $54.10. I will continue to hold if it doesn't reach Peak volume tonight. Also bought NGPS at $29.70 this morning after LB DU was reached. Will sell if it doesn't come close to FRV by EOD. BTW, I'm not feeling very confortable about holding stocks that trade less than 400k/day. Because of the low liquidity you have to be able to sustain jumps of more than 10c and there is also the issue with large spreads that penalize each purchase/sale. I will try to keep track of all my JH trades and report results regularly.
When I first began to trade this system, the greatest hurdle for me to overcome resulted out of my experience as a day trader. Having never held a trade beyond EOD, I found it difficult to jettison my old habits (my pre-conceived notions) and embrace without hesitation the fundamental ideas behind the Hershey Equities System. I wasted more time than I care to recall attempting to adapt Jacks' System into a 'Day Trading' method without success. I also never bothered to change my default chart settings from my standard one minute charts. Looking back, it seems almost silly now, but I held up my own progress! When I finally followed Jack's advice (and set aside my experience until AFTER I had internalized the new methodology), things began to click. Once I overcame the psychological hurdle preventing me from moving forward (or holding overnight), the profits soon followed. As a result, I give everyone the same advice once provided me. Forget what you think you know. For now, your experience impedes your progress. After you learn the fundamentals behind the methods and internalize the process, everything appears clearer. It will be as if you once viewed the world through mud covered goggles, and now, after someone whipped away the muck, you see the world as it really is for the very first time. Good Trading. - Spydertrader
Thanks for the advice Spyder. I'll try to trade the system with a clear mind. On a related subject, how do you hedge your overall market risk overnight, if you do?
Today, Friday, my activity: Entered NGPS and exited at EOD as it did not reach FRV for a wash trade. Still holding CMCO, PTC, and RATE. All had gains during the day. Sold half the CMCO for a 5% gain. Doug
I don't hedge overnight positions with put options or anything like that. I simply manage my risk based on placing at risk only a small percentage of my overall account size. As you progress through your reading of the Original Journal, you should come across a risk calculator I attached to a discussion concerning risk and money management. The posts, complete with links, (and the risk calculator) should provide you with greater insight into how Jack (and I) manage risk. Hope that helped. - Spydertrader
Excellent trading this week to everyone following the thread. Enjoy the weekend, and keep up the great work. - Spydertrader