icymonsters, If you read where I began as a trader, I used to use Scottrade. Their commission was $7 but I was able to talk them down to $6 per trade. I now use Lightspeed where I can trade for example 300 shares at 0.0045 cents per share so that would be basically around $3 or less to get in and out of the trade whereas Scottrade would cost me $12. However, the drawback is when it comes down to tax time, Lightspeed with APEX clearing blows since the 1099's are screwed up. A lot of people here like to use Interactive Brokers. I really stay away from penny stocks. You may get a larger spread between bid and ask with $100 stocks but if you use limit orders, it's ok. I try not to use market orders too often because of the slippage. The large spread is ok if you let price action do its thing and prices end up where you think it will go. I recall that long long ago when I did some trading using Scottrade where my trading was in its infancy, I traded some penny stock in the $2 range. Sure, the spread was tight with only a $0.01 difference between bid and ask but in reality it took forever for me to get rid of the shares where I basically got out on a $0.02 spread between when I bought and sold. It took hours for me to get out with partial filled orders still there. This is when I only had a few thousand in the account and was only allowed to make 3 day trades a week. Trading penny stocks doesn't have the volume needed for me to get in and out quickly.
Couldn't bring myself to get in today. Yesterday's one losing trade really put a number on me. I did stay up late the previous night so I was very tired early and opted to sleep more. Just did a quick scalp. +7 Win 1 Quick scalp on CVX
I was psyched out again today. Part of me told me to add shares to what would work out. I opted to scalp out again. I could've profited much more but could not hold the anxiety. I adjusted the exit price several times for what came to be a scalp. Ridiculous. I need to be more selective of the entry price. Any traders here that have dealt with the psychological reluctance to jump in? Only to turn into a chart watcher? My gains have been less and less by the day this week. +49 Wins 2 Scalped out one on TSLA but since the price moves a lot on this stock, a scalp trade yields more than the usual higher price stock. Mini-Scalp on QQQ for a +2 gain. Weak Sauce!
I finally got a decent day to end the week. I am still trying to make up for last Friday's loss. It's crazy how a one day big loss can be such a big set back. I have some things to do later as well as a night job so it's going to end early today. Locking in the gains today and not going to give it back. +209 Wins 4 Traded BIDU that gave the largest gain. I took advantage of the wide price movement while it was acting choppy today. I don't like to let it ride with the anxiety of not knowing what will happen next. Went in with a large amount of shares and got in/out in 5 min. Scalped out on CAT and SPY for tiny gains.
Another weak sauce day as I couldn't get in. I was really tired from being up late yesterday and wasn't up for trading much. I missed out on some opportunities where I either didn't stay in the trade or had small positions. Missing out on opportunities is also very frustrating. I did have one loss today. +37 Wins 3 Traded just BIDU and GS today for scalps Loss 1 GS Short 173.16 Cover 173.26 In my mind, the chart looked like it was going to up. I was going to press the buy button but somehow I got confused and hit the sell button. I tried to get out to minimize the loss via limit orders but the price went up so I had to hit the ask to get out. Of course later on in this consolidation phase, the price dropped to where it could be a small scalp but in reality I didn't want to see if that could happen as I am an anxious trader. I need to be more careful of the buttons I push. This has happened quite a few times already. My cursor on the laptop is very sensitive and I probably should not have the cursor over the buy/sell buttons. The loss hurt bad since it was both market orders to get in and out.
Another tough day. -210 Just another big setback. I was trying to trade BIDU all day and in a sense I was chasing the price again for a small scalp that turned bad. Wins 3 Three small scalps as I was not trading high volume today. Loss 1 I let the trade go on too long. The only thing that saved me from it being worse is that I didn't go in with a large amount of shares. I'm going to have to go back to the drawing board.
Was still too scared to get in today. There were opportunities but just didn't do it. Can't shake it. Breaking down pyschologically. Watched charts all day. +4 Win 1 Nothing scalp on XOM
I was very depressed about posting trades on and after the 13th.. since I lost big in two days. But the rest of the month was hard work to get it back. 03/13 -650 03/14 -184 03/17 + 65 03/18 + 51 03/19 +116 03/20 + 75 03/21 + 75 03/24 + 89 03/25 + 92 03/26 +162 03/27 +269 03/28 +233 03/31 +188