When did you begin to short LDK? TSL had earnings this morning. LDK would have been a good trade at around 11 am, because you had 1. The market coming off 2. TSL coming off 3. Lower high in LDK Your stop would be above 14.76. You are basically risking 15 cents or less for a chance move to morning lows. If I were in that trade, I probably would have bailed right after 12 pm when TSL began to hook up. One of your factors went away, making the trade less attractive. With your LDK trade, you need to know your realistic risk level, as I stated. Your realistic risk was above morning highs (14.75). If you do not allow proper risk, market noise will screw you time and time again. This is where you begin to judge how good a trade really is. If you are afraid of risking 15 cents, you probably shouldn't take the trade because it isn't exciting you enough. You need to develop this mentality: "I really like this short. I think this stock can test lows. I am so down for risking 15 cents on 400 shares for a chance to make a dollar." If you don't like how losing $60 sounds, start with 200 shares, and ADD when conditions look BETTER. Add as it breaks that recent low around 14.47. You need to believe in your ideas and ATTACK them. That is how you train yourself to be selective and get as much as you can out of trades. ---- My big winners were TX through 36 and FST through 35.50. Both were very clean with fundamental and technical bearishness. Both were low risk.
Initial loss or Slow growth is just by the virtue of your Learning Curve. As you gain more experience and screentime. you will feel more comfortable in taking trades and exiting bad ones. Staying flexible is Key as markets are too!! Find a mentor or a successfull trader and buddy up to learn - this is key - ALL THE MISTAKES that he knows about. !! In any professions there are certain number of mistakes that you can make and as fast as you learn them you clear your path (mentally) and gain confidence. Do not limit your return with numbers, but with price action. On a day like today learn to trade bigger and longer. Make sure you are comfortable with the Platform/ Charts. Do not make them too complicated by duplicating other traders screen. ITs not easy to duplicate what works for other people !!! If you get adrenaline rush - heartbeat pumping/ racing breaths these are the signs that your mind is still not comfortable with the trading. You will experience this change in due time. No rush !! As you mention physics - Newtons Laws of Motion apply to them. especially the first Law !! you will hav to learn to SEE it in action and how it applies to Price Action. Keep it simple and easy and it will stay that way. Reduce the number of INPUTS to your brain !!! - No news no TICk no TRIN etc... just chart and price. managing multiple trades is like being a joker juggling balls in air... when you get more experience you WILL be able to do that , until then lay off. Here is a thread I started on some thinggs to read about http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=213954 It might help you with some mental issues. Gudluck, Joke
It sounds to me like you were forced out because you were forcing the trade. By 11:20 the price broke the prior day's close and an intra day low, and from there it was a very smooth decline, with only a pause at the opening price. And I am not even a day trader, but of course it is all so much easier to see after the fact.
Today, was a pure demonstration of my inexperience. I got into LDK at abt 10:25; I was kicked out as it went back up between 10:30 - 11:00. I should have just hung on. It was so very clear that that stock was headed lower. I then made the mistake of trying to go long, but by then the trend had reverted back to the pre 10:25. Already, getting close to my $50 loss limit for the day, I was a scared chicken from that point forward. Only 20 trades today. $6 lost to fees. $42 lost to the trades. Interesting arrangement with the fees here. If I add liquidity, I receive a credit. If I remove liquidity, I am charged a fee. Therefore, limit trades are expensive. Any trade where I set the price, seems to give me a credit. Glad your day went well for you, ksmetana. Thanks for your input, guys. This is very helpful.
Actually Lucias is selling his signals. He talks like a trader with 10+ years under his belt but the results don't confirm his confidence - collective2 performance is no better than random in my opinion. I don't really understand why would anyone pay him for consultation. Predictor Discretionary ETF
Can't trade in a vacuum Or rather, it never hurts to discuss strategies, techniques, etc. with other traders, especially when just starting out. Ultimately, though, one must do what is most effective to them.
I am very impressed with ksmetana. Only 123 posts. If I was going to join a prop firm, I would be looking real hard at the one he's trading with.
I'm not selling my signals to my discretionary record. I use that to record my work -- for my benefit -- and I can't bar subscribers (or I would). I do sell signals to another 100% mechanical system. I do have about 5 years of intensive market study under my belt and I do consider myself one of the best in the world at what I do, which is predicting the market. I don't feel I'm smarter then anyone else. But, yes I do think most of the people are fools or hucksters in this field. Try finding an audited record -- even a hypothetical one-- from any of the other big-name mentors. I'm not going to name names but most of the biggest names have been investigated and discovered to be making fraudulent claims.
20 trades is WAAAAY too many for your second day. This is something I'm sure you will learn as you go. Also, if you are so inexperienced, why do you think that it was so 'very clear' that the stock was headed lower? And if it was so clear it was headed lower, why were you going long??
Ha! Well ... up to 44 trades today. Didn't read your comment until this evening. Had a whole bunch of fun with NVDA at the end of the day. Price up and down like a yo-yo. Very quick moves up and down in the last hour. Many times, I shorted at the top, and then longed at the bottom. Fireplace, when I attempt fewer trades and try to wait for the ideal trade, I lose every single time. The successful trick today was to get in quickly and get out quickly. I just repeated this over and over again. Actually, today was a strange day. There were issues with the network; I didn't start trading until 11:45. I lost in the first couple of hours on Dell waiting for perfect trades, and then won it all back again on many small trades on NVDA. Ended positive for the day. I went long the other day because that's what I am doing. If the stock looks like it may go up a little, I long. If it looks like its going down I short. I don't see why I can't do little trades like this even if the general direction is down. This seems to be a profitable approach. At least, it was today now that I have figured out how to do this quickly. The trick is to get out quickly if the stock goes in the wrong direction.