i will comment on this trade, with the caveat that hindsight is so easy when the right side of the chart has played out. a better entry was a break of the little flag PB after the two big green bars. stock opened strong and then bar ranges contracted, but price was still above the close of the first 30-min bar. then mr. market thru you a NRB8, which gives a chance for entry with tight stop loss. it looks like you may have entered beyond or very likely near the top of tyipical range - maybe typical is like 2.50, not enuf data to call it - so the ruibber band was being stretched when you entered... maybe its possible to take partials EOD on BIG GREEN daily; PBs or consolidations are likely after big moves up. congrats on following your trading plan!
you were up nicely EOD on this trade too. maybe 8% or so in 45 minutes? am i reading the chart wrong? nice snag on ISSX
You can also buy OTM puts just under the stock price as cheap insurance. Costs you no more than 5% of your stock position. But if the stock drops, the puts will gain in value and you end up with a very limited loss regardless of how far down the stock drops, maybe 10% max because the put will gain in value in step with the stock's drop. Or you can write covered-calls in the event your stock is stagnant. Just write another OTM call each month and collect 5%.
You've got some nice skills DannoXYZ, and your thread will certainly add value to the traders here at ET, but don't start telling him to do something which is going to screw'em up.
8/21/06 Short 100 RIMM at 78.20 8/30/06 cover 100 RIMM at 83.94 profit - 588.00 I bought this stock after the Doji star pattern the day before. RIMM had a good run and I thought that this Doji signald the end of it. The Doji is a neutral signal and I thought the odds were in my favor that the stock would reverse. WRONG!. I held this stock TOO long I think. 4..5 point loss is a bit much, and I should have waited for the stock to fall below its 7 MA or even better, its 13 MA (high) and/or bearish volume to help confirm the move. Yesterday another doji formed as well as a hanging man candle three days before. I'm short another 100 at 83.03, and I think this time, it will work.
Month in review for August 2006 In my eight months of trading, this was my worst month yet. Total losses -1150.50 Total gains + 220.70 Total revenue - 929.80 Total volume: 1,510 Average share size: 100 Average gain: 55.17 Average loss: 383.50 Stocks traded: AAPL, ANDE, DISH, CBSS, FILE, RIMM, WYNN, RMBS -- Looking back at stock performance: AAPL - I got out on 8/4, the day before the reversal began!. Even though I lost money, I'm glad I pulled the trigger and got out when I did. ANDE - Again, got out two days before the reversal!..wow. I made money on this trade but not much. DISH - Got out the day of the gap down!. The stock then bounced and had risen for the next three days. I got out just in time. CBSS - Got out the day before the bounce, but this was a boring stock and I'm not going to trade it again. FILE - I shorted this one at the top of its trend, but this is another boring stock on my ignore list. RIMM - Got my ass handed to me in RIMM, I covered at the top, but still have a short position at 83.00 that looks reasonable. WYNN - Shorted on 8/22 what I thought was the beginning of the down trend. I was wrong and the stock pulledback and continues upward. I'm still in this one. RMBS - Looks GREAT for a long term hold, and thats what I'm doing. Bought at 14.28.
Note to self - Dont buy low volume stocks any more. They dont move enough to make the holding period worth while. Dont short pullbacks, they might not be reversals --