Thanks all for the input. secco, Sorry about the censorship. Just try stating your ideas a little less "descriptively". This is the reason I post... others can see more clearly what I am doing than I can. (except I can usually see clearly enough too...in hindsight) But the input is useful, and I will continue to post, as painful as it is sometimes. It is embarrasing to show the world how stupid one is, but that is how you get well.... taking your medicine. I also know there are more than a few others that frequent here who are in the same boat. Maybe not making the same mistakes, but struggling none the less. On the subject of not seeing clearly in the heat of the trade, that is why Nihaba is right. One needs a skilled mentor. One who is not only a good trader, but can convey constructively what is needed to become a strong trader. Maybe one day I will be able to be that type of mentor. Again, thanks to all for taking the time to post.
Tradesman, Had to smile at #4, I have often thought if I could only do the opposite of what I thought I should do, I would be fine. But it doesn't work that way.. cause the second I decide to do the opposite, then I have decided on a trade directin, and since I am nearly always wrong, this new decision is now, by definition... wrong. You have some good points, which I will consider.
130? Expecting 3 or 4....if so, your envelope is way to wide. I put in 16 Friday and got 4 fills using a .75 envelope. You might think about adjusting the envelope for current volatility and market conditions on a daily basis. Good Luck!! The share size is really (really) important to get to a point where it's realistic to make a profit. So many new traders are too concerned about "failing" or "risk control" and need to re-think the whole thing. Get into a positive frame of mind, where you "expect success" or you will have problems overcoming the "grinding out" effect. Again, good luck!! Don
I think an earlier post hit the nail on the head... You're trading scared and trading against the trend. Do yourself a huge favor. Take a step back and watch the price action for a few days, weeks or even months if need be. Maybe check with someone who makes decent (if not good) money before throwing another dime in the markets. I looked over your charts for the past week or so. Scary stuff. I mean no offense by this post. Only to say that what you're looking at to enter and exit really isn't working and in my opinion you should be taking some time away from trading and watch how the price moves for at least a week or two and developing a better strategy. Good luck out there.
DON: you pushing that OO onto newbies is a joke!!! is anybody making REAL MONEY on that penny-ante stuff except brokers like YOU??? i have an image of a bunch of clueless newbies sitting in your trading room barely scratching a living at that while you and your brother are gorging on a fat lobster tail in a back office....... oh yeah, i said i wouldn't post........i'm outta here!!!
secco, Take it easy. In fact, I am doing OK in opening orders. As you can see by some other posts here and about, there are several schools of thought on how to do them. I prefer wide envelopes with lots of orders in. Don prefers far fewer stocks and closer envelopes. In his case, I figure he has done it so long, he knows those stocks so well, he can set his evnvelope with precision. If I could get them in, I would probably do 200 stocks. I got burned early on setting closer envelopes and catching fills I really didn't want. Now here was a case where I could get to the bottom of how OO really worked. After I understood the underlying principles, I could tweak and adjust my criteria to suit what I wanted to happen. My stock selection and OO criteria are not at all what I received from ECHO, but I like them, and they have worked out so far. When I recently did a major overhaul of the criteria, I didn't trade live, but back checked, and I would have had some dandy fills. (BTW, Friday got +.40 in SBC, scratched VZ for .00. real trades) As I mentioned, I will soon begin to gradually increase my order size in OO. I will continue to trade 100 shares in my other trading til I get a positive expectancy there. Relax, have a good weekend.
Opening orders on Don's thread. Did 2 trades after opening orders. Had a little help today from someone trying to calm my trading down. It worked, I was calmer. I sort of misplayed my VRTS trade, but we were going for the longer term gain. Progress is being made.
Opening orders on the opening orders thread. Did ok today, a scratch day but kept my patience, and didn't get wild. Well almost.. did take a flyer at the end on a possible breakout, but got off it as soon as it didn't go immediately. Those breakouts I want to see go RIGHT NOW or I lose interest quickly. Here is the trades spreadsheet.
tony, i get a kick out of some of your commentary on the charts. "covered after yet another world record hold time for me"