-my offline journal thus far here's my journal of trades the first few lack a lot of detail, wasnt into the journal at first. since i started paper trading stocks on an account of 110,000 4 Losing Days out of the past 15 sept 3rd - down 5k making dumb risky trades sept 4th - up, still making too risky trades sept 5th - up making risky trades - bad strategy sept 8th - down making risky trades (playing the open) sept 9th - up implemented new strategy, gaps, 10min charts sept 10th - slightly up, refining strategy but made a bad move buying too early and holding too long sept 11th - today would have def been profitable but scottrade froze in the middle of a position and i couldnt pull the trigger sux, 1 mistake i made at 10:00. - dont even know what happened today think i ended it up ------------------------------------------------------- sept 12th (+$580) ENDED slightly UP - down 1400 at first - could have took profit of 600 but didnt, bad mistake. very choppy market, no trend - ended day profitable by 600 or so, . trading broken tight channels ------------------------------------------------------- sept 15th (+160) bought kft at 33.22 at 10:11 with a limit at pp. did this because it looked strong and 10 o'clock seems to be a good trend continuation period. still a bit risky so i put a limit in and waited for the price to come to me and if it didn't. oh well. sold it as son as it reached 33.30 (-280) sold KR short 26.84, looked good broke support levels. went positive for a minute and completely reveresed to the positive =[ should have sold it as soon as it pulled back (+540) bought mfc 34.58 sold 34.76 it was a good break to the upside while the market was moving up stock continued up after sell (+120) bought drys 52.44 sold 52.50 didnt like where i got in so i sold as soon as it became profitable and bought it back at 52.47 (-1480) sold drys 51.7 aahhh should NOT have gotten back in this stupid stock (buying below pivotpoint (-100) axp dumb bad looking channel *(-570) bad play, no channel just thought it would continue down (-90) ivgn reversed breakout, moving very slow got out (-320) bgc down, breakout reversed (+119) ceg break below, sold it for small profit (+425) ceg break below, was confirmed with rising volume (+280) cvc break below,, had to hold no volume (+620) cpn, break below narrow range, looked good (-120) bac, was stalling, not looking good got out (+360) c, broke below, lots of red on screen got out quick (+540) aks, narrow range, nice break below, got out quick broke round number sold 31.61 (+290) ben, broke below... good trade nice channel (-220) gci breakout just reversed with market =[ (+240) drys (-120) ntct, moves so slow, showed sign of reversal (-420) ayr, stock got ugly, volume picked up, reversed (+100) cit, risky low price got out (+450) broke below followed by intense selling maket pressure UP $525 TODAY... CRAZY DAY LOTS OF MISTAKES ------------------------------------------------------- sept 16th - focused strategy, market on uptrend (+330) bought amr at 16.55 around 12:30, clear breakout.. had record good range and going with trend. sold at 16.66 ended up going a lot higher (-30) vvc bought 26.80 sold 26.79, wasnt the greatest looking shouldnt have messed with it. after getting in it showed signs of weakness so i just got out. had history, looked strong but looked funky (+40) bought brl at 65.2 totally out of my strategy. saw a strong support level and trend that it was at and bought. has nothing to do with current strategy, just playing.TOOK TO LONG, MARKET SENTIMENT LOOKED BEARISH - BAD MOVE, STICK TO STRATEGY (+60) CBG - 1ST BREAK WAS WEAK 2ND LOOKED STRONG, BOUGHT ON 3RD BREAK... LOOKED LIKE IT WAS STRONG, MARKET GOT A LITTLE WEAK AND IT FELL AND LOOKED WEAK SO I SOLD, LITTLE PROFIT.. WAS TAKING TOO LONG (+360) FDG - GOOD LOOKING CHART, 3RD BREAK UPSIDE BOUGHT 75.90 SOLD AT 76.26 CHART LOOKED LIKE A STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN NOT A HILL. GOOD RANGE, RECORD BUT THE TREND WAS BELOW PIVOT =[ (+160) BRL - BOUGHT AT 65.38 CHART LOOKED STRONG, WAS GOING UP NICELY.. PULLED BACK TOO MUCH SO I SOLD AT 65.54 (-160) TEL - SHORTED ON BREAK BECAUSE OF FINANCIAL NEWS, MARKET WENT DOWN BIG THEN REBOUNDED. THE BREAK LOOKED GOOD BUT IT WAS FALSE AND REVERSED AS SOON AS THE MARKET REBOUNDED FROM THE BIG FALL. WENT TOTALLY AGAINST MY STRATEGY AND I KNEW IT WAS RISKY WHEN I ENTERED IT. BAD MOVE (-45) COV - MARKET LOOKED LIKE IT WAS GOING UP, FUCKING STOCK GAPPED UP...SETUP LOOKED GOOD BUT I GOT OUT BECAUSE IT WAS ACTING VOLATILE... IT ENDED UP GOING BACK UP BIG. THEN DOWN BIG, VERY VOLATILE (+570) WMB - BOUGHT AT 24.59 SOLD 24.78 - CHART JUST LOOKED BEAUTIFUL TEXTBOOK STAIRWAY PATTERN. EVEN WHEN MARKET CRASHED IT DIDNT BUDGE. NET (+$1285) - BEGINNING OF STRATEGY.. MUST BE MORE DISCIPLINED!!! ------------------------------------------------------- sept 17th (+180) paa sold short at 36.15 covered at 36.06... ended up going way down more.. (+375) cyn sold short at 53.25 covered at 53... felt like i shouldnt have taken this one after getting it... it looked strong early but recent history looked choppy not textbook steps (-420) mbt short 50.88 covered 51.16 looked good but it stalled, showed a doji and i should have gotten out bought too late (+120) pva bought at 52.06 sold at 52.14 (-457) pva bought 52.14 sold at 51.84 bad move (-120) aet sold short covered at 38.01 (+50) shorted bmy covered at 20.78 (+220) shorted oi covered at 26.2 (+80) shorted bg covered at 30.77 (+450) hiw shorted covered at 33.07 2500 shares NET (+$800) ------------------------------------------------------- sept 18th (-$1100) hate to even count this, did it with 2 trades and gave up didn't feel like trading and didnt follow strategy ------------------------------------------------------- sept 19th (-269) bought acg 11:55 sold at 9.75 should have held on to it... (-795) bought nxy 12:15 sold at 25.41... ooouch, went long on a market red candle bad! (+80) ncr short at 1:10 covered at 23.82 (+350) syx bought 1:35 sold at 18.55 market was consolidating but this stock looks so strong (-240) el shorted, 2:20 covered at 50.67 bull shit market, this had agreen candle i should of noticed (+340) bought su 2:30ish sold at 48. went with market, perfect example of trade with market (+20) bought su 2:45 sold at 48... just went with market (+35) bought hal 3:00 market was looking strong, then it got weak so i sold (+225) shorted mhp 3:05 covered at 38.1 went with market.. should of got out earlier with bigger profit when it stalled =[ (+125) shorted mhp again 3:20 market was going down, market started reversing a little got out (-153) bought fro little too late, strong rally bar, market reversed ouch NET (-$282) sept 22nd (-187) shorted kss covered at 47.83 was waiting for it to go down it reversed as market did bullshit (+40) shorted omc covered 40.5 market started stalling, looks like a reversal (-40) shorted omc covered 40.65 thought it it some resistance and was commmin back down - wrong (+180) long eac seold at 49.62 bought a little early on a market reversal, broke resistance (-260) long tap sold 47.98 thought the market was going long, made a lower low BULLSHIT DAY (-140) shorted wre covered at 36.77 aaaaaaaahhhh (-120) long pbr sold at 48.84 wtf!! market looked strong upside then bam red candle on market (+20) long pbr sold at 48.8 waiting for freakin uptrend man!! markets gay and volatile (-160) pbr i fucking suck sold at 48.77 (+360) pbr sold at 49.14 went long, market was rising, looks like midday reversal upside (+102) long hcn sold at 51.66, this was a little range play, in and out (-40) shorted spls too fucking slow moving stalled (-52) bmc shorted market was going down, this stock is stalled out (+1000) shorted unfi, covered at 24.45 stock was strong and the market was making LH's LL's (modelTrade) (-520) shorted unfi again... aaaaaaaaahhhhh it blew its load on that last trade should NOT GOT BACK IN (-280) went long unfi, market reversed hard, bad trade (-75) aem long sold 66.35 reversed, gay (+540) kss shorted covered at 46.86 was on market downtrend... very good trade! NET (+$768) sept 23rd - (-496) shorted eln, 10:40 on a good downtrend, fucking gay stock... too much down already i think (-210) bought wy on high candle... aahhhh sold at 62.21 (+14) bought syk on up trend, stock was weak market started goin down... bullshit (-150) bought kfy on uptrend... got in too late on uptrend and it started to reverse (+80) shorted oxy on downward break in market covered at 77.92 (+90) shorted oxy covered at 77.67 got back in because it kept goin down, got out because market started consolidating (-630) shorted au on covered at 25.42 on what looked like a market downtrend then it reversed (+240) shorted arrs covered at 8.35 huge dip in market (-30) shorted emr covered at 49.98 didnt like its move (+320) shorted emr covered 40.78 market contuie down (-60) shorting emr (+120) long ars sold at 8.40 market was turning around, got in and out quick (+440) long lihr market was going up, took that profit very strong upside stock (+40) shorted jns covered at 23.88 market is consolidating (+680) long lihr sold at 24.49 (-160) long lihr sold at 24.22 (-20) long bec sold at 70.74 (-52) long bec market took nose dive LL sold at 70.57 (-130) long bec market went down hard again!!! sold 70.67 (+247) long bec market on uptrend (+39) long bec waiting for trend to go back up, looked not so great (-104) long bec, stupid (+1200) shorted eye covered at 18.8 spotted a downtrend and held on - smoked a cigerette NET (+1468)
[i guess once you start these things, you cant stop like pringles] [plus my lame ass doesnt have anything else that interests me but trading sooo, POST AWAY] [i am still paper trading, going to be for another month then if my strategy proves consistent i will switch to a real 100k+ account] sept 24 (+135) bought on an uptrend, it started to look like the end of it, stock ended up going higher i sold too soon (+120) (-400) shorted gd market reversed (+60) long mhs market reversed (+290) shorted mos (-840)long fult. reversed i should have gotten out profitable (-300) long gww (+300) cbk (-270) shorted aeg (THIS DAY WAS HORRIBLE BECAUSE 1) I WASNT EVEN REALLY TRADING, I WAS TRYING TO INSTALL A WOOD FLOOR AT THE SAME TIME. 2) THE MARKET HAD LOTS OF SHORT TRENDS, I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN PROFITS VERY QUICKLY IN THIS TYPE OF MARKET NET (-$905) ------------------------------------------------------- sept 25th (-910) shorted mvsn. covered at 16.19 shorted way too soon, should have waited for real break out in market (+630) long tsu on uptrend (-260) shorted mvsn covered at 16.19 looked like a downtrend then went up too much (+585) long tsu market surged to new high, got in and out (+45) tsu on another market surge (+2090) shorted hees after market made new high, was comming down NET (+2180) ------------------------------------------------------- sept 26th - OH YEAH BABY (+34) long ph sold at 53.55 10:40, looked good, market broke to the upside but it was moving 2 slow (-28) long yum on market break upside sold at 34.08 got out because it got ugly fast (-168) long yum on what i thought was an uptrend - market is choppy today (+195) shorted svnt covered at 16.49 market still looked weak after strong downside (+2275) shorted svnt went for the ride covered at 15.99 (testing strategy based on riding strong stocks in choppy market) MUST TEST FURTHER NET (+2308) -------------------------------------------------------
sept 29th (+2047) shorted amtd 17.22 covered 16.90 - this was 2nd test of choppy market strategy, working out well so far... wish i held on after the news of the house vote but oh well. i was out after this 1 good trade. Best day yet, (1) trade (1) winner (0) losers =] NET (+2047) -------------------------------------------------------
sept 30th (-550) long vmed , market consolidating strategy.. didnt work out, stock just got weak (+70) tra long sold at 29.02 felt like i was buying in high candle didnt want pullback (+150) long citi(c) sold at 20.40 - market was heading down (+60) shorted agn covered at 50.97 - stock moved so slow on slow market downtrend (+240) long ara sold at 35.20 - stock was moving slow bought on break to the upside in market (+300) long hk sold at 20.94 (-100) long hk on next continuation of uptrend and stock didnt follow movement (-180) long rio, was positive then market went down on big red candle (+180) long rio, market moving up (-560) shorted tck, market was going up aahhh (+60) long rio on market rally (+120) long rio on market rally (+70) long tck on accident durrr - glad that worked out (-300) shorted rio after rally killed - to early (+840) shorted rio after market rally and it finally worked out (ah, i should have watched the market till close but i had stuff to do) NET (+$400) -------------------------------------------------------
ok, so i'm feeling pretty confident about my trading style. still paper though which i know dont get much respect around here.. im constantly hearing about how paper systems dont work when trading with real currency. personally i think this is hog-wash for me atleast. i think i will be able to follow my system as its rather simple and continue to profit. perhaps im wrong tho. then days like today make me wonder because although i was positive the market was choppy and trendy at the same time it was weird and i don't feel i performed my best. need some insight all you old trading heads please help me out with my transition from fake paper to real paper... and hows my paper trading looking thus far?
oct 1st (+112) shorted tyc 34.05 covered at 34.01 - market went down to support level (+180) long amr sold at 10.8 - market bounced off support level (-90) shorted sap covered at 51.35 - fuck this stock... just wasnt moving right (+25) shorted amx covered at 45.09 another unbelievable stock, market plummets and it fucking hangs out (-80) shorted wu covered at 23.58 - too hasty (+120) long hcbk sold at 19.01 after market LOD (-240) long sfd, thought market was uptrending but i bought too soon (+200) shorted ccj covered at 20.81, market had green candle i got out (-405) long tsn sold at 12.61... bought on a candle that gapped up-- NO! (-90) long tsn (-540) long tsn, horrible stock... stopped going up alltogether (+300) long aig (+600) long aig sold 3.87 (+40) shorted jwn - looked great but market didnt go down it went up (+640) shorted jwn (-270) shorted tsn covered 12.78.. stock was upside and i tried shorting it - newbie mistake (-500) shorted phh.. bad trade need to be patient (-270) long tsn on market rally (+150) shorted mco at 31.70 covered at 31.65 (-780) long lyg, another stock that wasnt moving up with the market (-207) long pfe, tried buying a market downtrend - bad idea (-630) shorted ttek - wasnt confirmed downtrend (-150) viv long (-150) viv long (+600) long aet (+480) shorted aet on way down (-70) long bam (-25) shorted ppdi (+780) long aib NET (-$270) ------------------------------------------------------- this day was horrible, great example of what i should not do. was down 2k at one point and magically came back up. WAY to many trades, my trading mental was all messed up today. got to the point where i was chasing, getting in positions before they even proved themselves it was UGLY - need a trading intervention