pbj right you are Not sure why that is tough to do at times but I did get off the train today to clear my head and quit the opening gaps that have caused some issues last week and today Best Robert
Yes, and including time based stops for the opening gaps but I have not done a good job (obviously) of using them. The last few weeks have been a good example of how not to trade I am downshifting my trade size and adjusting my trading account so that even I am forced to get back in calibration Thanks for your thoughts and for taking the time to post. Having to answer for my F ups in this wayreally sinks in how poorly I allowed my trading to become. Its not an excuse that I took that big hit with HAR but maybe it will serve as a warning for others. Last year about this time I was also taking some big hits and spun out of control after taking the big LEH hit. maybe I am not as bullet proof as I would like to think I am Best to you and your trading Robert
Made some changes to my trading day today Starting out I downgraded as I said I would the lot size and the size of the spacing in lots. This did not actually matter in a material way for risk today as the trades I was in worked well from the start. I traded SVA again today and did so correctly and that made all the difference in my results. the end result of the size changes meant lower gains today but I was able to trade without errors and had I made errors they would have not been as costly. SVA + 194 NVAX + 51 I closed out LEH which is stock that I been holding 14 shares of for many months and going on a year. I want to be able to take the loss as short term capital loss and I wanted to flatten out my account and since LEHMQ was over 20 cents which I thought was just crazy for a company like this I thought I might as well clear it up. Besides I wasnât gaining any value from looking at it any longer so I moved on. - 50 Brings my day to what I would have normally expected for the shares traded and its nice to end the day with no new black and blue marks on my face + 196 day week month
Hello teleskop, Sure looks like your right and at the same time I can say that I am not really trying to. Its the mistakes that are made that I would not otherwise be making that caused the loss in Aug. Thats why today even with a low value stock like SVA I traded very small and stayed small. I am trying to break any grip that the losses are holding on my and just focus on what works and works well. This is the last test I am giving myself and then I will take a week or so off Best to you Robert
Hello stockboy201, Yeah AIG has sure been crazy lately. I don't think that in itself has been my problem though. My problem has been my trading and not following rules of entry and exit. You can never let your guard down or you ease into a state of allowing a major beating. Best to you Robert
Hello bwolinsky, good question. I tried Covester but it did not accurately reflect my actual gains. They state that the results are a time weighted average but they have not actually integrated the reporting to be time weighted. As I normally take money out of my account every month (every month this year but July so far) having a time weighted return as an official stat is important. Like C2 Covester underreports my actual returns although for different reasons. Currently the Covester results can be gamed to make results look much better than actual time weighted average but I would guess at some point in the near future that will be fixed. With all that being said I do plan on returning to Covester and think its a great site. The customer service I received was great and they where very upfront with me when I asked why the stats where different then expected. I will just be waiting until my comfort level is higher that the numbers are more reflective Best to you Robert
Hi Robert, Long time since I dropped in here. Times like this, I just hit the beach and try to forget everything. It is not easy to trade size, and see your winnings get wiped out in a few short trades. I've been there, and it definitely hurts...especially the ego. But yes, the bright side is that you are still positive (even though you might not feel that way at the moment), and if you can make all that profit once, you can do it again. If I were you, I would take advantage of the long weekend, and plan a simple trip with the family out and come back with renewed strength and right frame of mind. You are obviously on the right course of reducing your size because nothing could be worse right now than to revenge trade with even bigger size to recover as quickly as possible what you had given back. Right now you need to focus on readjusting back to smaller size. It won't have the same excitement and appeal as trading size, but it is a necessary adjustment given the circumstances. Good luck.
Traded again today much smaller and book a gain but on a losing trade I booked a gain with SEPR but it appears I will be taking a hit with it tomorrow during the open. I was short today when it was halted pending news of a buyout and since all the wires are carrying the news it I assume it will be confirmed. Even though it moved well past my entry point I stayed small with it compared to my normal trades. As a result I do have a small gain with it but I do expect (or at least prepared for) SEPR to open higher. With the news I have been able to read its hard to get a real feel for what the price of the stock will do so I will just have to wait and see until the press release does come out and see if they confirm and if so at what price as well as when. SEPR + 121 PAY was an opening gap trade and I stayed small and it worked out well. + 351 + 473 + 669 week month
Robert- I haven't read all of your journal but it appears that all/most of your disasters were from overnight trades (LEH, HAR, ANR). Something to think about.