10-29-13 October is coming to a close in a strong way. Today was the best trading day of the month and while today didn't end as well as I would have liked with (JLL), it was still a five for five kinda day. It started out fast and furious with signals coming in many directions. Most were close calls that didn't quite reach the entry price, but it kept me on my toes for the first few hours. After a while things slowed down, but I remained in two trades for most of the trading day, only to exit (JLL) within about 10 minutes of the closing bell. I put some serious size on (CGNX) and it paid off in spades. I closed a few shares early, but also closed many shares well beyond my profit target and even reached $1.01 gain on the final exit. I wanted to push (IDTI) with even more shares, but at the same time I was in several trades and was already keeping one eye on my buying power. (JLL) is a $96 stock and that ate a lot of BP fast. I could have pushed it harder above $97, but for the same reasons I didn't. Trading sure would be a lot easier if they announced what stocks I would trade and how high they will go ahead of time...lol (CCMP) is thinly traded and I managed to get a little more than my standard target. (PBI) was my first execution today and while I didn't fully reach my target, I did well none the less. It didn't give me much of a chance to scalp and work my way higher. It was perhaps my fastest money today with a quick blow-off peak followed by snap lower to which I said thanks and covered. All trades are based on my William signal and like a high performance car,it's performing great even when I push it. Today wasn't my highest number of shares traded this month, but that's my broker's problem not mine. Amount banked was a record this month and that's my problem, a problem I'm happy to have. (JLL) + .07 (CCMP) +.54 (CGNX) + .55 (IDTI) + .30 (PBI) + .45
10-30-13 A much slower day today than yesterday. I still traded five tickers, but only (BGFV) gave more than one entry, and even that one didn't give more than one entry level. I traded (CCIX) which was the biggest ticker in total dollars, but a news based trade. In response I turned off the news feed. I can't say that news trades are a negative expectancy type of trade, but I can't say they are positive so I will just eliminate the news until i can run back tests and automate or at least mechanicalize these trades. The news was that (CCIX) is increasing its efforts to find a buyer of all the stock, not just a few hundred shares like I may buy for a few minutes. Otherwise, not much stood out today. I wrote about (TSLA) and that should hit the wire on Thursday morning. It's a total bubble by every measurement I know of. (JCP) continues to lose the world's about to end panic and making its way back towards $8. I'm pretty heavy with (JCP) and some aren't hedged at all. Since my basis average is probably under $6.50 with all the accounts included, I'm pretty happy right now. It's like 2009 all over again, but this time I will hang on for the double plus (assuming it comes) (BGFV) + .30 (CCIX) + .43 (JKS) + .50 (LOCK) + .40 (WLT) + .40
10-31-13 When you have three sons, all of which are trick-or-treating age, it's easy to fall behind with your journal. Thursday was a busy trading day, and I remember one stock, IDCC left me without my record day of the month. I closed out for a relatively large loss, and it fell as soon as the market opened the next day. Oh well, it was still a good day and I believe the second best day of the month. I longed (BBRY) and shorted calls against it to create a partial hedge that I can collect premium with. I am now holding for a swing or longer (BBRY) and (JCP), both of which are profitable as of the end of Thursday (and today as I write this) (CAR) + .62 (DWA) + .41 (ENZY) +.51 (GTI) + .33 (IDCC) - .35 (IQNT) - .02 (POWI) +.51 (IPI) +.21 (QIWI) +.50
11-1-13 November didn't exactly start out well for me. I took a big hit with (OSIR), but at least I found a programming error as a result. I enter the trades in so fast there isn't time to think about them (why I am working on automation). I have moved the bulk of my scanning from stockfinder to Tradestation, but not without a couple of mistakes. I did hold over some (OSIR) until Monday, and spoiler alert, those shares were profitable. One mistake reared its ugly head on Friday and if it wouldn't have been this Friday it would have been another day so at least I'm glad to get it out of the way. Otherwise, it was a great day and my trading continues to make speedy progress. I haven't found the right balance between writing, trading, and programming signals, but I think I'm close. I spent the entire weekend working on the transfer of the Brenton signal and reworking/debugging the William signal. I hope to have the Brenton up and rolling within a week. (BBG) +.51 (CSIQ) +.50 (HEES) +.02 (LEAF) +.48 (LINE) +.50 (MRC) + .35 (OSIR) - .42 (WLT) break even
11-4-13 Monday started the week strong. I recovered some of my Friday's loss with (OSIR). The amount of gain from (OSIR) is based on mark to market in my reports, so I am guessing the aproximate amount. Leaving (OSIR) aside, it was still a great day, although I was busy staring at monitors as I try to adjust the William for testing and confirmation of entries. I entered into BlackBerry for a swing/ covered call sale. I'm not overly excited to hold (BBRY), but the option premium is massive and the company doesn't appear ready to simply implode. I like selling fear in this situation. (IPI) + .21 (OSIR) + .22 (SCTY) + .07 (WLT) + .31
11-5-13 Rock solid day of trading today, at least during the normal trading hours. I also traded (TPX) and (SCTY) in after hours and while I made money, I'm not convinced trading earnings gives me much of an edge. I think trading earnings can be very profitable if that's what you specialize in, otherwise, I am increasingly becoming more convinced it's full of peril. My first trade of the day was my largest by far. (ECYT) gave me two entry signals, first from a William and then secondly from my newly Tradestation minted Brenton signal that was working great with Stockfinder. On the first dip lower I covered the bulk of my position, but then I made the wise/foolish decision to stick with it for another pass. (ECYT) made a double top which gave me some size and I closed out with a big gain with lots of shares. At least that's what I thought I did. During the trade exit I received a phone call and it took my attention away. I thought all the shares were covered and I was out of the trade. What actually happened is I had 100 shares remaining short and by the time I noticed the ticker remaining on my screen (one of the problems when you use one program for charting and another for trade execution) I had a windfall of another $75 or so because I closed out at $10.99 instead of closer to around $11.75ish. Sometimes you just get lucky. (BEAT) was a gap higher fade play that didn't give me a lot for size or per share, but was kind enough to make it happen quickly. The trade only lasted about seven minutes. My next trade was (APEI) and I thought I would clean up with it, but it wasn't to be. It was triggered from a Brenton signal and because it's not fully setup to alert yet, I only noticed it because it was getting close to a William signal. At that point I was late in my entry and my average cost basis was much higher, so i put some size on it. While it was still very respectable, I was anticipating a greater gain even though it was enhanced through some scalping. In non-active trading accounts I shorted (FDX) via options and made about .17 cents on a few contracts. I also shorted (KERX) again looking for a retracement tomorrow. I'm keeping the cards close to my chest as these gap plays can often run two (or even three) days before profit taking kicks in. In total dollars, today was my best day this month and second best day since before October. (APEI) +.25 ​(BEAT) + .38 ​(ECYT)+.28 ​(SCTY) + 1.06 (TPX) +.20
Hey Robert, U seem to have a really high winning%. Is that because ur averaging losers ? How often do i have big losses and how do they compare to ur avg winners? B
Robert: Are you still with Suretrade.com???? On the bottom of their website on the home page it clearly states the following: "Swiss America Securities, Ltd (SureTrader) does not service accounts for U.S. citizens, U.S. residents or U.S. corporations. Swiss America Securities, Ltd does not solicit U.S. resident clients." However you want to interpret the above, it just doesn't seem worth the risk. 6:1 leverage vs 4:1 in the USA and the $4.95 per 1000 shares can be easily matched in the US. http://www.brokerage-review.com/stock-broker-reviews/suretrader-review.aspx