This guy has such an awesome way of looking at things, especially in this post. Would love to see some of the folks in chat act that way, especially the ones in charge (most of them already do, by the way).
In my trading, I've been very busy getting some musical activities rolling for the year, and it has taken some time away, but overall I am up from when I started. Nothing spectacular, but making good first steps. I get a little tired of typing after sitting on a computer all day, hence the lack of posts, but I know it's a small audience, so I doubt too many complaints :-) Will make comments, keep you up to date from time to time.
Enjoy your trading.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
+$139.84 on the day
3 out of 4 trades worked today (and 3 out of 3 yesterday). Confidence and comfort with price action are building.
1. Long WFMI at 29.58, stop out 29.37 when market tanked beginning of day
This was just 200 shares, so it didn't hurt me too much. I had thought it might fill the gap toward 30 a bit, but didn't. Later on in day came up and did just that (29.98 hod), but I wasn't watching it anymore.
2. Long FRE at 2.04, out average just above 2.13. It had just popped to green (which was 2.03), and in fact, if I had been quicker and not hesitated a few seconds, I would've gotten a few cents lower. It's alright though, since overall I didn't hesitate on this daytrade. I saw a dayranger with volume, with news, go red to green, and bought it right away. This is a big improvement just in plain reaction time and not hesitrading, so I was psyched.
On the other hand, something I should've done, like perhaps with my trade of KFN yesterday, is just hold onto it as long as it's green. I obviously sold too early with FRE going up to 2.27 near the end of the day and closing at 2.24, not to mention it looks like it could easily fill the gap to 2.35 in the next few days and keep going. But I'm learning, I'm happy with how I traded, and I made back a loss and went green on the day.
3. Long AIG at 49.42, out 49.57. This trade was not executed the best, but small profit, that's fine.
4. Long AIG at 48.03, out 48.12. This one I accidentally hit shift-click in TOS (that's autosend the order without confirmation!!). My hand was just on the button and I guess hit the mouse. It sorrrrrt of meant to, but not really. You see, to practice scalping skills, I physically mime the actions on the keyboard, so this time I just hit the button for real. Worked out, so that's fine!
And about scalps, I might get into them more. I find with some patience I'm pretty good with these big, liquid movers. They don't happen everyday, I should take advantage a bit more!
3 out of 4 trades worked today (and 3 out of 3 yesterday). Confidence and comfort with price action are building.
1. Long WFMI at 29.58, stop out 29.37 when market tanked beginning of day
This was just 200 shares, so it didn't hurt me too much. I had thought it might fill the gap toward 30 a bit, but didn't. Later on in day came up and did just that (29.98 hod), but I wasn't watching it anymore.
2. Long FRE at 2.04, out average just above 2.13. It had just popped to green (which was 2.03), and in fact, if I had been quicker and not hesitated a few seconds, I would've gotten a few cents lower. It's alright though, since overall I didn't hesitate on this daytrade. I saw a dayranger with volume, with news, go red to green, and bought it right away. This is a big improvement just in plain reaction time and not hesitrading, so I was psyched.
On the other hand, something I should've done, like perhaps with my trade of KFN yesterday, is just hold onto it as long as it's green. I obviously sold too early with FRE going up to 2.27 near the end of the day and closing at 2.24, not to mention it looks like it could easily fill the gap to 2.35 in the next few days and keep going. But I'm learning, I'm happy with how I traded, and I made back a loss and went green on the day.
3. Long AIG at 49.42, out 49.57. This trade was not executed the best, but small profit, that's fine.
4. Long AIG at 48.03, out 48.12. This one I accidentally hit shift-click in TOS (that's autosend the order without confirmation!!). My hand was just on the button and I guess hit the mouse. It sorrrrrt of meant to, but not really. You see, to practice scalping skills, I physically mime the actions on the keyboard, so this time I just hit the button for real. Worked out, so that's fine!
And about scalps, I might get into them more. I find with some patience I'm pretty good with these big, liquid movers. They don't happen everyday, I should take advantage a bit more!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
+$128.21 on the day
Thinkorswim has expensive commissions, but I love their software...decisions, decisions.
Caught KFN on the hod list in its early stages, got in just under 2.68. It went to 2.80, since it was a bounce from a low and it cleared yesterday's high I wanted to be patient to see if it would go more, especially since I pictured Muddy doing something similar (the entry really was perfect) and waiting till the end of the day to see what happens with it. Sadly it came down and I got out with just $30 at $2.73. On those where you buy it basically at support, it seems like there's an incentive to go maybe 2000 shares instead of 1000, just cause of commission price which puts your break even 2 cents above your entry with TOS.
Shorted 200 shares FDX at $68.27. Really wanted 68.32-33, but must've dropped just as I clicked the limit order button. Got three partial fills on the exit at 68.03, with a really annoying 15 shares that didn't get covered for almost an hour. I shorted small even though I was quite confident of the play. This is a good and a bad thing, but mostly good that I feel more confident as I spend everyday just watching stocks from 9-4.
Finally got a TimAlert near end of day to buy SCLN at 4.50. Miraculously the stock was STILL AT 4.50!! It was like free money, since usually the stock is moved .20 already at the time of a TimAlert, so I tried to get 1000, just got 800, got out a minute later at 4.60, but should've realized subscribers were still buying and let it go, since it went to about 4.75.
All good though. Small gains, but sure gains. Three out of three trades were valid, and still saw many more I didn't do which were good. Gaining confidence...
Thinkorswim has expensive commissions, but I love their software...decisions, decisions.
Caught KFN on the hod list in its early stages, got in just under 2.68. It went to 2.80, since it was a bounce from a low and it cleared yesterday's high I wanted to be patient to see if it would go more, especially since I pictured Muddy doing something similar (the entry really was perfect) and waiting till the end of the day to see what happens with it. Sadly it came down and I got out with just $30 at $2.73. On those where you buy it basically at support, it seems like there's an incentive to go maybe 2000 shares instead of 1000, just cause of commission price which puts your break even 2 cents above your entry with TOS.
Shorted 200 shares FDX at $68.27. Really wanted 68.32-33, but must've dropped just as I clicked the limit order button. Got three partial fills on the exit at 68.03, with a really annoying 15 shares that didn't get covered for almost an hour. I shorted small even though I was quite confident of the play. This is a good and a bad thing, but mostly good that I feel more confident as I spend everyday just watching stocks from 9-4.
Finally got a TimAlert near end of day to buy SCLN at 4.50. Miraculously the stock was STILL AT 4.50!! It was like free money, since usually the stock is moved .20 already at the time of a TimAlert, so I tried to get 1000, just got 800, got out a minute later at 4.60, but should've realized subscribers were still buying and let it go, since it went to about 4.75.
All good though. Small gains, but sure gains. Three out of three trades were valid, and still saw many more I didn't do which were good. Gaining confidence...
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
No trades, somehow down $0.29 for a "fee adjustment"
Pussied out big today (no offense to our female readers). Would've probably paid for my new piano with the trades I saw...need to stop this hesitation, this is ridiculous.
Pussied out big today (no offense to our female readers). Would've probably paid for my new piano with the trades I saw...need to stop this hesitation, this is ridiculous.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
-$20.52 on the day
Had some OK trades (scalps, really) right at the beginning of the day (POT and FCX), same thing as always, wasn't patient enough and ended up scalping instead of holding and reaping the benefits, so I was up maybe just $50 on the day, and then had one trade that brought me down $50 or so bucks (RIG) but I should've held onto for gains minutes later, so at that point was slightly above even. One last trade I lost maybe $20 bucks on (CEG...not a good trade cause CEG really doesn't range much, but not bad in the sense that it wasn't very risky), and voilà the $20 red on the day.
Besides me not holding onto my initial buys from the beginning of the day (almost perfect exits would have netted me $450 for POT, $200 for FCX, and $330 for RIG, of course, not possible, but a good chunk of that would have been), the "news" is the same as always - not trusting instinct and not acting.
I remember gushing over FSLR at $124. Yeah, high priced, but just throw in a hundred shares, not that risky - and it went on to hit $127 hod.
More on the line of low priced rangers that are more interesting, I spotted some great stuff and didn't act. (NOTE: Investorsunderground.com is down right now for some reason, so I'll get the chat transcript later, but I know what time I alerted cause I'm checking the 1-min charts right now)
Alerted HOOK at 12:37pm at $3.30, 10 minutes later hit $3.60
Alerted BCRX on pop at 1:18pm, remember seeing $10.38 on hod list, closed around $12.60 near hod and hit $13.25 afterhours
Alerted HEB at 1:39pm at $1.91, hit high of $2.27 and closed near it, too. Went to $2.33 after hours
Those were the major ones, and besides that there were many scalps on higher priced ones that would've worked out for me, but I didn't feel comfortable without a cushion of profit, which I would've easily had if I just followed the signals from the alerts above, for example.
Like I mentioned yesterday, would be awesome to trade in the same physical space as some other people to get a community or mentor feel...is that how companies work with trading desks? How do I get a job there? These are half serious musings aloud...
Had some OK trades (scalps, really) right at the beginning of the day (POT and FCX), same thing as always, wasn't patient enough and ended up scalping instead of holding and reaping the benefits, so I was up maybe just $50 on the day, and then had one trade that brought me down $50 or so bucks (RIG) but I should've held onto for gains minutes later, so at that point was slightly above even. One last trade I lost maybe $20 bucks on (CEG...not a good trade cause CEG really doesn't range much, but not bad in the sense that it wasn't very risky), and voilà the $20 red on the day.
Besides me not holding onto my initial buys from the beginning of the day (almost perfect exits would have netted me $450 for POT, $200 for FCX, and $330 for RIG, of course, not possible, but a good chunk of that would have been), the "news" is the same as always - not trusting instinct and not acting.
I remember gushing over FSLR at $124. Yeah, high priced, but just throw in a hundred shares, not that risky - and it went on to hit $127 hod.
More on the line of low priced rangers that are more interesting, I spotted some great stuff and didn't act. (NOTE: Investorsunderground.com is down right now for some reason, so I'll get the chat transcript later, but I know what time I alerted cause I'm checking the 1-min charts right now)
Alerted HOOK at 12:37pm at $3.30, 10 minutes later hit $3.60
Alerted BCRX on pop at 1:18pm, remember seeing $10.38 on hod list, closed around $12.60 near hod and hit $13.25 afterhours
Alerted HEB at 1:39pm at $1.91, hit high of $2.27 and closed near it, too. Went to $2.33 after hours
Those were the major ones, and besides that there were many scalps on higher priced ones that would've worked out for me, but I didn't feel comfortable without a cushion of profit, which I would've easily had if I just followed the signals from the alerts above, for example.
Like I mentioned yesterday, would be awesome to trade in the same physical space as some other people to get a community or mentor feel...is that how companies work with trading desks? How do I get a job there? These are half serious musings aloud...
Friday, August 21, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009 and Weekly Recap
-$194.91 on the day
Weekly recap (week 1)
-$122.39 on the week
Today was a bad trading day. Note that it wasn't a disappointing day, but it wasn't good for the Benjamins.
I had an odd little attempted scalp of COF that ended up giving me $10. Wasn't a particularly graceful or well executed trade, but that's fine, I'm just trying to get comfortable with entering trades.
At the open I missed some really fantastic moves in the higher priced stocks I like, like I mentioned yesterday. I had done scans, yada, yada, and felt prepared before the market opened, but once it did, like so often, I felt a little lost. The opening is great for moves, but still extraordinarily overwhelming for me in terms of information. The high of day list is basically illegible, I'm trying to watch 20 stocks at once bouncing everywhere, and it's just something I need to work on organizing better and being mentally prepared for.
As it turned out, many of my watches were green, and especially for higher priced stocks, all you have to do in such an instance is throw in a small share size at the "green" level or slightly above (when they gap up, of course, they don't always make it all the way back down).
After missing all this (and more) I said, hey, I want to do this for a living...just enter a trade that looks good!
Today I had seen COMV sporadically on the high of day list. Now COMV is a stock I know fairly well though I'm rarely in it. It's just one of those I'm vaguely aware of on the high of day list. What often happens on green days is that the thing just keeps trucking along. In the past I would often notice it midday and do nothing, then see it $.50 or $1.00 higher near the end of the day. It had a nice trend since yesterday, and I put in a limit to long 1000 shares at $12.48.
Well, the moment I got my full fill, it dropped to something like 12.43/12.46, nothing unusual. I had a stop limit order in, so felt fine. Well, it kept falling. I'm not joking, look at today's chart. See when it starts falling midday? That's exactly the MOMENT my order was filled. It skipped nearly right past my already wide stop limit order, capturing maybe only 500 some shares, and luckily a few minutes later a couple more. But then I was still long 345 shares and the bid was sitting at 12.32.
That's where the discipline came in.
Thank God or Allah or whoever you pray to that I just sucked it up and got out the rest in a market order (drove it down another .10 or so), cause it fell the entire rest of the day, ending at its low of day near 11.35. I actually knew it was probably imperative to get out immediately, cause I had successfully shorted it before for about a dollar in an hour. When COMV falls intraday, support does not exist.
In any case, while proud I got out, it was still a big loss, worsened by it skipping my limit and having to market order out of the end of it (two exit commissions, of course). I was now down on the week, too.
I've noticed the last three days that once I have a losing trade, I don't trade the rest of the day. BAD!! I passed up tons of other opportunities, mostly scalps, that would've panned out nicely.
I think one of the hardest things for me is the lack of human support for trading. By nature I'm individualistic, but always with actual people hanging out in the background as support. Trading, I know no one. This is not, by the way, a knock against people online, other bloggers, traders, and anyone else, who tirelessly provide advice and trading tips. For those people I'm very grateful. It's just that - just as Facebook is not a substitute for hanging out with friends, and watching video lectures online can not take the place of a dynamic discussion with a professor - chatting online with trading experts is not the same as mentorship and human contact.
That being said, the way my head works is that when I suck at something, I don't stop till I get better. Piano was my weak instrument back in the day, now I work as a pianist (and do other cool shit with keyboard-based instruments haha). French was my worst subject in high school, now I'm fluent and love languages. I can't make any money trading right now, but it's the first week, and I'm more motivated than ever to get it right.
Weekly recap (week 1)
-$122.39 on the week
Today was a bad trading day. Note that it wasn't a disappointing day, but it wasn't good for the Benjamins.
I had an odd little attempted scalp of COF that ended up giving me $10. Wasn't a particularly graceful or well executed trade, but that's fine, I'm just trying to get comfortable with entering trades.
At the open I missed some really fantastic moves in the higher priced stocks I like, like I mentioned yesterday. I had done scans, yada, yada, and felt prepared before the market opened, but once it did, like so often, I felt a little lost. The opening is great for moves, but still extraordinarily overwhelming for me in terms of information. The high of day list is basically illegible, I'm trying to watch 20 stocks at once bouncing everywhere, and it's just something I need to work on organizing better and being mentally prepared for.
As it turned out, many of my watches were green, and especially for higher priced stocks, all you have to do in such an instance is throw in a small share size at the "green" level or slightly above (when they gap up, of course, they don't always make it all the way back down).
After missing all this (and more) I said, hey, I want to do this for a living...just enter a trade that looks good!
Today I had seen COMV sporadically on the high of day list. Now COMV is a stock I know fairly well though I'm rarely in it. It's just one of those I'm vaguely aware of on the high of day list. What often happens on green days is that the thing just keeps trucking along. In the past I would often notice it midday and do nothing, then see it $.50 or $1.00 higher near the end of the day. It had a nice trend since yesterday, and I put in a limit to long 1000 shares at $12.48.
Well, the moment I got my full fill, it dropped to something like 12.43/12.46, nothing unusual. I had a stop limit order in, so felt fine. Well, it kept falling. I'm not joking, look at today's chart. See when it starts falling midday? That's exactly the MOMENT my order was filled. It skipped nearly right past my already wide stop limit order, capturing maybe only 500 some shares, and luckily a few minutes later a couple more. But then I was still long 345 shares and the bid was sitting at 12.32.
That's where the discipline came in.
Thank God or Allah or whoever you pray to that I just sucked it up and got out the rest in a market order (drove it down another .10 or so), cause it fell the entire rest of the day, ending at its low of day near 11.35. I actually knew it was probably imperative to get out immediately, cause I had successfully shorted it before for about a dollar in an hour. When COMV falls intraday, support does not exist.
In any case, while proud I got out, it was still a big loss, worsened by it skipping my limit and having to market order out of the end of it (two exit commissions, of course). I was now down on the week, too.
I've noticed the last three days that once I have a losing trade, I don't trade the rest of the day. BAD!! I passed up tons of other opportunities, mostly scalps, that would've panned out nicely.
I think one of the hardest things for me is the lack of human support for trading. By nature I'm individualistic, but always with actual people hanging out in the background as support. Trading, I know no one. This is not, by the way, a knock against people online, other bloggers, traders, and anyone else, who tirelessly provide advice and trading tips. For those people I'm very grateful. It's just that - just as Facebook is not a substitute for hanging out with friends, and watching video lectures online can not take the place of a dynamic discussion with a professor - chatting online with trading experts is not the same as mentorship and human contact.
That being said, the way my head works is that when I suck at something, I don't stop till I get better. Piano was my weak instrument back in the day, now I work as a pianist (and do other cool shit with keyboard-based instruments haha). French was my worst subject in high school, now I'm fluent and love languages. I can't make any money trading right now, but it's the first week, and I'm more motivated than ever to get it right.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
+$156.29 on the day
Ha, well I guess I'm getting into that trading zone sometimes, cause I looked back at Thinkorswim's filled orders of the day, and I don't even remember the first one. Thankfully it was a good one.
Six trades today:
1. Long 100 GYMB at 43.64, out 44.24 (good move! only 100 shares)
2. Long 100 ICE at 91.77, out 92.37
3. Long 500 ICE at 92.50, out 92.79 (realized it was booking it and went bigger)
4. Long 500 ICE at 92.85, out 92.93 (temp ran out of steam, got out quick)
5. Long 300 GYMB at 44.13, but wanted 44.00ish. Got nervous (I think a bit irrationally) when it dipped just under 44, and I sold. High of day was above 45, closed 44.85. oh well)
6. Long 100 ICE 93.59, out 93.18 (bad trade...it literally bounced right back up from where I sold, and I had intended this to be a "till the end of the day" trade anyway). Closed near 95.
So I felt really in tune with certain stocks, GYMB cause it was a preleader, 52 highs, and moving well, and ICE cause it's always on my watch list. These are way higher priced than stocks in Muddy's/IL's room, but honestly I feel more comfortable with them, and they still go momo.
As an example, if I had left my initial buys in ICE and GYMB of a mere hundred shares, and done NOTHING ELSE all day and closed the positions at 3:59pm, I would have made $320 from ICE and $125 from GYMB after commissions. That's $445, and as a daily sum I would be quite happy with it. These higher priced ones really hold their ground on a good green day, and I need to exploit it with a bit of patience. This sort of patience is something I see in Muddy and admire so much, and it's something I want to work on myself.
That's not at all beating myself up, though. Yesterday after one bad trade I was afraid to pull the trigger, and then went into the chat at night and got some quality advice. So sure, my last two trades weren't very good and brought me down from being up $250 on the day or so, but it was a HUGE step for me to see something and just pull the trigger. Getting 4 right in a row was a nice confidence boost, too. Interestingly the first 4 were by just 10:44 in the morning. Don't know what that means, but I'll think about it :-)
Ha, well I guess I'm getting into that trading zone sometimes, cause I looked back at Thinkorswim's filled orders of the day, and I don't even remember the first one. Thankfully it was a good one.
Six trades today:
1. Long 100 GYMB at 43.64, out 44.24 (good move! only 100 shares)
2. Long 100 ICE at 91.77, out 92.37
3. Long 500 ICE at 92.50, out 92.79 (realized it was booking it and went bigger)
4. Long 500 ICE at 92.85, out 92.93 (temp ran out of steam, got out quick)
5. Long 300 GYMB at 44.13, but wanted 44.00ish. Got nervous (I think a bit irrationally) when it dipped just under 44, and I sold. High of day was above 45, closed 44.85. oh well)
6. Long 100 ICE 93.59, out 93.18 (bad trade...it literally bounced right back up from where I sold, and I had intended this to be a "till the end of the day" trade anyway). Closed near 95.
So I felt really in tune with certain stocks, GYMB cause it was a preleader, 52 highs, and moving well, and ICE cause it's always on my watch list. These are way higher priced than stocks in Muddy's/IL's room, but honestly I feel more comfortable with them, and they still go momo.
As an example, if I had left my initial buys in ICE and GYMB of a mere hundred shares, and done NOTHING ELSE all day and closed the positions at 3:59pm, I would have made $320 from ICE and $125 from GYMB after commissions. That's $445, and as a daily sum I would be quite happy with it. These higher priced ones really hold their ground on a good green day, and I need to exploit it with a bit of patience. This sort of patience is something I see in Muddy and admire so much, and it's something I want to work on myself.
That's not at all beating myself up, though. Yesterday after one bad trade I was afraid to pull the trigger, and then went into the chat at night and got some quality advice. So sure, my last two trades weren't very good and brought me down from being up $250 on the day or so, but it was a HUGE step for me to see something and just pull the trigger. Getting 4 right in a row was a nice confidence boost, too. Interestingly the first 4 were by just 10:44 in the morning. Don't know what that means, but I'll think about it :-)
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
-$83.77 on the day
I tried shorting 400 NICE near the open, not the entry I really wanted, but it wasn't bad. I shorted right at $28 in keeping with my "quickly short pre leaders that open near resistance" (res. was actually around 28.25). Usually the stocks that are NOT day rangers, have little pre volume but are up relatively big, and open into resistance drop at least temporarily. I actually picked this setup after missing a couple others that dropped too quickly, expecting at least a dip to around 27.75, but it never came, and I covered just below 28.18.
After that, it was ridiculous, I couldn't enter trades, and boy, were there trades galore today. It was fucking annoying (pardonnez mon français), but now that I'm in the chat again, I went in after hours and got some quality advice from others. Seriously, I can spot the plays, I've watched this stuff forever, I need to translate it into action. Paper trading, I am damn good. As one guy put it, "no fear".
I tried shorting 400 NICE near the open, not the entry I really wanted, but it wasn't bad. I shorted right at $28 in keeping with my "quickly short pre leaders that open near resistance" (res. was actually around 28.25). Usually the stocks that are NOT day rangers, have little pre volume but are up relatively big, and open into resistance drop at least temporarily. I actually picked this setup after missing a couple others that dropped too quickly, expecting at least a dip to around 27.75, but it never came, and I covered just below 28.18.
After that, it was ridiculous, I couldn't enter trades, and boy, were there trades galore today. It was fucking annoying (pardonnez mon français), but now that I'm in the chat again, I went in after hours and got some quality advice from others. Seriously, I can spot the plays, I've watched this stuff forever, I need to translate it into action. Paper trading, I am damn good. As one guy put it, "no fear".
Monday, August 17, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
no trades today
So it was my first official day of sitting and staring at a screen all day, and I made no trades. I am, however, mostly glad about this. Besides the bit of movement at the beginning of the day and some other crazy movers, many things were sideways, and I wasn't comfortable taking positions, so I didn't.
Toward the beginning there were some potential trades that were interesting, but TOS was down near the open (anyone else?) for what seemed like quite a bit of time, and I couldn't do anything for the first 20 minutes or so.
Till tomorrow.
So it was my first official day of sitting and staring at a screen all day, and I made no trades. I am, however, mostly glad about this. Besides the bit of movement at the beginning of the day and some other crazy movers, many things were sideways, and I wasn't comfortable taking positions, so I didn't.
Toward the beginning there were some potential trades that were interesting, but TOS was down near the open (anyone else?) for what seemed like quite a bit of time, and I couldn't do anything for the first 20 minutes or so.
Till tomorrow.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Music is still more exciting than trading
So with it being all the rage to inject a personal side to trading blogs, I wanted to share a bit of what I do in life when I'm not staring at scrolling stock lists and commenting on blogs. I'm a musician, for those who don't know, and I think the song below has a fairly wide appeal, at least to Red Sox fans, Celtics fans, Dropkick Murphys fans, people living in Boston, and, of course, any other fine connoisseur of punk music.
Matty at work.
Matty at work.
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