September 9th, 2015

Trades for September 9th.

$TTSH

Made some of the most ridiculous mistakes I've made in a while on trades today. Only traded one ticker: $TTSH. My first trade was a good one. After two mini-parabolics I would say, (can't pull up the chart). It had a little weak bounce. I shorted into it. I'm proud of this one because I got the guts to short strength, even if it was little to none. I didn't chase the short and actually tried to anticipate the move. That move being that it was exhaust after two run ups and quick snaps after them, kind of exhausting it. I got a decent move and covered it up. Left some on the table but I didn't care as I made one perfect, green trade. 

Then came eod. It had quite an unwind that I missed and began to have a little bounce into a potential end of day run. I watched it get above VWAP and break above a key level. But after that it didn't have much upside at all and started to basketball bounce on top of this key level. I figured it would break this level and break up this failed bounce. I entered a short very close to the break down level. My mistake here is a couple things. I shorted weakness when it looked like it was going to break down. I should have waited for it to bounce, even if that is a minute amount. This way I'm not shorting weakness and not covering strength which I tend to do quite well. 

Well, that's exactly what happened. It bounced 10 cents and I got out for a loss. 2 minutes after my exit, it dropped 40 cents. I didn't have a good entry and didn't have a good set risk. So, any little upside I was in the red and thought I would get squeezed so I covered out of emotion. The classic stuff move that works on me way too much. If I had a better entry at the top of the bouncing range, than I have more room to work with and im not shorting the weakness and getting ripped on.

Really need to figure out this getting stuffed, stuff. It is causing a lot of losing trades that would have turned into winners minutes, sometime seconds later. I guess it is all about the entry, which I will work on. 

On to the next one.

Trades for September 3rd, 2015

Trades for September 3rd, 2015

Today was a small red day for me after 2 actual trades. But I am very happy with my trading today so it is a win in my book. Why is that? Because I traded exactly how I want to.

I traded GERN after the open after it had a run up to 4 in premarket and then pulled back to the 3.60 area coming into the open. After the open it had a little rip and reject the 3.67 level, I think, and pulled back. I started a short 2 or 3 candles after the rejection which I think was a mistake/chase. My first mistake is chasing this down. It found a bottom and began a bounce so I covered up. Covering up I had to adjust my order and accidentally longed it which actually brought me back to even after the loss on the short. 

After the bounce, it rejected the 3.67 level again! I was excited seeing this because I had a set risk and a solid risk/reward set up. I got short after it and was in the green decent coming down. It then started to move back up and I got scared that I would lose my green and I chased the cover up which is just ridiculous. I then covered it up and actually was small red. Almost immediately after my cover it started to move down and faded all day.

Looking back at this, I realized that I just got stuffed. I got stuffed into chasing the cover on my short and actually lost out on those profits. This is a problem I have had lately. The reason this is a problem is because I'm having trouble with my entries. I don't know if I should wait for a pop to short or to just start right after a rejection of a level. I dont want to start after a rejection because I dont want it to just ramp back but I also dont want to wait for a pop because I dont want to miss the move if it goes straight down. 

I think I am better off shorting pops while I am still in account building mode and not money making mode. The reason being that I should worry about catching the whole move and like Nate always says, I should go for the base hits. Then when I have enough base hits on my record, I can go for home runs. Also, when shorting pops I also have more of a confirmation of a move and can be more confident in letting my positions work. 

Today was red one but learned a lot and ready for tomorrow. On to the next one. 

Jay

Trades for September 2nd, 2015

Trades for September 2nd, 2015

              Today, I'm making a recap after a very long time. Things still aren't working for me as a trader and I still think a lot of it is emotional. Every time before taking a trade, I find myself considering so many things in my head. I need to try and work on being mechanical and have a max loss per trade and a max loss per day. I need to become more mechanical in my trading and just have set risks.

Was reading @JGram135 's blog the other day and in it he poses the question, "are you really committed?". This kind of stood out to me because I want to become a successful trader but I don't study every night, I never make watchlists anymore, and I never do the most important thing which is go over my trades, winners or losers. Which from now on I am going to go over my trades and see what I did wrong. 

Today I only traded 1 ticker two times. $BVXV had an insane run up in the morning. Looking back, in premarket when it stalled going to the 6 mark, it was a good risk/reward trade. Risk 10 cents with the potential of a long ways down. I didn't take this but saw a lot of people that did. 

When it opened after the pull back to 5.40s from the top, it popped to 5.70s and it was game over from there. I got short in the 3rd candle. but why did I get short? I don't know. Sure you could say after the fact that it was weak but I didn't know shit about that at the time. I got short because I didn't want to miss the move and be left out of everyone banking on it. That's one of my major issues. I'm always so concerned about making money off big moves that I tend to ignore the technicals. I made money off the quick cover but need to note that this is obviously not a sustainable way of doing things.

After making a quick buck there, I wanted more of the action. I think my mistake here was not waiting for a rebound to short and just kind of did it randomly. My second mistake was that I didn't have a set risk. When you dont have a set risk, you tend to cover randomly. And I did exactly that. Literally after my cover, the stock never went higher than that, and it possible never will in it's life lol. 

Lessons:

1- Emotions - this one will possibly be a lesson in every one of my recaps. Stop thinking with emotion, stop thinking "How much could I make with this trade?" or "How much are commissions going to be on this trade?". Think like a robot: see the technicals, understand the technicals. Set your risk and take the trade. 

2- Risk- Reiterating this point. Need to have a set risk per trade, if you reach that risk..then get out of the trade. Then it has nothing to do with emotions and you are more mechanical. Before, I tended to end a trade whenever I 'felt' it wouldn't work. This is such a pathetic strategy once you think about it. 

3-Missing out- Don't be so worried about missing out on a trade, if you missed it, don't worry. The market isn't going anywhere. 

Trades for April 21th, 2015

Trades for April 21th, 2015

(click to enlarge entries/exits 

 I think I'm going to cut trading for a couple days so I can get in real life sorted out. It's just too hard devoted so much to work/other stuff and give time to the markets. It is starting to really cloud my judgement as seen in today's only trade. 

NYMX Long 

Entry: 1.70 Exit 1.64

Entry: 1.57 Exit 1.54

Tried to take NYMX long today. It had a big run up on Monday after a steady downtrend from it's initial run earlier this month. I thought we would maybe get a VLTC like secondary run that would squeeze some short chasers. Just didn't happen and learned some bits from this trade.

My first mistake was chasing this up. I didn't anticipate the move. I saw it happen and tried to join in on it. I literally re-entered my order probably 5 or 6 times on the way up which is just ridiculous. At that point, I became the person that wanted it, the smarter trades were selling longs when I was trying to get in.

My second mistake on my second trade was in addition to repeating the same mistake in the first one. I first off chased it again and pretty much top ticked that run. What I should have done is wait for the higher low. This will help you with the conviction and gives you a better base for your stop. I made this mistake in my AMCN long a couple days ago. It kept going straight up and I longed it, it pulled back for the higher low and I got shaken out...it followed with a .50c r/g rip. Wait for the higher low to base off of. 

Lessons: 

• ANTICIPATE: I don't know why I keep making this mistake. I always chase. Anticipate the move, don't chase it. Buy when no one wants it and sell when everyone needs it. 
• CONFIRMATION: Wait for that lower high or higher low, doing this helps you with conviction 

Trades for April 20th, 2015

Trades for April 20th

(click to enlarge entries/exits)

First trade review in 3 sessions. I missed 2 sessions. One I did not see any trades I wanted to take any and that's that. The other one I didn't do because of lazyness. I'm currently looking to buy a car and if anyone knows me when it comes to cars, then you'd understand. Besides, it's exciting whether you're into cars or not. 

I'm still in my 'getting a new car trance' so I am thinking about it almost non-stop and it's really distracting my trading so I'm going to take it easy until I'm done with everything. Tried to take VLTC long in the morning but I didn't even get the chance the let the trade work. Here's why:

VLTC Long

Entry: 9.66 Exit: 9.64

VLTC, going crazy again. Still running on the ridiculous news that Icahn is in because his son likes the company. Stock had a pop in the morning, pulled back and held some higher lows. Tried for more high but came back down, it did hold a higher low again. I saw the ascending wedge going on and that's what basis I took when trying to long. A good one in theory. 

I didn't even get to let the trade work because I fat fingered massive size for me. I thought I was going in 100 shares but was in a lot more. As soon as I got it, I was -25 immediately and I started to look why so drastic and saw I was in a lot. So I essentially panicked and hit the market order to sell. I guess if I stayed in and I got a good 10 cents out of it I more than likely would have taken the gains despite it falling. Need to be more careful of these nooby mistakes. If I can't figure these out then how the hell am I going to be able to learn important things.

Lessons:

• Pay attention to orders: the reason I had wrong size on the order is because I was looking to long a different ticker. I saw this setup and reacted too quickly. I didn't analyze the situation better. That or I need to focus on what I'm going to trade better. Have my sizes filled in prior.
• Have a clear mind: I'm pretty distracted lately because of reasons mentioned. This is a good time to remind myself of the rule to clear your mind before trading. Don't bring yesterdays losses into the next day or daily stress into the markets. It never turns out good.

Trades for April 14th, 2015

Trades for April 14th, 2015

(click on charts to enlarge entries and exits)

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Made some basic mistakes today and learned a bit. A big picture mistake I think I'm doing is trading trying to nail trades a couple minutes into the open, this has lead to a lot of my losses. I'm going to put another restriction on myself on top of my long-only restriction. I'm going to make the first 15 minutes not available for trading. This will help me analyze set ups more I think as I don't know much about pre-market action and the morning choppines in general.

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VLTC Long

Entry: 7.38 Exit 7.35

Tried to take VLTC long once again. I've tried to long this for 3 days now and its gone up 3 days now, so I'm just not recognizing/waiting for the right set ups. This one was slowing down on the daily a little with the big wicks so I should've recognized that. Be cautious of long set ups into these big runs. It's hard to tell when it will it will run out of gas and just have the rug pulled. 

When I longed it, I anticipated the break of the 7.40 highs the day before yesterday. The reason I cut it off so fast was because I knew if this thing turned around it would turn fast and go fast. When it went above .40 and pop right back down, I cut it off thinking it would reject it. It did reject it and lost a buck in a couple minutes. 

I think what I'm doing right is cutting off my loser quickly. I always seem people commenting on how they can't find the courage to cut off losers and move on. And how they just stare at their screen 'hoping' or 'waiting' for it to work for them. I can't really sympathize with their struggles because when a move is going against be and is at my risk, then I take it off right there. 

Lessons

• Morning rush: Stay away from the morning rush, too much fast action that I cannot take advantage of yet.
• Patience: Wait for the right set ups, no trades is better than bad trades! I had the right idea today buy failure to wait for set ups resulted in a loss actually.
• Follow through: On long set ups, watch the price action closely. If there is no follow through soon and it sorts stalls, cut it off. Grinding into it with higher lows is different, but if it goes straight up an stalls with no follow through, cut it off!

Trade Review April 13th, 2015

Trades for April 13th, 2015.

(click on charts to enlarge entries and exits)

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A little preface: I didn't do a review for Friday's session but only took 2 trades and both flat. I told myself after Thursday's winner that I'm not going to get too excited and that's exactly what I did unfortunately. I got a piece of the market pie and thursday and I came into friday 'expecting' another. I longed VLTC in the morning because of the massive run thursday. It was a good concept but I fudged up the entries. I think it just moves too fast for me. On Thursday, I won on the long because it was still slow and I didn't expect such a big move.

Now for today: 

The first trade just didn't work. I think it was a good concept but the market just wasn't there to fill my expectation. Took that one off for flat. The second I'm disappointed because I had warnings from 2 experienced traders against my long idea before entering but I still decided to go for it. I had this rule in a lesson before that I should listen to commentary from better traders because, well, they're hell of a lot better than I am, haha. Going to pretty much follow that one sharply, if a trader I look up to is against the idea, just get it out of my head

GE Long

Entry: 28.09 Exit: 28.02

Like in my intro, I think this was a good concept. Big run on buyback announcement the day before. I thought it would maybe run some and Nate had the same idea. I watched the opening candle and it dipped and that dip was bought right up so I took it long. It dipped again and came back and I was confident this was going to go. But it didn't happen unfortunately so I took it off. Don't know why it didn't work but that's ok, on to the next one.

BLDR Long

Entry: 11 Exit: 10.90

This is the one I ignored the warning signs. Big traders were against any long because of the all cash deal, the buyee didn't want anything to do with the buyer, which makes perfect sense. Looking back, I really don't know why I took this one, even a bad chart picture. Didn't have anything that I look for in a long. Also, I think I had too much size in this one because I had sort of a panic watching the PnL as I can remember. A lot to learn from this one

Lessons:

• Don't bring yesterday into tomorrow: I know this sounds dumb if you're longing but don't bring yesterday's emotions into the next trading day. (good or bad) This is what lead me to mess up on VLTC on Friday. I wanted more of what I got on Thursday
• Listen: listen to commentary by big traders. They are big traders for a reason. 
• Set ups, don't take a position just because of the big picture unless swinging, find price action that correlates to the wanted position!
• Size: I was too much size on the BLDR position. If you are worried about your size and watching PnL religiously, then you are simply too sized in. Keep sized to the point where you can comfortable let a position work.