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

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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

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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.

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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. 

Trade Review April 9th, 2015

Trades for April 9th, 2015

(Click on charts to enlarge entries and exits)

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Today we made a great trade, almost perfect. I say almost perfect because when I saw my profits increasing so quickly, I got emotional and sort of didn't know what to do. I'll go into it later.

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VLTC Long

Entry: 4.44 Exit(s): 4.55, 4.80

Finally had a good nail on a trade. I was really starting to get discourage the past few days. Getting up at 5 am just to lose money, haha. As I mentioned a few days ago, I've been looking for longs exclusively. So, I've been on the hunt for ABCDers for some pops. This was not only a ABCDer but also a nice short squeeze.

VLTC had a big pop a couple days ago and consolidated the past few days. This means alotta people are maybe swing short and are not getting the downside they are looking for. I think this is what lead to the big squeeze today. 

Had a pop in the morning, stalled, and pulled back. Had a nice consolidation and began the perk up. I must say that I was considering this trade during the perking action and Nate's idea in chat just confirmed my idea. I hit the offer and took a long. It was going while I got long so I think I got lucky with the fill at 4.44. From here, it just shot up, which is why I got emotional like I mentioned in the intro. I sort of didn't know what to do and after the fact I now realize that I havent even been setting exit targets for myself.

I sold half at 4.55 and was content with my gain and was going to let the rest ride. However, the momo was just insane and I didn't want it to slam back on me so I took the rest at 4.80. As you can see, it had quite of bit more upside but green is green.

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Really happy with today and thankful to the big guy for giving me this pick-up. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't ecsatic after this trade but I am trying to act like I've been here like @lx21 always says you should do 

Here's to tomorrow.

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Lessons:

• Exits: Having a risk level in mind is important but having a price target is just as important. I didn't have the latter so I sort of panicked in this situation. It turned out good, but it could have not been so good. 
• Watch consolidations: Runners that have a big pop and have consolidation on the daily can really lead to this type of actions. The bagholders in conjunction with shorts getting squeezed fueled this one. 
• Emotions: Control your emotions. Though I wasn't use to this situation where unrealized gains are going up so fast, I still need to work on being a robot. A robot doesn't have emotions, it just has rules that it follows. Be like a robot. 

Trade Review April 8th, 2015

Trades for April 8th, 2015

(Click on charts to enlarge entries and exits)

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Only took one trade this morning. Not much of a loss and I don't think I made many mistakes as far as entry/exit, but I think I read the big picture wrong. 

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MDR Long

Entry: 4.78 Exit 4.74

Like I mentioned in the intro, I don't think I messed up on this trade on a minute level. I just read the big picture wrong. This ticker has been up for 6 days straight and is a parabolic on the daily. I should've been cautious longing it as it could run out of steam any day/time now. Today was the day unfortunately. It did have a decent red to green move later in the day, but it sat right back down. Just re-iterating my point of it running out of steam. 

I will maybe watch this one for failed follow through momo in the coming days.

Lessons:

• Watch the bigger picture more closely and analyze it with both sides of the argument in mind. Just because it's on a run, don't say "its going to keep going". Nate always says "Just because it's up, does not mean it's a short". This you could say for my mistake today, "just because it's on a run, doesn't mean it's going to keep going!"

Trade Review April 7th, 2015

Trades for April 7th, 2015

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Reset my brain a little and told myself I won't be looking for the big shorts for a while. They are still a little advanced for me. I've switched to looking for longs primarily. I took one trade in the morning of many available ones. There were many good longs this morning. The only long I took was just ridiculous. It should've been a good trade for me but turned out to be a scratch one due to emotions

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SYRX Long

Entry: 1.84 Exit 1.83

Man, this one hurts. Textbook long right here that I messed up. Had the morning move off the open after the gap up and snapped back, held the high relatively and started consolidating. It started to perk up, had a little pull in the perk but it pop right back, showing strength there. I longed this a little too late which I think contributed to my mess up on this one. I worry too much about ECN fees so I don't like to hit the offer on trades, I was trying to long this from .75 but it kept getting away from me. One thing I need to remember. 

And the exit: amateur mistake. I didn't have my set risk and I think I used too much size because I was watching PnL too much. Since I didn't have a set risk, I didn't have a plan on this trade! Not having a plan means you are just fishing. After my long, it pulled back on me a little I stuck through this but when it popped back, I exited thinking I did good by not losing on it...............you can see what it did right after that.

Lessons:

• Anticipate: keeping this one on here to remind myself. I longed this AFTER the move again. Need to not worry about fees and what not and just hit the bid when I need to get in a trade. 
• Set risk: Set your risk! This was you are acting without emotion and more like a robot. A robot doesn't have emotions, it has a set of rules it follows no matter what. Try to be a robot
• Entry: If a stock is speeding up in anticipation of a move, hit the bid! Stop worrying about petty ECN fees. If you nail the trade, you won't even remember them!

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Here are some other moves one could've taken in the morning, thought I missed most of them:

 WBAI: beautiful intraday chart full of longs in the morning, and basketball shorts in the afternoon. (of course, all in hindsite lol)

VLTC: kind of more advanced style price action for me due to choppiness but nonetheless there was potential longs after pulls, consolidations, and perks back up. Would be hard to hold as it slams back down after it makes highs. 

CMCM: What is there to say: a beauty. 2 longs in the morning. The preferable one would be after the second pull back as it had good consolidation and perk up instead of the V shape at the open. I wouldn't have taken this one as a trader I really look up to (d4) had a big short position. 

Trade Review April 6th, 2015

Trades for April 6th, 2015

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Only took one trade today in the morning. Trade was wrong on a macro level and a micro level. Had warnings from bigger players but still wen't the wrong way. Also learned a couple tidbits about order entry, which contributed to my loss today. 

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CYTX Long

Entry: 1.41 Exit: 1.37

Tried to long CYTX this morning. My though process was that it would go higher after the initial pre market gains. I was wrong on this trade in both ways, mostly fundamentally but could have don't better on my entry as well. What I didn't realize that CYTX had a filing in early march that it was offering 40 million shares to dump at some crappy price. If we would've known this, this completely changes our viewpoint on trying to long this. After that fact, it is foolish longing this thing, even on a first day high volume day.

On a second note, I also did this trade wrong on a more minute level. Always ANTICIPATE the trade, I am always seemingly chasing the trade. I think I do this because I don't like being upside down at all, even for less than a minute. I need to work on conviction like mentioned before.

Lessons:

• Fundamentals: Keep an eye on the big picture trade. CYTX had a lot of shares to dump into every and any push. I need to learn to read news and be aware of the big picture situation.
• Entries: Stop chasing and ANTICIPATE the move. Dont short after the drop and long after the pop. Anticipate, anticipate, anticipate. Trading is all about using the left to predict the right. 
• Keep it simple. I need to get away from the chopfest that is the open and work on simpler trades that are later into the open. Late day faders and higher low R/G moves. 

Trade Review April 1st, 2015

Trades for March 31, 2015

(Click on charts to enlarge entries/exits)

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NUGT LONG

Only took one trade today in the morning, didn't make any money on it but didn't take any losses either. What I did gain was some good knowledge, and for free. 

I was looking to long NUGT after the open is response to the gold bounce in premarket. I pulled up the chart for the last few days and saw an obvious pivot around 10:

I made a plan to short it around here. It rocketed up there and began to stall, in response I took a short position. I took it off soon after at it didn't go in my favor at all. It held the highs and didn't have any red candles. It then had a mini ABCD and ripped through the highs and didn't look back for the rest of the day.

Lessons:
Respect stops. I did a good job of taking it off when it didn't go in my favor. If it did, I could have added to the position. 
ETFs are too advanced for me I think, they behave differently and respond to futures in very volatile moves. I will stay away from them for now.
Be careful shorting something going straight up. This was a parabolic short I took on, something that is really advanced and I shouldn't be dabbling in.