Ugly game as I had the wrong biase today, but it still feels good to pull out the 7th game in a row, and you have to win the ugly ones too. 5500 shares each way on 6 of 10 shooting, +505 before commissions, +375 after, no bullets.
Pre-Market: Sector wide retailor upgrade, MWD upgraded.
9:30: Had the full list of retailors for everyone on my squad but WMT opened unchanged, I didn't trust the news. Still took S and sold for a 15 cents profit on a gap-fill, very dumb as it wasn't against me, just that futures/WMT tanked and I thought it was a trap. It wasn't, stock went up a point. Went long SGY on energy move and lost a quarter. Took NOI and out for flat.
9:45: Took LM long 49.40 and out for flat as the stock tanked when XBD reversed. Did hit COF and scored 60 cents but missed that ultra-important pullback which I could have bought and made another 50 cents. Took CVS at 29.25 on RLX move and scored half a point.
10:00: I knew the RLX wasn't as strong as it should have been given the news. Took NKE and lost a quarter point as my entry was precisely the peak of futures. By now I am upset as I realized that I missed a very important opportunity to short, and I did not want to chase anything. No big game syndrome for me please, as yesterday was the best day I have had since May.
11:09: Tried to bottompick LIZ, when the future is downtrending, DO NOT pick bottoms, period.
2:00: Took 100 share ASW, out for a 5 cents loss as it squeezed 70 cents and caved in on me immediately. Took LLY on a bottompick and lost 20 cents, bottompicking doesn't work when future is downtrending, hello?
I am extremely happy about the way SK is performing. He exceeded my expectations as I firmly believe that the difference of our skill is a LOT closer than the difference of our stats.
That said, one of my traders has been on a losing streak since the day he got here. And he lost $2000 trading 200-300 shares in six games, the worst possible start. Every day it is just one big loser that kills him, and he just doesn't seem to have the discipline down cold to get out of his losers. I have full confidence in his ability to turn it around however, as I talked to him and I really liked the attitude he had. In the mean time Risk (as I have not received team performance monitoring tools yet) will probably cut him to 100 shares until we see a few upticks in his P&L. Since he came with SK's team, he has my commission rates, and even with 100 shares he can probably make a few bucks, stops the bleed, and he will be ok. He has that hunger and intensity I want, and he will be a great trader, but he must survive the learning curve without digging himself any deeper of a hole. Psychologically he is very vulnerable right now, and he will need a few games trading small to get the confidence back.
I was able to add another confirmed talent to the team today, he should start after the New Year. So despite of an ugly game with my long biase, it was still a productive day, although more than ever I realize the mountain of hurdles for me and me team to overcome.
Duff:
I have no plan to miss a game unless I have to. Light volume days may be better for chart traders as there are less manipulation, usually one news story will dominate the day and everyone will trade that sector making for some easy money. That said if the day is choppy then it is a total nightmare as there are no bag holders present. Still, every game is winnable, just have to play them.
Pre-Market: Sector wide retailor upgrade, MWD upgraded.
9:30: Had the full list of retailors for everyone on my squad but WMT opened unchanged, I didn't trust the news. Still took S and sold for a 15 cents profit on a gap-fill, very dumb as it wasn't against me, just that futures/WMT tanked and I thought it was a trap. It wasn't, stock went up a point. Went long SGY on energy move and lost a quarter. Took NOI and out for flat.
9:45: Took LM long 49.40 and out for flat as the stock tanked when XBD reversed. Did hit COF and scored 60 cents but missed that ultra-important pullback which I could have bought and made another 50 cents. Took CVS at 29.25 on RLX move and scored half a point.
10:00: I knew the RLX wasn't as strong as it should have been given the news. Took NKE and lost a quarter point as my entry was precisely the peak of futures. By now I am upset as I realized that I missed a very important opportunity to short, and I did not want to chase anything. No big game syndrome for me please, as yesterday was the best day I have had since May.
11:09: Tried to bottompick LIZ, when the future is downtrending, DO NOT pick bottoms, period.
2:00: Took 100 share ASW, out for a 5 cents loss as it squeezed 70 cents and caved in on me immediately. Took LLY on a bottompick and lost 20 cents, bottompicking doesn't work when future is downtrending, hello?
I am extremely happy about the way SK is performing. He exceeded my expectations as I firmly believe that the difference of our skill is a LOT closer than the difference of our stats.
That said, one of my traders has been on a losing streak since the day he got here. And he lost $2000 trading 200-300 shares in six games, the worst possible start. Every day it is just one big loser that kills him, and he just doesn't seem to have the discipline down cold to get out of his losers. I have full confidence in his ability to turn it around however, as I talked to him and I really liked the attitude he had. In the mean time Risk (as I have not received team performance monitoring tools yet) will probably cut him to 100 shares until we see a few upticks in his P&L. Since he came with SK's team, he has my commission rates, and even with 100 shares he can probably make a few bucks, stops the bleed, and he will be ok. He has that hunger and intensity I want, and he will be a great trader, but he must survive the learning curve without digging himself any deeper of a hole. Psychologically he is very vulnerable right now, and he will need a few games trading small to get the confidence back.
I was able to add another confirmed talent to the team today, he should start after the New Year. So despite of an ugly game with my long biase, it was still a productive day, although more than ever I realize the mountain of hurdles for me and me team to overcome.
Duff:
I have no plan to miss a game unless I have to. Light volume days may be better for chart traders as there are less manipulation, usually one news story will dominate the day and everyone will trade that sector making for some easy money. That said if the day is choppy then it is a total nightmare as there are no bag holders present. Still, every game is winnable, just have to play them.
. Just had a look at the chart and am very impressed. For a daytrade I personally would've held on for a maximum of a couple of points only, and certainly not after 12 o'clock when it bounced back a couple points from 15. Great stuff.