Diary of a Mad Swing Trader

[TMTrader]

Quote from trajecto:

Please turn to page 25 of How to Make Money in Stocks by William J. O'Neil and read along...

The hard-to-accept great paradox in the stock market is that what seems too high and risky to the majority usually goes higher and what seems low and cheap usually goes lower.

I don't have this book, and it's probably good and ture. BUT, the name of the game for professional traders is conistancy. You must have a working system with known profit targets and known drawbacks to be able to extract a "salary" every month.

TM Trader

 

[trajecto]

TMT you are a good man, obviously intelligent, inquisitive, observant, but please try to be patient with my calls. I trade the intermediate trend which means my calls may possibly go for weeks.

Relax also about the triggers and such, I want people to try to figure out what I am looking for in my searches, this will take some time so please relax my friend.

 

[TMTrader]

So now you see why it is necessary to introduce your trading strategy when you start your journal. If you are trading on longer timeframes, weeks or months, it would have been very helpfull if you stated it on your introduction to the journal

 

[dbphoenix]

Quote from trajecto:

Relax also about the triggers and such, I want people to try to figure out what I am looking for in my searches, this will take some time so please relax my friend.

Are you starting a journal so that you can play a game with the members, or are you look for help, advice, suggestions? If the former, you may be surprised to learn that most of us don't have the time. If the latter, you're more likely to get what you want if you explain what it is you're trying to accomplish and the plan you've created that you believe will take you there.

If none of the above, I'm afraid you've got another dead thread on your hands, though it may not know it yet.

 

[PetaDollar]

Quote from trajecto:

The hard-to-accept great paradox in the stock market is that what seems too high and risky to the majority usually goes higher and what seems low and cheap usually goes lower.

Good advice, but it must be implemented in a sound way.

There is nothing wrong with buying a breakout high for an entry signal.

However, looking at the chart you posted, that's not what you did. You bought well after the previous breakout high. See how the volume peaked and price pulled back at your entry? You bought resistance.

Granted, the same thing occured in May and June, and price went on to break through resistance. But look how much better the entries are if you were to draw a trendline and enter when prices pulls back near the trendline. You also limit your risk this way, because you can exit when the trend is broken and it wouldn't be too far from your entry. As is stands now you'd be down around 20% before the trend broke.