DT1 Swing Trading Journal

[mars22]

DT1,
You've picked some nice shorts.

I'm net short right now, and will look to add once the next downtrend in the markets is comfirmed.

When to take profit is the most difficult thing in swing trading. The way I approach taking profits is depending on the overall markets. When the market is trending, I'll stay with the trade and sometimes try to pyramid my positions. When I'm unsure of the trend, I take profits much much quicker.

I try to be net long or net short depending on the market trend. Sometimes I like be short and long at the same time. I think this part of trading takes time to learn. I'm still learning on how to determine the trend and how to identify potention tops and bottoms. e.g. VIX, P/C ratio, bullish percentage index...

 

[Andre]

I'm long 100 shares AAPL @ 14.22
stop 14.10, goal 14.60+ in 2-3 days.

André

 

[DT1]

Quote from mars22:

DT1,
You've picked some nice shorts.

I'm net short right now, and will look to add once the next downtrend in the markets is comfirmed.

When to take profit is the most difficult thing in swing trading. The way I approach taking profits is depending on the overall markets. When the market is trending, I'll stay with the trade and sometimes try to pyramid my positions. When I'm unsure of the trend, I take profits much much quicker.

I try to be net long or net short depending on the market trend. Sometimes I like be short and long at the same time. I think this part of trading takes time to learn. I'm still learning on how to determine the trend and how to identify potention tops and bottoms. e.g. VIX, P/C ratio, bullish percentage index...

Hi Mars,

Yep, I picked some nice shorts yesterday. It looks like I am improving thanks to you guys!!!

You are right, taking profits is not as easy as taking losses. But since I decided not to hold stocks more than 2 days, things are easier for me. For instance today I closed my MCRL position even if the chart still looks nice.

DT1

 

[DT1]

MCRL
Closed at 8.11 for a net profit of 41 cents per share.

PLAB
Closed at 11.17 for a net profit of... 1 cent per share. I wanted to take a profit on that one

JCP
Closed at 18.01 for a net profit of 98 cents per share.
This one was a good one. The stock gaped down today.

New trades
I found no interesting set up today so I will stay flat.

Good trading!

DT1

 

[DT1]

Quote from Andre:

I'm long 100 shares AAPL @ 14.22
stop 14.10, goal 14.60+ in 2-3 days.

André

Hi Andre,

You bought this stock very closed to support and it seems to go your way. I wish you can reach your target. Good luck!

DT1

 

[Trend Fader]

DT1...

Since you are holding stocks only for 2 days.. that means that in many cases you can tighten the intial stop loss and use a one bar high/low instead of a 2 bar high low... This will allow you to increase position size.. based on the %1 position sizing method..

If you have a narrow bar than you should use the 2 bar high... but for example... you shorted JCP and a very logical stop would have been 19.95 which is the high of yesterday.

Yet, I shorted IFIN yesterday into the close.. and used a 2 bar high which was 25.67 as my intial stop... this is because yesterday's high bar of 25 was too tight...

Remember the tighter the stop.. the greater position size .. and if you are only holding for a max of 2 days.. a very wide stop is not ideal because there is a little chance you will fully get stopped out
( which would mean you are not optimally position sized).


--MIKE

 

[Andre]

I'm not that sophisticated a trader. I look for patterns that repeat. If you look at a 2 month chart on AAPL, you might see what I see. I don't suppose anyone would care to define support to me.

André

 

[DT1]

Quote from Trend Fader:

DT1...

Since you are holding stocks only for 2 days.. that means that in many cases you can tighten the intial stop loss and use a one bar high/low instead of a 2 bar high low... This will allow you to increase position size.. based on the %1 position sizing method..

If you have a narrow bar than you should use the 2 bar high... but for example... you shorted JCP and a very logical stop would have been 19.95 which is the high of yesterday.

Yet, I shorted IFIN yesterday into the close.. and used a 2 bar high which was 25.67 as my intial stop... this is because yesterday's high bar of 25 was too tight...

Remember the tighter the stop.. the greater position size .. and if you are only holding for a max of 2 days.. a very wide stop is not ideal because there is a little chance you will fully get stopped out
( which would mean you are not optimally position sized).


--MIKE

Hi Mike,

I made some profits this week so I am getting more confident. I was looking to take bigger position.

I was thinking about increasing my risk limit from 1% to 2% per stock but setting tighter stops is definitely a better idea.

IFIN was a great pick. I was thinking about shorting it today... only today unfortunately . But it is too late. Congratulation my friend!

DT1

 

[DT1]

Quote from Andre:

I'm not that sophisticated a trader. I look for patterns that repeat. If you look at a 2 month chart on AAPL, you might see what I see. I don't suppose anyone would care to define support to me.

André

Hi André,

AAPL fall hard today. Did you follow your plan and took a small loss?

DT1

 

[DT1]

Hi all,

I am so disapointed today. I could not follow the market and missed some nice picks. I could not take any position but if I could I would have bought SBL, HAIN and DRIV. The patterns look very promissing.

Did anyone here bought these stocks?

DT1