GoodPunk6's Trading Journal

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It's about 10:30pm right now.

Thanks for all the responses guys!

I've taken losses before and I'm still alive. I still have the desire to trade, the love of life, and the optimism every young man has. That is the key to me. Optimism.

I'm the type of person who can look at a screwed up situation and find the good in it. I'm optimistic! I'm also determined. I'm going to learn to trade even if it kills me.

I have been trading over 5 months now and I KNOW that I am a better trader than when I first started. What's the difference between then and now? Time. It will take, time. Although for time to elapse you need patience. A true test of wit. A battle against yourself. The battle between being unskilled and fine tuning that skill. The learning process is brutal but those who take on the challenge and succeed reap a great reward both mentally and finacially. I must master this skill.

My losses are far too large. I sometimes feel like I'm taking on too much risk. I need to cancel my orders or get out of a position when I feel this way. I need to stop trading so actively. Sometimes I feel like I can't miss a move. Right now, I'm not to sure if this is a virtue or vice........can someone help on this one? I need to develop a better analysis of the stocks I'm trading.

Earlier I asked myself if I should quit. After a relaxing night with friends and at home, I've concluded that..........quitters never win.

Tomorrow will be a better day!
 
Quote from Trend Fader:

Here is my advice.. for what its worth....

The odds are against u making any money and more than likely u will churn yourself out.. simply because u are churning way too much and spending a lot in commisions. If you still wanna daytrade then u need to trade the high priced stocks and trade much less size.. but obviously your boss wont let because he wont get his $500-700 a week that u generate for him in commisions.

Get a normal job and swing trade on the side. That is the best of both worlds. Dont feel bad because when u get more experience and understand what trading is all about.. u will realize that daytrading 1-2k shares of NT is no edge... and your boss was making easy $ from the dozens of suckers that walk in and out of prop shops.



--MIKE
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I couldn't agree more with both pieces of advice. Look into swing trading, TA, etc. I work a day job, and I really like what I do, doesn't hurt that it pays decent too. I swing trade on the side. It's a much better long-term strategy, not to mention much more stress-free and plus you're building skills.

I imagine today's rate hike hit against you. Imagine if the Fed surprised with 50BP and the market tanked twice as hard. You could see a loss 10x compared to what you saw today. It could happen. Chances are over time, with this trading strategy, something like that -will- happen. You're dealing with highly excessive capital exposure for the possible reward.

I also have to agree with other posters, you're making HLV far too much $. The strategy they're teaching you is great profit for them and beans for you. If they started you off 5 months ago penny-flipping NT to learn trading, fine, you've learned quite a bit, why not graduate into something else? You'll never have a 100% win ratio flipping for cents, yet it seems everytime you lose, you treat that setback as if you've got a long path ahead. Is that really the case? Ask yourself, what exactly will 6-12 more months of penny-flipping NT teach you? Is it worth it? I'm not even sure how I could stay awake watching NT trade in a 2 cent range every hour, or a 3 cent range on a busy day. That is unless I had $200k betting on those pennies..

Will they even let you swing trade?

To be honest, several months ago I read a news article about HLV, and got curious about the firm and the prop idea in general (I live near 42nd). Shortly afterward I stumbled upon your blog (which is great btw, very good writing). Having been a daily reader ever since, one thing your blog has taught me is to stay the heck away from HLV, for better or for worse. Nevertheless, I wish you the best of luck! :)
 
Good job on the journal.

If I were in your position I would tell your boss to let you trade more stocks. I refuse to believe that they only ley you trade NT after 5 months, which other stocks can you trade? You would certianly become a better trader faster if you could trade any stock you wanted. Good luck!
 
Swing trading requires a bit of capital which I doubt the young man has at this stage of the game. What I wonder at is the way this firm does business. Dont they have any successful traders whom you can watch? How can they make you a team leader when your not even profitable yet? Maybe you need a different firm.
 
I think it's great that so many people have offered Good Punk advice on his trading career.
In regards to what stocks he can trade....he has been introduced to other styles of trading and other stocks to trade. He also has available to him other experienced successful traders to speak to about trading ideas. It is a matter of coming in early and staying late to ask questions.

Traders at HLV can trade whatever stocks they prove they can handle. They are NOT limited to a few stocks, but first they must demonstrate hard work and discipline. If they do this, then they can add more volatility.
Everyone knows there is a learning curve in this industry, and most traders lose money while they are learning. Starting traders out with slower stocks during the learning curve allows our traders to "earn while they learn."
I can't speak for Good Punk but I am sure if you were to ask him, he will tell you that he is not being held back or limited by the firm he trades for.
 
Quote from daytraderpete:

I think it's great that so many people have offered Good Punk advice on his trading career.
In regards to what stocks he can trade....he has been introduced to other styles of trading and other stocks to trade. He also has available to him other experienced successful traders to speak to about trading ideas. It is a matter of coming in early and staying late to ask questions.

Traders at HLV can trade whatever stocks they prove they can handle. They are NOT limited to a few stocks, but first they must demonstrate hard work and discipline. If they do this, then they can add more volatility.
Everyone knows there is a learning curve in this industry, and most traders lose money while they are learning. Starting traders out with slower stocks during the learning curve allows our traders to "earn while they learn."
I can't speak for Good Punk but I am sure if you were to ask him, he will tell you that he is not being held back or limited by the firm he trades for.
More...

daytraderpete is right. I'm not being held back by anybody. I'm also NOT limited to only trading NT. There are a basket of stocks that I can trade, NT happens to be one of many.

HLV Capital is NOT holding me back. Why is it that suddenly my screw ups are HLV's fault? This is not so. All I've ever gotten from HLV is understanding and support. A wonderful opportunity to be able to trade without putting up any capital. There are plenty of successful traders here that have been with the firm for a long time and they trade most of the stocks that I trade. It's not the stocks I'm trading, it's not HLV, it's me. That's it, me.

I appreciate everyone's advice but in the future, please don't tell me that HLV is ripping me off because that isn't so. HLV Capital is an honest place with good people, a wonderful atmosphere, and rock bottom commissions that are being lowered on april 1st.

I started this journal to keep a log of my personal thoughts throughout my trading career. I'm glad that many of you have been there to support me so Thank you for your concern. I know I can be successful at this, and yes there is a long path ahead, but only time and hard work will tell. My journal will always be a record to those in a similar situation.

Swing trading is cool. I love the TA. But easyrider is right. I'm broke. I don't have tons of capital to trade with. I eventually would like to get into it, but I'm concentrating on other things.

Someone said earlier that I'm flipping 2k shares for a penny. First of all, I was trading 2k shares a pop in my first month of trading. Now a days I trade about 8k-18k shares a pop. Believe me, I wouldn't be trading if I was flipping 2k shares a pop for a penny.

I'm off to the office.
 
A boring day....

I lost $25 and spent $50 losing it. Whatever.

I had 7 buy executions, 12 sell executions, and 77,800 shares traded.

Tomorrow will be a better day....
 
A good number of people on here have all told you the same thing, and to get that many people on this website to agree about somthing is very rare, "to trade other stocks that move more than NT does".

It sounds that the only thing keeping you from doing this is you, probably because you got comfortable tradint NT. In my opinion scalping for 2 pennies isn't a winning strategy, it is a break even strategy.

The key to being a profitable trader is money management. You want to make at least 2 to 3 times as much money per average winning trade than you lose per average losing trade, and figure you commisions into this. If your winning percentage is only 40% to 50% you are easily still profitable.

It seems you've learned as much as you can from trading NT, it is time to move out of your comfort zone and learn to trade higher Beta stocks and different strategies. Try to trade a slightly higher Beta stock in which you can clip 10 cents on your winners, and cut your loser for less than a 5 cent loss. But remember to significantly cut your per position size when you start this. It won't be the same as NT and you will start towards bottom of the learning curve again, but if you get a thrill out of making money scalping NT, you will really enjoy and get more fullfillment from other trading strategies. Too bad you weren't around for fractions, that's when scalping was a profitable game. I miss teenies(12.5 cents per level).
 
what kind of trading system do you use? perhaps you don't know your system well enough to be consistent... i do agree that you need some more volitility that NT can give you though... Good luck trading!!

-moose
 
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