MGB: Journal
- Thread starter MGB
- Start date
Monday, 13 2001
Today was a very non-trending day. When the market goes up, NVDA mostly stayed flat. When the market goes down, NVDA mostly stayed flat. Most of the time it just didn't move. And when it did move, it moved less than it normally does.
I made some good trades though. I ended up +92. I was up +224 at one point but a couple of non-smart trades lowered it.
Tomorrow is another trading day. I want to have another net positive day.
MGB
Today was a very non-trending day. When the market goes up, NVDA mostly stayed flat. When the market goes down, NVDA mostly stayed flat. Most of the time it just didn't move. And when it did move, it moved less than it normally does.
I made some good trades though. I ended up +92. I was up +224 at one point but a couple of non-smart trades lowered it.
Tomorrow is another trading day. I want to have another net positive day.
MGB
Yes, NVDA formed a triangle.
Lower Highs and Higher Lows until it finally
broke out upwards. If you jumped in at that time,
You could made a point or two. NVDA is currently
on of the only good day trading stocks like the
good old days. The days where AMZN, YHOO and QCOM
had 10 point trading ranges.
Lower Highs and Higher Lows until it finally
broke out upwards. If you jumped in at that time,
You could made a point or two. NVDA is currently
on of the only good day trading stocks like the
good old days. The days where AMZN, YHOO and QCOM
had 10 point trading ranges.
MGB:
In general I noticed that your entry points have been dead on but here are a few suggestions:
1) Stop talking to me when you are actually in a position, especially a stock like NVDA. You have to stay focused, when I talk to you either I am in a position that is not doing anything or I am not in any position. Everyone look at the market with a different view depend on their strategy, you need to take out as much distractions as possible. Talk to me about your trades AFTER the fact, you don't need unneccessary excitements from giving me the blow by blow's. I am very interested in getting your play by play's but not at your expense, I think talking to me too much had a negative effect on your trades. Talk to me AFTER the fact, you are not there to prove any track record, you are there to make the greenbacks ;-)
2) You are not a small potato trader anymore, 1000 shares in a stock like NVDA is quite a bit of size since you can lose half a point in the blink of an eye. Consider paring out when you are in the money by a substantial amount. Think about it, in your journal you consider $500 a "sweet day", you had more than that at one point with your first trade, take some off the table, this way you can give the rest of the shares more wiggle room, as it was, squeeze, and you basically got shaken out near top of the move. I don't trade Nasdaq but the same thing happens to me all the times, pare some out whenever possible especially in this market, don't go for multiple points on the full position, you don't have to anymore, take some off the table whenever possible, swing the rest higher . . . Don't get me wrong, I know traders who do not pare in and out, but I think you may want to give it a try if the market is choppy and you can't hit home runs . . .
3) Cut down on mistakes, frankly be more than 1 point in the money with a partial fill of 260 shares and buy another 740 shares to chase it up is not a good idea. It is ok, we all do that, I have done dumber things, we have to cut it down. If you want to pyramid, pyramid early, or pare out half of your shares, then on a retrace, buy more. Once you build a solid "base" first 10-20 cents of the move, each layer up should be a fraction of what you already bought, that layer should also have its own stop, tighter than the base layers. Nothing is more painful than pyramiding into a top and the whole thing reverses on you and stops you out for extra damage.
You are doing great, do you trade anything other than NVDA? Maybe someone on this board can recommend a stock a little easier, I don't have Level 2 since I don't do Nasdaq, but I looked at the printed prices and it seems this thing can fill people all over the place (Who got filled at 89 today before lunch time? It was like 3 points higher than the last printed quote. Was that real?), with full point squeezes, shake outs being incredibly common. Personally this is not the type of stock I would trade but of course your experience is totally different.
At my firm we have a stats that keeps track of every single stock we trade, and it is funny to look at them sometimes. Stocks that I thought I made a killing in this year (ADI, IRF, GS, just to name a few), in reality turned out to be very poor stocks for me. Then again, if you got NVDA's number, go for it . . .
Trader RX:
How about stepping it up to the plate and put up a small journal of your own before gracefully telling people how much money they missed today? How about some YTD performance numbers? There are stocks that provide big intraday moves every single day and they are not neccessarily easy trades. Where were you on your down days?
In general I noticed that your entry points have been dead on but here are a few suggestions:
1) Stop talking to me when you are actually in a position, especially a stock like NVDA. You have to stay focused, when I talk to you either I am in a position that is not doing anything or I am not in any position. Everyone look at the market with a different view depend on their strategy, you need to take out as much distractions as possible. Talk to me about your trades AFTER the fact, you don't need unneccessary excitements from giving me the blow by blow's. I am very interested in getting your play by play's but not at your expense, I think talking to me too much had a negative effect on your trades. Talk to me AFTER the fact, you are not there to prove any track record, you are there to make the greenbacks ;-)
2) You are not a small potato trader anymore, 1000 shares in a stock like NVDA is quite a bit of size since you can lose half a point in the blink of an eye. Consider paring out when you are in the money by a substantial amount. Think about it, in your journal you consider $500 a "sweet day", you had more than that at one point with your first trade, take some off the table, this way you can give the rest of the shares more wiggle room, as it was, squeeze, and you basically got shaken out near top of the move. I don't trade Nasdaq but the same thing happens to me all the times, pare some out whenever possible especially in this market, don't go for multiple points on the full position, you don't have to anymore, take some off the table whenever possible, swing the rest higher . . . Don't get me wrong, I know traders who do not pare in and out, but I think you may want to give it a try if the market is choppy and you can't hit home runs . . .
3) Cut down on mistakes, frankly be more than 1 point in the money with a partial fill of 260 shares and buy another 740 shares to chase it up is not a good idea. It is ok, we all do that, I have done dumber things, we have to cut it down. If you want to pyramid, pyramid early, or pare out half of your shares, then on a retrace, buy more. Once you build a solid "base" first 10-20 cents of the move, each layer up should be a fraction of what you already bought, that layer should also have its own stop, tighter than the base layers. Nothing is more painful than pyramiding into a top and the whole thing reverses on you and stops you out for extra damage.
You are doing great, do you trade anything other than NVDA? Maybe someone on this board can recommend a stock a little easier, I don't have Level 2 since I don't do Nasdaq, but I looked at the printed prices and it seems this thing can fill people all over the place (Who got filled at 89 today before lunch time? It was like 3 points higher than the last printed quote. Was that real?), with full point squeezes, shake outs being incredibly common. Personally this is not the type of stock I would trade but of course your experience is totally different.
At my firm we have a stats that keeps track of every single stock we trade, and it is funny to look at them sometimes. Stocks that I thought I made a killing in this year (ADI, IRF, GS, just to name a few), in reality turned out to be very poor stocks for me. Then again, if you got NVDA's number, go for it . . .
Trader RX:
How about stepping it up to the plate and put up a small journal of your own before gracefully telling people how much money they missed today? How about some YTD performance numbers? There are stocks that provide big intraday moves every single day and they are not neccessarily easy trades. Where were you on your down days?
Magna
Administrator
tradeRX,
L@@k again...NVDA had a FOUR point trading range!
It is possible for you to convey information without a condescending tone and sounding like a sarcastic snit. Really, it is.
Yeah, NVDA had a 4 pt range if you got in at the very bottom (around 9:39), held thru all the huge gyrations, and sold at the very top (around 1:14). In other words, if you were brilliant and held for close to 6 hrs! In the real world, if you caught the breakout somewhere around 1:15 and sold somewhere near the top you were good for about 2.5 pts.
It definitely gave up the goods today
There's no question in my mind that you were oh so clever enough to capture all 4 pts, eh? I think on this board you are everybody's hero!
tradeRX, keep up the great trading 'cause we all believe you
L@@k again...NVDA had a FOUR point trading range!
It is possible for you to convey information without a condescending tone and sounding like a sarcastic snit. Really, it is.
Yeah, NVDA had a 4 pt range if you got in at the very bottom (around 9:39), held thru all the huge gyrations, and sold at the very top (around 1:14). In other words, if you were brilliant and held for close to 6 hrs! In the real world, if you caught the breakout somewhere around 1:15 and sold somewhere near the top you were good for about 2.5 pts.
It definitely gave up the goods today
There's no question in my mind that you were oh so clever enough to capture all 4 pts, eh? I think on this board you are everybody's hero!
tradeRX, keep up the great trading 'cause we all believe you
