My first week trading - successful but would like advice/tips

C

chi321

So this was pretty much my first week actively trading.

I came up with two strategies. Buying the %gainers that are at what looks like a steady line + and than setting stop loss 3-8% below purchase price and watching the stock and as it increases raising my stop loss over and over until it eventually levels out and sets my stop loss off. (Friday I did this with GRPN and made 11% for example if you look at the chart). Using a 5/1 +/- ratio. My question is, there must be an automatic way to set the stop loss to keep raising, I have fidelity?

The other strategy was buying %losers after a day when they level out. Watching them closely and selling as they increase. I feel more comfortable with the steady lined %gainers though.

Also I am not investing much of my portfolio in each stock so that if there is a loss I am protected. I am only investing in what I see as volitile stocks as my assets in portfolio are limited right now but growing fast at this rate. Also with some of the volitile small stocks I feel somewhat uncomfortable holding onto overnight so i sell at end of day regardless of if it has met my goal (also have my stop loss so makes loss if any very small)

Was looking for advice/tips/suggestions. Open to advice to help my trades be more succesful from people with more experience. When investing in stocks under $5 what should I avoid? Any # standards? Also a question I had for the pros.

Here are my results.

I have done pretty good this week and will up keep my strategy. I have also found that writing down my upcoming moves sell point helps me prevent loss and turns my +/- ration to be 5/1 putting the odds mathematically in my favor.

TPX +27% 5/13-8/07 (not this week)
RECV +2.5%
PPHM +%56 did good on this one :)
ONCS +%16
CHTP -%3.9 (Used stop loss)
ACPW -%4 (Used stop loss)
GTIM +%8
GRPN +%11
 
Quote from chi321:

My question is, there must be an automatic way to set the stop loss to keep raising, I have fidelity?

yes. ninjatrader (NT) as well as most front end platforms has this capability.

When investing in stocks under $5 what should I avoid? Any # standards? Also a question I had for the pros.

just be careful b/c the spread may eat up some of your return.

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Trading pink sheets without inside knowledge is like slippin' the 'ole trouser snake inside a woman living in a shanty town in Africa. You might pull out with herpes or you might pull out with syphillis, you might even get AIDS. But you'll feel damn lucky if you just get to blast some clam chowder.

Stick to the brothel that is NASDAQ or NYSE so at least you don't get AIDS.

OB-TW708_AIDS07_G_20120724154554.jpg
 
Quote from chi321:

TPX +27% 5/13-8/07 (not this week)
RECV +2.5%
PPHM +%56 did good on this one :)
ONCS +%16
CHTP -%3.9 (Used stop loss)
ACPW -%4 (Used stop loss)
GTIM +%8
GRPN +%11
More...

You've been very lucky. Prepare yourself for losses. That's the way the market seems to work :(

Why do you think you'll keep making money. Anyone can follow your "strategy".
 
good start.

buy %top gainers are the key toward success. yes,some gainers are fake.

I bought CBMX on the up day, at 5.3~6, feel very good, that day it already up200%+, I am crazy to buy so high price. but I am very happy next day, I sold those shares at 12+.

penny socks are great, they trend well. my favorite penny stock CLSN trends so classically.

penny stock up quick, drop quick, most are pump and dump. so do not chase down, since most people want to buy on the dip, watch out chasing down. so after I sold them, I will never look at them at all. normally I will find another pump and dump, ride the pump, but do not chase the dump.sometimes, I buy puts, but options on penny almost curbersome to trade, the premium is too high and not liquid.


find the leading gainer, go with it. run away from losers, even do not look at them. that is why I am successful.
 
Quote from chi321:

...Open to advice to help my trades be more succesful from people with more experience...
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Keep doing whatever you're doing. Simply, if it ain't broke...don't try to fix it.

Yet, when you start to consistently lose money...that's when you should come back to ET and ask for advice. By the way, most here are retail traders. The professional traders (e.g. floor traders, institutional traders, private corporate traders, hedge funds, CTAs, small office traders and so on) usually don't hang out here at ET except for a few that show up to talk about whatever firm their working for.

Thus, there's a big difference between retail traders and professional traders.
 
I used to use a similar strategy with % gainers and losers that worked really well when I was younger. Initially my returns where great for the first 6 months or so and I was averaging 10+% a month, which made me think trading was easy. However I soon realized that my strategy didn't work as well when the market changed and my stop losses started getting hit more often than my profit targets. Add in leverage and increasing my position size as my account grew, and when losses started showing up in an increasing occurance they easily were erasing my previous gains. It was a good leason to learn as a beginer in terms of money management and position sizing. But it also was good to come to terms that trading is difficult and that whatever works now will most likely not work forever. Its great to hear that you are starting out strong and have good risk/reward ratios in place, but just be mindful that you most likely will hit rocky times and use that as a learning experience instead of a potential blowup experience than most inexperienced traders fall victim to.
 
the market never changes. still plenty of suckers. the same trick can be applied over and over. do not try to outsmart suckers, when you change, the suckers do not, you lose.

trading is easy. contrary to many. very natural. what made it difficult is people want to fight with their nature. that is why beginners often have good luck. when you go to las-vasgas, those never been there suckers often have something to win in the first start. keep this instinct, do not change. when up, buy. when down, sell. very natural thing to do.

I used Jessie livemore's and william o'neil' strategy, over and over. occasionally I lost, but most time, win big. the market never changes! only suckers change!

I am a very successful trader. my edge is I follow my plan strictly, do not change no matter what market does, or others say, ignore intra-day little movements totally, focus on big picture.

Quote from PlinytheTrader:

It was a good leason to learn as a beginer in terms of money management and position sizing. But it also was good to come to terms that trading is difficult and that whatever works now will most likely not work forever.
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Now my fidelity account is marked as a pattern day trader :( lol

Any recomendations for a good new broker? I am trading with relatively small ammounts so discount broker would be best.
 
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