NoDoji's Day Trading Log
- Thread starter NoDoji
- Start date
- Status
- $890
First thing this morning I placed FWLT stops at 48.50 in all the IRA accounts. I had a feeling theyâd pull back after yesterdayâs massive bounce and wanted to lock in some profits. They ended up stopping out for a total gain of $550. I plan to buy shares once again in the IRA accounts once the stock settles down a bit.
Later I bought IPI @ 44.38 on a good setup: a confirmed failure to make a new low and at a price just above the 8-period SMA on the 3-min chart. It moved up .30 cents after I bought it and my tactic is to lock in a stop at break even at that point. Instead I placed a stop just below 43 figuring that would give it room to work. This âroom to workâ crap is a direct violation of my day trading strategy. Most of my day trading setups have been solid as a rock and that success just made me sloppy. After ranging a bit, IPI dropped through my stop for a $1400 loss. What amazes me is that after assuring myself that I would diligently follow my day trading strategy, I didnât.
I will reiterate what someone on the P&L post recently stated: âI am an idiot.â
I spent most of the day watching charts and paper trading my strategy after that. It worked fantastically, nipping losses in the bud and allowing real breakouts/breakdowns to run.
So to prove to myself that I actually learned something after that, I traded FWLT at the end of the day, same setup: failure to make a new low, price (48.15) just above the 8-period SMA on the 3-min chart. It moved to 48.20 and I set a stop at 47.98. It ranged around doing nothing and when I realized that the end of day sellers appeared to be stronger than the buyers, I exited the trade at 48.13 and that was that. Thatâs what itâs all about. Cut the losers, ride the winners.
Hefty tuition to go back to school for the what must be the 4th time in as many months, but I am still confident that I will prevail!
In my trading account Iâm still holding unrealized gains of $820 on NVAX and $1082 on the AMED Sept calls, which makes me feel moderately better.
First thing this morning I placed FWLT stops at 48.50 in all the IRA accounts. I had a feeling theyâd pull back after yesterdayâs massive bounce and wanted to lock in some profits. They ended up stopping out for a total gain of $550. I plan to buy shares once again in the IRA accounts once the stock settles down a bit.
Later I bought IPI @ 44.38 on a good setup: a confirmed failure to make a new low and at a price just above the 8-period SMA on the 3-min chart. It moved up .30 cents after I bought it and my tactic is to lock in a stop at break even at that point. Instead I placed a stop just below 43 figuring that would give it room to work. This âroom to workâ crap is a direct violation of my day trading strategy. Most of my day trading setups have been solid as a rock and that success just made me sloppy. After ranging a bit, IPI dropped through my stop for a $1400 loss. What amazes me is that after assuring myself that I would diligently follow my day trading strategy, I didnât.
I will reiterate what someone on the P&L post recently stated: âI am an idiot.â
I spent most of the day watching charts and paper trading my strategy after that. It worked fantastically, nipping losses in the bud and allowing real breakouts/breakdowns to run.
So to prove to myself that I actually learned something after that, I traded FWLT at the end of the day, same setup: failure to make a new low, price (48.15) just above the 8-period SMA on the 3-min chart. It moved to 48.20 and I set a stop at 47.98. It ranged around doing nothing and when I realized that the end of day sellers appeared to be stronger than the buyers, I exited the trade at 48.13 and that was that. Thatâs what itâs all about. Cut the losers, ride the winners.
Hefty tuition to go back to school for the what must be the 4th time in as many months, but I am still confident that I will prevail!
In my trading account Iâm still holding unrealized gains of $820 on NVAX and $1082 on the AMED Sept calls, which makes me feel moderately better.
Us traders we have to be robotic about our rules. the worst part is we know this and continue to break the rules...
breaking a rule, losing a trade, wining a trade does not make you an idiot.
blowing out your account, doing the same mistakes over and over might.....
understanding risk to ruin so that you can maximize your profits with the smallest of risk is as important as the setups and exits.
Anata no joozu
blowing out your account, doing the same mistakes over and over might.....
understanding risk to ruin so that you can maximize your profits with the smallest of risk is as important as the setups and exits.
Anata no joozu
+ 701
I decided today would be an exercise in discipline and overall was pleased with how I did. Although my trades were not profitable, practicing strict adherence to a plan gave me additional confidence.
Bought FLR @ 71.96 this morning when it retraced after a pullback. Normally I wait for a failure to make a new low, but the buying volume was suddenly very strong so I jumped on board and set a stop at 71.50, just below the LOD. It continued to downtrend quite rapidly after that and I was stopped out for a $460 loss. I was pleased with my stop strategy, but my main mistake was putting on a larger position when the reward probability was not nearly as high as my usual setups.
AMED had a great run up and I closed out the calls for a profit of $1400 when the rally stalled and the pullback took the price down through the 8- and 20-period SMAs on the 3-min chart. I did leave about $800 on the table when they reversed and resumed the rally.
Bought FWLT @ 45.95 on a failure to make a new low, stop at 45.70 just below the LOD. The price moved up and I moved the stop to break even, but was taken out on a quick wick down. Tried to re-enter the trade on the next retracement @ 46.05 and my order entry locked, something thatâs only happened once before. By the time I called Etrade and dealt with it, the price had spiked to 46.53 and retreated already. At a reversal after this pullback, I bought it again at 46.29 with a stop at 45.77 just below the last low. The price moved up and I moved the stop to 46.19 and was taken out on the next pullback. The stock did not move a whole lot the rest of the day. At some point I also bought Sept $50 calls @ 1.75, which I am holding.
What I was learning through all this is that itâs very easy to limit losses when the trend doesnât move strongly in your direction. The one entry I missed was the strongest and even though it wasnât much, it wouldâve been worth $150 or so. The loss I took on the two trades I was able to put on was less than $60. This is key: keep the losses smaller than the profits.
Later in the day noticed FLR in a very long period of consolidation. More often than not, after lunch is over, consolidations break and continue whatever trend was started earlier in the day. I bought FLR at 71.65 (smack in the middle of its consolidation range. I placed a stop @ 71.27 just below the consolidation low. This was not the highest probability trade because the original dayâs trend was down, but there was a significant reversal prior to consolidation and there was a reasonable chance that part of the trend would continue. I was taken out at 71.29 for a loss of $180.
Overall I was pleased with my discipline, even though I ate up some of my profits. More lessons learned, not as expensive as previous ones
Note to self: It's harder to jump into a volatile trade but that's when the opportunities are greatest. Pull the trigger as soon as you see the setup, DO NOT WAIT! (Left about $3000 on the table not doing this today.)
I decided today would be an exercise in discipline and overall was pleased with how I did. Although my trades were not profitable, practicing strict adherence to a plan gave me additional confidence.
Bought FLR @ 71.96 this morning when it retraced after a pullback. Normally I wait for a failure to make a new low, but the buying volume was suddenly very strong so I jumped on board and set a stop at 71.50, just below the LOD. It continued to downtrend quite rapidly after that and I was stopped out for a $460 loss. I was pleased with my stop strategy, but my main mistake was putting on a larger position when the reward probability was not nearly as high as my usual setups.
AMED had a great run up and I closed out the calls for a profit of $1400 when the rally stalled and the pullback took the price down through the 8- and 20-period SMAs on the 3-min chart. I did leave about $800 on the table when they reversed and resumed the rally.
Bought FWLT @ 45.95 on a failure to make a new low, stop at 45.70 just below the LOD. The price moved up and I moved the stop to break even, but was taken out on a quick wick down. Tried to re-enter the trade on the next retracement @ 46.05 and my order entry locked, something thatâs only happened once before. By the time I called Etrade and dealt with it, the price had spiked to 46.53 and retreated already. At a reversal after this pullback, I bought it again at 46.29 with a stop at 45.77 just below the last low. The price moved up and I moved the stop to 46.19 and was taken out on the next pullback. The stock did not move a whole lot the rest of the day. At some point I also bought Sept $50 calls @ 1.75, which I am holding.
What I was learning through all this is that itâs very easy to limit losses when the trend doesnât move strongly in your direction. The one entry I missed was the strongest and even though it wasnât much, it wouldâve been worth $150 or so. The loss I took on the two trades I was able to put on was less than $60. This is key: keep the losses smaller than the profits.
Later in the day noticed FLR in a very long period of consolidation. More often than not, after lunch is over, consolidations break and continue whatever trend was started earlier in the day. I bought FLR at 71.65 (smack in the middle of its consolidation range. I placed a stop @ 71.27 just below the consolidation low. This was not the highest probability trade because the original dayâs trend was down, but there was a significant reversal prior to consolidation and there was a reasonable chance that part of the trend would continue. I was taken out at 71.29 for a loss of $180.
Overall I was pleased with my discipline, even though I ate up some of my profits. More lessons learned, not as expensive as previous ones
Note to self: It's harder to jump into a volatile trade but that's when the opportunities are greatest. Pull the trigger as soon as you see the setup, DO NOT WAIT! (Left about $3000 on the table not doing this today.)
NoDoji
Good work on the day/week. Glad to see your pleased with the mental fortitude.
Some thoughts come to mind that I thought I would share. I just read that statically your better off trading when strong and not waiting for a retrace. I don't actually have an opinion on it yet as I am about to do some back testing to see what I come up with but I thought it was worth investigating. It was said that we want to buy retracements (waiting for them) because we naturally want a bargain or better price.
I wouldn't beat yourself up too much about missing a trade now and then due to thinking it over. There is endless future trades that will come your way and missing one due to taking your time could be better in the long run than rushing and not catching something that would have kept you out of it.
Lastly, if you move to IB or another broker that offers portfolio margin you will most likely want to use that instead of Reg T. You will be able to have a larger than 2x overnight margin in most cases. While I say this I also have to say that I think leverage is the number one killer of new accounts. Maybe of all accounts as Victor N would probably have to agree to.
Once again good job and have a great weekend
Good work on the day/week. Glad to see your pleased with the mental fortitude.
Some thoughts come to mind that I thought I would share. I just read that statically your better off trading when strong and not waiting for a retrace. I don't actually have an opinion on it yet as I am about to do some back testing to see what I come up with but I thought it was worth investigating. It was said that we want to buy retracements (waiting for them) because we naturally want a bargain or better price.
I wouldn't beat yourself up too much about missing a trade now and then due to thinking it over. There is endless future trades that will come your way and missing one due to taking your time could be better in the long run than rushing and not catching something that would have kept you out of it.
Lastly, if you move to IB or another broker that offers portfolio margin you will most likely want to use that instead of Reg T. You will be able to have a larger than 2x overnight margin in most cases. While I say this I also have to say that I think leverage is the number one killer of new accounts. Maybe of all accounts as Victor N would probably have to agree to.
Once again good job and have a great weekend
nodoji said:
Bought FLR @ 71.96 this morning when it retraced after a pullback. Normally I wait for a failure to make a new low, but the buying volume was suddenly very strong so I jumped on board and set a stop at 71.50, just below the LOD. It continued to downtrend quite rapidly after that and I was stopped out for a $460 loss. I was pleased with my stop strategy, but my main mistake was putting on a larger position when the reward probability was not nearly as high as my usual setups.
http://charts.quote.com/cis/qc?cont...showextendednames=true&showdatainheader=false
I did not realize you have been trading for such a short time........you are doing very good for such a short time. You are in their swinging the bat, many might be shy..........OOOOOOOhhh, No, not nod.
Maybe you can help me out as i try to understand a little better. Your first sentence............."when it retraced after a pullback" Was that the 1010EST time bar on the 10 minute chart shown ( i do not trade stocks so this is an internet chart so might be off somewhat) that you went long? If so i am confused by your sentence. Maybe you could clarify.
My own thinking would be if it was an the 1010 est time frame bar (or just before, depending on the chart service) your mistake could have been you went long to soon because i see that chart as still in the down "RUN" and do not see where you saw a retrace.
PS: A retrace is the same thing as a pullback as i understand the term. I see no retrace at 1010est = THUS the long was to early and that contributed to the stop being hit. Maybe your mistake was looking at volume and it gave you a false positive.
Keep up the good work.
PS: Maybe this might help you on your learning curve. I noticed you swing trade and daytrade also. One of my improvements in trading was to stick to an individual time frame to trade. Kind of narrows the focus and maybe you might see more in less time before working on seperate timeframes. Daytrading itself imo is the best way to learn because it compresses the thought and decision process and makes the brain react faster . But we all are different. Have a good rest of weekend. Off to do some shopping, Winter is around the corner.
Bought FLR @ 71.96 this morning when it retraced after a pullback. Normally I wait for a failure to make a new low, but the buying volume was suddenly very strong so I jumped on board and set a stop at 71.50, just below the LOD. It continued to downtrend quite rapidly after that and I was stopped out for a $460 loss. I was pleased with my stop strategy, but my main mistake was putting on a larger position when the reward probability was not nearly as high as my usual setups.
http://charts.quote.com/cis/qc?cont...showextendednames=true&showdatainheader=false
I did not realize you have been trading for such a short time........you are doing very good for such a short time. You are in their swinging the bat, many might be shy..........OOOOOOOhhh, No, not nod.
Maybe you can help me out as i try to understand a little better. Your first sentence............."when it retraced after a pullback" Was that the 1010EST time bar on the 10 minute chart shown ( i do not trade stocks so this is an internet chart so might be off somewhat) that you went long? If so i am confused by your sentence. Maybe you could clarify.
My own thinking would be if it was an the 1010 est time frame bar (or just before, depending on the chart service) your mistake could have been you went long to soon because i see that chart as still in the down "RUN" and do not see where you saw a retrace.
PS: A retrace is the same thing as a pullback as i understand the term. I see no retrace at 1010est = THUS the long was to early and that contributed to the stop being hit. Maybe your mistake was looking at volume and it gave you a false positive.
Keep up the good work.
PS: Maybe this might help you on your learning curve. I noticed you swing trade and daytrade also. One of my improvements in trading was to stick to an individual time frame to trade. Kind of narrows the focus and maybe you might see more in less time before working on seperate timeframes. Daytrading itself imo is the best way to learn because it compresses the thought and decision process and makes the brain react faster . But we all are different. Have a good rest of weekend. Off to do some shopping, Winter is around the corner.
PSS: In the beginning as we learn to trade we are mesmerised by all the opportunities out there. We try for the GOLD because it is out there for us all. LESS i found is better. real estate they say is location, location, location. Trading is Focus, Focus, Focus on less to extract more. The less items i traded and the fewer and fewer time frames , i took more because it was not only easier but more fun.
"Ya gotta Know the territory" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ9U4Cbb4wg&feature=related
"Ya gotta Know the territory" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ9U4Cbb4wg&feature=related
BH, I refer to a reversal of a trend as a retracement. As 1R states above, I am trying to get in at a good price, whether long or short, but normally I wait for a failure to make a new high or low, which in most cases indicates a true reversal, not a false positive. With FLR I definitely attempted to "bottom pick" based on the sudden buying volume and it was very much indeed an FBO. I think it may have been the first time I did that, won't do that again.
I've also found day trading to be my forte vs. swing trading, especially in this market. As BB pointed out in chat, he was getting a strong short signal the other day on a company that had gapped up, made new highs and stalled, and if he'd gone short and been holding overnight (because it did not move much at all off those highs), he would've faced a $20/share gap up the next day :eek:
Thanks guys for all your support!
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