I'll admit that I'd rather have a tighter stop and get stopped out and re-enter. Having a big position makes me much more nervous than taking a string of small losses.
NoDoji's Day Trading Log
- Thread starter NoDoji
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Geez journal is really good, just like yours!
I actually got really cocky trading live recently, using dollar cost averaging and letting my stops go, letting day trades become swing trades. I lost quite a bit in a week.
I think for me, I am kind of an "A" personality, prone to making quick decisions, (Italian!) I think I am better off setting some hard and fast rules, to stick to during the day. Stops etc, waiting for better set ups. etc
Dollar cost averaging is frowned upon, but if used carefully, with an analytical mindset, it could be an effective tool. Its hard to use it that way though. REVENGE TRADING! (Not a good idea)
+$346
Offered 36.70 HANS on open when the Ask was stuck @ .66, bid @ .54. Decided to enter at market for average price of 36.54 because I saw that the prez and the chmn of the co each sold off 150,000 shares, so I figured I should also sell some shares so I could be like them. It dropped like a rock. I couldn't believe how fast it fell. When it fell below 35.40, I put in a stop @ 35.50, filled with slippage @ 35.55 for a $496 gain in about 5 minutes.
Short BKE @ 25.08, pullback from double top. Stop above HOD @ 25.45 hit for a $185 loss. I realized after the trade that I shorted when SPY was oversold, meaning the market was likely to pull the stock against me. I didnât notice that until later. So I was taken out close to the top, where the overbought SPY then pulled the stock down nicely. Even a stop @ 25.55 just above next resistance wouldâve kept me in a very good trade here. This was my frustrating trade of the day, made even more so by the fact that I missed the next shortable run up due to grabbing lunch. I donât mind a loss if I havenât made a mistake entering a trade, but it makes me mad when it was an easily preventable loss.
Looking to scalp a bit off HANS during the doldrums, shorted @ 35.72 overbought. SPY was oversold, but HANS looked weak and I thought it was good for a test of the LOD. The L2 action compelled me to exit for a $38 loss. Well-managed, so no complaints.
HANS runs up to 36.06, then pulls back to the SMAs, then runs up to 36.02 and pulls back a bit and I short @ 35.96 looking for a little trend/SMA line scalp, SPY overbought in my favor. Target of 35.85 filled for a $110 gain.
Ready for another HANS scalp on the run up and it pulled back half my intended move before I could enter. I didnât want to chase, but this wouldâve been well worth it.
My husband took it upon himself to average the IB part of my ORLY position @ 34.32 end of day, bringing that portion of the trade to break even. Holding unrealized loss on my Etrade portion of the trade, but the daily chart looks good for retracement.
Later I will post my list of Questions to Ask Before Each Trade. I am going to get this eventually!
Offered 36.70 HANS on open when the Ask was stuck @ .66, bid @ .54. Decided to enter at market for average price of 36.54 because I saw that the prez and the chmn of the co each sold off 150,000 shares, so I figured I should also sell some shares so I could be like them. It dropped like a rock. I couldn't believe how fast it fell. When it fell below 35.40, I put in a stop @ 35.50, filled with slippage @ 35.55 for a $496 gain in about 5 minutes.
Short BKE @ 25.08, pullback from double top. Stop above HOD @ 25.45 hit for a $185 loss. I realized after the trade that I shorted when SPY was oversold, meaning the market was likely to pull the stock against me. I didnât notice that until later. So I was taken out close to the top, where the overbought SPY then pulled the stock down nicely. Even a stop @ 25.55 just above next resistance wouldâve kept me in a very good trade here. This was my frustrating trade of the day, made even more so by the fact that I missed the next shortable run up due to grabbing lunch. I donât mind a loss if I havenât made a mistake entering a trade, but it makes me mad when it was an easily preventable loss.
Looking to scalp a bit off HANS during the doldrums, shorted @ 35.72 overbought. SPY was oversold, but HANS looked weak and I thought it was good for a test of the LOD. The L2 action compelled me to exit for a $38 loss. Well-managed, so no complaints.
HANS runs up to 36.06, then pulls back to the SMAs, then runs up to 36.02 and pulls back a bit and I short @ 35.96 looking for a little trend/SMA line scalp, SPY overbought in my favor. Target of 35.85 filled for a $110 gain.
Ready for another HANS scalp on the run up and it pulled back half my intended move before I could enter. I didnât want to chase, but this wouldâve been well worth it.
My husband took it upon himself to average the IB part of my ORLY position @ 34.32 end of day, bringing that portion of the trade to break even. Holding unrealized loss on my Etrade portion of the trade, but the daily chart looks good for retracement.
Later I will post my list of Questions to Ask Before Each Trade. I am going to get this eventually!
Took Redneck Trader's advice:
The way I trade
I short stocks that reach an overbought condition. Iâve come to prefer shorting because we are in a bear market and I believe that most rallies are mainly short term traders and short coverers driving price up temporarily. I believe the big money is sitting on the sidelines waiting for some sign of economic recovery. I also like the fact that price often falls about twice as fast as it rises.
Although an overbought condition on any stock in any time frame is invitingly shortable, I prefer confirmation of the setup through resistance, trend, and specific candlestick patterns. Iâll even short a stock thatâs uptrending, looking to profit on the small pullbacks on the way up, because the trend line provides a strong exit point. Iâll short a stock thatâs gapped up or rallied nicely on good news or sector favor, confident that it will retrace a good portion of the gains.
I occasionally try to pick a top on a run up, but I set a tight stop in that case. I prefer to short a failure to make a new high, because the previous high provides a good place to bail if it runs against me. Unfortunately, many times the original high provides the strongest move down, which is why knowledge of longer term resistance is helpful in choosing whether to try to pick a top, or wait for a lower high. For example, if a stock gaps up and looks hugely overbought on the intraday and the daily chart, but itâs traded far higher at some point in the past 6 months, I will definitely wait for a lower high, because it can run against you for a while before losing steam.
Once Iâve traded a stock for a while I get to know its unique personality and I will trade it with great confidence.
What I believe
I believe my eye and my memory for patterns are great benefits to me. I believe my strategies are strong and valid.
I believe I could trade any stock at any time of any day and have a significantly greater chance of profiting than of losing.
I believe I could effectively trade long or short and Iâm leaving a lot of opportunity behind by only playing half the field.
I believe if someone gave me $60K to trade with no strings attached I would be able to double it in 6 months or less.
I believe if I could trade my own $60K account as confidently as I would with someone elseâs money and no strings attached, I would easily move to the next level I long for.
My internal conflicts
I have an irrational fear that if I take all my setups with confidence, I will suddenly find myself with entries that are off just enough to shake me out of the trade at a loss before moving in my direction. Nothing in my experience confirms this will happen frequently enough to leave me in the net red, yet itâs stuck in my mind.
I know Iâm doing well, yet I have a fear of increasing my position size. Risk management has to be strict and inviolable with larger position size. This brings me back to the irrational fear described above.
What I will do:
Questions to answer before every trade (with the required answer for my trading style):
1. Is the intraday setup strong based on my strategy? Yes
2. Is the overall market in a position to work in my favor? Yes
3. Is the price uptrending toward a test of resistance, or downtrending toward a test of support? No (If Yes, wait for a better setup, or use a looser than than usual stop and be willing to accept the loss.)
4. Does the setup allow a reasonable stop loss without the risk of getting shaken out just before a move in my favor? Yes.
If the answers above are all valid for the setup, I will put on the trade, put in the stop and take profits when an exit signals for me.
Sounds so easy
The way I trade
I short stocks that reach an overbought condition. Iâve come to prefer shorting because we are in a bear market and I believe that most rallies are mainly short term traders and short coverers driving price up temporarily. I believe the big money is sitting on the sidelines waiting for some sign of economic recovery. I also like the fact that price often falls about twice as fast as it rises.
Although an overbought condition on any stock in any time frame is invitingly shortable, I prefer confirmation of the setup through resistance, trend, and specific candlestick patterns. Iâll even short a stock thatâs uptrending, looking to profit on the small pullbacks on the way up, because the trend line provides a strong exit point. Iâll short a stock thatâs gapped up or rallied nicely on good news or sector favor, confident that it will retrace a good portion of the gains.
I occasionally try to pick a top on a run up, but I set a tight stop in that case. I prefer to short a failure to make a new high, because the previous high provides a good place to bail if it runs against me. Unfortunately, many times the original high provides the strongest move down, which is why knowledge of longer term resistance is helpful in choosing whether to try to pick a top, or wait for a lower high. For example, if a stock gaps up and looks hugely overbought on the intraday and the daily chart, but itâs traded far higher at some point in the past 6 months, I will definitely wait for a lower high, because it can run against you for a while before losing steam.
Once Iâve traded a stock for a while I get to know its unique personality and I will trade it with great confidence.
What I believe
I believe my eye and my memory for patterns are great benefits to me. I believe my strategies are strong and valid.
I believe I could trade any stock at any time of any day and have a significantly greater chance of profiting than of losing.
I believe I could effectively trade long or short and Iâm leaving a lot of opportunity behind by only playing half the field.
I believe if someone gave me $60K to trade with no strings attached I would be able to double it in 6 months or less.
I believe if I could trade my own $60K account as confidently as I would with someone elseâs money and no strings attached, I would easily move to the next level I long for.
My internal conflicts
I have an irrational fear that if I take all my setups with confidence, I will suddenly find myself with entries that are off just enough to shake me out of the trade at a loss before moving in my direction. Nothing in my experience confirms this will happen frequently enough to leave me in the net red, yet itâs stuck in my mind.
I know Iâm doing well, yet I have a fear of increasing my position size. Risk management has to be strict and inviolable with larger position size. This brings me back to the irrational fear described above.
What I will do:
Questions to answer before every trade (with the required answer for my trading style):
1. Is the intraday setup strong based on my strategy? Yes
2. Is the overall market in a position to work in my favor? Yes
3. Is the price uptrending toward a test of resistance, or downtrending toward a test of support? No (If Yes, wait for a better setup, or use a looser than than usual stop and be willing to accept the loss.)
4. Does the setup allow a reasonable stop loss without the risk of getting shaken out just before a move in my favor? Yes.
If the answers above are all valid for the setup, I will put on the trade, put in the stop and take profits when an exit signals for me.
Sounds so easy
NoD:
I copied your above post and will use it as a daily guidance tool.
I copied your above post and will use it as a daily guidance tool.
Rhetorical questions Maâam
So are you questioning your setup validity, or harboring a fear of possibly losing - or maybe needing to be proven right.
And I hope you know I ask with utmost respect...
Whatever the answer - See about de-energizing it, turning it around, then making it work for you
also have you ever Journaled the trades you didn't take through to their conclusion - just to see how they turn out
Just some food for thought Maâam
And I believe no fear is ever irrational - to the holder of that fear... Lord knows I've had my share
Take Care
geez, jn, and 7, thank you for your encouragement!
Redneck, you asked, "have you ever Journaled the trades you didn't take through to their conclusion - just to see how they turn out"
I've jotted trades on paper that I didn't take and entered a stop and looked later to see how they would've done. But I've never documented these trades in my journal in any kind of detail. I thought about doing that, just as I document my actual trades here, and the very thought of doing that made me ask myself, "Why would I do that? If the trade sets up, why wouldn't I just trade it???"
I appreciate your provocative questions!
Redneck, you asked, "have you ever Journaled the trades you didn't take through to their conclusion - just to see how they turn out"
I've jotted trades on paper that I didn't take and entered a stop and looked later to see how they would've done. But I've never documented these trades in my journal in any kind of detail. I thought about doing that, just as I document my actual trades here, and the very thought of doing that made me ask myself, "Why would I do that? If the trade sets up, why wouldn't I just trade it???"
I appreciate your provocative questions!
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