NoDoji's Day Trading Log

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Quote from maralek:

Why you don't buy stocks and olny ss them?
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I have a short attention span and stocks tend to fall faster than they rise, so I look for hard run ups and short them for the profit taking that follows.

However, I occasionally go long on pivot lows, such as my APOL trade last week.

I really need to work on trading both sides, that would give me many more trades in a day. I'm not the most active, aggressive trader...
 
-$108 Day
+$1496 Week/Month

Saw STEC gap up in premarket for no reason and wondered if there were some kind of buyout rumors. I put in a disaster stop just in case, eventually hit for -$590. Good thing too because it continued way past my stop. I can’t believe the one position I actually took larger size in (600 shares) was the one that gapped against me. The gap wasn’t the problem, though; my trade management was the problem.

I had two options: add to the position on open with a very tight stop (it was seriously overextended on no news), or watch the action of the first 5 minutes and make a decision. I didn’t add to the position at the open (and it tanked from there), and then worst of all, I failed to put in a tight stop when it was oversold and near b/e! What was I thinking? (That's the problem: I was THINKING!) I’ve been through this twice before and should know how to manage a gapped stock by now.

Saw that yesterday’s JCG scalping left me with 100 shares still short because one of my trades was only a partial fill yesterday. I placed a high offer for the open, too high and didn’t want to chase, so I trailed a limit on my small position as it broke down, and took $21.50 off the table.

I continued to scalp JCG throughout the day for an additional +$154.
Covered URS short on the oversold pivot for +$150. Left a whole lot on the table with this one.

This is a bad habit I have. When a trade runs against me at first (which URS did yesterday after I put on the position), I then tend to move a stop in too close when it becomes profitable and sits at the opposite end of the stochastic spectrum. My initial target for this trade was 51.05 and it in fact broke down below that level. As always, a wider stop would’ve kept in that profit.

Later scalped some URS on the breakdown through the LOD and thought I was putting on 400 shares, but when I opened URS in IB’s DOM, the default share qty was still set to 100, so I made a whopping $22 off that nice little move.

Short STEC a bit late on pullback from new high and moved stop to b/e, ended up a scratch trade due to late entry.

Went to short STEC again on run up and saw that I was long 200 shares from when I put in the stop on the last short. I’d changed quantities before putting in the stop and didn’t realize it, making it a double buy stop, making me long. So I took $40 profit and then shorted it, scalping a small profit to the short side as well.

When URS was ranging in the middle of its daily range during the doldrums, I scalped it a few times for +$88

End of day looking to take a little something off ESRX and got a very little something because I trailed my limit too close for this fast end of day mover: +$8

Other than my STEC and URS overnighters, all my positions were 200 shares today.

Still staying small until I get more consistent with my order entry/exit. Made quite a few mistakes this week, none of them damaging, but certainly could have been.
 

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Quote from NoDoji:


I continued to scalp JCG throughout the day for an additional +$154.
Covered URS short on the oversold pivot for +$150. Left a whole lot on the table with this one.

This is a bad habit I have. When a trade runs against me at first (which URS did yesterday after I put on the position), I then tend to move a stop in too close when it becomes profitable and sits at the opposite end of the stochastic spectrum. My initial target for this trade was 51.05 and it in fact broke down below that level. As always, a wider stop would’ve kept in that profit.

Later scalped some URS on the breakdown through the LOD and thought I was putting on 400 shares, but when I opened URS in IB’s DOM, the default share qty was still set to 100, so I made a whopping $22 off that nice little move.

When URS was ranging in the middle of its daily range during the doldrums, I scalped it a few times for +$88

End of day looking to take a little something off ESRX and got a very little something because I trailed my limit too close for this fast end of day mover: +$8
More...
Hello, NoDoji. Please, can you make screenshot of URS and JCG trades? I mean as you did in previous time when wdownload a chart of ESRX with explanation. Thanks!
 
Nod

Why would a daytrader who scalps off of the stocs indicator hold a position overnight? Ask yourself that question and i believe the answer will be that the initial entry was based on your usual routine and the overnight hold was based on hope.

You stated you have a short attention span. Where does holding overnight fit in there to be justified considering the trade was based on a short time indicator for your normal scalps?

You take small profits on the scalps yet feel short changed when the move continues without you. Ask yourself why that is so.

You need to go to the principles office and ask if you can move to the class where the pupils "get more for less work".

In that next level class the students in general are more about anticipating the price move to the next level than they are about a small retrace or a reversal of the now historic price action.

Ask yourself if you do ok as a scalper but inside you are bothered by NOT capturing the best part of the move.

The ducks are lined up for your scalps but NOT for a longer swim. Take the ducks out of the wading pool and let them feel the waters current. In water traders need to act more like a dead fish and just go with the flow instead of wasting energy going against the waters flow. Speed swimmers have a pre-determined distance in mind before the race even starts and if the pool was stretched out before then entered the water they would peter out because their pace was to fast for the increased distance. Speed swimmers do not swim long rivers as distance swimmers are capable of.

Your intention for a trade relative to what signals you are using needs work. I might suggest you drop all time frames less than a 5 minute chart and only take signals from the 5 min and look at "continuations" of the days trend. Even if you "FADE" the high test failure and it indeed works some to the short side you still miss the best of the trade by NOT staying in the water. The main reason you get out of the water is because of the stocs indicator.
Hope this helps you by giving a little fodder for thought.

I do know this from my own early days of trading..................it is harder to change from what we use because it gave us limited success than it is to change to something that will give us MORE success. (because we know we are afraid to change what is preceicved to work, even if limited)

Think of trading like getting back to grade school. We move ahead each year because last years lessons were preparation for higher levels

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moL4MkJ-aLk&feature=related

Consider this when looking for more, go for this to get more when right: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9hSgs0ITI0&feature=related

Shorts have their place :D But not always short http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcvjXAtzaMU&feature=related
 
Quote from bighog:

Why would a daytrader who scalps off of the stocs indicator hold a position overnight? Ask yourself that question and i believe the answer will be that the initial entry was based on your usual routine and the overnight hold was based on hope.
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I often put on a trade at the end of the day for the expected move the next morning.

URS (my other overnighter) made a move of $2.00 off the open (unfortunately my position size was smaller than I was using earlier this year and also I trailed my exit order too closely and left quite a bit on the table.

JCG (I had a small leftover lot) moved 1.59 my direction off the open. Nice move for a mid-20's stock.

For several days in a row STEC has been making lower highs and lower lows. It rallied Thursday to test previous resistance and pulled back immediately, which is where I put on the overnight short position end of day. The fact that it gapped up against me yesterday in pre-market was not in and of itself a problem. My management of the trade was the problem. I already presented two options when this happens and I took advantage of neither. Just plain lazy trading, as i thought "Oh it will never make a new high and hit my stop, it will come back below 17.00".

I've been 90% profitable on these overnight plays and they are always my biggest profits.

For the record, STEC yesterday and IDCC last fall were my two gaps against me that I mismanaged; both could've easily been profitable rather than losses. The only other one I had was ORLY, which I handled properly when it gapped several thousand dollars against me overnight and I was patient off the open, put in a proper stop and used the daily chart pattern to guide me over the next few days where I exited with a very tiny loss.

Once the morning volatility dies down, I find that to be a fantastic scalping time. Many stocks on my watch list fall into a predictable range and I've been taking .10-.30 cent moves on 200-share lots. Very low risk and those $20-$50 profits add up. They took me from a $440 loss to a $100 loss yesterday.

And would've been a lot more if I'd taken all my signals. I hesitated on 4 other nice setups and missed out as the price fell quickly away from me while I was committing the cardinal day trading sin of thinking instead of acting.

There's an old saying "Look before you leap." In day trading I believe "Leap, then pull the rip cord." is better advice.
 
Quote from maralek:

Hello, NoDoji. Please, can you make screenshot of URS and JCG trades? I mean as you did in previous time when wdownload a chart of ESRX with explanation. Thanks!
More...

Maralek, other the the overnight positions, I basically scalped these stocks to the short side from overbought to oversold when they were in a range midday.

All I used was the stochastics from overbought to oversold as my entry and exit signals. Stochastics are fantastic when a stock is moving in a fixed range. Once a trend starts, all bets are off - don't use stochastics in that case to bottom-pick or top-pick!

Posting charts of all these little trades would be tedious work and I'm going outside to play now. :cool:
 
Quote from NoDoji:

Maralek, other the the overnight positions, I basically scalped these stocks to the short side from overbought to oversold when they were in a range midday.

All I used was the stochastics from overbought to oversold as my entry and exit signals. Stochastics are fantastic when a stock is moving in a fixed range. Once a trend starts, all bets are off - don't use stochastics in that case to bottom-pick or top-pick!

Posting charts of all these little trades would be tedious work and I'm going outside to play now. :cool:
More...
Ok. Thanks:)
 
Nod

You are fighting time frame issues while also missing the bigger picture of technical analysis with your overnight trades. You are a self proclaimed daytrader, thats fine and dandy. I am a daytrader also. We differ in our % of daytrades relative to other time frame trades. I am a 100% daytrader, period. You are a daytrader that takes a flyer now and then on overnights flings.

I sincerly feel you do not understand the ramifications and real danger this causes. You stated URS moved $2 and yet you left quite a bit on the table. That is not the first time you have said that, i seem to see it rather regular.

JCG, lets take a peek at that one. "(i had a small leftover lot) moved $1.59 in my direction off the open."

STEC, for several days it was making lower highs and lower lows. Etc, etc

You gave a couple other examples, even one where you got spanked and said it was no problem because you hid under the covers and wiggled out of a bad situation. (paraphrased)

I feel you are viewing the mkt as a scalper and basing trades on short time indicators. When the small winners work you feel good. Thats the mission you accepted.

But lets put some military discipline into the equation and see what happens when we do not follow orders and fail to perform as we were trained to perform in a live bullet situation. Always remember, in the military, you are trained to do a specific job that is a small part of the entire war but is vital to winning the war.

I was trained as armoured intelligence specialist, ( i was the front person for a platoon of tanks and infantry), thats fancy military stuff for a new name of what back in the calvary days was a scout to go out and find the indians before the indians found the main calvary. Your job was to find the indians and not lose your own scalp. OK, lets go out on a patrol.

The platoon leader sends out the scouts to do a "RECON" of the area and send back intelligence from what the patrol found, saw etc. Then the company commander will decide to engage the enemy or wait for bigger plan of action, based on the scouts reports. Ok, you went "gung-ho" and engaged the enemy because you felt you had them all in your sights and could take them out. The mistake there is your mission was to NOT engage the enemy until the company commander had enough information to determine the actual numbers of the enemy forces. The scouts mission was to find the enemy and OBSERVE while not being observed himself. If the scout confronted the enemy his mission was a failure because the company commander did not receive the scouting reports, that tells the company commander his whole company is in danger because the enemy knows when scouts are caught on a patrol the main force is not far behind. The company commander will have to abort the bigger mission now because the battle plan was compromised.

This is what can happen to a trader when he/she gets their time frames mixed up. There is an old mkt axiom that says an investment is a failed trade. Trading and investing are as seperate as a daytrade is from a swing trade.

If the scout was discovered by the enemy and yet was slick or lucky enough not to be captured (or scalped) and make it back to give a report to the compamy commander what do you think the commanders options would be? Would the commander simply say, OK, lets wait until the morning and see what happens. Lets, hat up and get the frick out of here before we get roasted.

The company commander is not interested how the scout saved his own ass after being discovered, he is worried about the whole company. The scout had no excuse to wiggle out of the failed mission. Saying "Sir, Shit happens!!!! will not work in the military.

trading as a scalper and saying this or that stock went $2 here or there and NOT having that as the main mission in the first place leaves one wondering why $.20 cents is fine until one sees a $2 move and say that was the plan in the first place.

Trying to help, just saying something is mission.

PS: I think general Custors last words were: Where did all those f...... indians come from? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJZmoAsf0jU&feature=related
 
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