NoDoji's Day Trading Log

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Quote from timcar:

Yes it’s me again NoDoji.


What indicators are you looking at that might “wink” at you which would allow you to chose one stock over another stock?
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Stocks hitting the high/low ticker again and again and again tell me, "I'm getting tired of this crowd, let's you and me run the other way for a bit." (Trend exhaustion, and I look at stochastics and distance from the intraday 20-period moving average as the entry signal)

Stocks trading in a range say, "Are you bored? Check this out. Whichever side of the dance floor I move to, the crowd runs over to get close to me, and they're dropping coins along the way." (Scalping in a range, and I use strictly stochastics and the S/R levels of the range as the entry signal)

Stocks trending on the daily chart (30-day) that are near trend line support/resistance say, "You can chase me a bit while I run with the crowd, I'll eventually turn around, grab your hand and we can whirl to the other side of the dance floor." (This can be a trend or counter-trend trade off more major S/R levels; I use the trend line S/R and stochastics on the daily chart for entry signal. These can often be overnight trades.)
 
Quote from NoDoji:

Stocks hitting the high/low ticker again and again and again tell me, "I'm getting tired of this crowd, let's you and me run the other way for a bit." (Trend exhaustion, and I look at stochastics and distance from the intraday 20-period moving average as the entry signal)

Stocks trading in a range say, "Are you bored? Check this out. Whichever side of the dance floor I move to, the crowd runs over to get close to me, and they're dropping coins along the way." (Scalping in a range, and I use strictly stochastics and the S/R levels of the range as the entry signal)

Stocks trending on the daily chart (30-day) that are near trend line support/resistance say, "You can chase me a bit while I run with the crowd, I'll eventually turn around, grab your hand and we can whirl to the other side of the dance floor." (This can be a trend or counter-trend trade off more major S/R levels; I use the trend line S/R and stochastics on the daily chart for entry signal. These can often be overnight trades.)
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Golden_nugget_2000.jpg


well put, NoD
 
+$212

ESRX and STEC on alert for opening shorts. Just before open I clicked "sell" on STEC at the ask (23.73) and got liftedimmediately, so I fastened my seatbelt expecting a bit of an opening surge. I missed adding to the position on the opening run up by .05 cents, but my pre-open position quickly became profitable and once the sellers dried up at 23.20, I moved my stop in close, hit for +$122. Was hoping my round number limit order would’ve been hit first, but can’t complain about catching so much of that nice move.

ESRX was on my list to short at the open in Etrade for a possible swing trade. It ran up hard and missed my limit by .07 cents, so I chased the lemming parade and got in @ 66.80 because the momentum on this stock carries it a while. Once it dropped below 66.50, I placed a stop @ 66.55 because I didn’t like the L2 action at that point. I figured if it continues to tank, fantastic, but if it bounces, it will go hard with the strength it’s shown recently. Stop hit for +$32, but not too bad considering small position and very poor entry price from the previous bar’s high.

I missed several ESRX and STEC entries by a penny and they fell very fast, and I didn't want to chase.

Was watching STEC for a lower high after the hard run up, and it just kept going down and down, so I shorted a small position @ 23.78 on a brief failure to rally, covered @ 23.55 for +$44.

Watching LM all morning hit highs. Hits a high and pulls back a little, then works to test the high. Hits 26.74 and totally stalls with the bid and ask right at that price and I click “sell” and the price disappears. Gone. I look at the chart and see a huge red candle. Completely fell off a cliff on news. I can’t even claim I hesitated because I didn’t. I saw the price stall and actually clicked sell, but it was just plain gone without me. Took me quite a while to get over that one.

Played with ROST a bit in the doldrums and made a few dollars. Should’ve just left the original trade on, walked away a come back later. :eek:
 

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Hi NoD

I'm still around ;)

Been taking things slow, trading smaller lots and learning a few things.

It sounds like you still often use limit orders for your entries, rather than just getting in at market when you feel the stock will go down.

Is this still the case? I assume your logic there is that you want to catch the stock at what you feel may be a very oversold or overbought price, so your stop can be closer.

ie: if the stock is trading at 33.5 and you feel it shouldn't go much over 33.6 due to resistance/stochs, etc

and you feel it should then fall to 33.2

you put in a limit for 33.58-33.59 something like that... so you can set your stop tight at 33.62 (just above resistance)

rather than just get in at market (say 33.5) and still have to keep your stop at 33.62 (which makes for a bigger loss risk)

I'm just wondering if this is your reason for the limit orders.

I've found lately that I need to use limit orders to get on the better side of the consolidation range before a reversal.. if i just use market, like i usually did.. then I often was right on the reversal moves, but on the ones were i was wrong, the stop was too wide and the losses killed my profits.


or in other words, the biggest risk is right at entry. this is when you can instantly go green or red and it can keep going that way.

So the only way to limit the downside risk is to have a stop, and that stop needs to be tight, or your losers will rack up as fast as the winners.

And the only way to be able to keep tight entry stops, while at the same time putting the stops where they logically should be (ie: just above resistance, below support.. not some random number)

is you need to GET IN close to those those support/resistance levels.

Using market orders is only going to get you a good entry if you are lucky.

better thing to do is place limit orders close to them, let the price consolidate/bounce around in that zone, and hope you get filled before it reverses in the direction you figures it would.

The problem with this, of course, is sometimes you don't get that limit order filled, and the stock moves off in your direction without you- leaving you feeling like you got stood up for the prom :/


-Just wondering your thoughts on this subject





Another question- you often mention you watch the "high/low ticker" can you elaborate on that a bit? i dont think i have that..
 
Quote from quotetrader:

It sounds like you still often use limit orders for your entries, rather than just getting in at market when you feel the stock will go down.

Is this still the case? I assume your logic there is that you want to catch the stock at what you feel may be a very oversold or overbought price, so your stop can be closer.

ie: if the stock is trading at 33.5 and you feel it shouldn't go much over 33.6 due to resistance/stochs, etc

and you feel it should then fall to 33.2

you put in a limit for 33.58-33.59 something like that... so you can set your stop tight at 33.62 (just above resistance)

rather than just get in at market (say 33.5) and still have to keep your stop at 33.62 (which makes for a bigger loss risk)

I'm just wondering if this is your reason for the limit orders.

I've found lately that I need to use limit orders to get on the better side of the consolidation range before a reversal.. if i just use market, like i usually did.. then I often was right on the reversal moves, but on the ones were i was wrong, the stop was too wide and the losses killed my profits.

or in other words, the biggest risk is right at entry. this is when you can instantly go green or red and it can keep going that way.

So the only way to limit the downside risk is to have a stop, and that stop needs to be tight, or your losers will rack up as fast as the winners.

And the only way to be able to keep tight entry stops, while at the same time putting the stops where they logically should be (ie: just above resistance, below support.. not some random number)

is you need to GET IN close to those those support/resistance levels.

Using market orders is only going to get you a good entry if you are lucky.

better thing to do is place limit orders close to them, let the price consolidate/bounce around in that zone, and hope you get filled before it reverses in the direction you figures it would.

The problem with this, of course, is sometimes you don't get that limit order filled, and the stock moves off in your direction without you- leaving you feeling like you got stood up for the prom :/
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Hi QT,

I'm still working with this a LOT. I'm mainly a counter-trend trader and I realize that if I place a limit order at a particular price as a stock is still moving in the direction opposite my intended position, I run the risk of missing out. This happened 3 times today just .01 penny from the top of a move and the reversal was very fast and steep so it gave me no confidence to chase.

On one of the trades, STEC, once price had dropped significantly, attempted to pivot and the L2 looked weak, I shorted anyway, a long distance from where I missed the entry, and I actually caught the entire rest of the move and covered just pennies from the true pivot price. You are probably wondering why I didn't chase the initial entry, yet shorted after a significant move down. This comes down to knowing a stock's personality and knowing how L2 action looks before certain things happen. I've been trading STEC for a while and I know that once it makes a strong drop, it can literally jump back up .20-.30 cents. It has a HUGE short interest and I think the market makers know it and sometimes the spread and the moves are insane for such a low-priced stock. At one point today it leaped up and right back again .20 cents in just seconds.

So knowing that, I chose not chase the first thrust down, but once it settled down and displayed weakness at what should've been a nice bounce zone, I felt very confident shorting there with a tight stop.

Which brings us back to stops. Although with the DOM all my entries orders are technically "limit" orders, I often hit the bid if I feel strongly about the continuing direction of the move. And I sometimes chase like I did when ESRX missed my limit by .01 cent today and dropped very quickly. ESRX runs with momentum, and I've been trading that one for a while so I feel confident that when it starts falling fast it will be carried at least .30-.40 cents further from my entry, allowing me to quickly put in a stop that locks in a profit.

Once I get an order lifted, I immediately put in a stop (unless it's a trade that I'm scaling into as it continues to move against me, which is a rare tactic with my small account size, and which requires quick mental calculation of entry prices, position size and eventual stop placement). As soon as I put in a stop, I put in initial target limit order(s). As price moves in my favor I trail the target limit order, trying to keep enough distance to avoid getting lifted too soon, which has happened a lot with the more volatile movers.

Once price reaches an S/R level I feel will be a pivot point, I tighten both the stop and the limit, always hoping the limit is lifted rather than the stop getting hit. I've managed to catch good pieces of the move with this strategy.

Hope that helps!
 
Quote from quotetrader:

Another question- you often mention you watch the "high/low ticker" can you elaborate on that a bit? i dont think i have that..
More...

High/low ticker streams stocks hitting highs or lows on the day and shows the number of highs/lows hit each time a new high/low is made. My PowerEtradePro includes it, and I think TradeIdeas includes one.

So when I see, for example, LM, on the high ticker and the number of new highs starts hitting 100+, my antennae go up, knowing that once price pulls a certain distance (one centimeter on my charts to be exact :p ) from the 20-period intraday moving average, a pullback is imminent. Sometimes I catch the pullback to the trend line (or moving average line), and take profits there, and sometimes it's a true reversal that blows past the line and offers a very nice move.

And sometimes I click "sell" and price has already fallen off the screen, and landed somewhere on the floor beneath my workstation...without me :mad:
 
Quote from mindtrade:

NoDogi, are you still paper trading ES? I notice you haven't made any comments on it lately.

Thanks
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No, done paper trading. It was a great success. Only the real thing will tell.

Last June I paper traded stocks on a day trading basis and then the first 3 weeks I actually day traded I made a fantastic profits. Then my lack of risk management caught up to me.

I believe I have that under control now, so I hope my ES trading will be as successful as the trial run was.
I found out I can trade ES from IB and will likely do so very soon. Right now though I have a plate full of stocks I'm enjoying trading, and it's almost paying the bills.
 
Thanks for the reply NoD..

it sound like you are entering your limit orders by clicking on the various levels in the Level 2 DOM.. is that correct?

I don't use Level 2.. its always just messed with my mind.. flipping around so fast, etc

maybe i should try that method.. i dunno.. i wish i could just draw a line on my chart and right click and choose "buy here" hahaha

im more of a visual guy?

seriosuly, that would be cool.. put down a "buy dot", a "stop dot" and a "target dot" on the chart.. then hit "activate trade"

hmmmm....



btw- i have been pondering trading the ES myself, as all I really trade is the SPX in various forms- spy, sds, sso, etc

the ES trading platforms out there seem pretty good for scaling out- many have presets to auto scale you out.

I was thinking of going with IB so i could have everything in one place, but that TWS sounds like its kinda tricky to use, and ive heard theres better futures platforms.. still kicking that around i guess
 
Question: Does IB have charting for futures? Not that i am interested in IB just curious.

Missed yesterdays action because had a trade on that was a loss of 2 ticks, reentered long ( received a phone call about last chest x-ra)y) she said, possible aneurysm and a couple nodes but the x-ray was not clear, and need to come in for a CT scan, today. That was enough to drop trading.

Went in and got the CT, Dr called last night and said: RELAX!!!!
No sign of aneurysm and nodes were nothing the ct could show as area of concern. Dr appt today at 0900 est, so will not trade this morning, probably not even today.

I could be cynical and say they are "Dialing for Dollars" because ct scans are not cheap. But when it comes to health issues, money is no concern even with insurance.

Not looking for sympathy because i am not a marketing person, just reminding you guys that issues besides the mkt itself can knock you for a loop. Nod, keep paying those bills. :)

After Dr appt today, i might feel better enough to go out and have a reckless weekend. :eek:
 
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