NoDoji's Day Trading Log

[NoDoji]

+$112

Planned to trade ES today, but got no clear signal off the opening range and traded STEC instead.

Short STEC on momentum @ 24.34 as it dropped sharply off the HOD, trailed a limit order a bit too slowly and was lifted @ 23.13 for +$40.

Short STEC @ 24.61 when it hit a new HOD, pulled back a bit and stalled. I shorted right beneath the low of the 3rd “failure to rally” bar. This price also broke the 10-period MA and I shorted with the downward momentum as it fell. Covered @ 24.34, pivot off oversold, for +$54.

Short OSK @ 21.04, significantly lower high, stop @ 21.11 above previous resistance, hit for -$15. This one actually became $30 profitable then bounced to take out my stop while I went to grab tea. That damn tea break again…

This was followed by a long period of boredom in which I watched ES action as it crept up in a channel and I contemplated how well I could scalp it while bored. It hit a new high on the day, barely, then started to pull back. Suddenly the market was selling and I watched the spooz break down the intraday moving averages and then become totally “oversold” and I said WTF and decided to scalp something off the end of the move. Sold @ 880.75, covered @ 880.00 for +$32.70, which means my commish must be $2.40 each way.

I then watched the new and improved FAS and FAZ action and they’re back to being the fun trading vehicles (random number generators) they used to be. The market washed out at a slightly higher low on the day and I went to buy some FAS @ 38.55 and by the time I click “buy” it had jumped to 38.69 and kept going so I didn’t chase it.

 

[bighog]

Commission in ES can be a dollar plus less in most retail acounts with no sweat for you later. (per round turn)

ES today was a rather small range during RTH. 10 1/4 handles, high was 884.50 low was 874.25. The week after jobs report is always short on econ reports. Tomorrow Michigan comes out about 0955 EST, that report is not a gov report so the subscribers get the data before the public.........that kind of explains the silly 0955 time it is projected to be out to the paying customers instead of saying 1000 time for release to the general public.

The 875.00 support level in ES is holding today and it did Tuesday also. Yesterday the low was 865.25 before it settled back uo to about 873.00. Todays high was a handle within yesterdays high of 884.50. So in a nutshell, those are the breakout targets.

Today 1115 bar was a key reversal which later proved to be the low of the day as support to the 875.00 showed up. That was also a 1st hour breakout to the downside a failed breakout. That put even more value in the institutional players supporting the 875.00. Remember i always try and put yourself into the big players shoes. You wore 875.00 size supports sandles today.

Ok, the players now were convinced the mkt put in the low and they went back to the barracks and like all bored soldiers waiting for the next battle they were content to play grabass and cards until called to action. The mkt proceeded to make a not so graceful slow herky-jerky climb to the RTH high at 884.50 and again made a small key reversal bar which was the days final high during rth.

No whiz bang wide range day but tradable with the proper focus. Truth be known, there are many ways to adjust if one keeps a minimum goal for each and every day to capture. As traders thinking in terms of a "least" goal per day the trader will quickly start to think of adjusting tactics to what the mkt is offering.

We only get to trade the mkt we have in front of us on the screen..........not the mkt we want.

Hillary Clinton stuck with Bill through thick and thin not because he only danced with her but because together they were good at the political game. Traders need to find their niche and then use that niche for all it is worth. When you take someone to a dance it is advisable to dance the most with your partner...........and for sure make sure to leave with the "one ya brung"..

Fooey on fas, faz. Nod, i am starting to believe you when you say ADD is a problem.

 

[Willleung]

hi No Doji, Hog.

nice to see you both on the same tread how have you guys been?

 

[NoDoji]

Quote from Willleung:

hi No Doji, Hog.

nice to see you both on the same tread how have you guys been?

Willie! Nice to hear from you. Send me an email and tell me what's new.

 

[trader_david]

very objective observation. final hour may prove 875 is a resistance

Quote from bighog:

Commission in ES can be a dollar plus less in most retail acounts with no sweat for you later. (per round turn)

ES today was a rather small range during RTH. 10 1/4 handles, high was 884.50 low was 874.25. The week after jobs report is always short on econ reports. Tomorrow Michigan comes out about 0955 EST, that report is not a gov report so the subscribers get the data before the public.........that kind of explains the silly 0955 time it is projected to be out to the paying customers instead of saying 1000 time for release to the general public.

The 875.00 support level in ES is holding today and it did Tuesday also. Yesterday the low was 865.25 before it settled back uo to about 873.00. Todays high was a handle within yesterdays high of 884.50. So in a nutshell, those are the breakout targets.

Today 1115 bar was a key reversal which later proved to be the low of the day as support to the 875.00 showed up. That was also a 1st hour breakout to the downside a failed breakout. That put even more value in the institutional players supporting the 875.00. Remember i always try and put yourself into the big players shoes. You wore 875.00 size supports sandles today.

Ok, the players now were convinced the mkt put in the low and they went back to the barracks and like all bored soldiers waiting for the next battle they were content to play grabass and cards until called to action. The mkt proceeded to make a not so graceful slow herky-jerky climb to the RTH high at 884.50 and again made a small key reversal bar which was the days final high during rth.

No whiz bang wide range day but tradable with the proper focus. Truth be known, there are many ways to adjust if one keeps a minimum goal for each and every day to capture. As traders thinking in terms of a "least" goal per day the trader will quickly start to think of adjusting tactics to what the mkt is offering.

We only get to trade the mkt we have in front of us on the screen..........not the mkt we want.

Hillary Clinton stuck with Bill through thick and thin not because he only danced with her but because together they were good at the political game. Traders need to find their niche and then use that niche for all it is worth. When you take someone to a dance it is advisable to dance the most with your partner...........and for sure make sure to leave with the "one ya brung"..

Fooey on fas, faz. Nod, i am starting to believe you when you say ADD is a problem.

 

[NoDoji]

+ $122

I traded ORLY today and was very pleased (except that I only traded 200 shares):

Short ORLY @ 39.80 pullback from lower high, covered @ 39.52 oversold for +$54.

Short ORLY @ 39.62 pullback from overbought, failure to reach previous resistance. Covered @ 39.49 oversold pivot for +$24.

Short ORLY @ 39.44 after a total failure to thrive off that “pivot”. As it made new lows I went to put in a stop near the round number and accidentally left-clicked, effectively covering at market, 39.21, for +$44 (oops). Left a bit behind on that mistake.

Studied trends and breakouts again today, calling three breakouts accurately: AIG above 11.00 earlier in the day, AIG above 11.88 later in the day, and HAR breakout above 20.64.

Called them, but didn’t trade them, because I’m still shy about going long something that’s been hitting highs all day.

It was a beautiful ES day both ways, but I only paper traded, while staying in my comfort zone trading ORLY. All my ES paper trades were profitable except one where I tried to catch the end of a down move like the live trade I did yesterday; not the highest probability trade and resulted in a 2 pt loss. But the rest of the trades were 16 pts in the green, for a net 14 pt day.

I’m not sure why it’s taking me so long to trade live. Took me 6 months to open an IB account; I guess I'm just slow.

I am learning so much each day; nothing beats screen time. Wow!

Looking forward to some futbol, music, hiking and old friends this weekend.

Have a great weekend!

 

[trader_david]

you made pretty progress. trading is about trying and error. do not try to make some opinions about the market. when I read through bighog's observation, I just entered long Es at 872.75, sold it at 875.75, then shorted it at 876.5 and covered it at 873.75. if you think 875 is a support, this will hurt your action. to me, I just reasoned, the session was ending, people started to cover, so the long, then i noticed there is no major news next monday ( a negative signal, so the short)

just do not try to theorize something, do not trust so called resistance or support. market does not have support and resistance. you need know the news schedule, then gauge people's expectation or fear, follow them before the news.

if people are afraid of the report, you will see the market starts to drop before the report, why not short it? if the news comes out with unexpected, you know people starts to cover with frenzy buy, you go long them....

just let you know, there is no support or resistance there. those concepts will make you freeze or hurt your action, that is why you are afraid of chasing AIG today.

 

[NoDoji]

Quote from trader_david:

just let you know, there is no support or resistance there. those concepts will make you freeze or hurt your action, that is why you are afraid of chasing AIG today.

Actually, support and resistance are my holiest grail. The reason I suspected price might break out through resistance yet again even though AIG and HAR had climbed a long way, is because I've seen it happen so many times before (and have pissed away profits top-picking those zones), especially, AND THIS IS KEY, when on the daily chart (30-day) price has pivoted from oversold (like AIG) or has a nice resistance level that begs to be tested (HAR @ 23.38 in June) and people are buying the stock on fundamentally good news (GM out of bankruptcy).

The reason I didn't actually trade these breakouts is because I've only been studying them for a couple months and don't yet have the strongest feel for when they work and when they don't.

So that's my take on S/R. I don't take S/R levels as floors or ceilings; I wait for confirmation, and have seen breakouts and breakdowns enough times to realize now that they are good places to join a trend because stops get triggered from both sides (longs and shorts).

I jotted down my ES paper trades today and here's why I took them:

Rally above 880.00 catches my attention, because it appears overextended, it's Friday and I don't believe there's enough on the table to spark much more upside momentum. Short at 880.00 with a 2 pt stop, covered @ 875.00 because I thought that would provide support from yesterday.

Short @ 878.00 pullback from a lower high, 3 pt stop, covered @ 875.00 again (pivot formed a higher low).

Short @ 873.50 (breakdown through that higher low), covered @ 869.00 from pivot off low because it appeared very oversold there.

Long 872.50 on buying strength off a higher low, sold @ 876.00 trailing a stop after the upsurge.

Short @ 872.50 when price fell rapidly from a slightly lower high, stopped out @ 874.50. This was low probability because price had fallen so far so fast, I was late to the party. :eek:

 

[bighog]

Watching support/resist levels is just that...you WATCH those spots that you assume others are also watching for possible movements. With time we get really good with our "WATCHES" and can pre-enter orders or just watch price action when the level is hit. You will observe increased action at those levels as others are BUYING or SELLING.

The level itself is not what matters, what matters is price itself.........will price attract (regardless of buys or sells to enter or to cover) enough players to cause price to FOLLOW THROUGH. If price follows through you did your job. If price just touches a level and maybe gets a few of the STOP LOSS orders and shows no follow through.........thats your clue to bail out because the odds say it will be a false breakout.

Ok, you went long lets say and price got a few stops and your trade has a small profit but is losing steam...........you want to scratch that trade and continue watching and expect a test of the breakout spot. Observe the same spot as before and if indeed price does not go back below by much , if at all, you are prepared to reenter a tick about the original breakout high because you might have attracted follow through after all.

There are no "GIVENS" in this game. False breakouts are common and trap more traders on the wrong side of a trade than you can imagine. Think of it this way: false breakouts trap others and are setting them up as fuel to cover their butts and provide more power for the follow through if and when it comes.

I personally like to enter a couple few ticks BEFORE a support/resist level on many occasions assuming a TEST of said level is in the cards. That way when the level is at least touched i am a small profit to the good as insurance if it indeed is a false breakout.........it also can provide a little more leeway to watch if price action is going to peter out at or a little above the breakout point. (reverse this for tests of support levels).

Nod, keep up the good work. Your observations regardless of paper trading or not show you are on the right track. ( i can also be a master of understatement at times
)

Agree, time for a nice weekend. have fun, smell the roses.

PS: the KEY ingredient to win at breakout trading is knowing your support/resist levels. I have no magic formula, just a lot of screen time.....i personally am damn proud of KISS in my trading.

 

[NoDoji]

Quote from bighog:

I personally like to enter a couple few ticks BEFORE a support/resist level on many occasions assuming a TEST of said level is in the cards. That way when the level is at least touched i am a small profit to the good as insurance if it indeed is a false breakout.........it also can provide a little more leeway to watch if price action is going to peter out at or a little above the breakout point. (reverse this for tests of support levels).

That is a great idea! I can usually see in the price action and the overall look of the chart when the price is itching to test that level, so seems like little to lose putting on the trade as it approaches.