Surprisingly easy as pie game on what should have been a very tough day. Market just ran hard on light volume and almost everything was tradable. I stopped at 11:30 and watched market ran up 60 points and did not take a single position during the run. Still a solid game but it was a lackluster effort as I missed some critical plays that would have made this my best game of the month, 4200 shares on 4 of 7 shooting, +1028 before commissions, +834 after, 1 bullet.
Pre-Market: Felt like a ghost town, but the Russia production cut on oil was far below what OPEC was looking for, and at first it seemed to be negative news, but a cut is a cut and I expected an oil rally, but I misjudged the strength of the move and really sold myself short. A batch of downgrades on drugs
9:30: Felt like the dead zone, with very low volume, and each BID and ASK felt like thin ice. DRG seemed to be the most vulnerable (actually energy was weak too but I wanted to go long in it), bulleted AGN and he had a big buyer at 76.05 not showing the true size, eventually the offer at 76.06 was hit and I flipped, and made 15 cents on the long side, then the stock ran up 1 point. I need to be willing to hold on to something like this, he was extremely strong when DRG tanked and as soon as DRG came back I should have bought more. Took some LM on XBD strength for 60 cents, again, missed the second leg up. CEX strength, took some EMN and here is how the lack of liquidity can kill you, I picked it up at 38.45 and the BID was hit, in just a few prints he went to 38 and I took a 50 cents loss. Took a little bit LOW on RLX strength but the futures looked life less so got out for flat and missed a half point move.
10:17: Our primary order entry went down and I had to use the backup software which I am not very proficient with. Started to sense an energy bottom and eventually bought EOG, EPG, AHC, and missed the fills on a few critical plays, scored 50-70 cents a piece but left at least 30-40 cents a piece on the table, I was too aggressive with stops and on a light volume day like today it doesn't take much volume to push stuff up.
11:30: The "dead zone" turned out to be a big rally, and I did not do anything, I can't be happy with $800, I need to push myself a little harder when I am in the money, would have easily made this a four digit game.
Swept the week 4 and 0 with $1700, can't wait for Monday . . .
Candle:
Back in March/April I was trading much bigger positions, and at the time there were many hidden flaws in my game bailed out by a very high volatility market. In April I opened the month with 12K in less than two weeks, then took a serious hit as I lost 10 out of that 12K. Then I continued the slide for the first half of May, when I was getting blown out, before I cut my size down significantly and ended the month down a few hundred dollars.
In the depth of my heart there is something wrong, I can't tell what it is but every time I see something good I always make an excuse to take a half lot, then the stock would go up 20-30 cents and I would refuse to pyramid into a full lot.
Along with the inability to hold on to winners, this is the biggest weakness in my game right now, for some reason there is fear in my blood despite of the recent winning streak, is it a lack of confidence in my calls? I do know that I have been shooting a very high percentage this month, and I should be having a much bigger month (see today's game versus SBK for example, I would bet he traded more shares than me and that was the difference of the game, and of course, the big hit I took in EMN, and there is just no excuse for someone like me to go lighter than someone who has been trading for just a few months, SBK if you are reading this, great game!).
This is precisely why everyday I tell myself that I can not be happy with what I have and I need to push up the size, but at gun point I end up taking 500 instead of 1000 shares to "test the water", turns out to be a great shot and then I pack $250 instead of $500 on a half point move . . .
I can't fully explain it, it is a weakness in my character to be conservative, but I must overcome it.
Silk:
I didn't realize you have 3 year's full time trading experience on your belt, with a few grand's worth of capital contribution (believe me a lot of people start with little to no capital, I started with only one grand and no experience), you are a walking ATM machine for the firm, guaranteed money with zero risk, you should ask for as much as possible.
