PropTrader - Daily exploits

Looks like I encountered the new "alternative up-tick rule" yesterday. As I said in my journal I shorted YRCW on the open after the halt. I tried to add to my position but every time I tried to hit it wouldn't let me and just re-posted my order 1c above. I thought at the time that it must have been a platform problem or quote problem but no... new rules! btw I think I only got my initial shares as my order must have been hit after it posted to the offer.

So just be aware of this... I heard nothing of it prior to reading this post (http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3108829#post3108829)

To be honest I really disagree with this rule... what about this sort of rule for the upside? huh? Stinks of stupid "Cramer perma-bull" "shorting is un-American" crap. Letting the price of a security go where demand and supply wants to take it to is the most important thing...
 
Quote from PropTraderMTL:

Looks like I encountered the new "alternative up-tick rule" yesterday. As I said in my journal I shorted YRCW on the open after the halt. I tried to add to my position but every time I tried to hit it wouldn't let me and just re-posted my order 1c above. I thought at the time that it must have been a platform problem or quote problem but no... new rules! btw I think I only got my initial shares as my order must have been hit after it posted to the offer.

So just be aware of this... I heard nothing of it prior to reading this post (http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3108829#post3108829)

To be honest I really disagree with this rule... what about this sort of rule for the upside? huh? Stinks of stupid "Cramer perma-bull" "shorting is un-American" crap. Letting the price of a security go where demand and supply wants to take it to is the most important thing...
More...

My guess is they don't want to bring back the uptick given all the HFT algos running the volume these days, and without the uptick a large player could just keep slamming the bid on a liquid stock which would flush out the stops, which is exactly what they did during the financial crisis of '08, so they set an arbitrary amount to halt the short sellers at 10%. One thing which may benefit traders is to perhaps take advantage of a snap back rally if the gap down at the open is too great, given that the shorts would be restricted beyond the 10% amount. Not sure what happens the following day though, is it just for that ONE day?
 
Quote from ScalperJoe:

My guess is they don't want to bring back the uptick given all the HFT algos running the volume these days, and without the uptick a large player could just keep slamming the bid on a liquid stock which would flush out the stops, which is exactly what they did during the financial crisis of '08, so they set an arbitrary amount to halt the short sellers at 10%. One thing which may benefit traders is to perhaps take advantage of a snap back rally if the gap down at the open is too great, given that the shorts would be restricted beyond the 10% amount. Not sure what happens the following day though, is it just for that ONE day?
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Yeah maybe more opportunities to short the pop but the thing is ... the move is ALWAYS better with no pop... no opportunity for longs to get out or shorts to be squeezed... That's been my experience anyway. The bounce at the end is then big but the ride down is fun.

Whats happenings the next day?? ....According to the post if the rule gets implemented TODAY it stays in force until the end of trade TOMORROW!
 
What a boring day, I guess it was to be expected after yesterday.

Found myself down $400 in the morning, $200 on XLF and the rest spread out on a few stocks.

ALU made a big move higher on volume which I really missed. I saw it @ 4.90 but just didn't want to buy it. My bad. Ended up shorting it on the way down @ $5.02 and adding @ $5.00. I had 8k and it almost put me to sleep. The market took a big sh!t (relative) and ALU did nothing... eventually it went down. Covered 3k @ $4.95 and then the remaining 5k @ $4.97. That trade put me slightly positive for the day. I really felt that I should have reversed my position but again... I couldn't bring myself to do it. If you have a lot at the chart I would have cleaned up as it went up to $5.24 at the end of the day.

It turns out I got the only pull back in it all day. Lucky but I guess that gives me comfort in some sense that I was able to take this trade. What annoys me is the fact I didn't take any longs. Real pussy.

Nothing much else. Couple of little trades led me to be down $peanuts at the end of the day. I consider it a save of $400 rather then a loss of $30. I'm always happy when I can do this. It is a reminder of how quickly this market can die movement wise.

Date: 02/03/2011
Net P&L: ($30)
Month Balance: +$400
 
The gap up today took much of the opportunity out of this market. So I just looked around for what was active.

I spotted BPAX in the pre-market. It was well above the close of yesterday and also looked like the $2.50 level could be taken out. I took 1k position around $2.32 and then added to it on the way up... no idea what my average was. I added at $2.50 but there was no follow through as it could only get up to $2.54ish. I hit out at $2.49. +$200.

I tried buying the pull back in anticipation of a re-test of the $2.50 level. Average of $2.41 with 1.5k. Technical difficulties meant that I didn't have the ability to watch the position and could only phone in the order. When the system was back up it was down at $2.28. Decided to hold and added another 1k @ 2.30. I very rarely ever add to a trade that has gone against me but I reduced my out to the low of the day and it meant I would be basically flat on the symbol for the day if it took out the lows. Managed to get out on a pop up to $2.35... I was lucky as it turned out to be the high. Lost like $60 on the trade.

Missed the move down on JASO, don't normally watch this stock so I didn't know about it until a fellow trader saw it. Too late to go short as it was low .90s at the time. I waited for a decent base to form in the .90s. I built a position around .91-.94. Had 3k and waited for it to make a move. My out was .90. If you look at the chart it really should not have gone back down there unless it was going to go lower. Waited patiently. I added 1k @ $?.00 and got out around $?.03 and .04. It later made a move a bit higher but I was very happy with my trade. +$300 (after taking a small loss of $50 testing a long).

Didn't really take anything else. Small trade on FFIV short on the VG rumour from UBS (last time I ever listen to UBS ahahhaa... criminals. As I seem to remember they cost me $$ on Visa 2 months ago). Small trade on AIG. Both basically cancelled each other out.

Didn't trade anything in the afternoon. Tiny volume traded for me today... 37k in total.

A green day makes the save yesterday (after being down $400) even more important. Maybe I won't be flat at the middle of the month like I was in Feb hahahaha... not counting any chickens though.

Happy with the trades I took and my patience with positions.

Date: 03/03/2011
Net P&L: +$450
Month Balance: +$800
 
What a nice trading day today and somehow I stuffed it up. I think I can put it down to coming in with a bias. I always try not to do this however today when the employment numbers came in right on the mark I thought nothing was going to happen. Since I thought nothing was going to happen I ignored the move in the morning. Missed it all. Real idiot move.

Instead I traded some stupid stock aptly named HERO... well it wasn't. After breaking out in the morning (I had 2k @ $6.11) up to $6.29 (I got 1k out @ $6.27) it then proceeded to pull all the way back and this positive trade become a flat when it broke down below $6.05 after adding a little in the low teens.

Caught a nice move with 3k @ $5.89 up to $6.02 to put me positive $350 on the stock.

At that stage I was back to flat after taking small loss on C, DPTR (got in too late with the long) and ALU (I have no idea how I lost on this ugggghh).

Couple of positive trades in RIMM & JOE were cancelled out by BAC and AMD.

So I was flat leading into the last 30mins. Then I got short the XLF expecting a break down at the end. WOW, big mistake! We rallied hard at the end and I took my medicine... down $400 on that trade.

I was gross flat but down $450 after fees. Horrible day and besides the lessons it is one to forget very quickly.

Lessons
- Don't come in with a bias... even if the bias is towards no movement.
- When the market starts moving jump on market stocks such as XLF and play the trend.
- Don't get caught up with the end of day Friday trading as it's tough to predict.

Very frustrating day personally. It was not the amount I lost it was that I should have made a killing!

I will get over it quickly but it's just annoying at the moment.... VENT VENT VENT etc etc etc

**SIGH**

Date: 04/03/2011
Net P&L: ($450)
Month Balance: +$400
 
If Friday was frustrating well today was the same x3!!! This should have been a really good day. I even took the trades but got shaken out.

AMD - This is the culprit of my frustration. I have attached a chart for you to have a look at it and see where I got shaken out. I took size and got shaken out of the position. I had 10k short in AMD... took a loss of $200-300. The trade would have made min $2k to max around $3.5k if held... it was an easy trend down and no pops after the shake out that got me. I'm happy I took size. The stock does what it does... the only thing I can control is my size, entries and exits. I'm disappointed I didn't short again but I was not in the right frame of mind to take the trade again. In summary the trade was $5k @ $7.15 added on a bounce @ $7.08-09 area... average price around $7.13ish with 10k exit $7.16. You can see on the chart my entries/exits. It popped all the way to $7.19... outside my comfort zone and way more then I expected the pop to be. ($190 after making a little back later)

HERO - Missed the break down in the morning. It really puked and was an easy trade short @ $5.85 level. Ended up picking a bottom... not something that I like to do but I did it with small size 2k and got a nice 10c bounce. Then shorted after the pop died down. Made another 10-15c with 1k on the way back down. +$270 on symbol for the day.

ALU - This was a nice trade. Shorted $5.66 for 4k. The HFT played pass the parcel for a while and I just sat tight. It never went against me. It went down to $5.60. I covered 2k of the 4k. But then was like... no, stuff you... this is a bigger trade!! So I took back the 2k at the same price and took an extra 1k for added measure. In total I took this 5k $5.65 (average) and covered it @ $5.53. +$600 on the trade.

Lost a bit ($135) in the afternoon on an LVS trade. Very stupid and I will avoid the afternoon trade all together going forward. I rarely make any $$ in the afternoon and very commonly give back a chunk. I also lost on a imbalance... stupid trading.... ($170)

So overall I'm happy with sizing up especially AMD and holding the 5k on ALU. The frustrating this is this should have been a $2-3k day but ended up with less then I lost on Friday. Sad but very optimistic about the future!!!

Date: 07/03/2011
Net P&L: $280
Month Balance: +$680
 

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Seems like the majority of your trades involve stocks under $10, any particular reason for this? Is it just for the greater percentage moves you tend you get, or limited buying power?
 
Quote from ksmetana:

Seems like the majority of your trades involve stocks under $10, any particular reason for this? Is it just for the greater percentage moves you tend you get, or limited buying power?
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I guess it's what I learned on and I'm comfortable trading. I have branched out in the past 6months or so but yeah the majority are lower value stocks.

My main reason for sticking to these type of stocks is that I find the slippage in the higher value stocks is too great for me. By this I mean... I'm short and I want to cover if a large offer is hit... In the fast moving stocks the speed with which this happens is too quick and sometimes I miss an entry or exit. The amount you can lose on these is quite large sometimes. I don't trust stops at all and never use them. Not sure if I explained myself clearly but I find there is less slippage. The fees are more of a problem with lower value stocks but I prefer losing 1/3 of a cent rather then missing an exit.

No problem with buying power. I have something like $2million buying power so the size I'm trading at the moment I never have a problem with it. If I require more then I only need to ask.... that's a benefit of trading the firms $$
 
Not going to spend much time updating my journal today.

Was down $400 at one point with failed shorts on ALU ($135) and BKCC ($40) and failed long on EGHT ($50) and AAI ($80)

The $400 also included a $120 loss on CSR. I then took a great trade on CSR... I waited for the moving average to converge and a move to be expected. It was sitting @ $5.14-.15 with a big offer @ $5.15. When it got taken I took 2.5k @ $5.16. It quickly ran up and made a new high by 1 tick @ 5.28.

It then proceeded to come all the way back. I added on the pull back an extra 500 shares and left me with 3k @ $5.17. It literally came back to $5.17 exactly and then turned around and proceeded to break highs. I ended up getting it all out @ $5.32. Very happy with the way I traded this position. +$450 on the trade.

Took one small short on the XLF trying to get a break down and gave up. This market is such a snore in the afternoons. Like I said didn't enter any new trades past 2pm. Something to stick to for the moment I think. Also I should go back to avoiding the first hour even on news stocks.

I consider today a save of $400 rather then a flat... so couldn't be happier


Date: 08/03/2011
Net P&L: $flat
Month Balance: +$680
 
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