7/12/11
Gross: +93
Shares: 22,800
Net: -33
July:
Gross: Over +300
Net: About -100
Risk Reward: Just over 3.5
% Winners: Below 25%
-----------------------
The trend continues. I had a great morning. I was up +150 gross by 10 AM. I was up over +270 unrealized at one point. My max realized gross today was +205. Today was supposed to be good.
I closed the day net negative.
I have serious issues. I can't get away from the keys. Most people need a downside breaker built into their software. I need an upside breaker.
-----------------------
1. WWW - Thin stock. Beat earnings but traded lower. Waited for a buy point. Traded WWW twice. Bought at 37.08, sold at 37.58 and 38.45. Can't complain, I knew how far it could go. Second time, I bought on a dip at 38.18, sold at 38.58 and 38.85. Again, no complaints.
2. Gave back all my WWW gains in INFY. I was short under the 61.50 morning level. Since I was short, my mind saw flutters in my direction as potential breakdowns. In fact, the stock was finding support. The slippage killed me. My 1 cent stop became a 23 cent loser. Ouch. It was in play, and it could have broken down, but I had my chance to get out. They began aggressively paying the 50 cent seller. The character had changed, I remained short. I deserved it.
3. Tried buying MCHP a few times. This lame 10% circuit breaker rule is a joke. You know people can't hit the bid to short, and you know that it is a pain to get filled on the offer at good prices. You are only left with longs. Longs in -10% stocks do tend to work well these days. Just gotta find the right price.
4. NVLS - Hah. A bunch of morons were buying this in the morning, making the short side difficult. Eventually, the longs got slammed. I tried shorting through the 32.75 level first. The trade began to work, but came in and stopped everyone out. I decided I'd go after the morning low of 50 cents instead. A 50 cent break would get the larger morons to panic out. Low and behold, that is exactly what happened. I covered near the quarter, as the stock hit the 10% mark, and bids were heavy. It took a while for NVLS to finally break down to 32. I called out the 32 price destination, but the lame 10% rule makes things more difficult.
5. QSFT - Lost over and over in QSFT. I was waiting for that 20 level to break to the upside. Never happened. They were aggressively paying it, especially when the market popped.
6. WM - Shorted WM through morning lows at 36.50. Chart suggested some downside. Trade began to work, I held. After being 12 cents in the money or so, it came back and stopped me out. Target was a quarter.
7. EQR - Bought the EQR breakout up at 63. Target was 50 cents. Market broke to the upside at the time of the breakout. It felt good. It went 35 cents and pulled back all the way near my entry. I added and then I scalped my addition at the quarter. The trade was paid for. EQR did not make a new high and stopped me out for the rest of the position. It stung.
8. KSS - Bought the KSS 56 breakout. Trade began to work. Market heading up. It felt good. It ran 30 cents. People continued to pay up at those levels. I held, my first target was 35 cents. KSS came in, was unable to make a new high, and eventually stopped me out.
EQR and KSS destroyed my mental momentum. I was up 200 gross while in the trades. The trades combined had me +270 or so unrealized. It was becoming slow, it was midday. I was selective all day, I was aware of my profits, I set a max downside from my current levels. Once these two trades stopped me out, my mental strength vanished, and a new trader took the keys.
I began trading midday.
9. Found a setup in ADI. Shorted through 36.50. The setup actually was decent. It put me in the money by about 10-12 cents twice. My target was further down. ADI came in and stopped me out.
10. LRCX - My first "overtrade" of the day. LRCX had no setup. It was a complete hope trade. I shorted through 42 and got stopped out. I tried shorting it on its pop up to the quarter. Again, stopped out. I was forcing a trade that didn't exist.
My losses in QSFT, ADI, KSS and LRCX brought me down to +40. Ouch.
11. Bought DE on the FOMC news, near 82. Sold at 50 and 60 cents.
12. GPRO - Bought GPRO on the FOMC news, as it had a bullish pattern. Got a quarter out of it.
13. I tried buying the dip. I rebought DE way back down at 82. Got stopped out as the market did not bounce. I think everyone got smacked around. Once I realized, "wow, they are going to screw everyone," I began looking for shorts.
14. I shorted CAT at intraday trendline resistance, up at 107.54. It would run 20 cents in my direction, and instantly come back up to the high 40s. The market slowed to the downside. I was expecting a bunch of longs to get screwed, hence I wanted quicker action. I eventually took profits at 36 cents because the market wasn't behaving as I would have liked. Soon after, in the last 10 minutes or whatever, the market got killed, and CAT went to my target of 107. Ouch.
----------------------------------------
I traded a lot of good stuff today. Had some good ideas, I was anticipatory and steps ahead of the market. I stayed in my KSS and EQR longs because the market had broken to the upside. There was potential for good movement. When the market showed it was going to be a pain, I did not take my scalp profits. I ignored the market metacommunications.
Today was another day, that just hurts. I take many setups I like, some work, others don't. I end gross positive, my trading is profitable, but the high commissions slam me.
I had my chance to have a great day, and I blew it, again.
My overtrading was not TERRIBLE today, most of the just was pretty justified. My share count today is largely from getting more size in more things.
Today's problems involved ignoring market metacommunications, and taking irrational position sizes as the day progressed. If you are up 200+ by morning, there is no reason to attack midday or afternoon trades in the same way. You should lose size throughout the day.
-----------------------------
I think an upside limit of sorts would be beneficial, but it scares the hell out of me. I don't want to stop trading at +150 or +200. I push for 300-500 dollar days. I am going to try and get myself away from the computer once I'm up like 200 bucks. I can't keep giving my day away like this. Completely unacceptable. I need to be content with trading well and taking profits. I can't force P&L targets on the market.
We'll see how tomorrow goes... Control yourself ksmetana. You've conquered the game, now you must conquer yourself.
Gross: +93
Shares: 22,800
Net: -33
July:
Gross: Over +300
Net: About -100
Risk Reward: Just over 3.5
% Winners: Below 25%
-----------------------
The trend continues. I had a great morning. I was up +150 gross by 10 AM. I was up over +270 unrealized at one point. My max realized gross today was +205. Today was supposed to be good.
I closed the day net negative.
I have serious issues. I can't get away from the keys. Most people need a downside breaker built into their software. I need an upside breaker.
-----------------------
1. WWW - Thin stock. Beat earnings but traded lower. Waited for a buy point. Traded WWW twice. Bought at 37.08, sold at 37.58 and 38.45. Can't complain, I knew how far it could go. Second time, I bought on a dip at 38.18, sold at 38.58 and 38.85. Again, no complaints.
2. Gave back all my WWW gains in INFY. I was short under the 61.50 morning level. Since I was short, my mind saw flutters in my direction as potential breakdowns. In fact, the stock was finding support. The slippage killed me. My 1 cent stop became a 23 cent loser. Ouch. It was in play, and it could have broken down, but I had my chance to get out. They began aggressively paying the 50 cent seller. The character had changed, I remained short. I deserved it.
3. Tried buying MCHP a few times. This lame 10% circuit breaker rule is a joke. You know people can't hit the bid to short, and you know that it is a pain to get filled on the offer at good prices. You are only left with longs. Longs in -10% stocks do tend to work well these days. Just gotta find the right price.
4. NVLS - Hah. A bunch of morons were buying this in the morning, making the short side difficult. Eventually, the longs got slammed. I tried shorting through the 32.75 level first. The trade began to work, but came in and stopped everyone out. I decided I'd go after the morning low of 50 cents instead. A 50 cent break would get the larger morons to panic out. Low and behold, that is exactly what happened. I covered near the quarter, as the stock hit the 10% mark, and bids were heavy. It took a while for NVLS to finally break down to 32. I called out the 32 price destination, but the lame 10% rule makes things more difficult.
5. QSFT - Lost over and over in QSFT. I was waiting for that 20 level to break to the upside. Never happened. They were aggressively paying it, especially when the market popped.
6. WM - Shorted WM through morning lows at 36.50. Chart suggested some downside. Trade began to work, I held. After being 12 cents in the money or so, it came back and stopped me out. Target was a quarter.
7. EQR - Bought the EQR breakout up at 63. Target was 50 cents. Market broke to the upside at the time of the breakout. It felt good. It went 35 cents and pulled back all the way near my entry. I added and then I scalped my addition at the quarter. The trade was paid for. EQR did not make a new high and stopped me out for the rest of the position. It stung.
8. KSS - Bought the KSS 56 breakout. Trade began to work. Market heading up. It felt good. It ran 30 cents. People continued to pay up at those levels. I held, my first target was 35 cents. KSS came in, was unable to make a new high, and eventually stopped me out.
EQR and KSS destroyed my mental momentum. I was up 200 gross while in the trades. The trades combined had me +270 or so unrealized. It was becoming slow, it was midday. I was selective all day, I was aware of my profits, I set a max downside from my current levels. Once these two trades stopped me out, my mental strength vanished, and a new trader took the keys.
I began trading midday.
9. Found a setup in ADI. Shorted through 36.50. The setup actually was decent. It put me in the money by about 10-12 cents twice. My target was further down. ADI came in and stopped me out.
10. LRCX - My first "overtrade" of the day. LRCX had no setup. It was a complete hope trade. I shorted through 42 and got stopped out. I tried shorting it on its pop up to the quarter. Again, stopped out. I was forcing a trade that didn't exist.
My losses in QSFT, ADI, KSS and LRCX brought me down to +40. Ouch.
11. Bought DE on the FOMC news, near 82. Sold at 50 and 60 cents.
12. GPRO - Bought GPRO on the FOMC news, as it had a bullish pattern. Got a quarter out of it.
13. I tried buying the dip. I rebought DE way back down at 82. Got stopped out as the market did not bounce. I think everyone got smacked around. Once I realized, "wow, they are going to screw everyone," I began looking for shorts.
14. I shorted CAT at intraday trendline resistance, up at 107.54. It would run 20 cents in my direction, and instantly come back up to the high 40s. The market slowed to the downside. I was expecting a bunch of longs to get screwed, hence I wanted quicker action. I eventually took profits at 36 cents because the market wasn't behaving as I would have liked. Soon after, in the last 10 minutes or whatever, the market got killed, and CAT went to my target of 107. Ouch.
----------------------------------------
I traded a lot of good stuff today. Had some good ideas, I was anticipatory and steps ahead of the market. I stayed in my KSS and EQR longs because the market had broken to the upside. There was potential for good movement. When the market showed it was going to be a pain, I did not take my scalp profits. I ignored the market metacommunications.
Today was another day, that just hurts. I take many setups I like, some work, others don't. I end gross positive, my trading is profitable, but the high commissions slam me.
I had my chance to have a great day, and I blew it, again.
My overtrading was not TERRIBLE today, most of the just was pretty justified. My share count today is largely from getting more size in more things.
Today's problems involved ignoring market metacommunications, and taking irrational position sizes as the day progressed. If you are up 200+ by morning, there is no reason to attack midday or afternoon trades in the same way. You should lose size throughout the day.
-----------------------------
I think an upside limit of sorts would be beneficial, but it scares the hell out of me. I don't want to stop trading at +150 or +200. I push for 300-500 dollar days. I am going to try and get myself away from the computer once I'm up like 200 bucks. I can't keep giving my day away like this. Completely unacceptable. I need to be content with trading well and taking profits. I can't force P&L targets on the market.
We'll see how tomorrow goes... Control yourself ksmetana. You've conquered the game, now you must conquer yourself.