So Cal Prop Trader

5/10/11
Gross: -305
Shares: 6716
Net: -342

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First day since I began trading where I reached my max set daily stop loss. Everything I touched stopped me out. Trades that began to work snapped back hard. I was in the money nicely on several trades, only to have the price snap back and stop me out.

That being said, I ignored the market's metacommunications and focused on letting the trades reach my targets. I hate scalping, but if the market tells you to, don't ignore it.

Today was my biggest losing day yet. Not happy about it at all. I liked a good number of my trades. They just performed terribly. I did not scale out at all.

Many of the trades ended up producing the moves I wanted, but only after jigging me out.

It is now 1 pm eastern and I'm locked out of the software.

I found good trades, and I'm not entirely sure how to feel about it all. I know I ignored market metacommunications, but I also made an attempt to let targets be reached. I did not scale out at all. I was looking to produce only home runs, and that may have been my problem.

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Notable Trades:

1. DIOD - DIOD was my biggest loser of the day. Gapped lower on earnings. Buyer at 31.60 held it up for a bit in the morning. I shorted as he left. I had 300 shares. The trade immediately began to work and I felt pretty good about it. It made a quick move to 31.25. My target was the whole, 31. The stock snapped back to my entry. I did not have a stop set. I could have limited my losses on this one. However, I felt the trade had potential, and I knew a lame 'thin stock' jig could occur. Ouch. Went much further against me than I would have liked. Got stopped out around 90 cents. Later, the stock made its move lower. I did stick with the stock. I tried shorting it again when it showed a similar pattern later. Again, it produced a jig. Finally, after I was out, the jigging was done and the stock went. God damn it.

2. NOG - Another one of my frustrating trades today. Stock was not trending. Gapped up, sold off, bounced, sold off, bounced. I was watching it because of how volatile it was. I felt this stock would eventually pick a direction. My bias was to the short side. At about 11AM a lot of downside sweeping came in, along with sellers on the ask price. I shorted in the mid 20.40s, I had 500 as I had a level 2 situation in my favor and I only had to risk like 6 cents. The OIH began to come off hard and gave the trade energy. A buyer was soaking up shares as it fell every 10 cents or so. Yet, there was still intense sweeping and upside sweeping got it nowhere. The stock pushed down to 20.15. In my mind, I was alright with exiting at this price, though with the OIH coming off and the aggressive selling, I felt this could make a push to the whole or lows. I held. The stock almost instantly gave back the entire move. Price came all the way back to my entry. It tried to push down again but couldn't do it. OIH began to bounce. The market told me this trade was done. I honored my stop. And lost a little more than I would have liked due to slippage.

I knew I should have flipped NOG because a lot of people were short and that baller ARCA buyer was going to make a killing. Trade with the whales, not against them. Opted not to flip NOG due to my irritation with the day's trading performance.

3. MR - Yet another frustrating stock today. MR set up a nice bull flag intraday. I was in after it took out size at 30.05. I had 400. The price came in and produced a flush. I had no stop set so I did not get stopped out at this point. It was a bit scary though. The price went to the quarter. The trade felt good as 30 held for quite some time. A pesky ARCA seller was selling all over the place but the price still held. There was a lot of buying. Larger bids began to come in. The trade looked good. However, the ARCA seller held this thing down below 25 cents for so long. Eventually, it broke below 30 and this time I was stopped out. However, if I had my stop near the initial flush low, I wouldn't have gotten stopped out. MR finally made the 50 cent move I was looking for. God damn it.

4. There was a setup in MED. I didn't get to trade it because I was stopped out for the day, but right now the trade is working. However, it flushed after it broke 23.50. I probably would have gotten size, and then gotten stopped out. Sloppy crap today.

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Those are the only trades that really need to be discussed today. It was a perfect storm of good looking trades gone bad, combined with a bit of market ignorance and unwillingness to accept a scalp.

I am not happy at all about today. For the month I am now flat.

But I know that opportunities will come and I just need to wait for them and not give up. I had a really great day just days ago, and today I had a terrible day. I do not like that I let myself lose $300 gross, it is very, very uncharacteristic of me.

Trust your instincts, not every trade is going to be a home run. If the trade character changes, don't sit there and hope that honoring your stops will turn it into a winner. You are better than that.
 

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5/12/11
Gross: +104
Shares: 5800
Net: +72

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1. Shorted OAS this morning. 300 just above 26. Covered in the mid 60s. I figured some support could exist near the 200 day. I covered and kept watching it to see if it could make a new low after congestion. It bounced. Decent outs.

2. Lost a bit in MON. The agricultural names were selling off, along with other commodity-like names. Shorted 200 MON, 100 at 63.45, another 100 at 63.69. Ag names pulled a full reversal, stopping me out. I initially wanted to play POT and MOS but I hesitated. Those would have been 50 cent trades. I ended up in the laggard. MON never trades well with the group.

3. Shorted SFSF up near 34. It was out of play I didn't feel it was going to breakout. Covered half at 86 cents and another half at 75 cents. Good enough for me.

4. Shorted AGCO at 52.42. Looked like it was going to have a late day sell off. I really liked that it only bounced to the 2-min 10 period. I wanted to get more of this, but I did not. I covered at 20 cents. An extra 100 shares would have allowed me to reach my target at 52.

5. Did some trading in PNSN via bounce plays. Couldn't get the move I was looking for.

6. Lost a bit in GS buying near highs of a bounce rather than a pullback.

7. Did some small scalping in silver today.

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Overall, I could have traded better. Definitely not an aggressive type of day for me. The short - long flip in the morning had me guessing what could come next. Should have just used the dollar as my guide.

I trade tomorrow. I'll have to focus on the metals, since they're in play. I'll watch GS as well. Not a long of earnings plays to watch. I'll also continue to watch PNSN for a bounce.

Not a very eventful day, couldn't find anything to comfortably get big in.
 

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5/17/11
Gross: -262
Shares: 6600
Net: -298

May:
Gross: +38
Net: -229

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An absolutely disgusting morning. More huge moves against me. Did not set stops. I can't believe I these things run as far as they did.

I am trading with no edge. I have lost my market feel due to my increased workload at job #2 and my reduction in trading days. Earnings season is dying out and it is difficult to maintain the patience required to not trade. I feel have to force the issue due to my lame ass trading schedule.

Had a rough morning which impacted the rest of the day. Rough morning caused by letting losers run way too far. Furthermore, I took trades with no actual setup, just hope that momentum would continue. Completely uncharacteristic of me. In that regard, there seems to be a pattern forming.

My lack of sleep and market disconnect is impacting my trading abilities.

I am very discouraged by my recent performance. I had one of my better stretches of days, and now my worst stretch of days. Typical.

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1. Shorted 100 CTRP this morning on its pop at 44, and added at 44.57. Stopped out at 63 cents, the top print. LOL. Aren't I just the worst. Trade immediately worked as I got stopped out. That being said, I went for an idea that worked. Looking back, this is not a setup I normally take. I felt forced to due to the lack of stocks on my watchlist. However, I have found a new way to find active stocks, so I won't press the the issue as much in the next coming days.

2. Shorted TJX in the morning at 52.32, 27 and 46. It looked like it was gearing up to break down. THWACK. Huge green bar against me. Stopped out at 68 cents. First 2 trades of the day = Gross - 166. I am terrible after terrible mornings.

3. Went for shorts in CAT and DE. They both had downside on the charts. Market decided to bounce rather than trend down. Not upset with these trades. Especially CAT which had an interesting level 2 situation going on.

4. Bought FWRD as it bounced off 32.50. It made it above 75 cents. I wanted to hold to 33. 75 was definitely an initial target according to the charts. However, it wasn't enough to appease my appetite. I paid the price and got stopped out.

5. Tried trading MAKO today. I knew the 26 area was a buy, but those sweeps down were not fun to watch. Could have made a killing in MAKO.

6. Missed the TJX sell off at the end of the day. A backtested trade of mine and I chose not to take it because of my P&L.

7. Missed the late day breach of 44 in CTRP. Did not take the trade due to P&L woes.

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As you can see, I had a rough morning, my own fault really. I could live with CTRP, but TJX stung the most. I could have kept my losses muuccchhh lower.

Also, I had opportunities to make money back. Late day TJX selloff, CTRP 44, FWRD scalp, oh and I forgot to mention.... HEWLETT PACKARD. The 36 buy and the 37 short.

Terrible.

Hopefully I can get my act together tomorrow. I'm going to try and get to bed on time tonight.

298 down day is unacceptable while never holding more than 300 shares.

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Attachments

I will make a return to trading on Tuesday... I was incredibly upset with my performance in my last session. I felt like a loose cannon, giving no respect to my typical risk management techniques.

Going to ramp up selectivity. All it takes is one good trade to make your day, even week. Wait for the prime opportunities and attack them.
 
5/24/11
Gross: +62
Shares: 7400
Net: +21

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Started off the day with a few losing trades. Then had a few winners. My gross P&L high was only $89. Definitely COULD have had a better day. I did not want to come in and get huge in anything, as I don't have a market feel right now. I basically stuck to my watchlists and waited. I saw that gap up in silver and I should have bought, oh well.

1. Shorted 400 QLGC betwen 16 and 16.05 in the morning. Covered in the low 80s as it began to bounce. It lost energy down there, decided to take profits and I'm fine with getting out there. I tried shorting again later in the day as it made a fresh low via the 75 cent break. Wanted a nice move, didn't come until after the jig. So be it.

2. I traded MDT a bit today. Apparently, I bought some near 40.20 this morning... I think I recall aggressive buying, it seemed like the stock was going to bounce. Well I sold as it broke a bulk of buyers. I shorted MDT as it broke 40. I knew this thing had a lot of buyers. If it were to hold below 40 it would develop nicely. Didn't happen. Opted not to flip the thing because I wasn't happy with how it was trading.

3. Bought TEU from a seller at 10.80. Scalped up near 90 cents.

4. Tried trading RVI today. Always know what you're trading. In the morning, I had no idea RVI was directly correlated to DSW. Woops! Tried the 22 breakout, no dice. The box was not pretty, this trade could have been avoided.

5. RLD presented some very nice opportunities today. I regret not getting bigger in this. At the time, I was not happy with the day's trading. Shorted 200 at 29. Covered at 61 and 53 cents. I did not flip as large volume blasted it back up above 29. I did not flip as it held 29. I definitely should have. The news in this thing was not big enough to warrant the sell off. I figured it could pull midday reversal. Anyway, I reshorted RLD at 29.64 as a seller presented at 70 cents. Covered at 30 cents.... why? Well I knew it had a decent chance at 29, though I knew it would produce a higher low. I wanted to make sure I took outs. I still got a 5:1 ratio in it.

6. I was buying PWRD at 26. It would break 26, look good, then the seller would slam it back. The first time he did this, he produced a jig that stopped me out. The next 2 or 3 times the 90s held. I decided I'd wait for this thing to break and hold above 26 for a few minutes. It finally did and I bought 10s. Got out of half at 42 cents and I held the rest hoping for a push to highs. I should have tightened my stop on the 2nd half. Got stopped out below 99 cents on the 2nd half.

7. I was buying SAFM down at 45 simply because I couldn't short it. It looked like it wanted to break down. I was planning on a simple 10 cent move from the whole. I missed my outs twice. Heavy selling tried to break the buyer at 45. I got out at 45 to avoid a flush. Amazingly, the 45 buyer held. The stock bounced 30 cents. Ah hell.

8. Had a few small losers in attempting to grind out the afternoon. I could have easily stopped and closed a bit higher net, but $60? $20? who cares, I am looking for $300+ positive days.

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So I have a new scanner for finding active stocks, making me feel pretty good. Now that I know I have access to more opportunities, I won't be as eager to trade.

I'd say that my only regret for the day was not attacking the hell out of RLD. RLD had a seller at the whole and he lowered twice. I should have been huge in that.

I will be trading again on Thursday and Friday.
My primary goal is to manage my risk. In the last 7 trading days I had a -250 day, and two -300 days. Completely out of character. I have finished gross positive every month since I began and there is no reason to break that trend this month. Manage your risk ksmetana

I feel I now have a good idea about where the market is. I was right about it stalling up here, couldn't even hit 1400.
Though, I feel the dip this selloff produces should be bought. I'll be putting my 401k back in the market if we get a push down to 1200-1250. I'm hoping we break below 1250, though, unless something happens, we probably hold the 1300 area and trade sideways until fall.

I'm glad silver came off, I think the silver story is complete BS and I laugh at anyone buying those highs.
 

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5/26/11
Gross: -120
Shares: 8800
Net: -168

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Yet another sloppy trading day for ksmetana. Being away from the market, and only trading 3 days a week really has me out of practice. I get pounded in the morning and "remember" what I'm supposed to be doing.

Today, I was down as much as $255 gross. I waited for trades, and grinded it down to $120.

This is definitely my weakest month. Which is just swell, as it comes after my best month. I'm not sure why I allow myself to screw up so bad in the mornings, self sabotage perhaps.

Anyway,


1. I was shorting CSC today up at 40!!! It began to work. I made a killing in CSC the last time around. It came in, and ran 20 or more cents above 40, stopping me out. Then of course, it became the trade of the day. I attempted to catch the bottom a few times, ended up not getting it. Yikes.
2. Bought some SMTC in the morning, near 29.25. Potential bull flag. It turned south and stopped me out.
3. Messed around in today's IPOs, FSL and LPR, got ripped in both.
4. Could have just traded NTAP today and done well. It is pretty much the only decently trending stock I found out there. I traded CTXS as a cloud sympathy, buying at around 84 as it consolidated. Got a push up to 45 cents.
5. Failed TSLA breakout
6. Shorted CBST as the buyer holding it at 39 was eliminated. I was really hoping for a full point reversal. I covered half down by 50 cents. It remained weak. I re-added as it failed to bounce past 60 cents. CBST couldn't make another leg down. Ended up getting stopped out with less profits that I could have had. I've learned this lesson before, get your shares at the best price possible. Only add when you have something structural in the level 2.
7. Shorted HOT up at 61.07 as it began to fall. Caught the top, though I covered way too early and I knew I was covering early, but I decided I need the money.
8. Shorted some CRI after its afternoon initial leg down. Shorted at 32.40 and 32.37. The stock was dead, but it wasn't bouncing. It began to trickle down. I covered at 26 cents, not expecting much more. I should have waited for afternoon volume because it made the move the daily said it should have.
9. Various other stabs at things

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Today offered a few decent trades. Just another sloppy day w/ decision making. Really amateur stuff that I'm not proud of. I really need to sit back and control my hands. Wait for nice setups and attack. I should only be trading 500 shares or more. Anything less and I shouldn't bother. That should be my indicator of when to get in.

Tomorrow is another day...
 
5/31/11

Gross: -154
Shares: 8200
Net: -199

Month Gross: -173
Month Net: -574


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Swweeeeet way to end the month. Market is absolutely dead right now, guess I'll go home early.

Once again dabbled in the morning. Lost money with a NVDA long near the open, and got jigged out of my AGU short. The AGU short worked of course and I felt my timing was decent, AGU had one lame bounce.

Lost more money in ASH. Shorted ASH at 67. Wanted to hold for at least 50 cents, it went 40. Came in and stopped me out. I did not flip. Grrrrr.

Grinded out some oil trades, following the trend, shorting bounces and buying dips.

Shorted some CSC up near 40.10. Combined with the oil trades, I cut my losses down.

Lost some money in TCO, an absolutely dead stock with a "setup." Pretty much the only thing I could find that "looked" good.

Anyway, the mornings have been tearing me up, the action has little conviction and energy. Terrible May after a good April. I expect the action to only get worse.

Take profits sooner than you'd like.

I've been hoping to speed things up. My May goal was to get my first $1000 day... Now I feel I need to slow things down, this crap can't continue.

And so in June, I'm going to focus on selectivity and taking profits. Good opportunities will become more and more rare. Mediocre ones will be all over.

I'm just glad May is over, May was my first gross negative month.
 

Attachments

6/1/11

Gross: +324
Shares: 13,800
Net: +248

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Had a fantastic day and then gave wayyyy too much back in the last 20 minutes. I was over +400 gross. I played the ANR imbalance, loaded short. The price went against me a bit too far. Covered my position. Meanwhile, my GDX bounce play went against me while I was distracted. These two trades brought a terrible end to an otherwise fantastic day.

Today could have easily been my first $1000 day. It was very clear the market would trend lower and close at lows from the beginning of the day. Though, due to the recent BS market performance, I was in piker mode.

There were a ton of really good opportunities.

I made most of my money today trading the cloud space. They were in play from the open, and got another boost of action on the JNPR news. These were correlation trades. I am not going to go through them all, it would take too long.

In the morning, I bought ARUN as it was lagging the push up. I sold as the cloud names began to slow down their upward momentum.

Near the top, I shorted RHT. Definitely should have held that longer. I was short RHT when the economic data came out. I knew today had more downside, but still took outs.

Taking outs was a priority for me today, I did not want to give anything back as in previous days. Though, in a day like today, it is important to recognize the change in market behavior and step up. I have been through this before, and I did not step up. Though, I am glad to start off June with a nice day, and I'd love to see more multi-sector market action in the coming days.

Made some money trading JOSB as it bounced off lows up to 50.

Made some money shorting SEE at 25. Wish I kept watching it for the late day break down, but there was a lot going on.

TROW - What a pain. I felt this would be a good stock to short. I was shorting in the 60.60s and it went further against me than I would have liked. I will admit I was too early. Should have waited for the better setup which came later.

DG - I tried shorting DG several times near 32.50 hoping for a move to lows. Each time I had to scalp because momentum faded. Eventually I got fed up with the thing and moved on. Of course, it eventually went.

I played the JNPR news through JNPR itself and APKT. I got a bounce out of APKT as JNPR bounced. I shorted JNPR up near 34 as it bounced. I then flipped JNPR at 33.50. Wanted to reshort again back up at 34 but couldn't get filled.

I regret not getting bigger in JNPR, I was in the zone all day today. I made a lot of great calls.

Though, my biggest mistake today was in ETN. ETN provided a badass setup at 50. I went short believing the seller would hold. He did. With my stop above the seller and my first target at 60 cents, all I had to do was chill out. ETN had trouble in the 80s. I was so intent on locking in profits, I covered on a stupid flicker to the mid-upper 80s. Later ETN went over 50 cents! I had absolutely no reason to exit before my target. Man, what an incredible setup. 5 min 10 period caught up to back up the seller. I should have been maxed out.

My last 3 trades of the day were losers and cut my P&L down by like $100. Not happy about it. Lost money in the ANR imbalance (which worked like a gdamn charm in the final 20 seconds), and lost money not paying attention to my GDX position.

Also lost a little in APKT. I was buying up at 73 looking for a break and a bounce. Stupid idea with the market at lows. It was a sick short. I made the wrong decision.


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Overall, today was a day trading paradise and I should have knocked this one out of the park. It was good to have a positive day. I focused on not letting profits slip away. I got a good morning start, which helped the rest of my day.

If I had traded ETN as I intended to when I entered, today would have been my best trading day to date. 400 shares from 50, cover half at 60 cents, half on the 50 break. 500+ day. Damn. In fact, I believe this was my largest position of the day BECAUSE of the beautiful setup. There was no reason to bail on it.
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Tomorrow:
Pretty much everything I love trading will be interesting to watch.
Metals, oil stocks, cloud names
I think a day like today will get all the asshats back in their trading chairs. Tuesday was absolutely dead. Lazy asses taking an extended memorial day.

Hopefully this market gets trampled so that my 401k can get in on a good dip.
 

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