So Cal Prop Trader

6/2/11

Gross: -38
Shares: 16,400
Net: -128

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Another day with a lot of action, unfortunately, I made a few mistakes.

Started off decently watching the education names. Shorted LOPE up at 15 as the others sold off. Covered in the mid 60s as some began to bounce. Yes, it went further, but you have to take what you can in the early morning.

Immediately gave my gains away in GS. The news came. I shorted a pop, too early, loss 77 cents on that. It bounced a bit further past my exit and THEN went nicely lower short term. Shouldn't have touched it...

I kept watching the education names and the financials.

I bought MS near 23 as GS and JPM began to bounce after the sell off. Covered near the top of the bounce.

Soon after, the market had its down move.

I then made a series of poor decisions that gave my day away.

I bought into the silver bounce too early, and I tried bottom picking FTO way too early.

That being said, I was later able to catch the breakout in FTO.

I had a lot of small losers today, which dragged me down, in addition to my significant losses in FTO and SSRI. Definitely fair to say I over traded.

That being said, today was not a VERY easy day. If you played for a trend continuation you lost. I did not, I went for the reversal, but I was too early.

I just wasn't able to get much going today.

The education names had a lot of indecision in them. I expect them to sort themselves out in the coming days.

Too many shares traded today, could have been more meticulous.

Got burned in another imbalance as well.
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Definitely should have been a better day, need to take advantage of the action.
 

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Have you read "One good Trade" by M Bellafiore ?

About SMB capital prop shop and day trading stocks. It's a good read and you might pick up some good tips.

FWIW
 
6/9/11
Gross: +170
Shares: 13,600
Net: +95

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Don't have time to write today, sorry. Today I was not able to trade until about 11 AM as my video card died.

So I got a late start, had to just sort of dive in. Had to use a different computer, so I had to tinker with my layout as well.

Had some good trades today, but nothing big. I was positioned for some nice trades, like a bounce in VRTX, and a bounce in BKD, but neither were very fruitful.

Lots of scalping, lots of small losers. Trade of the day was DLTR... Bought on the FDO news, and shorted as FDO sold off. Easy stuff.
 

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6/10/11

Gross: +111
Shares: 19,600
Net: + 3.2 (sweet)

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Again, short on time today.

I had a decent start shorting TRV around 59.46. Covered some near 59 and reshorted on the pop.

I grinded my morning gains away shorting the setup in FCS, and a few other small losers.

Did some oil correlation trading, made some money back. I was ready for that move down in RIG, but it took soooooo loonnggg. I wasn't in when it finally made its push. If I had just honored my stop I would have caught it.

I then had a series of losing trades, low quality stuff. The market was so slow at the time, I would have been better off turning on some porn.

Began to rebound in the afternoon. Then the financials became in play and I absolutely destroyed them. I was on top of each up wave and down wave. Could have gotten bigger but I didn't, as I didn't even hear what the news was!

Made all my money back, basically broke even today.

Good opportunities come if you wait for them. Stay out of the silly stuff.

Set a new personal record for shares traded in a day.

I am fine with my financials trading, of course shares will rack up when you're playing both long and short. But I did significantly over trade through midday.

Last few days I have been sizing up more. I've had a few 700-800 share positions. However, I still have fear in sizing up when there is not some sort of structure to the level 2. Today, my max size in the financial sequence was only 300 shares. I am good with correlation trading, but sometimes things go against you before they work. When such action presents, you need to have confidence in your abilities and take advantage of the movement.
 

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6/14/11
Gross: -89
Shares: 16,800
Net: -181

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Ashamed of myself. I come in, make the same mistakes in the mornings, clean my act up once I take a beating, then when I battle out, I fall into the same crap.

Lost 240 before 10:30. Did not allow anything to set up. Bought some HAL as it seemed oil names were about to break out. Of course, they did, but after jigging me out with a big red candle.
It was a dumb idea anyway, there was no setup.

Battled back by shorting K, buying NTAP, bought a dip in SWI, got a nice trade in FWLT as the market made new midday highs.

I battled from -240 to +42. I then had a series of losing trades, taking me to -89.

I knew the market would sell off into the close and I didn't act.

Once it happened, I was upset, and looked for shorts, of course, after it was too late.

So I can take two lessons from today:
1. Screw the mornings, I make all my money after 10 AM.
2. Stop trading CRAP.

There is a clear difference in trade quality between my losers and winners.

NTAP
FWLT
K
YUM

All good setups

Hell, all you needed to trade today was JCP and LO and you could have done well. Instead, I screwed around with low volume crap.

Obviously, I'm get more shares in now. I am taking larger positions, which is good, I just need to watch my selectivity.

If I had avoided the morning, I would have had a much better day.

It was sooo easy to make money today, and I blew it by trading during the first 20-30 min. Wait for the good stuff, not the "I'm better than the market" BS.
 

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6/15/11
Gross: -66
Shares: 19,788
Net: -175

June Net: -138
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Today, was an absolute stinger. Traded to negative 120 early on after losses in buying P dips and not scalping them.

Then, we got the market sell off, which I nailed. Traded to positive 250. I was watching the agricultural names, played on the short side of course.

I suppose the action got to my ahead. I gave my entire day away in one trade, something I've never consciously done. (of course, it has happened due to sudden flushes, but never recklessly riding out a trade).

I was longing oil before it capitulated. I was able to catch the absolute bottom in UCO, but had light size and piked it.

After that trade, I was incredibly upset and my trade quality declined, in hoping I could grind back to a good day.

I have never, ever let a trade go against me that far. Very upset. I ruined my great trading day. Days like this are rare, a day trader needs to take advantage of the action. I did, but I let my performance get to my head, and jumped in something with no regard for risk.

Set a new record for shares traded.

I am pleased I am getting more size. Of course, it racks up commission costs. I made a fatal mistake today. Sure oil, was straight down, but it had not capitulated.

I watched Pandora throughout the day, and was able to sweep up a few capitulation trades as it broke each whole. Though, it was light size.

Got jigged out of my CSC and ARUN trades. I knew that was the top in CSC, but I got squeaked out. Shorted ARUN as it presented a bear flag near a previous day's low. I knew it had potential as it had news today. Got jigged out.

So today was the first time I made this sort of mistake. And, in this business, you can only learn by screwing up.

Hopefully the action continues...

One good thing about today was that I did not trade the open. Yes, I did trade P beginning at 9:45, but that is a bit different.

Market gave plenty of opportunities to make money. I did do a good job with one major mistake. I'll admit I got sloppy after the mistake got to my head. Never give back more than 50% of reasonable profits after 1pm.

That was my cue to quit.

The other day I had a terrible morning, and grinded out of it. Today I had a decent trading day, and then let one trade screw it up.

Today was another day that should have easily been my first $1000 day. June is coming to a close, need to get a few good days to make sure I pay off the office fees.

Today, simple money management was where I went wrong. Even if I take a bad trade, I can't let it go so far against me. Not sure where the hell that decision came from.

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I'm supposed to go clubbing tonight with these chicks ( I don't trade tomorrow due to job #2), but now I'm not sure I want to. What woman wants a man who buys UCO at 43.67, adds as it falls, and sells at 42.83. Go look at a chart of that! There was absolutely NO reason to get involved. No setup, no capitulation, no leading indicator, NOTHING. I let it go against me 84 cents???? If the trade even worked the reward would have only been MAYBE 30-40 cents. LOL.
A real man buys UCO in the face of fear, because he patiently waits for people to panic. That is when he steps in at 42.02 and buys.


I went clubbing in Hollywood on Saturday night. I rarely go out since I work 2 jobs. I forgot what drunk hot chicks dressed in skimpy dresses look like, in person. Gdamn. These two asian chicks... well, anyway, I was standing at the bar, ordering my drink from some coked out male bartender, looking at all these females, and I realized I need to make more money.

I think the last time I spoke of my personal life on here, I was all caught up on some chick. Well that didn't come to fruition, it wasn't fun, but I've moved on. I'm not much of a clubbing man myself, but I'll admit, it would be nice to have the option of rolling up buying drinks for many females, and taking them back to a suite down the street.

I expected much more from June, I have been ramping up size, which is a great development, however, I've been struggling with consistency, obviously. We'll see how Friday goes.
 

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6/17/11
Gross: +216
Shares: 20,200
Net: +105

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Had an OK morning, which should have been better. I was all over MCO, shorting the first pop near 36.35. I screwed up by adding on the 36 break. I stuck with MCO and MHP all day long.

Slowly gave away my morning RIMM and MCO gains via a series of small losses in MCO and MHP. Every time MCO looked like it was ready to break down, it didn't. Every time it looked like it wanted to pop, it didn't. It was not easy. Well, it was easy if you gave it proper stops. I tried to be better than the charts.

Anyway, made my money today once again shorting the agricultural names. AGU and MOS, as CF lead them lower. Also played the bounce as CF bounced. I wish I played CF itself, but I hate CF because of how thin it is.

Set another total shares traded record, which I like.

I am getting more and more 500 share lots, though, I need to get bigger in those trades that take place in moments where there is a good potential for a nice move.

Today's amateur moment came in MCO I suppose. I'm glad I decided to short the first pop. However, I knew I did not get enough size, which is why I added at a lower price. I had a nice trade going, I was deeply in the money, and by letting the move get to my head, I ended up with a mediocre average price.

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It will be interesting to see what goes down next week. I am getting bigger. I feel that my breakout day is approaching, where I take a series of good trades, with good size, and I trade them well. One of our traders made 1500 today on only 13400 shares. Very efficient stuff. I'm glad I'm attacking more, but I also need to balance that with good selectivity.

13400 shares and a 1500 dollar day is what I want to be doing. Efficient trading.
 

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I've been doing some research on the human imagination. It seems any time we take a stance, take a side, or rest on some sort of viewpoint, we create a world to support that outlook.

I was looking at a potential trade the other day, I forget which one. Risk reward was to the short side. I began building reasons to hope the short could work. In reality, even though the short side had a very well defined risk, the long had factors building in its favor. I caught myself, and I said, wow, look at me, building a case for something that doesn't actually exist.

Our imaginations inflict more pain on us than the reality of things. Our fear of job interviews, fear of asking a chick out, etc etc. We build things up in our mind that are not real, and we are often unaware, because our imagined realities seem so real.

I've noticed that my best trades come through split second decisions. You see the data and go with your first reaction. Then, if I sit there for a while, staring at a scenario, I begin questioning both sides. Certain factors can incorrectly weigh over others. The more thought that goes into a trade, it seems, allow more time to build an imagined reality. Oh, the short side LOOKS safer, its more COMFORTING, and immediately the factors begin to line up for that side.

Ideally, it would be great to write down all the different factors on a paper. Though, in day trading the stock market, it is not often we have the luxury of time, especially when there is action.

Hence, experience trumps it all. The more experience you build, the better those split second decisions will be, and the better you are able to pick a side in those trades you have time to think about. You see trades work and you see trades fail. You see why they work and why they fail. You know more quickly when to exit a trade, when to let something run. You are less likely to let profit hopes build an imaginary world for you. You trust what you've seen rather than what you hope to see.

Interesting question though. I've always thought that if you can conquer the psychology of the market, you can use this internal strength to conquer other struggles in life. However, if experience is the key, it may not be so easy to do so. Similarly, I've heard suggestions that you should try and conquer those life struggled to help improve trading. The idea songs good, but I'm not so sure it would be effective. Experience trumps all the books, all the beliefs, everything.

The longer you can stay in the game and build a realistic working knowledge of price action, the better you'll be in the long run...

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I'm thinking of going to a bar tonight. Last few times I went these fine chicks started conversations with me. I recently grew a beard. I was also in a friend's student film recently. Seeing myself on camera made me re-realize how much better looking I am than the good majority of the human population. It has instilled a bit of confidence in me. That, combined with the beard has caught the female eye again. Yet, when the time comes, I will surely fail to act. It is much easier to push a few keys, knowing what you have to lose, than to build an analysis of a broad and build a persona which will guarantee easy access. You don't have the luxury of sitting back and thinking. You have to attack it, without thought. And as I type this, I know this is my imagination rationalizing a reason to avoid the conflict altogether. It is more comfortable for me to just sit and enjoy my drink. I just said that all you have to do is ACT. And before I said how the times where I just ACT I am more successful. It is fascinating.

In many conversations I've had with friends recently, I tend to internally compare things to trading. Risk reward, reality vs hope and fear, probabilities of success, etc etc. It seems every decision we make has trading characteristics built into them.

Anyway, I'll leave this at that. I got bored at job 2 and decided to post something.

Here are two youtube videos for you:

1. Here is that student film movie I was in, I am the character Wes, when the girl opens the door, I'm the guy on the right without glasses. This gives you a chance to see what I look like and sound like. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSTzjJrkzt8

2. Here is me talking to Jim Cramer back in 2009 when I was a complete market noob. Back then I thought I asked such a brilliant question, and now I crack up every time I see this. It is pretty embarassing to post, but I think it is funny. If you actually watch it, make sure you watch the whole thing, the Kurt references don't end after my question: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmcGmCo6ymI
 
I'm worried about your judgment when you say you are getter looking than the majority of the human population. If your perception is that off about your looks, then one can only speculate about your perceptions of the stock market or anything else. I do wish you luck but the majority of these threads that are started as diaries end up being a waste of time. It's self-indulgent and not informative for anyone else- most people are looking for useful information, not an airing of someone's psychology, failings, or random opinions.

JV
 
Perception is reality eh Kurt? I agree with you as my reflections as well have led me to postulate as such. Yoda's 'do or do not, there is no try' finally starts to make sense.
 
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