So Cal Prop Trader

6/28/11
Gross: +195
Shares: 15,000
Net: +112

June:
Gross: +1026.38
Shares: 198,790
Net: -67.25


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Had a good morning. Got to +214 with only a few tickets. I immediately stepped back and told myself to wait for setups, hoping to produce a good day. Went through a streak of losers unfortunately. Was able to recoup and make fresh P&L highsat around 1:30 eastern. From that point forward, some bad habits leaked in. I definitely could have left today with 50-70 more bucks. Not happy with how I closed.

I definitely seem to do better on the short side. It is easy to read fear. In a market that grinds higher, you basically have a game of chicken.

Anyway
Notable Trades:

1. Shorted ACN near the open. Addition to the S&P does not make me think gap n go. I shorted 100 at 60.84, 100 at 60.68, and another 100 at 60.31. I eventually lowered my stop to 36 cents I believe. There was a good amount of buying about 20 cents above the whole, which pissed me off. Not sure who thought that was a good long entry?? Got stopped out after 36 cents was triggered on a jig. ACN eventually went a bit further. I initially had 200 set at the 36 stop, and 100 above 50. I opted to change as ACN looked like it was gearing to head down.

Traded ACN again as it bounced back up to the 60 level. I got short up in the high 90s as a seller was absorbing all the buying. I loved the looks of it. It made two moves to the 80s, but I didn't cover, my target was closer to 50 cents. Eventually ACN broke that 60, stopped me out. I flipped. The flip didn't work either. Eventually, ACN made its next move south. Dissapointing.

2. Oil stocks were trading up in the morning. I bought RIG on a dip down near 61.40. Sold up near 62.

3. Went for a setup in NRG. Bought 23.80. Expected a nice push if it made a new high. It began to work, but the market made a downturn and screwed it up. Stopped out.

4. Had a winner in OVTI. Bought the excessive dip down at 33.42. Sold in the mid 70s. I did not rebuy the next dip, which proved to be another good buy. I felt the lower high would make OVTI break below the 40s.

5. Bought YOKU on its dip to 31. I hate YOKU. I don't like being in it. I scalped it. And look where it went.

6. Bought WG as it consolidated near 8.10. Sold in the low 20s.

7. Bought MRX when I saw a nice bid come in. Bought at 37.59. The bid held and the price continued up. It consolidated up at 69 cents for awhile. I felt a push to new highs was coming. It made a sudden dip, stopped me out, and then pushed higher. Unfortunate.


8. Had a late day rip in VMW. I bought 97 as FFIV bounced. Got stopped out at 82 cents...

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I definitely took some good looking trades today, and I again took some silly trades. It was not a knock out day for me, I did not reach my profit goal. I guess I just take the money and wait for tomorrow.

It is good to see the market behaving correctly.

My big regret today was not buying OVTI earlier. That first dip to the 32.60 area = free money. I don't know why I did not pull the trigger. I think I was distracted by something else and missed the timing.

P.S. I uploaded the wrong file for 6/24, my bad
 

Attachments

6/29/11

Gross: +98
Shares: 17,400
Net: +2


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Sweet, 2 bucks, I think that can buy a Snickers bar...

Today was one of those days, where if you're not feeling good by midday, you get so bored you just want to leave. But you CAN'T leave, because then you miss action like today's credit card news.

After morning losses in ACN (I am done with this stock it trades poorly), and FCX, I relaxed and told myself to just wait for something good.

I bought MON as it descended toward 69. I did not get size as I wasn't comfortable with the risk. Only 200 shares at 69.20. Scalped half, as it was difficult to tell what it wanted to do. Let the rest go a little further.

Bought 500 MDR as it presented a bull flag and oil names were ticking up. Got an OK move.

By 10:30 I was up 100 gross.

I had a losing streak, shorting MTL, and trying to buy dips in oil stocks.

POT coiled up nicely, as the other ag names were at highs. POT did not reach my target on its push up. I was stopped out of the majority of my position. The market told me to get out of POT earlier, while I was in the money. I told myself, do I take the 60 bucks, or honor my stop? Conditions changes and I didn't.

Through midday, it was slow and dead and miserable. My morning trading was not stellar, I couldn't get anything big going today. I was upset about POT not doing anything substantial.

Dabbled in some bogus no-setup stuff.

Honestly, the only thing worth talking about today is the credit card action. I immediately bought AXP on the news since V and MA were GONE. My price in AXP was 49.96!!!!!!! Problem 1 I only had 200 shares. I did not know how much the news would effect anything and I hadn't even had a chance to look at what V and MA had done. I got out of my position at 50.15, and 50.20. LOL

Upset about that, I waited and waited for opportunities in these things. We can see now that buying V dips was the way to go. I was waiting for a top. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and a top couldn't form.

I did buy 500 DFS at 26.65 as it dipped and coiled a bit. With EVERY other credit card name at highs, I liked it. Of course, it didn't budge.

Oh, I also had the EBAY short up near 31 on the initial push. It didn't collapse quick enough and I covered where I shorted. Then it pushed down 70 cents. I was on top of this one, I knew EBAY was a short, but there are too many morons on the wrong side of the trade, making you doubt yourself. "Oh look guys, EBAY IS ONLY UP 6 % AND V IS UP 15% OMG BUY IT, GET ME 200 EBAY PLZ." Get out of here!

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Damn damn damn, another missed opportunity. Well, it could be worse, I could have lost money.

I have two regrets for today:
1. Piker size in a low risk AXP entry
2. Boredom trades

I was not able to locate any trades I felt comfortable sizing up in. Hence, today was not THE day.
I found myself in periods of self talk saying, slow down, be patient, wait for something.

As the market turned down in the afternoon, I scrambled and ended up in some lame trades. Then, I missed the chance to buy dips because I was hunting shorts.

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Tomorrow: I might not trade tomorrow. My dad wants to take me fishing for my birthday. I turn 27 years old tomorrow. If I do trade, I'll obviously be watching the credit cards and oil stocks.

And so, July's goal:
In July I have the following areas of focus:
1. Avoiding boredom / chasing action trades
2. Do not ignore market metacommunications. Take your profits and run.
3. Add liquidity as much as possible (my rate is 3 per ticket, if I add liquidity, I'll only be paying about 1 per ticket).
4. Try for 8 - 12 tickets / day


If anyone out there kicked the credit cards' asses, good for you
 

Attachments

kurt.. you stopped the bleeding at least.. your getting their . By the way .. You have not shared recently. What is your profit target each day? What is your daily max loss for the day?
 
Quote from scorpion:

kurt.. you stopped the bleeding at least.. your getting their . By the way .. You have not shared recently. What is your profit target each day? What is your daily max loss for the day?
More...

Yeah I've definitely been more focused on risk. Just haven't found my quality stuff in the last few days.

Software stops me at -300. I consider 400+ a decent day, and I'll live with +300. So, at least 300. Though, every morning when I go in I have +500 on my mind.

My mental max loss is -150 gross.

I tighten up at -50.

+150 is definitely not enough to have me content. +150 is basically a scratch.

I'll admit I had a string of days a while back where I lost much more than I'm used to. It came right after a winning streak. I'm willing to assume the winning streak got to my head and effected my trading. Next time, I'll be keen to this.
 
Quote from Builder17:

happy bday. fishing sounds nice. market will be there friday and next tuesday =)
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Thanks. Yeahhh, I'll probably be on the boat checking quotes on my Palm Pre to see what I'm missing lol.

To substitute for the day off, I bought a 5 dollar lottery quick pick. Maybe THAT will hit!

Thanks for reminding me the market is closed on the 4th lol
 
I use to do the same thing, where each day I had a set target in mind and felt pressured to reach it, therefore I would take setups that werent there, looking to capture a move. Now I just focus on making good trades regardless of what my PnL says. Helps a lot.
 
kurt. your profit & stops targets are good. You must stick to your daily stop loss & just trade your quality setups.. Not your PNL . If you keep disciplined & stay focused on the right setups you can become consistently profitable & hit your goals over time . shoot for weekly goals which is a smart approach so you can take some of the stress out of trading. I would stay away from all the crazy chicks during the week .. You have to stay on point with your trading to be profitable.
 
I was talking to this chick about Steenbarger's 'internal observer.' I told her about how we create a world that accomodates a bias or particular emotion.

Just as you can mold market conditions and trade factors to support a poor idea, you can also generate reasons / fantasies to ignore red flags in relationships. I told her about how despite my own studies on the topic, while I am improving in the trading side of things, I am still absolutely ignorant to the internal observer outside of the trading floor. I ignore the red flags, and absorb punishment for my irrational decisions. I told her that I expect her to make mistakes as well, as mistakes are the only way humans seem to REALLY have a chance at learning. We hope until hope is crushed, and we fear until fear is a joke. Hope and fear are cured through experience. Until we see the actual impact of our choices, it can be difficult to go against your bias.

So there we stood, activating our internal observers, knowing the RIGHT course of action, but also knowing we will not follow said course.

People want what they feel will make them happy, or rather, they want to satisfy their innermost desires / test driving curiosities. Often, what they feel will make them happy is nothing more than something that is difficult to attain, something that makes them feel self-conscious. People want what they can't have because it hurts to know you lack something necessary to have it.

Let's apply this to trading.

The obvious goal of a trader is to make money. If you see something that seems to offer a chance to make money, you're drawn to it. The will to make money may instantly begin to effect your ability to properly read the trade. You begin justifying reasons to take on risk. Once you're stopped out, you become self-conscious because you blew it. Now you have pain, and you need something to make you feel better... something like, a winning trade. Your next trade is worst than the previous.

Most successful traders I've read about claim their goal is simply to trade well. Whatever they make, they make. If your goal is simply to trade your plan, rather than making money, you are much less likely to allow profit fantasies to seep into your mind's construct of the trade.

Now, lets take this lesson back outside the trading floor.

Let's face it, human emotions are unavoidable, they are woven into our minds. They are a part of life. Perhaps it is our goals that are the problem. In relationships, perhaps gaining a particular person's affection should not be the goal. The goal itself blinds you. You build a reality to support a bias goal. Instead, the goal should be to be as wonderful as you can to said person. If it works, it works, if it fails, it fails. No matter what happens, you're a winner, because you achieved your goal. Focus on the quality of your interactions.

Goals with a built in bias produce bogus realities.

Focus on your performance, not results that are completely out of your control.

This entire argument still has one issue. Where do we get out? It is an easy answer in trading. You have a trading plan, and you follow it. If conditions change, or if profit targets are reached, you're out, or out of a portion.

If you are a wonderful person to someone, how long do you go until you give up? Perhaps you never entirely give up, but instead, scale out. Exit a portion of your investment in the person. Perhaps you start delegating more time elsewhere, while still being around for them in case things change. Eventually, the person comes around, or, you find someone new.

The only problem I have with this whole concept, is that it seems blatantly unromantic. I mean, while you're trying you can still be romantic as all hell, BUT I don't like the idea of giving up on someone, or looking elsewhere. If you wrote out a plan before engaging in a relationship, you are taking the LIFE out of life. "If by month 3 these conditions are not met, I begin cutting back time spent..." etc etc etc.

However, it would also remove much of the pain from it all. Again, I have a problem with giving up because my goal is to attain affection rather than perform well. By using proper trading psychology in areas of life, we may be able to be happier and more successful. By cutting out the emotions that keep us in our toxic fantasy worlds we can find and successfully attain what is best for us.
 
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