So Cal Prop Trader

This song is my trading anthem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcYPsC879CA

I listened to it during the open on Friday. The hope of the world, rides with one man. The market is easy, it is up to me to execute well, and consistently capture profits. Through time, profits add up, this is a fact that I ignore.

I front-run whales, I have the ability to anticipate their next moves. I know when they need need to chase and attack price for better fills. I can see when they lean into price momentum for execution of large share amounts. I can see computers in the box, I detect manipulation. I laugh at their tricks. I am not right 100% of the time, but this is my edge. I know how and why price moves. My personality type is INTJ, this is my edge. I know people in an instant, more than they know themselves. I am intuitive. I do not have the capital and backing to efficiently demonstrate my talent, but I will emerge, and it will be the greatest story to ever come from EliteTrader. I am an anthropology major, this is my edge. I understand what builds the probabilities so many rely on. The market is dynamic, and given the proper conditions, I would significantly outperform the probability grinders. I must pursue the market differently that I would with proper capital. It will be slower, less active. I would sacrifice infinite lifetimes for my love. I will slowly grind out of these poor, amateur trading conditions. I deserve better, and so does she.

It is up to me to capitalize on my skill. It is time to realize what has been in the past, unrealized. My love waits for me to gain control of myself, she secretly longs for me to be successful, I know it. I will take her everywhere she wants to go. I love her more than any other man, I've already shown her, but it's not enough. Net profitability is my final testament to prove my love and worthiness.

The hope of the world, rides with one man. I can only be as happy and complete as I am disciplined. The universe will not stop me again. I've put in the hours, I have the knowledge and the will. I must accept my poor trading conditions, and play the game I must.
 
Quote from jj90:

OMG Hitman.

Kurt, you need to lay off the party favors.
More...

hahaha, thought I'd throw in some Hitman humor for the masses. We'll try and focus more on trading from here on out.
 
7/26/11
Gross: +233
Shares: 7,726
Net: +190

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Currently 1:17 p.m. Max gross was +254. Market is dead, got crappy action from my last few trades. I am done for the day, despite there being several potentially profitable setups out there. I'm not giving anything back today.

Was not able to size up today.
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1. GRA - Bought highs at 50.75. Thin stock, strong on the day, decent printing patterns. sold the entire position at 91 cents to start the day off on the right foot.

2. UPS - Failed opportunity of the day. Ouch. shorted UPS at 71.77 and 71.70. I knew this thing had breakdown potential. It stopped me out on the very last jig before the breakdown. Great morning pattern. I blew this one no doubt. I was so sure I had the timing right on my entry. Grrrr. A proper stop would have made this a fantastic winner.

3. OMI - Shorted OMI as it broke 32. The chart does not show a setup. I believe I took the trade because it was a level on the daily, and the level 2 must have showed me something. Trade began to work. I covered a third at 31.66. Wanted to cover another portion at 55 cents, however, the price came all the way back to my entry, stopped me out, and returned to lows hahaha. Ridiculous. What a joke. Another decent winner gone sour.

So far I've shown two blown trades which would have yielded +300 together.

4. GPI - Bought GPI as it set up at the 47 level after the false breakout. Thin stock, did not size up. Sold GPI at 46 cents. Would have been a mega-winner with size. Only way I can imagine sizing up in these thin names is by finding a way to be comfortably in the money before the breakout level.

5. ITW - Shorted ITW as it broke 53. Missed the smart money entry up at the 53.50 area. Got light size again, as it only barely set up at the whole. Covered half at 71 cents, covered the rest at 56 cents. Could have gotten the full point move if I had more size.

6. CIT - Bought the CIT dip as it set up at 40.70. Unfortunately, I missed the entry as it broke 70. I bought 79s as it dipped a little after the break. I sold my small position in the high 90s. Definitely would have sized up more if I were able to catch better prices. Grrrr.

A LOT of opportunity cost today. Could have easily been a 500+ day.

7. WRB - Bought WRB as it broke 33. Setup was there. Almost got stopped out, but I managed to hold, it broke previous highs on the daily chart and got a nice boost. Sold at 15 cents, 25 cents, and 17 cents. Good outs.

8. WLT - Bought WLT as it setup for a bounce. Bought as it broke 126. Scalped it haha. Had only 100 shares. Another thin stock that can screw you. WLT went a point with no jig.

9. DHX - Bought DHX at 13.60 as its morning downtrend came to an end. Designated this as a B trade. Sold half at 70 cents, and the rest at 75 cents as it lost momentum after touching 80. DHX went to 40 with no jig. Ouch.

A LOT of opportunity cost today.

After a decent morning of profit taking, mid-day began to approach, I tried a few trades, none of them wanted to push. They did not go against me hard either. The stocks had no players, ended up tapping out of them all for very small losses as to not expose myself to time risk.

Two trades worth mentioning during this period:

10. NUE - NUE did not bounce with the other steel names. NUE at lows while market was bouncing. Relative weakness. I shorted near lows at 39.58, expecting a trickle in my favor as the steel names pulled in. NUE did NOTHING. It just sat there. It did not react the way I anticipated, so I tapped out. Later, after I left to buy apple juice from the gas station across the street, I found that NUE dipped to 39.51 before taking off to the upside. It is just not worth trading at midday. All it takes is one market order jackass to ruin a decent idea.

11. PCL - PCL consolidated above some buying at 39. As it finally broke into the mid 90s, I shorted. Obviously, not a bad trade. It was a good setup and could have worked. However, midday killed this trade. Or perhaps it was a trap. Hard to say. Anyway, I shorted at 38.96, and got stopped out above the whole. So be it. I can't imagine not taking a trade like this. Luckily, I recognized the time of day and did not size up. These bastards produce a short trigger on the chart, get everyone in, and them blast em. Classic mid-day action.

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Anyway, as I have demonstrated, today could have been much, much better. I hesitated on more smart money entries, and did not size up. Though, I am somewhat content with not sizing up. If any of these trades failed with size, my day would have gotten ruined.

Though, the stand out error today was the UPS short. I had a great trade there and I blew it. I could have stuck with the stock after getting stopped out.

My focus throughout the morning was to take profits. Small winners do add up. By taking profits early, I missed out on some bigger moves, but I also got some good outs, and improved my win rate.

Two days in a row with a profit taking focus, two winning day above $200.

Whatever, now we have to see if I can be consistent with the new approach.

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During the weekend I wrote out the following guidelines. I did not stick to them strictly today, but having them near me helped remind me to look at the clock, and take profits accordingly.

I created this trade management model because the majority of my trades do move in my favor at first. This allows me to generate good probability profits, and keep some around to aim for knockout trades.

This system would be much more effective as I increase size, allowing for better trade management.

9:30a - 10:30a
A trades: Take 25% off on Wave 1.
B Trades: Take 50% off on Wave 1.

10:30a - 11:30a
A trades: Take 50% off on Wave 1.
B trades: Take 75% off on Wave 1.

11:30 - close
A trades: Take 75% off on Wave 1.
B trades: Do not take B trades at this time.

If a trade works past Wave 1, I of course take another portion off near Target A, and the last of the position off near Target B, or when the trade instructs me to.

I am trying to use position tiers more effectively, however, I have a hard time obeying my tier model in thin stocks, or trades requiring risk greater than 10 cents.

I am going to try and work on attacking the smart money entries as a means to have OK size before the dumb money move, where I can add another small portion if I choose.

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I've said in some of my last few trading entries that I have a good feeling about the coming days. I wish to retract this statement. I feel nothing. My focus is on being selective, taking profits, and letting a portion run. I suffered big opportunity cost today. I need to trust my abilities and attack my positions properly. I should be able to achieve better, more consistent results with my new profit taking techniques. I've slowed down my trading during the wrong time, in my opinion. It is earnings season, and there are opportunities galore. Attack the good stuff, and take profits.

That being said, if I find myself unable to size up for the time being, I need to be able to achieve consistency. I'll take a series of $200 days, whatever, but I want to push for +$500 days, that is how you make a living in this business.
 

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Hey Kurt, glad to see that you're still grinding it out. I see the ladies have you very distracted...lol. Keep it up! You have that $1k day yet?
 
7/27/11
Gross: +38
Shares: 9,000
Net: -12

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Time is 1:16 PM and I'm cutting myself off. Max gross today was +142 at 10:07. Could not land any good winners today. There were a lot of stocks in play, but none presented quality setups. Had a chance to pull out I'd say a $150 net day but blew it.

I just shorted lows in a stock mid-afternoon and paid for it. Before the trade I was net +42, which is basically nothing anyway. Took a chance to try and make something happen.

Missed opportunities of the day, as you will see... QCOR and TMO

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1. Bought QCOR at 30.06 and 30.15. LOL. Buyers present at 30. Looked like it could break, but it held. I bought. Price went in my favor, it felt good, did not expect it to get back down near 30. Had my stop above 30 as a 30 break would have slipped the shit out of me... Obviously, QCOR ran all day long. Ouch.

2. TMO - My trade of the day, but I had too light of size. Shorted at 61.30. Covered at 61.04 and 60.27. It was a tape read trade. I didn't size up because the stock didn't look too active. TMO bottomed near 59 today. DAMN. I find I'm losing my aggression.

3. BMS - Shorted BMS under 32.50 level. Price held up during the market sell-off. Relative strength. Flipped as it broke 32.50. Seller at 51 cents. Tapped out as it could be a trap. Re-entered as it broke 32.51 but missed prime entry price. Sold at 32.74, 32.85, and 32.75. Moved my stop up on the last portion, it was 1 penny too close, missed out on 15 cents.

4. ECL - Found ECL drifting lower. Weak on the day, shorted at 50.24. ECL held the 20s as the market bounced. I began to like this more. Trade went in my favor, down to 10 cents. The wave began to end. I told myself to exit at least half as is written in my new trading plan. I wanted 5 more cents at least. I did not take outs, despite telling myself to, and the trade snapped against me hard, stopping me out above 40 cents. Discipline issues.

5. PMTC - Shorted PMTC at 21.22, hoping for continuation lower as the MA caught up. Not a good setup. Got blasted again.

6. CHRW - Told myself to get in this thing before it hit 74. I did not. I took the dumb money entry, the 74 break at like 1pm lol. Made it to the high 80s, came back, and snapped 30 cents. Stopped out. This trade made me stop trading.

7. APKT - Shorted APKT at 60 looking for a breakdown to follow the other cloud names. Didn't happen, stopped out.

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I watched a grip of stocks today, about 80 stocks, and nothing set up well. I had my chance to have a decent day, but I was timid and afraid.

I traded like a little girl, not a man.

I took several trades today that I knew were not high quality. I knew they were gambles, but they were all I could find. I forced performance.

ECL was the trade that brought my P&L down from comfortable levels, and CHRW sealed the deal. If I had followed my written exit strategy for that time of day, ECL would have been a scratch, if not a winner.

The action today was crap. Not an easy trading day, for me and the office.

Tomorrow I am going to force myself to get size in my go-to morning trade. Two days in a row I traded the first hour like a WNBA player, and suffered opportunity cost.

However, I did not let today become a LOSER, I tried, couldn't get it to happen, and limited my losses. -12 on a "losing" day, I'll take it.

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I MIGHT not trade tomorrow. There is a 'shindig' at a friend's house. Not sure if I'm going to go, I don't want to miss an earnings season day. If I do trade, I have to leave early to go to job #2, which is fine because I haven't been trading in the afternoon anyway.

I'm going to probe and see who's going to the shindig to make my decision.

I'm supposed to go to a shooting range today to fire weapons for the first time. The range has a bar and grill on property too lol. The plan may fall through. I was hoping to have a good day, go shoot a gun, and have a beer, for an ultra-masculine day, but after today's lame results, I think I should just go home.

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Just took a look at CHRW, it wicked me out, and is right back down below 74 hahaha. It bounced right up to the 5 min 20 period. Typical.
 

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Quote from ElecEquity:

Hey Kurt, glad to see that you're still grinding it out. I see the ladies have you very distracted...lol. Keep it up! You have that $1k day yet?
More...

Guess that's a no?
 
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