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So Cal Prop Trader
- Thread starter ksmetana
- Start date
Hi Smetana!
Can you share what prop firm and if you trade from the office or home?
have you had a chance to see tradingraw videos on youtube?
Can you share what prop firm and if you trade from the office or home?
have you had a chance to see tradingraw videos on youtube?
7/28/11
Gross: +267
Shares: 14,200
Net: +189
-----------------------
Leaving now to go to job #2, it is 12:30 pm. Max gross was +307 at 12:23.
See log for trade list, no time to talk.
Here is what I will say about today:
There were a lot of setups in my stock universe. I did not size up, I took profits and let small portions run.
Unfortunately, my day ended on a sour note, I did not take profits in accordance to my trading plan in EFX. If I had done so, I would have closed above +300 net. I was in the money 35 cents, took off a quarter at 30 cents. My plan says I should take off at least 50%. I did not raise my stop. I let the remaining 75% of my position pull in 35 cents to my entry, and stop me out.
Discipline issues.
Still not sizing up.
However, at least I have a bit of consistency going for me. I am being selective, and taking profits (for the most part). I need to now get bigger and apply my new exit strategies.
Notable trades: OSK, SPN, CROX (loser), OI, CBG (loser), CCI, NKE / UA (played terribly), JAH, EFX
CCI went much further past my exits.
OI went further past my exits.
Womaned out of NKE.
Traded JAH decently.
Compltely screwed up EFX.
Got flushed in CROX, should have been in before the breakout.
SPN was uneventful.
Traded OSK well, should have kept watching it for the short. I played it long off the open.
I sized up in CBG, it went 15 cents, pulled in and stopped me out.
If I had gotten size today, I would have had a great day.
Only trade I got size in was CBG, clean level, backtested play, it began to work and felt so good. It seems it found support below 21 lol. So lame. If CBG went at least a quarter I would have had a great day.
-------------------------
To sum it all up, I am finding good trades, trading like a woman, and I feel I'm too keen to exit.
However, at least I am consistently bringing in profits right now.
I will continue to capture profits, but I will add size so that I can capture more from my winners.
I would like to close the week strongly tomorrow.
Today should have been a much better day.
Gross: +267
Shares: 14,200
Net: +189
-----------------------
Leaving now to go to job #2, it is 12:30 pm. Max gross was +307 at 12:23.
See log for trade list, no time to talk.
Here is what I will say about today:
There were a lot of setups in my stock universe. I did not size up, I took profits and let small portions run.
Unfortunately, my day ended on a sour note, I did not take profits in accordance to my trading plan in EFX. If I had done so, I would have closed above +300 net. I was in the money 35 cents, took off a quarter at 30 cents. My plan says I should take off at least 50%. I did not raise my stop. I let the remaining 75% of my position pull in 35 cents to my entry, and stop me out.
Discipline issues.
Still not sizing up.
However, at least I have a bit of consistency going for me. I am being selective, and taking profits (for the most part). I need to now get bigger and apply my new exit strategies.
Notable trades: OSK, SPN, CROX (loser), OI, CBG (loser), CCI, NKE / UA (played terribly), JAH, EFX
CCI went much further past my exits.
OI went further past my exits.
Womaned out of NKE.
Traded JAH decently.
Compltely screwed up EFX.
Got flushed in CROX, should have been in before the breakout.
SPN was uneventful.
Traded OSK well, should have kept watching it for the short. I played it long off the open.
I sized up in CBG, it went 15 cents, pulled in and stopped me out.
If I had gotten size today, I would have had a great day.
Only trade I got size in was CBG, clean level, backtested play, it began to work and felt so good. It seems it found support below 21 lol. So lame. If CBG went at least a quarter I would have had a great day.
-------------------------
To sum it all up, I am finding good trades, trading like a woman, and I feel I'm too keen to exit.
However, at least I am consistently bringing in profits right now.
I will continue to capture profits, but I will add size so that I can capture more from my winners.
I would like to close the week strongly tomorrow.
Today should have been a much better day.
Attachments
7/29/11
Gross: +135
Shares: 6,200
Net: +100
July Results:
Gross: +1038.63
Shares: 199,926
Net: -60.96
Reward / Risk Ratio: 3.02
% Winners: 31%
---------------------------------
Blackwood has a service outage all morning. Systems were not online until 11:30 a.m.
Was not able to trade this morning at all.
Was force to grind during mid-day. I kept size small and took profits on the majority of my positions early. I'm fine with what I accomplished. I was able to make 100 bucks on a Friday mid-day.
Trades are not worth discussing.
CYH coiled up, MA's caught up. It broke 27. I bought 500 shares. Tried to work, but selling was still present. Got stopped out and flipped with light size, with which I made a little money.
Had a winner in CVH going against the pattern, shorting in the 32.90s. Bought light size in DECK at 96.30. Missed the better entry down at 96. I did not see legit bullishness in the box until 96.30. With more size DECK could have made my day.
Bought HP, went against the trend. Bought the 68.50 break, as bids stepped higher and selling momentum noticeably slowed. The character change was easy to spot, but being a fairly thin stock, it could have just as easily stopped me out. Sold at 73 cents and 90 cents.
Nothing big today, just a bunch of small winners that added up.
Software opportunity cost...
------------------------
At least I finished the week positive. August begins Monday. Commissions being lowered to $2 / 1000 shares. Will continue to be selective, size up wherever I can, and take profits.
I expect August to be my best trading month yet, as I have narrowed my trading down to a set of 4-6 patterns, I am very conscious of the time of day, I have a profit taking system, and commissions are now reasonable.
My July trading stats improved as I implemented my new profit taking techniques. My end of month results clearly show that selectivity is the last portion of my trading to really improve on. If we can get that 31% up closer to 50 or even higher, we'll be in great shape. However, I need to size accordingly. I have not been sizing accordingly, even in my winnings days. I need to get bigger on the good stuff to achieve optimal profitability.
Let's do it.
Gross: +135
Shares: 6,200
Net: +100
July Results:
Gross: +1038.63
Shares: 199,926
Net: -60.96
Reward / Risk Ratio: 3.02
% Winners: 31%
---------------------------------
Blackwood has a service outage all morning. Systems were not online until 11:30 a.m.
Was not able to trade this morning at all.
Was force to grind during mid-day. I kept size small and took profits on the majority of my positions early. I'm fine with what I accomplished. I was able to make 100 bucks on a Friday mid-day.
Trades are not worth discussing.
CYH coiled up, MA's caught up. It broke 27. I bought 500 shares. Tried to work, but selling was still present. Got stopped out and flipped with light size, with which I made a little money.
Had a winner in CVH going against the pattern, shorting in the 32.90s. Bought light size in DECK at 96.30. Missed the better entry down at 96. I did not see legit bullishness in the box until 96.30. With more size DECK could have made my day.
Bought HP, went against the trend. Bought the 68.50 break, as bids stepped higher and selling momentum noticeably slowed. The character change was easy to spot, but being a fairly thin stock, it could have just as easily stopped me out. Sold at 73 cents and 90 cents.
Nothing big today, just a bunch of small winners that added up.
Software opportunity cost...
------------------------
At least I finished the week positive. August begins Monday. Commissions being lowered to $2 / 1000 shares. Will continue to be selective, size up wherever I can, and take profits.
I expect August to be my best trading month yet, as I have narrowed my trading down to a set of 4-6 patterns, I am very conscious of the time of day, I have a profit taking system, and commissions are now reasonable.
My July trading stats improved as I implemented my new profit taking techniques. My end of month results clearly show that selectivity is the last portion of my trading to really improve on. If we can get that 31% up closer to 50 or even higher, we'll be in great shape. However, I need to size accordingly. I have not been sizing accordingly, even in my winnings days. I need to get bigger on the good stuff to achieve optimal profitability.
Let's do it.
Attachments
Quote from ksmetana:
woops, nope, no $1000 day yet =(
Keep going! You'll get it! A new mental tool that I've acquired to help me in my own trading (as well as during my workouts and other parts of life) would be what I learned from this website ---> http://thefranchiseking.visibli.com/share/84msDj
I've been trading for almost 5 years now and I'm just now learning how to use my mind as a tool during the trading day. Your mind can be your teammate or your opponent. It's very early in your career. Don't wait 5 years! I've learned a lot more stuff that's helped me tremendously. Simple stuff. If you're interested don't hesitate to PM me. As a sidenote, for the most part, everything that I've learned is available on the Traderfeed site. Of course, reading that stuff is one thing and actually applying it and making it a part of your trading/life is an entirely different conversation.
Quote from ElecEquity:
Keep going! You'll get it! A new mental tool that I've acquired to help me in my own trading (as well as during my workouts and other parts of life) would be what I learned from this website ---> http://thefranchiseking.visibli.com/share/84msDj
I've been trading for almost 5 years now and I'm just now learning how to use my mind as a tool during the trading day. Your mind can be your teammate or your opponent. It's very early in your career. Don't wait 5 years! I've learned a lot more stuff that's helped me tremendously. Simple stuff. If you're interested don't hesitate to PM me. As a sidenote, for the most part, everything that I've learned is available on the Traderfeed site. Of course, reading that stuff is one thing and actually applying it and making it a part of your trading/life is an entirely different conversation.
Thanks for the link, I put it on my Facebook. I have heard of that before, in college. I feel I've been naturally doing it while trading, grinding out bad behaviors. Need to apply it outside of trading though as well.
I know Steenbarger, I have his book. Use your emotions as indicators. When my feet start bouncing, I know to look for an exit lol. When I see setups fail, and I imagine the pain guys like me are feeling, or about to feel, I know its time to enter.
So, I may not go in the office tomorrow (Mon Aug 1). Mondays are historically my weekest days. But I am staying up late to help my love practice for a job interview, otherwise I would go in, there will probably be some interesting action with the debt BS going on. Sounds like Reid buckled, so the market might get a pop. I'd be looking to buy anything that is oversold or anything that has had a good quarter. Buy strength or buy oversold conditions.
However, I wanted to pop on here and clearly define my August goals.
I AM looking for my first $1000 day. However, I am not going to force it. I want to work on consistency first.
I want to take high percentage profits, and let portions run. I want to grind my account up. I will be selective, sticking to setups I know and trust.
I am well aware that I need to take advantage of earnings while they are here. I WILL be looking to size up wherever I can.
I have noticed that all my size trades have failed recently. It seems everything I feel comfortable sizing up in fails. No surprise I suppose.
So lets quantify it all...
Weekly net profit goal = $1000
Month net profit goal = $4000
R/R: I'd like to repeat a 3+ performance
Win %: Above 45%
I want to be net positive 80% of days.
However, I wanted to pop on here and clearly define my August goals.
I AM looking for my first $1000 day. However, I am not going to force it. I want to work on consistency first.
I want to take high percentage profits, and let portions run. I want to grind my account up. I will be selective, sticking to setups I know and trust.
I am well aware that I need to take advantage of earnings while they are here. I WILL be looking to size up wherever I can.
I have noticed that all my size trades have failed recently. It seems everything I feel comfortable sizing up in fails. No surprise I suppose.
So lets quantify it all...
Weekly net profit goal = $1000
Month net profit goal = $4000
R/R: I'd like to repeat a 3+ performance
Win %: Above 45%
I want to be net positive 80% of days.
8/2/11
Gross: +285
Shares: 13,000
Net: +226
New calculated commission cost = 4.50 / 1000 shares
$2 / 1000 commission + ECN fees
------------------
GOD DAMN IT. Just gave away 80 bucks. Must leave. Owned by LQDT, manipulated CRAP.
Did not size up today, so many trades went beautifully and I had no size because I am a little girl.
Max Gross = +375
Gave back 100 gross + commissions.
LQDT just owned me.
I am very, very upset about today's performance, I should have been +1000 easy but I am a little girl.
Every time I get size, trades fail. Days like today make your week / month.
Amateur. Piker. Undercapitalized noob.
Oh, and I got to the office late today because the 405 freeway was closed due to some piker accident. I sat stopped dead on the 405 for 35 minutes because they had ALL the lanes closed. Good lord. So I got to the office at about 10 eastern. Got a slow start.
-----------------------
1. EXBD - Shorted 100 as it broke 38. Setup was in the box, not the chart. Covered at 37.36. Hahahahhahahaha piker.
2. FWLT - Bought FWLT on a dip at 28.50. Did not bounce. Traded it again later, I shorted in the 28.70s as it failed to break 28.80. Covered down near 50 cents for a quarter. Didn't keep watching it, it represented the same setup and went much better the second time. Damn.
3. CTSH - Bought CTSH around 74, looking for a push to highs. It ran about 20 cents before producing a lower high. So be it.
4. NUS - Bought NUS on a dip at 40.50 area. Ran 20 cents, it tried to bounce as other noob day traders joined me. Got flushed out. So be it.
5. CTRP - Bought CTRP through 40.50, it couldn't get energy, stopped out.
6. UNT - Found a buyer at 60.10 in UNT. I tried longing against it at first as it did gap higher and I felt the buyer could produce a higher low. He held while the market was making a push lower. My long did not work I sold to the buyer. I waited, eventually he broke and I shorted. Did not have enough size to capture the entire move. I covered at 59.77. Piker noob.
7. PPO - My winner of the day, shorted up at 65 area, covered at 64.39, 64.06, and 63.73. 63 was my Target B but I opted to take profits once it began to bounce after the 64 break.
8. ECPG - Pain in the ass stock. I sized up once it broke 25 the first time, it was a false break, flush of buying while the market was tanking after the senate vote. Pissed me off I was livid. Tried again later with lighter size and it worked. Whatever.
I swear that every time I get more than 300 shares the trade fails.
9. Tried buying CVLT a few times up near 42.85. Another pain in the ass stock. Shouldn't have been bothering with longs at all today. The money was in the shorts.
10. Shorted ROK as it made a new low upon the 70 break. Eventually went a point but I covered at 75 cents and 58 cents, as I had piker size.
11. Shorted VECO through a beautiful intraday level. Got piker size because I am an amateur noob. VECO had trade of day potential written all over it. Ouch. Covered at 75 cents and 66 cents.
After I got out of VECO, I was at P&L highs.
12. LQDT - Bought up at 28.05. Relative strength on the day, intraday level. I mean, the setup was there but the mistake was taking a long trade in a market like this. There will not be enough other morons to join me to make this trade work. I deserved to lose. I was not using my brain. I should have let it break and watched to determine if it had proper strength to buy in on a dip. Whatever. I gave back way too much on this trade.
I bought 400 at first at 28.05. Tried to work, came back to 28, I bailed into the liquidity at 28 because I saw liquidity vanish below it and I felt a trap coming. However, the 28 held, and I instantly felt bad about bailing out. I rebought as it bounced off 28, 300 shares. This time all the liquidity at 28 and in the 90s VANISHED. No print, just vanished liquidity.
Liquidity Services is the stock. Manipulated lame crap. Liquidity Manipulation rip. Thanks for servicing me a $80 rip.
-----------------------------
Well, at least I started the month off positive, and my profits basically cover this months data fees. Whatever, I will take it, tomorrow is another day.
I NEED to start sizing up, I need to stop being a woman. I need to produce a mega day, TODAY was the god damn day! I blew it by leaving my testicles at home.
I NEED to take advantage of earnings season, NEED to take advantage of this market volatility. I can't be a piker right now, because once the action is gone, it is 100000x more difficult to make money.
VECO was an obvious size up trade. I am not saying I should size up just because trades are working. I am saying it because many of these are great setups that have a good chance at working, especially today when you had a broad market sell-off.
Tomorrow I'll administer a testosterone injection into my skull and hopefully get size. Odds are however, since I'll be getting size, the trades will fail. lol.
Gross: +285
Shares: 13,000
Net: +226
New calculated commission cost = 4.50 / 1000 shares
$2 / 1000 commission + ECN fees
------------------
GOD DAMN IT. Just gave away 80 bucks. Must leave. Owned by LQDT, manipulated CRAP.
Did not size up today, so many trades went beautifully and I had no size because I am a little girl.
Max Gross = +375
Gave back 100 gross + commissions.
LQDT just owned me.
I am very, very upset about today's performance, I should have been +1000 easy but I am a little girl.
Every time I get size, trades fail. Days like today make your week / month.
Amateur. Piker. Undercapitalized noob.
Oh, and I got to the office late today because the 405 freeway was closed due to some piker accident. I sat stopped dead on the 405 for 35 minutes because they had ALL the lanes closed. Good lord. So I got to the office at about 10 eastern. Got a slow start.
-----------------------
1. EXBD - Shorted 100 as it broke 38. Setup was in the box, not the chart. Covered at 37.36. Hahahahhahahaha piker.
2. FWLT - Bought FWLT on a dip at 28.50. Did not bounce. Traded it again later, I shorted in the 28.70s as it failed to break 28.80. Covered down near 50 cents for a quarter. Didn't keep watching it, it represented the same setup and went much better the second time. Damn.
3. CTSH - Bought CTSH around 74, looking for a push to highs. It ran about 20 cents before producing a lower high. So be it.
4. NUS - Bought NUS on a dip at 40.50 area. Ran 20 cents, it tried to bounce as other noob day traders joined me. Got flushed out. So be it.
5. CTRP - Bought CTRP through 40.50, it couldn't get energy, stopped out.
6. UNT - Found a buyer at 60.10 in UNT. I tried longing against it at first as it did gap higher and I felt the buyer could produce a higher low. He held while the market was making a push lower. My long did not work I sold to the buyer. I waited, eventually he broke and I shorted. Did not have enough size to capture the entire move. I covered at 59.77. Piker noob.
7. PPO - My winner of the day, shorted up at 65 area, covered at 64.39, 64.06, and 63.73. 63 was my Target B but I opted to take profits once it began to bounce after the 64 break.
8. ECPG - Pain in the ass stock. I sized up once it broke 25 the first time, it was a false break, flush of buying while the market was tanking after the senate vote. Pissed me off I was livid. Tried again later with lighter size and it worked. Whatever.
I swear that every time I get more than 300 shares the trade fails.
9. Tried buying CVLT a few times up near 42.85. Another pain in the ass stock. Shouldn't have been bothering with longs at all today. The money was in the shorts.
10. Shorted ROK as it made a new low upon the 70 break. Eventually went a point but I covered at 75 cents and 58 cents, as I had piker size.
11. Shorted VECO through a beautiful intraday level. Got piker size because I am an amateur noob. VECO had trade of day potential written all over it. Ouch. Covered at 75 cents and 66 cents.
After I got out of VECO, I was at P&L highs.
12. LQDT - Bought up at 28.05. Relative strength on the day, intraday level. I mean, the setup was there but the mistake was taking a long trade in a market like this. There will not be enough other morons to join me to make this trade work. I deserved to lose. I was not using my brain. I should have let it break and watched to determine if it had proper strength to buy in on a dip. Whatever. I gave back way too much on this trade.
I bought 400 at first at 28.05. Tried to work, came back to 28, I bailed into the liquidity at 28 because I saw liquidity vanish below it and I felt a trap coming. However, the 28 held, and I instantly felt bad about bailing out. I rebought as it bounced off 28, 300 shares. This time all the liquidity at 28 and in the 90s VANISHED. No print, just vanished liquidity.
Liquidity Services is the stock. Manipulated lame crap. Liquidity Manipulation rip. Thanks for servicing me a $80 rip.
-----------------------------
Well, at least I started the month off positive, and my profits basically cover this months data fees. Whatever, I will take it, tomorrow is another day.
I NEED to start sizing up, I need to stop being a woman. I need to produce a mega day, TODAY was the god damn day! I blew it by leaving my testicles at home.
I NEED to take advantage of earnings season, NEED to take advantage of this market volatility. I can't be a piker right now, because once the action is gone, it is 100000x more difficult to make money.
VECO was an obvious size up trade. I am not saying I should size up just because trades are working. I am saying it because many of these are great setups that have a good chance at working, especially today when you had a broad market sell-off.
Tomorrow I'll administer a testosterone injection into my skull and hopefully get size. Odds are however, since I'll be getting size, the trades will fail. lol.
Attachments
Kurt good luck in trading my man. Size it up when you know what you're doing. This is my last post on ET. It's been fun.
8/3/11
Gross: +239
Shares: 17,800
Net: +159
*My net may be higher than my calculation, since I trade for free when I add liquidity now... Assuming 4.50 anyway to aim for the high side.
----------------------------------
Well, today was definitely a fun one, as far as watching the market. You saw the emotional dump as all the stops were triggered, and then the high volume bottom and accumulation grind.
I am personally bearish and think everyone buying this market is an idiot unless they have the right targets. The bull market is done, the market is not going to make new highs.
Had a rough open, was down about 100 gross as I took loser after loser.
I also tried something new today. Normally, I do not look at any earnings data, and I rarely pay attention to news specifics. I normally just read the level 2, because my opinion on fundamentals will not change the price's destiny. Today, I actually looked at earnings results and made a list of what beat estimates well and what missed by a good amount.
So XL beat pretty good, I saw it make an attempt at the gap, and I was thinking it could be a long once the morning selling is done. It closed at highs, cool. I only tried trading it once and got stopped out. But I like the idea. There were others, I'm not gonna go over em all.
I would also like to split up my stock sorters into a BEAT column and MISS column. Anything trading on the wrong side could be good to game a reversal...
Anyway, after taking a beating in the morning via a mix of silly trades, I finally found a setup in DFT. I shorted 23. Definitely could have gotten bigger but my P&L had me afraid to take another rip. I got 400. Covered at 70 cents and 55 cents on the first push. Then the market began to panic, I decided to hold my shorts. DFT didn't make a significant new low so I covered in the low 50s for the remaining. Traded perfectly. After it hit the 10% mark guys like me couldn't attack it.
My other short was NXTM. No setup on the chart fellas, it was a level 2 trade. I shorted just under 19. Covered at 75 cents and 65 cents. It went a point, but I'm not going to risk an emotional wick in this thin stock.
CRL - CRL found congestion at 36. Market was in panic mode. It presented defined risk and I was in short. Covered at 63 cents and 57 cents.
By this point I had turned my day around, from -87 to +200 rather quickly.
Also by this point, the market action had sucked me. Nothing was going to stop me from trading. Not today.
Hence, I did overtrade a bit, going after anything with potential to move.
Max gross was +262. Didn't finish much south of that but I racked up like another 7k shares, so the overtrading did hit me.
Only other stock I want to go over today is OC.
OC had some interesting dynamics going on, was a fun stock to watch. Strong morning sell off, panics with the market into 31 where it bounces over 1 point in 10 minutes. This is baller hedge funds trying to send a message, "HI THIS IS BOTTOM OK?" Well, as I said, everyone long is an idiot. The market is going LOWER, you should be SELLING! OC made a pennant pattern. I shorted the pattern as I detected weakness in the box, I felt the long was a one-sided trade, you had less players buying it, once they lost share power, it was game time. I shorted OC up at 31.77 inside the pennant, and added at 63 once the pattern was broken. Did not get much size because I am also aware that baller hedge fund can screw everyone on the short side with a click of a button. Right when it LOOKS like a short, they screw you. But not today, they were out of ammunition. I covered at 40 cents and 21 cents, thinking the outs were very high probability, because OC COULD make a higher low. OC made a new low, bounced, lower high, and now its closing near lows. I hope all the longs get smacked.
OH!!! 1 more trade I want to discuss. MISS OPPORTUNITY OF THE DAY. BKI
BKI, you bastard! BKI remained at lows while the market bounced. Began coiling under the 5 minute 10 period. CLASSIC setup. Beautiful setup. Only problem there was nothing solid in the level 2 to lean on and it wasn't very active. It could just have easily been a laggard. I shorted in the 24.60s. I got wicked out OMG. I was ready to load up if this thing began to trickle in my favor.
Once it broke 24.50, I didn't trust the stock anymore, I didn't like it. I had no idea what it was capable of, in either direction.
Hahahahaha, they wicked me out because I am a piker noob. Well done HFT bastards. That is why you are on yachts and I drive a Saturn.
------------------------
Anyway, I should avoid the morning, I don't like bad starts, they impact my size on good trades.
August R:R is 3.5 and Win % is 35%. I must understand that my current selectivity level is still too low.
Either way, I did not size up again today. While there was a ton of opportunity out there today, it was not the smoothest action. Lots of battling out there.
I expect we'll see cleaner setups tomorrow.
At least my streak continues for now. I am due for a down day, the question is, how much will I lose? We shall see.
I was NOT selective this morning, I did NOT wait for the setups I know and love, and I was punished for it. I did take a breather and tell myself to wait, and that is when DFT came. Wait for your setups, be selective, and take profits. This mentality has me on a winning streak. Not big winning days, but at least I am being consistent, which makes life a lot less stressful.
I need to knock one out of the park soon.....
Gross: +239
Shares: 17,800
Net: +159
*My net may be higher than my calculation, since I trade for free when I add liquidity now... Assuming 4.50 anyway to aim for the high side.
----------------------------------
Well, today was definitely a fun one, as far as watching the market. You saw the emotional dump as all the stops were triggered, and then the high volume bottom and accumulation grind.
I am personally bearish and think everyone buying this market is an idiot unless they have the right targets. The bull market is done, the market is not going to make new highs.
Had a rough open, was down about 100 gross as I took loser after loser.
I also tried something new today. Normally, I do not look at any earnings data, and I rarely pay attention to news specifics. I normally just read the level 2, because my opinion on fundamentals will not change the price's destiny. Today, I actually looked at earnings results and made a list of what beat estimates well and what missed by a good amount.
So XL beat pretty good, I saw it make an attempt at the gap, and I was thinking it could be a long once the morning selling is done. It closed at highs, cool. I only tried trading it once and got stopped out. But I like the idea. There were others, I'm not gonna go over em all.
I would also like to split up my stock sorters into a BEAT column and MISS column. Anything trading on the wrong side could be good to game a reversal...
Anyway, after taking a beating in the morning via a mix of silly trades, I finally found a setup in DFT. I shorted 23. Definitely could have gotten bigger but my P&L had me afraid to take another rip. I got 400. Covered at 70 cents and 55 cents on the first push. Then the market began to panic, I decided to hold my shorts. DFT didn't make a significant new low so I covered in the low 50s for the remaining. Traded perfectly. After it hit the 10% mark guys like me couldn't attack it.
My other short was NXTM. No setup on the chart fellas, it was a level 2 trade. I shorted just under 19. Covered at 75 cents and 65 cents. It went a point, but I'm not going to risk an emotional wick in this thin stock.
CRL - CRL found congestion at 36. Market was in panic mode. It presented defined risk and I was in short. Covered at 63 cents and 57 cents.
By this point I had turned my day around, from -87 to +200 rather quickly.
Also by this point, the market action had sucked me. Nothing was going to stop me from trading. Not today.
Hence, I did overtrade a bit, going after anything with potential to move.
Max gross was +262. Didn't finish much south of that but I racked up like another 7k shares, so the overtrading did hit me.
Only other stock I want to go over today is OC.
OC had some interesting dynamics going on, was a fun stock to watch. Strong morning sell off, panics with the market into 31 where it bounces over 1 point in 10 minutes. This is baller hedge funds trying to send a message, "HI THIS IS BOTTOM OK?" Well, as I said, everyone long is an idiot. The market is going LOWER, you should be SELLING! OC made a pennant pattern. I shorted the pattern as I detected weakness in the box, I felt the long was a one-sided trade, you had less players buying it, once they lost share power, it was game time. I shorted OC up at 31.77 inside the pennant, and added at 63 once the pattern was broken. Did not get much size because I am also aware that baller hedge fund can screw everyone on the short side with a click of a button. Right when it LOOKS like a short, they screw you. But not today, they were out of ammunition. I covered at 40 cents and 21 cents, thinking the outs were very high probability, because OC COULD make a higher low. OC made a new low, bounced, lower high, and now its closing near lows. I hope all the longs get smacked.
OH!!! 1 more trade I want to discuss. MISS OPPORTUNITY OF THE DAY. BKI
BKI, you bastard! BKI remained at lows while the market bounced. Began coiling under the 5 minute 10 period. CLASSIC setup. Beautiful setup. Only problem there was nothing solid in the level 2 to lean on and it wasn't very active. It could just have easily been a laggard. I shorted in the 24.60s. I got wicked out OMG. I was ready to load up if this thing began to trickle in my favor.
Once it broke 24.50, I didn't trust the stock anymore, I didn't like it. I had no idea what it was capable of, in either direction.
Hahahahaha, they wicked me out because I am a piker noob. Well done HFT bastards. That is why you are on yachts and I drive a Saturn.
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Anyway, I should avoid the morning, I don't like bad starts, they impact my size on good trades.
August R:R is 3.5 and Win % is 35%. I must understand that my current selectivity level is still too low.
Either way, I did not size up again today. While there was a ton of opportunity out there today, it was not the smoothest action. Lots of battling out there.
I expect we'll see cleaner setups tomorrow.
At least my streak continues for now. I am due for a down day, the question is, how much will I lose? We shall see.
I was NOT selective this morning, I did NOT wait for the setups I know and love, and I was punished for it. I did take a breather and tell myself to wait, and that is when DFT came. Wait for your setups, be selective, and take profits. This mentality has me on a winning streak. Not big winning days, but at least I am being consistent, which makes life a lot less stressful.
I need to knock one out of the park soon.....