The adventures of a new Trader

I know this sounds sad, but I dont know the answer to your question :eek: . I opened my account with 500...which is nothing (scottrade). Right now I have 6,090.00 total. However only half of that is actually mine (3,045.00). I cant understand the accounting from scottrade's site.
 
I also want to add that the gain you see from 500 to the 3k i have now, was mostly deposits I put in from other sources and not actually profits. I dont think I've had a profitable month yet. This month is actually REALLY good, but last month was terrible so if you add my gains from this month to last month's losses, i'm still in the red.
 
Do you have your stats on a month-by-month basis? What do your stats look like when you just look at your last couple months?
 
Quote from cashmoney69:

7/20/06

Bought STLD @ 59.90

7/25

Sold STLD @ 57.20

profit/ loss: - 284.00

reason for trade - Impulse :( .


You're not going to last very long if your winners are only $80-$100 but your losses are up near $300. You got to get those #'s flipped. If you dont you better be right most, if not all, the time. You should try to be up around 1:3 ( risk to reward) I find that hard, so I keep mine at least 1:2.
 
7/25/06

Profit target: 30.00
stop target: 28.35

Bought LIFC @ 28.84

7/26/06

Sold LIFC @ 28.35

profit/loss: - 72.80

Reason for loss: Maybe my stops were too tight on this trade. But after LIFC broke 28.40 I had stops in place. After my big loss in STLD, I didn't want to take another potential loss that big. Maybe this would have been a good overnight hold, however there are some indicators that I dont like.

1. Weak ADX. Currently 20.26 in this uptrend. I would like to have seen at least 28.00, maybe 30.

2. CCI slightly over 0, at 11.88. To me, this is a neutral signal.

3. Doji forming at the top of the trend on daily charts. These are powerful reversal signals especially at tops and bottoms.
 

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Quote from Trader273:

You're not going to last very long if your winners are only $80-$100 but your losses are up near $300. You got to get those #'s flipped. If you dont you better be right most, if not all, the time. You should try to be up around 1:3 ( risk to reward) I find that hard, so I keep mine at least 1:2.

Yes I know. Its not easy.
 
Quote from cashmoney69:



1. Because I'm a swing trader, I'll be trading both nyse and nasdaq stocks, as well as ETF's like spy and others that normally would be too expensive. NO amex stocks, futures, options, or currencies will be traded.

2. Trade stocks with avg vol of at least 250,000 +

3. Stops will be held mentally and placed after a loss of 3.00. I will hold winners as long as possible until either stops are hit, or for any reason I think the position should be exercised (bad news ect..)

4. (not sure about this one) Buy 3 different stocks in 3 different sectors..If it works for investing, it should work for short term trading.

5. All positions will be held overnight


Trading plan revised

1. Average vol of 460,000 shares +

2. NASDAQ stocks only because they are more liquid

3. Stops will no longer be held mentally. I'm looking for a 1:2 risk/reward ratio.

4. Four day trades a week (max i'm allowed to do by law)

5. Charts used: daily, 60, and 10

daily --> direction
60 minute --> S/R zones
10 minute --> Timing

Rule #5 is subject to change

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I am going to reduce share size and widen my stops. Share size will now be 80 to 90 instead of 100-120.
 
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