Total Newbie (self taught/punished) Tries to make it big. (No joke!)

Quote from WarEagle:

Looks like you are off to a decent start. I know you are not listening per your first post, and that is fine, but if there is one thing I learned quickly when I started it was to use a per share commission direct access broker. Unless you are doing large blocks of stock, the ticket charges will eat you up. Not only will you save on commissions, but you will save the payment for order flow hidden charges that your "free" broker is getting out of you. (BTW, if the trades are free, why are you paying about $30 per trade?).

I don't trade retail anymore, so I am not promoting any particular broker, but you owe it to yourself to check out somewhere like Interactive Brokers. You would be paying a little under $8 instead of $30 plus you can control your orders for better fills. (Just be aware that this won't help your tendancy to microtrade, since its much easier to buy and sell quickly).
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Okay, I kind of over-exagerated my claim to not listening :)

But yeah, my plan is to switch to a real broker (Everyone says IB so good nuff for me) soon...

And unfortunatly I had to pay $30/trade for a little while there @ fidelity because due to the Margin Call they wouldnt allow me to do *ANY* trades online.. including just liquidating positions... so in order to get my money out I had to do an over-the-phone trade hence the $30 fee.

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Already today I got impatient with where the market is and tried doing microtrades... man this is 10x more stressfull than just sittin on it :P I'm thinking once my current positions break even i'm going to just sit and wait for QQQ to hit 30.85 (again) and then do a short sell.
 
I think my biggest problem is that I get too caught up in the little shit going on...

Like for example, yesterday my goal was to either buy again when QQQ was down to 30.75, or Short when QQQ was at 31.00 but today, what do I do? I see it at around 30.75 and then I think "well thats good enough, I should short at 30.85) but if I was smart and thought of that last night I would have just did that instead of waiting for 31... the price actually already went up to 30.85 already so chump on me.

And my little attempt at microtrading again isnt doing too well. I WILL STOP THIS INSANITY ONCE AND FOR ALL :p
 
Today wasnt too bad, my results were:

===============================
Daily gains : ($48)
Total gains : $569 ... 2.276%
Open Positions: Short 1600 QQQ @ 30.85
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Buy 1600 QQQ Limit at 29.75, GTC Canceled
Sell Short 1600 QQQ Limit at 30.80, DAY Canceled
Buy 1600 QQQ Limit at 30.71, DAY Partially Filled:Filled
Buy 1600 QQQ Limit at 30.71, DAY Partially Filled 700 at 30.71 2003-07-02 14:24:46
Buy 1600 QQQ Limit at 30.71, DAY Partially Filled 900 at 30.71 2003-07-02 14:23:59
Sell 1600 QQQ Limit at 30.73, DAY Filled 1600 at 30.73 2003-07-02 14:26:45
Sell Short 1600 QQQ Market Filled 1600 at 30.75 2003-07-02 14:27:46
Buy To Cover 1600 QQQ Limit at 30.72, DAY Canceled
Buy To Cover 1600 QQQ Limit at 30.71, DAY Canceled
Buy To Cover 1600 QQQ Limit at 30.80, DAY Filled 1600 at 30.80 2003-07-02 15:02:04
Sell Short 1600 QQQ Limit at 30.85, DAY Canceled
Sell Short 1600 QQQ Limit at 30.84, DAY Filled 1600 at 30.85 2003-07-02 15:11:04
Sell Short 1600 QQQ Limit at 30.85, DAY Canceled
Buy To Cover 1600 QQQ Limit at 30, GTC Canceled
Buy To Cover 1600 QQQ Limit at 30.70, GTC Canceled
Buy To Cover 1600 QQQ Limit at 30, GTC Open
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Lessons Learned: I still am tempted by microtrades.. about 3:30est the price dipped down to $30.70 and if I jumped I would have realized an extra $240 gain... I think next time I see a swing like that I'll have to act.

I'm hoping that my guess is right.. and tomorrow I'll make a buck or two selling short, but we'll have to wait till then to find out.

Right now I'm down $0.10/share as the close was around $30.95... boo hoo but i'll live.
 
When I first saw your trades, it was like everything I was doing my two months of trading. I dug myself into a hole.
But now I've:
* Stopped using leverage, to lessen to losses.
* Switched to swing-trading to improve the risk/reward ratio, and to reduce the costs associated with commisions and slippage (overtrading).
* I've also developed a pretty tight money management and risk management system to guide my trading.

But first I had to:
STOP THE INSANITY!!!
 
Quote from -EntropyTrader:

When I first saw your trades, it was like everything I was doing my two months of trading. I dug myself into a hole.
But now I've:
* Stopped using leverage, to lessen to losses.
* Switched to swing-trading to improve the risk/reward ratio, and to reduce the costs associated with commisions and slippage (overtrading).
* I've also developed a pretty tight money management and risk management system to guide my trading.

But first I had to:
STOP THE INSANITY!!!
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Hehehe yeah.. but the insanity... it's sooo tempting.. just one more hit, then i promise I'm through... okay? :p

By the way, you mention risk management.. care to elaborate?
 
By the way, you mention risk management.. care to elaborate? [/B][/QUOTE]

Hi Taumeson,

I enjoy your journal and wish you all the best in your trading. But I have to ask: why should Entropy help you with money/risk management when all you have to do is pick up a book that addresses these concepts. Remember,it was YOUR decision to stay ignorant.

Best of luck - keep a running total so we can see how much you make/lose!
 
Quote from Lightningsmurf:

By the way, you mention risk management.. care to elaborate?
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Hi Taumeson,

I enjoy your journal and wish you all the best in your trading. But I have to ask: why should Entropy help you with money/risk management when all you have to do is pick up a book that addresses these concepts. Remember,it was YOUR decision to stay ignorant.

Best of luck - keep a running total so we can see how much you make/lose! [/B][/QUOTE]

Oh I'm just trying to get my posts to the 30+ mark, that's all :p

Anyway, it's not like i'm choosing to stay ignorant... just a little too busy that's all. Oh okay, i'm just lazy.

Anyway, I hope everyone's getting a kick out of my bumblings... I just hope I wasnt stupid shorting overnight :) :confused:
 
Generally speaking you don't want to be going against a strong close. There is the possibility that the market is ob/os and will move your way, but a gap move could kill you.

You might get lucky today since it is the day before a national holiday. The specialists/MM's are in charge more than usual and will try to stop hunt at the open.

good luck
 
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