Trading advice needed

K

kevink00

I have been a swing trader for 2 years and have now started trading intraday. I am using 100s. lots to get my feet wet. The problem I am having is that although I have had 24 roundtrips in the last week, my account is lower, but I have lost what amounts to fees only, i.e. $26 per roundtrip. I have more losers than winners, by a 5 or 6 to one ratio. I am stopping losses quickly, thank God, or I would have been in much worse shape by now. I am picking entries by looking for volume spikes coming off of support, or shorting large parabolic moves as they run out of gas. My probability evaluation is what is hurting me. I missing the large moves and trading small, weak ones that soon reverse, and stop me out. I need help from you guys, because I am getting frustrated. I dont know what it is that I am missing. I have traded CHKP,RMBS,BRCM,CMVT AND PLMD this week. Thanks to all for the great discussion on this site.

Kevin
 
Hi Kevin,

It sounds like the first thing you need is a plan. You described your entry plan, but didn't talk about your exits. Are you wanting 1/4's, $1's, $3? Are you using the futures as a guide? You can get a free S&P futures feed at Quote.com using the livecharts feature if you don't already have access to it.

Also, you are paying about $13/trade at your current broker when you could be paying only $1/trade at IB. Why not learn at IB, and switch back to a more complex setup once you are profitable?


Good Luck
Dustin
 
Praetorian, please elaborate on your comment about "avoiding names and stocks that move with the futures" I read in the books I've bought that that method is the most sure. I want to do this rights and make a living at it. I appreciate any advice. Thanks
 
Kevink00:

If you can provide a little more information, I can probably help.

What trading software and data feed do you use?
What other analytics software do you use?
Any other trading tools?
How many monitors do you have?
What is your intra-day trading style objective (frequent scalps, fewer trades but larger cycles, hold story-stocks for trend, other)?

I'll get back to you over the weekend.
 
Thanks for the replies, everyone.

A couple of questions:

If not RMBS,CHKP,etc. then which would you recommend?

I am looking for fairly large moves of 1 point or more.

I make 2-5 trades a day.

I use MyTrack with one monitor.

I dont use any other analysis software otherthan the package in the MyTrack program, which I know is not cutting edge, but neither am I. I am thinking that there is a basic problem with how I see a particular market in real time--not with my hardware or feed, but with my head. I keep getting faked out.

I look for infrequent, large moves off of support or resistance.

I have picked the stocks I hve traded because of the daily volume, the number of trades per day, and then observing them for a while real time and looking back about a month on intraday charts.



Thanks again to all who have helped.
 
Kevin,

Start off only trading a limited number of stocks. 2 or 3. If it were me, I would avoid the nasdaq for the moment, and start with some liquid NYSE issues. For now, only trade 1 position at a time.

You may find you are trading less, but you will also have more time to see what you are doing right/wrong. As you become profitable, add another stock to your selections.
And then when you are confident, you can start trading multiple positions at the same time. (preferably in non-corrolated stocks)

Also, as earlier suggested.... Leave mytrack and go to interactivebrokers.com for the time being. a 2 dollar round trip is a hell of a lot better than mytrack's 26 bucks!

Also, think of a profit taking plan. You said you see profits turn into stop-out losses. That shouldnt happen. Some people recommend always keeping a stop at 50% of your profits, which might be a good idea for starters. There are other meathods as well.

Hopefully this will help. Also, keep losses at 1 to 1.5%.

Good luck.
 
Stick with emc and aol for suggestions. Very easy specialists to read, and there is plenty of island liquidity and the 10 min bar range is usually still at least .4 or so.. Too bad glw is too thick now to trade. TXN and MU are also ok.
 
My problem is that when i get in, the stock that was moving moments before will stop or reverse. Often i'll get in, see a 3/8 or 1/2 point move and get stopped out with a 1/4 or 1/8th of profit, which amounts to a loss, due to fees, and 100shares. I suspect a basic error on my part, because I am doing this consistently. Different stocks, different times, same result. The only real common denominator is the guy at the controls. When you guys see a potential move how do you confirm? I like the idea of using IB because on 100 shares I feel the fees are hanging over my head, like trading options with a huge spread. Thanks also for the listed stock advice, but when I began practicing on the simulator I traded listed stocks and found the movements lethargic. I think I will revisit them now though. I can do it on a simulator, but when cash is on the line the red mist comes in and I blow it.
 
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