GDW ; 05082006

I was long this stock on the break of second bar. Wasn't too crazy about going long because of the first bar, but i've seen stocks go up the other way, so I said why not. Well two bars later I found out why not.

Now there are reasons I wasn't comfortable with this trade. I've noticed that when looking at breakout candidates, whenver there's a doji or a hammerlike candle, it gives me a better entry and probability. The other candidates that I had wouldn't have qualified because they gapped up, so according to my rules I should have been bullish. However, if you look at the charts, yo usee they stocks just were making strong moves down. Even the one that did have a large first candle seemed that it was making a lower swing high with the hammer. I'm trying to have a system as mechanical as possible, because I know how I probably tend to put everything in a pattern that makes sense to me. The problem is the more and more I look at things , I feel I will have to be use more discretion. Hence , the problem of the chicken and the egg for the rookie trader. I suck so badly at writing, thank goodness no one reads this.

AOC ; 05052006

This could have been a good trade.

I was poised to enter on the break of the fourth bar. It was in somewhat in the shape of an inverted hammer and the previous price action indicated a downtrend. As I waited for the stock to break the price I was asked if I was going to eat. Now usually, I just wait for my order to get executed, place the stop, and then go out to get my lunch. However, for whatever reason, I was very hungry and I decided that since it was around lunch time, the stock probably wouldn't make its move within the next fifteen minutes. That's exactly what it did. I got pissed and shorted it later to get .29 cents., which is nothing compared to the gain of at least a dollar I was poised to gain. Lesson learned: Don't leave before you get your trade in.

EK & CHS; 05042006

More losing trades

And another one:

 

PLT ; 05032006

So I decide to take this short on the break of the fourth bar. I'm already upset that not only have none of my prior trades worked, but they in no moment have moved in the direction I expected it to move, so at the least I could move my stop to break even. Well earlier in the week I had gotten an email from cinemasource.com giving away tickets to a premiere of Mission Impossible 3 in Harlem. Now usually, I don't really care much for the Mission Impossible franchise. It's one of those things I watch when I'm bored on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and I need to kill two hours. However, in this case, it was free, so I decided that I would leave at two.   As fate would have it, the stock was choppy, and by two it was around the same price I got in. At that point I was just happy I didn't lose anymore money. Of course later on I look at the chart and realize the stock decided to move as soon as I got out. 

 

NAV ; 05032006

I entered short on the break of the fourth bar, only to realize that the stock had made its downward move of the day and it's only mission was to move up just enough to stop me out and give me another loss.

 

CLX ; 05032006

I shorted this stock on the break of the third bar. The stock got choppy afterwards, so I moved my stop to a more comfortable level. That made my day 0 for 2.

BEC ; 05032006

One of my first candidats of the day. I took the trade on the break of the 10:30 bar since it was a bullish inside bar. Got stopped out two bars later, only to see the stock retrace back to where I bought it and close for the day at that price. I know the market can't be out to get me, but that's too much of a coincidence, don't you think?

Rough day

As the title states, it was a very difficult day. Went four for four in losing trades. Took trades that exceeded my risk tolerance, so basically one of the trades really hurt.

OSK ; 05022006

Another example of how not to follow your rules.

 

 I entered short on the break of the 11:30 bar. It was an inside bar so decided it was as good a time as any. Now, after having lost money on the BGC trade, I was already thinking of a target. I was risking .50, so I was aiming for the low of the day, according to the charts, which was 54.48. Then I noticed that my platform said the low of the day was 54.60, so that was still reasonable for me. I waited for the 12:30 bar to move my stop, since it was the first show of strength. But then, at around 2:30, things started to get jumpy and I freaked out. I started thinking that maybe the stock was going to go as low as the 15 min, opening range, which was 54.84, and I missed my chance to get that target. Mind you , i was up about a point, which I think isn't half bad. So in my urge to put in an order on ARCA, I pressed the wrong button, and got out with a dollar profit. I made money, and it was two times what I risked, but that's irrelevant. I didn't follow the rules, which will allow me to let my profits run. Had I followed them , I would have at least gotten out with .40 more cents. Lesson for the day: Stick the rules you idiot, you don't know anything about the market.

BGC ; 05022006

Here's a trade where I broke all of my rules. The hardest part in trading is sticking to your rules. The problem is, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Those few times they don't for whatever reason seem to stick out in your mind, and then you try to tweak. Less is more , and that cannot be any more true when it comes to trading. I see people scalping stocks all the day and telling me it's going to go up, and then down, and so on and so forth. That sounds stressful, and I already have a thinning hairline, I don't need the market giving me any more help. On to the chart.

I entered long on the break of the 10:30 bar since it was an inside bar. I moved my stop to the low of the next bar. Why? I was risking .60, which frankly, isn't fun to lose when you only have 1500 left in your account. It was a mistake because it wasn't a strong bar. If i'm taking the trade, I have to deal with the consequences and just take my loss. Anyhow, the trade ended up going in my favor. If I had followed my rules, I would have gotten out at around 36.08 at 3:45, making about 1.30 on the stock. Instead I got stopped out right away. Live and learn.