daytrader

[rickjust]

hi,
i have decided to start a daytrading log . i will post all my daytrades here at the end of the day .
i don't have many rules . my main one is to protect capital. the others are all the standard ones which we all use . i use very few chart patterns. my strategy is simple . volume and price and macro market sentiment is key. today i will post the 2 trades i made . one was a winner
the other was a winner but i wasn't quick enough to pull the trigger and i lost 6cents on it.
hope you find it helpful .
i hope i find it helpfull as well .
here goes
the first chart is ener . the market was strong in the pre market the opening had volume (given that it is a holiday week) and ener dropped onto the 20ma ( i use 20 and 50 ma on my intra charts)
my entry was 73.39 on the first candle not the second as stated on the chart exit was 74.88.
i try to get as close to the break out as i can for the entry. at that time of day it is moving so fast that a market order can lose 20 or 30 cents quickly.

[rickjust]

the second day trade is LDK which started out well with one of my favorite 5 min patterns that works pretty much every time . first 5 mins it drops to the resistance . second 5 mins it reverses and then breaks out above the open . low risk entry is the second opening candle with a stop below the resitance line . i gave it another 5 minutes cause i was busy watching my ener trade . ldk broke out well but stalled at where i was think of selling  at the second resistance but my mind said let the profit run . but the market turned sour . i was about 25cents up when i decided to get out but by that time i had lost 6 cents .  i consider this a winning trade because my gut told me to get out because this pattern of breaking out as i described it  is usually very reliable on a bullish day in the market . to get out with a 6 cent loss when you look at the chart and see it lost  about $4 in value is a good trade for me . the rest of the day is history.
thanks
max

[Ares]

Nice charts Maxi!

I'm glad to see you started a log.

Looking forward to more of your entries.

Good Luck and Happy Trading.

Ares

[rickjust]

thanks ares,
daytrading is simple if you keep it simple . it is the perfect market for it and probably will be for a long time . this market is different to 20years ago when guys like me couldn't sit in front of a screen and trade freely with small comissions.  volitily is the traders friend.
just one trade today . i knew i would miss the bounce this afternoon but i had other stuff to do .
traded GG  today. waited for the market to get some direction this morning before doing anything. have been watching GG  but missed the bounce from support on the previous day. oh well can't catch them all.
classic breakout today from previous high with a nice based support .  broke from one resistance . target was 2nd resistance but decided to take the round number 49. as an exit. $1.09 profit.

[AussieTrader]

Good work Maxi. Applaud

[rickjust]

hi,
2 trades this morning , both on APOL which is still running without me as i write.
first trade was the break of the first 5 minute candle to the upside but i wasn't quick enough on my fill and got 55.25 instead of 55 as i wanted .
got nervous and got out at 55.79 . got confident again in the reversal candle with lots of volume . got back in at 55.91, out at 57.18 . $1.78 on the day . good trades for me as i have to go to a rehearsal so i am done for the day .
enjoy ,
max
p.s. thanks aussie trader, i am moving back to oz later this year and i am yet to decide how i am going to trade the u.s. market . wether i just trade futures or keep my account here and continue to trade stocks which i prefer.

[rickjust]

hi,
short day today and a "patriotic bounce " on a lot of stocks.
shorts covering may well go into the close but i am out of the market so they can do what they want .
My plan, last night, was to short FWLT today . but i completely forgot about it this morning . oh well. there is always another oportunity in the market.
2 trades today . one stupid one and one o.k. one.
NVDA . tried to catch a bounce but i didn't wait for confirmation and got in 12.99 below  the breakout of about 13.04 . the trading was fierce in it but no movement so i should have left it alone . lost 5cents. out at 12.94. traded AGU FOR .$1.36  profit with a .50cent trailing stop. which got hit. in at 96.57 ( about 30cents later than i wanted as usual) out at 97.93 hit my stop.
have a great long weekend
maxi

[rickjust]

OK, i am going to say it . trading should be fun and exciting , not boring .
        there is the old dictum that you should be bored with trading and put your emotions aside and let every thought about it  be neutral with no joy or loss attached to it .
     of course this is completely impossible as you can not have a neutral thought about anything . ( you are not having a neutral thought right now while reading this , some emotion is taking hold)
for example.
you plan the trade and trade the plan with your stop in place . all goes well , ( non neutral ) your stock is increasing in value , you have a trailing stop and it gets hit . you made 3 points on it and you are happy with the profits but the stock quickly reverses and goes up another 3 points and you kick yourself for not putting your stop lower or you are proud of your discipline of sticking with the plan or some such thing that you tell yourself before, during and after each trade. either way you are involved as an emotional human being . involved in the art of living , involved in the passion of life as it unfolds before you on the screen.
         imagine a skydiver being bored or unattached to jumping from 10,000 feet after having done it 2000 times before.  when the thrill is gone it is time to hang it up ( or move on to B.A.S.E. jumping)
imagine a musician on stage with no passion for the performance, how would the audience react?
         you are dealing with your money and the reason to trade is to make more of it but if you lose it ,even in the slightest amount , you will regret or feel some sort of loss.
        trading is a unique art form. yes, i call it an art form because you are creating something from nothing . you are starting with a blank canvas ,i.e. the stock , and you are painting a picture of what you want that stock to look like .  your tools are, for some technical analysis , and for others fundamental analysis, or a combination of both. like any great art , you start with an idea and you let the muse and the inspiration of creative energy backed by a solid foundation of the study of your art take you to a place where you have created something beautiful . i.e. a trade you can show off to your friends. who hasn't made a great trade and looked at the chart as a thing of beauty. i no i have . or looked at the chart of a losing trade that i have held far too long like some drawing that i did that i rip up in frustration at my lack of skill.
     so are we going to be just a bundle of emotions pulled one way and then the next as we watch our trades unfold . well that is individual ,  but the key for me in trading was to find out what kind of trader i am and stick with that . all the rules given by other famous traders will not help me if they are not my rules . if they are rules i read and said , "yes these are good rules but i can't seem to stick with them"  then i need to tweak them and make them my own. find out what works  .
for me , for example i like to lock in profits . you know the one , "you will never go broke taking your profits" that could mean a myriad of things to many people but for me it ties in with something i read in a vanity fair magazine while sitting in the dentist office. in an interview with a rich guy who sold only $5 potato peelers all his life , hawking them on the streets of London. his adage was " never underestimate a small amount of money." i liked that , it took hold, i had an emotional response to it .  i instantly knew this was for me . i didn't have to remember it . it just stuck to me .
          rules are flexible and meant to be broken . each day is brand new so anything could happen . so when i tell myself "don't trade the dead zone " and an opportunity arises where an instinctual response to the movement of a particular stock  is so compelling that i must act , then this rule is broken.
But this is all just for me , each one is an individual and must find his own way of trading , this is key.
Don't let the world tell you who you are . look within , you know who you are and what you can or can't tolerate . above all enjoy what you do , be passionate about it . don't be bored by trading. ( i know you aren't)
do  what you love and nothing else.
thanks,
max

 

         

[rickjust]

hi,
one trade today so far. CSIQ  on news of some contracts and a bounce in the market .
entered on the second green 5 min candle and almost got stopped out below 33.31 at the pivot.
entry 34.04 , sold at first red candle at 35.77 . 1.73 profit . will wait for another entry which actually already past me by at 34.68 so i will have to wait . also looking at ENER  and AGU.
good trading all,
max

[rickjust]

well i just came back to take a look at the market . thought i could be in CSIQ again but everything fell over . AGU  might have support here
max

[rickjust]

ener , in at 64.80 at the break of W

[rickjust]

STOP at 65.39, moving stop to 65.80

[rickjust]

sold at 66.42 . resistance 66.60
1.62 profit

[rickjust]

hi,
stocks like ENER  are good day trading stocks with lots of volitility and in that range above $50 per share can easily move in dollar incriments which if you are on the right side of the trade can be very rewarding .
that particular set up in the chart above is very common and often forms around the same time of day between 1.pm and 2pm. with the target above in this case 66.60 and daytraders all around the world watching the same thing the risk is very low of this W  pattern not working out . for me it is an instinct thing , as soon as i see it i can feel it is going to go . i learnt to trust this gut feeling which is faster than doing a whole bunch of calculations for me . i checked the fifteen minute chart and it was bullish as was the 5 min chart. check the futures and listen to where the order flow of the entire market is . at that time of day today you had a lot of shorts covering their positions and some buyers coming in as well so it was a safe place to trade long . CSIQ  was doing exactly the same thing at the same time but i can't generally watch more than one trade at a time.
if i was wrong then my mental stop was in place ready to get out.
thanks
max

[rickjust]

hi,
quick scalp on QID . in 45. out 45.44 just below my target of 45.56
sell programs had kicked in qid sitting down on the 20ma as i like macd turned positive on the 5 min chart .
have to go to my daughter's orientation at U.W.  madison so didn't want to stick around the trade.
good trading
max