Selling:
I made one round trip in a new pick - strong volume, good news, and a good turn around. Also sold two additional positions early in the day, with a healthy profit (~$400 each). A left over from yesterday tanked - but confident in the system, I stuck with it. At one point I was down >$1000, but I convinced myself not to sell on the down trend. I managed to time the turn around and bought back in, lowering the basis, and ended up coming out with a $250 profit.
Buying:
I mentioned the round trip, and also purchased back in on the same stock towards the end of day based on the screener. Had about 15 options for end of day, and ended up entering two additional. Got into all very well, setting up for a great day tomorrow.
What ifs:
None in this account. I am still trading in the IRA, but not watching it as close as I should have been and I took a big hit - but this blog isn't about the IRA.
Time spent:
Again, a lot of time just watching the prices go up - and down. I couldn't take my eyes off, despite a bunch of work sitting on the desk. I moved sell points up several times as volume piled in. I am guessing about another 4 hours, with plenty of time for phone calls and emails. And hikes out to the kitchen to tell my wife the latest.
Am I really going to finish the first two weeks of January ahead of the 100k goals?
With the understanding that unsolicited advice is often considered meddling, I offer the following:
ReplyDeleteI noticed that under your "Selling" header above, you averaged in on a losing trade. Be very cautious about this. It can REALLY bite you on a trend or breakout day. It tends to reward you on range days when you can count on the reversal back to your average price. Many traders have found terrific success with this method because of the high rate of success. But, what I have read and personally experienced is that when this move goes against you, it will be very punishing because you have added size(risk), and expanded timeframe(risk) to a losing idea without any stop. If you had employed a stop, you likely would not still be in the trade. What I personally found from averaging a loser is that it is a way of trying to "cheat" the system. The system being: Take a trade, set a stop, get out quickly if the stop is hit because your idea was flawed.
I've read that averaging in on a losing trade is a way of avoiding the pain of being wrong on that original trade idea. And so much of learning to trade is managing one's personality / emotions. I think you'll like the entire article about young trader Merritt Graves written by Imogen Smith, but in support of my comments, read this excerpt:
"During his sophomore year Graves raised $7,000 from Jeff Larson, a local day trader and entrepreneur he befriended who must have sensed something special in the teen (Larson did not return phone calls seeking comment). Graves used that money, along with $2,000 of his cash, to get back into the market, this time trading small- and microcap stocks.
The third time wasn’t the charm. That spring, Foreman says, Graves began looking more and more tired, missing school entirely some days. He lost everything again. “I advised him several times to back away,” says his father.
Instead, in his quiet, determined way, the younger Graves began to monitor the market rather than trade it, teaching himself to sense where stocks were moving by watching the tape. He read about investing and behavioral finance, and identified a major weakness in his trading: a tendency to double down on declining positions in an attempt to make his money back quickly and end the pain of losses."
Best of luck to you!