"An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field."

- Niels Henrik David Bohr

Thursday, April 1, 2010

End of Day Journal (4-1-2010) (Paper trade)





Comments:


After fiddling with the logistics for several days, I think I finally have the system at some reasonable level of efficiency. I went from 3 screeners to 1, from 8 charts to 5, all coupled with the IB order control platform. Oh yeah, and NT's Market Analyzer to track potentials. It still sounds way too complicated, but I can squeeze it all onto three monitors. I may due away with NT's charts, but I am keeping them for the time being. Details are likely to be forthcoming, after I run this for a few more days.

Overall a decent day on paper. Three factors cut into profits - well four actually:

1. Early trades bought outside of a definite market trend (All the trades up until about 10:30). I thought I was buying into the trend - but it wasn't true market momentum. Too early and not enough sign to be venturing in. The FSLR long was almost good on the stock side momentum, but not the market momentum. I need to wait for market momentum.

2. Spreads - FSLR, NEM. Those are the only two that I recall. I just forgot to check spread prior to entry. Hurt getting out (on FSLR - both the profit on the short and the loss on the long).

3. Scaling - I tried to scale up way too quickly. I think I will stay well away from scaling for the time being. But I think I will start with a 1000 share entry.

And 4.... I had a chart malfunction on the TYH short and had to exit early. Good prep - in case something like this were to happen in live trading - EXIT. I had to shut down and restart NT to get the chart to display correctly.


Momentum - the true swing came shortly after 10:30 and it was unmistakable. I like this style of trading - a quick judgment on my decision and no cliff hangers or desperate hope. Markets are closed tomorrow and Monday I have jury duty, so no fun and games for the next few days.

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