End of Day Journal (5-6-2010)

It's 12:14 PST and I am calling it a day. I don't know what to expect for the last 45 minutes of the market. What a day huh?

The plan for today was to limit trading to the top 5 on the MA, sorted from highest (EMA (7,High) - EMA(7,Low)) and new highs/lows. New lows kept me pretty busy today. Traded off of the 5 minute charts and set the default stop loss to 100 ticks. As soon as the trade was entered I moved the stop to where it made sense graphically and didn't bother with looking at the quantity. 500 share trades, except on the crazy market action, where I went 1000 shares on two positions.

I re-set NT's database. It appears there may have been some holdover positions somewhere, maybe from paper trading. Anyhoo - here is the account performance:

This does not include commissions - I am using IB's variable commission rate so it is impossible to code it into NT's commission schedule. Account is +$4843.90 today (WHOOT!), so about $135 in commissions on what NT is calling 104 trades. I counted the IB trades and there are 49 trades, meaning 24 positions +1 scale.

Here is how it played out (note the charts aren't fully played out for the day yet):

Shorted ANF on a new low and I got stopped as the next candle breached the low. I re-entered on the next candle and held to something like 10-15 seconds prior to the end of the 5 minute bar. I can't recall what prompted the close, it may have just been the way the candle was playing out. Turned out to be right. I took a short break for breakfast at 8:45. The account was at $1022 when I quit. I usually try to get some relax time in and start trading again at 11. I forget what happened, but I came back into the office at about 9:40 and everything was headed down again, so I took a few positions. Thus I was at my desk as ANF broke a new low again so I shorted. Why did I exit at 10:50? 11 o'clock was coming and I wanted some time away from the comp. So I closed and went for a walk (+$204.61):

Shorted BYI on a new low, a little bit late. With a late exit as well (+90):

CLR was headed down with strong volume along with everything else. This was sad. I was unrealized at $0.60 gain. And right on the five minute mark it turned around and started creeping up. The volume was low at the start and the move was big, so I thought it was bound to fail and doubled up. It kept going up putting me backwards. I decided that I was wrong and sold. I shorted again on the next candle and exited too early as it bounced around. I should of let the candle develop and let the stop sit. Getting stung once ruined it for me I think (-$185.41):

Shorted FAS on a new low. Exited just after the 5 minute mark (+$125):

New low on JOE. I had the stop on the previous bar low and it touched. One bar back was probably the way to go (-$25):

Breaking low on LVS. Exited when it looked like it was changing directions. A little late (+$110.03):

Breaking low on NOV. This was another 'I need a break' exit at 10:50 (+$110.05):

A breaking low on OSG that turned around inside the same 5 minute candle. I must of closed on a discretionary - maybe because the bar was green? The stop would have been a little higher (-$92):

Stumbling new low on RRC. Sold just after the 5 minute red at the start of the new (+$305.25):

Breaking high on RTI. Late on the exit, but reversed. The twin dojis had me thinking it was turning around again (+$225.04):

A new low on SNDK. Stopped out. I reversed on the next candle (after the doji) and exited after another djoi. Shorted as it touched the low again and sold on the green. Then - after the walk I come back and find 'The Dip'. My charts were spazzing out, I don't think the data stream could keep up. I knew it had to go back up, so as green was showing and the q's and SPY were coming around I went long 1000 shares. The charts froze up again after the entry - or maybe there was just no action. I decided to exit. Missed most of the move but better safe than sorry, I just couldn't tell what was going on (+$2351.97):

Breaking low on TX. Early exit. Tried again later and in hind sight, it was a terrible entry - but it was a red candle when I entered. Stopped out (+$200):

Breaking low on VECCO. Exited right at the end of the 5 minute. I should of reversed for some of the $1.14 climb... (+$350.03):

Breaking low on WBC. I have no idea why I exited. But I re-entered and sold after the sharp drop and green. After 'The Dip' and after the SNDK trade, I was browsing the MA and noticed that WBC had not come very far off the low yet (probably because it doesn't look like it was affected by 'The Dip' much at all). I went long with 1000 shares (+$1208.50):

I don't think days like today come very often. I probably should have kept at the keyboard more consistently, I would have made out like a king on several positions e.g., the 'I need a break' exits. But then again, I marvel that I am able to think about taking a break. A couple of months ago I was constantly worried that I was missing opportunities. Maybe I am maturing as a trader?

I think the 1 minute HA exercise was good, albeit un-profitable. Coming back to the 5 minute candles, it feels better to watch them, not sure how to explain it, but I think the HA fiasco lent itself to reading the 5 minute price action. It just felt different. There were a couple of times I should of exited on the spike: I felt it on RTI, CLR and WBC, but only traded it on VECO, not enough confidence. Or enough confidence to reverse. I think this will come as I see this kind of stuff happen more often.

It was a great day before the walk. I was at +$1700. But today was an easy day to read.