End of Day Journal (6-4-2010)

Summary:

A mixed day. For the most part I traded very well, but jumped the gun on some returns to the trend, and some late TNA 'no-clear-signal' trading turned the day negative at -$29.00.

The trailing stop kicked in several times today. I didn't have it set right on the first few, so the profit was some 5 ticks off of what it should have been. It cost me money nearly every time (e.g., the stock was still headed in the expected direction), and I am sure realizing even 50% of the money left on the table would have put me significantly higher for the day. I think for now though, I will keep the settings as is - again, much better this way than to realize the gain/reverse/loss. I realized that 25 ticks is a little generous, so I am moving the first adjustment to 15 profit stop at a 20 tick gain, then move the stop up 5 for every 15 in additional profit. I don't know what I am doing, but I need to go with something that won't have me flinching or cringing.

Maybe I just need to let my momo reading skills mature.

Also, after the review, I have decided to go with a minimum stop of 15 ticks. There were 6 trades that were in the right direction, but got stopped when I moved the stop in tighter. This would have put the w/l trade ratio at 14/20 rather than 10/24. I can't be sure how the trailing stop would of handled the profits, but there was more than enough to grab.

One additional thing to consider: today's break kept me out of the big downward afternoon trend. It was hard to find a place to jump on (granted I did find two that I exited for some reason). Not sure what to make of this, just throwing it out there.

Have a great weekend!

Details:

APC - couldn't of played this better, just wasn't meant to be (-$14.00):

BIDU - I think I was giving the stop some breathing room above the prior high (-$17.00):

CF - trailing stop came into affect here; over 40 more ticks to the high (+$12.00):

CMI - Minimum stop would of stayed in play (-$9.00):

CRM - I just kept calling this one wrong. I am scratching my head over the first entry, what was I seeing? The 12:40 long was on the market uptick, thinking CRM was behind the curve. Consideration of volume on the Q's may have kept me out. The 12:55 short was a chase, coming in on the 0:53 mark; not enough for me to be making that decision (-$83.00):

DNDN - short on the market. Reversed and got stopped. A better play would have been the exit, then post buy limit on the underside of the doji. So easy to say in hindsight, at the risk of losing out on the move completely. Minimum stop would have stayed in for the delayed rebound (-$9.00):

DRQ - the trailing stop cost me some 80 ticks at best. Minimum stop would have kept me in the game - but this was a discretionary 'I have misgivings' exit... (+$8.00):

ETN: the first short was on the same bar as CRM. Looking back now, I think I noticed the down trend, and anticipated the return. The second time was a better choice coming on the indecision (just prior to the next candle), but still stopped.  I could of kept holding this one without a problem stop wise, but I don't have a very good track record.  Better to take the profits and look for another chance to enter. Minimum 15 tick stop would have benefited the second short (+$23.00):

FDX - looks like another attempt at an 8:40 short. Should of kept watching all of these (-$11.00). 15 tick minimum stop good here.:

PNC: a 15 tick minimum stop would have been good for some 60 ticks at the 9:45 low (-$7.00):

PXD - minimum stop here would have yielded nearly 90 ticks at the 11:55 low. Bad thing is, this was a discretionary exit. I had misgivings after I entered for some reason (-$3.00):

SRS - new highs, and thought it might want to finish strong (-$12.00):

TNA... pffft. One of those rare days... I actually came out positive on it... go figure...

First short hit the 15 tick min. Second hit a 13 tick stop (no basis, just brought it down for some reason). Exited on the next short on a discretionary, and went back in after confirmation. Went long on the next candle, and the trailing stop kicked in.

The 12:00 long was on the candle change, coming off some indecision in the market. The next long exited on the trailing stop x2.  The short on the 12:15 exited on the trailing, and I re-entered as it re-traced and stalled. This one got stopped on a generous stop. All the others just didn't work, and in retrospect, should not have been traded. The only potential signal was a short on the 12:40 (+$83.00):

VECO (-$5.00):

VMW - exited on the trailing, potentially some 40 ticks on the 11:55 low (+$15.00):