End of Day Journal (9-10-2010)

Summary:

Interesting day today. I traded 200 shares of anything that looked like it was moving and setting up for more movement.

Just eye-balling the scatter graph, it looks like I had about the same amount of stops in the afternoon that I did in the morning. The morning had better winners - in fact, I owned the morning session. Before lunch I was at +$549. One of the big winners is a 200 share trade, the others are all 100 shares x2. The big losses are all 200 share trades, meaning I kept well within my comfort zone on the stops (< $0.25/share). I just couldn't pull anything off during the afternoon. The morning session was one of the funnest I have had in awhile.

And... I have decided that that is what I am going to do with this trading thing - have fun. Quit trying so hard. Stop all this crazy introspection and self flagellation. Relax and make it a game. I think this will free me up to listen - and learn - from the market. Whatever ends up happening, I am sure it will be a much more enjoyable experience. And if it is not fun... why do I want to do this? Maybe I have finally come to grips with the limits of my analytical skills.

At least till next week sometime. Ha!

Funny how the this trading thing bounces me around emotionally and mentally. I feel almost schizophrenic. Unstable. Psychotic. Fathers - don't let your daughters marry newbie traders.

Having fun seems healthier. Trade all the patterns until I start figuring out when the market lets them work and when they simply won't. Give myself time and a break. Can I keep it up while the market screams 'You are wrong!' trade after trade and day after day? The thing is, it is not the market as much as it is me yelling those things. And yelling at yourself is no fun.

I basically just kind of did what I thought was right today in terms of exits. If it felt like a stock was moving I stayed in, if it didn't I got out, sometimes while negative and before the stop, sometimes slightly positive. Charts include best trades of the day, though not necessarily the most profitable by EOD. Some include triangles that I drew while live. I didn't trade them all, especially the ones that failed. Still new at this. I didn't mark them all either.

Trade well. 

Details:

APC (+$195):

CREE (+$90):

PCG (+$140):

RIG (+$126):