End of Day Journal (12-9-10)

Summary:

Live trading on 50 share lots today:

!!

I didn't stop today. I am not sure why... Maybe it has to do with an unconscious daily target - or??  I know that the trades did not smack of desperation - I felt in control and aware of what was going on.

Things can happen so fast, up then down. Reviewing today's charts, there was a lot of 'fighting' going on in NFLX. Very very interesting chart, especially around the 66 candle mark. There are very few clear non-overlapping candles with volume coming in on both sides, over and over again. I would enter, be up ~$0.50 and then get stopped. My stops are on the very top/bottom of candles way too often to count. I finally moved my stop quite a bit further than I usually do to see what would happen (candle 153), and sure enough - I get hit and the price turns around. It was right about then that I noticed HDB and started trading it.

Looking back on NFLX, buyers were not 'clearly' in control - but the price moved up after the morning push. I can see that the buy side was consistently coming in higher now, i.e., buy side was defining S/R. Tough crowd. My timing would of had to been impeccable on my entries to stay in. I actually bought very close to the LOD, got stopped out on the bottom of the next candle, went short assuming the break was real, and was stopped out again. Pfft. I think realizing how the setup can change before it is actually set up will be beneficial.

On a side note - some of today is what I was trying to avoid by implementing the MA cross on color rule. Reviewing NFLX, my timing was actually very good a lot of the time, but I hard a difficult time understanding the strong side of the market (buy side for NFLX). It was a good experience - but costly. Watching for candle overlap and for violated highs/lows coming back with volume, and knowing that in those types of conditions I need to watch for several price tests, is key. There was definitely money to be made.

Speaking of which - I grossed >$800 on 50 share trades. Go figure. NT is recording a +$206 day (without commissions) and IB came in at +$122: right around 30% of the day's profits went to commissions. Incredible.

And on a side note - I am starting to be a little concerned that this style of trading will not scale very well, especially on a low volatility stock like CMG. I think I will need to learn to adapt in order to ensure my trades get filled; I will need to ramp up slowly... but I need to ramp up. Thus - I am going to bump up to 100 share lots tomorrow and see how things go. I am pretty sure 100 shares will be easier to fill than 50 shares (I never see my limits show up on bid/ask), but I think 1000 shares will require some adjustments. One day at a time.

I almost stopped trading as the account went positive for the first time. It was still relatively early and I almost folded. But - I thought I saw another good opportunity (the stalled top on NFLX) and decided to try for a scalp. When I got stopped, I thought once more. That kept me in the game and I somehow failed to see the true direction of the the stock. Perhaps one of the better entries was on candle 123 (test of the bottom coming back with high volume), but I covered after a failed high and a touch on the lower low. I will have to say it again - it was a tough crowd.

A first on HDB - the sell power behind that stock was almost palpable. I wish I would find those types of moves everyday. And - my first add since I started trading live again showed up on YOKU.

Trade well.

Details:

CMG

HDB

LULU

NFLX

SINA

YOKU

(Split for easier viewing)