French Open pics

Had a great time yesterday and enjoyed plenty of sunshine (a rarity this week in Paris). I especially liked the Nadal (3-time champ) and Serena Williams (ended up in an upset) matches. Here are just a few photos:

TE - Long

Another short watchlist day (which I really don't mind). TE was just about the only candidate that showed promise. If you look at the chart, you'll see how price interacted with the :15 ORH and viewed it as resistance. Bars 14 and 15 provided and nice setup at the ORH. I entered off a break of the 15th bar high which was an inside hammer bar. I wish it would've closed above the ORH but since it was a hammer and the spread was small (.05) I figured I had more reasons to enter than to stay put.
Exited all my shares just below the fib. ext. on a nice move upward. Monitoring a stock, waiting for the right moment and nailing the entry is just the best damn feeling.
I don't think I'll be trading tomorrow as I scored some great tickets to the French Open... just hope the rains stay away. I'll try and post some nice pics over the weekend.

Fresh meat

Ran some errands today and had my camera with me as there are usually some pretty interesting shots on any given path in Paris. So, I stumble along this shot below. Meat straight from the butcher is 100x better than anything package in the store. However, I'm not sure I'm fond of the dangling meat in the middle of the street thing :) I can also imagine how this meat was bangin' around in the back of the truck.

BTW: If anyone's into photography... Adobe Lightroom is simply amazing. It turns already great photos in art gallery-like stills. Here's an example of what I mean:

Before



After (straightened, bumped up exposure, increased temp, clarity, vibrance)

Insert finger down throat

Barf. That's what today's trading was all about. I traded KEY twice (stopped out once) off the 5-min for some hard earned chump change. At least it kept my mind whizzing.
 
Tomorrow will be a better day.
Tomorrow will be a better day.
Tomorrow will be a better day.
Tomorrow will be a better day.
Tomorrow will be a better day.
Tomorrow will be a better day.
Tomorrow will be a better day.
Tomorrow will be a better day.
Tomorrow will be a better day.
Tomorrow will be a better day.
Tomorrow will be a better day.
Tomorrow will be a better day.
Tomorrow will be a better day.
Tomorrow will be a better day.

T-Shirt

She really should bow out already.

Is it Wednesday yet?

Fairly low volume day so far and I had one trade in BCE, long off the 11:45 bar high that just didn't work out. Nice setup though.
Hopefully tomorrow brings better results.

BABY - Long

Have to say... I'm really thinking about exclusively trading off the 5-min chart. Even when I started trading this timeframe last year, I felt like I could see patterns and price action much more clearly than on the 15. Also, my entries tend to more narrow meaning less risk for me. Today I traded BABY and CHL... both were profitable but BABY is a prettier chart. Entered off a break of the 10:40 bar high which was a hammer-like candle right above the ORH (I used the :15 ORH in this case). I'm also thinking that from now on I may just use the :15 ORH exclusively to base my entries on... just makes things simplier. Exited all shares just below the fib. ext.

Sloooooooow

Shorted DKS for some decent change but not much else really appealed to me. However, I'm into cup and handle patterns now and will try to capitalize when I see them. I plan on writing a post on this once I have a more concrete plan of attack. I'll leave you with this... I can see why Jamie does so well by spotting these patterns.

More of the same

Took NOV on a break of the 11am candle high (:15) which was an NR7. Ended up partialing at the ORH and selling the rest at breakeven. Had I kept my original stop I more than likely would've exited with a nice gain. That's been my problem as of late. Trying to follow a decent exit plan is leading to leaving a lot of money on the table.
I also missed a good entry on the 5-min chart (12:40 bar) which would have really made my day. I may be wrong, but the 5-min chart had a nice cup and handle look to it. Maybe Jamie will read this and comment.
Anyways... Wednesdays are always a bitch for me because my kids only go to school for half a day (French thing when they're young) and it's just a huge distraction when I'm trying to trade. Wednesdays always makes me want to move back to the States so I can enjoy normal trading hours.

Lots of action

Not a lot of bucks. My watchlist was so full today... (all together now- How full was it???) I had to switch to just the :15 chart (gasp!!!). Went long SKF and short COF and - at times - I had some pretty decent profit. However, just like other recent days... those nice profits were short lived. Ended up green but still didn't feel like a satisfying day.
All in all... I traded my plan and by doing so I know I will capitalize on some nice opportunities very soon. I thinks it's very easy to get caught up in the chop and be in the red quickly.

No trades

Nothing really of interest for me today.

The Real McCain

He's a straight talker... from both sides of his mouth.

EDIT: Oh, and if you weren't aware of McCain's role in the Keating 5 scandal... here's some pleasant reading.

TRMA - Short

Never sure what to expect on OPEX but I always try to look for opportunities anyway. TRMA presented a couple of nice entry points off the 5-min but my order never triggered (10:45 bar). Then, the 11am bar dropped and closed weak... still below the ORL. Entered off a break of the low and price slowly moved down. I was eying the low of the day as a price target since it was at $32.50. I didn't want to risk profits and just decided to exit just above that point. Overall, a pretty decent day.

'Couldvebeen' day

We all have those 'couldvebeen' days. Where we 'couldvebeen' rolling in dough if we entered a trade that we were stalking. Or we 'couldvebeen' bathing in champagne if we had a reliable scanner that didn't crap out on a day when there weren't very many options to begin with. Uggghh.

WGOV was my 'couldvebeen' trade. I actually traded it (12pm bar, :15) and made some money before taking a wise and proper exit. But later in the day... off the 5-min chart I saw an entry that screamed at me. I passed because it was almost 3pm and I do not normally buy that late in the day. That may change. Anyway, the stock ended up moving more than .70 in my direction. I'm talking about the 2:50 candle on the 5-min chart.

I actually felt really good about staying on the sidelines today (relatively speaking as I did make one trade).

STP - Long

Had a pretty good day today and only made one mistake in BHP (10:40/5... don't ask). Caught some nice moves with CVLT and STP. I figured I'd showcase STP since it's a little different from my normal trades. STP opened strong and made a nice move to R2. I waited for price to fall back down to the ORH but it start basing. I entered off a break of the 11:45 bar high which was an inside NR7 (that followed an inside NR7). I really wanted to enter on the previous candle but my order never triggered. Anyway, I always try to look for entries along strong support or resistance areas (such as ORH/L) and R2 presented just that today. I exited just short of the fib. ext. for a nice. gain.

Prophet scans

Someone asked me the other day about my prophet scan settings. I provided them but just realized yesterday that there was one problem with my gap down scan (I had been wondering why my results were so off). Anyway... here are the gap up and gap down scans again. For those who don't know... you can sign up for prophet.net for free and get 2 free scans. Not pushing them as you all know I've had issues in the past.

Gap down

• Exchanges: NYSE AMEX NASDAQ(NM,SC,OTC,BB) • Last Price is at least 5 • Today's Open Price is at least 0.01 dollars lower than the Previous Low and the Open Price is at least -1.50% lower than the Previous Close • Average Volume is at least 100,000 shares • Percent Change is more than -1.50%

Gap up

• Exchanges: NYSE AMEX NASDAQ(NM,SC,OTC,BB) • Last Price is at least 5 • Today's Open Price is at least 0.01 dollars higher than the Previous High and the Open Price is at least 1.50% higher than the Previous Close • Average Volume is at least 500,000 shares • Percent Change is more than 1.50%

I run these scans at 9:45 in the morning so that the list won't be so long.

Chop city

I don't know... I think I'm done for the day. Market has not been kind to my 'below the ORH' entries. FLR and OC are two examples. However, I did enter CA which was above the ORH. I entered off a break of the 11:15 bar high and exited just below the fib. ext or $24. I've been contemplating for awhile now about whether I should just wait for entries either above/below or right at the ORH/L. Need to review some past charts.

EDIT: As you can tell, I wrote this entry earlier in the day. I also wanted to add that I think I am only going to focus on the 5 and 15-min timeframes. I think they really go hand-in-hand and their ORH/L also match up better than the 10.

ISIS - Long

I missed the first hour of trading today to attend to some personal stuff so when I was finally able to put together a watchlist ISIS presented a great opportunity. Entered off a break of the 11: 15 bar high which was an inside nr7, hammer-like bar right above the ORH. The following bar was also an NR7 so I was hoping for a big move. A move came but at a snail's pace.

As price started moving sideways with little volume I decided to bail during the 1:45 bar. Nothing spectacular but a winner and a nice setup.

ATVI - Long

Sorry for the late post but I had a dinner planned for this evening. Entered ATVI long off a break of the 11:30 bar high which was an inside, nr7 bar which followed an inside nr7 bar. I mean... talk about the ultimate setup. Even though the candle was red I still liked how it formed right below the ORH and was part of a 2 inside bar setup. Exited during the 1pm bar has I had to split. I was really just about .15 short of my price target so I'm not complaining.

I believe RZ left a comment the other day asking why I was long on a stock when the market tone was down. I told him that I let the charts dictate my entries and today's ATVI trade was a good example of that.

Haven't even checked the rest of my charts to see what I missed later in the day.

More chop

It was another choppy day for me as I probably made some bad decisions and the 'market' was not forgiving. PDX gets today's 'Best Bitchslap' award. Congratulations PDX... you've made your mother proud. Now piss off.

Thrill of trading

I'm sure we've all been there... you enter a trade, it starts to do well but not well enough for you to start thinking you're the shit. Then, things turn against you... price moves sideways or worse... hovers within striking distance near your stop. As you agonize about what's going on with the 5ema and how this happened on such a nice setup... price literally moves within a cent of your stop. You're thinking "fuck... that sucked." But even though it's the worst moment of the day and you're down some bucks, that feeling, right as you're about to get stopped out but still hoping it moves your way, is about as good as it gets in trading. I compare it to the last second 3-pointer to win the game or that miracle play from Manning in the Superbowl. When all looks lost... your heart pounds, palms sweat... but you feel alive.

Of course, the happy ending is if you make a shitload of dough but that isn't always the case. I had two heart pounding situations that didn't go my way today and one that kinda worked out. FTO screwed me over twice (once my fault) and SVR was a nice trade that chopped me out before coming to fruition. Entered SVR off a break of the 1:15 bar high which was an inside NR7 just below the ORH and closed barely above the 5ema. Price moved in my favor and I partialed out a bit before getting exiting on a revised stop at the low of the 2:45 bar. Bummer as priced spiked up about .80 from there.

HES - Long

Not sure why I feel 'lucky' when I catch a nice, narrow range entry bar at the perfect spot but that's what happened today with HES. Entered off a break of the 1pm bar high which was an inside NR7 right at the ORH. I took a partial at $117 then sold the rest of my shares after seeing a shooting star on the 5-min chart (1:50). I always freak out when price really moves in my favor as I feel like it's about to drop at any second. Plus, with every .10 move against me I start talking to myself (not a good thing).

Slap me

Sheer boredom. I had some issues with prophet this morning so I wasn't even sure I was putting my watchlist together with the correct stocks. After everything was settled my watchlist dwindled down to nothing. Traded FCX for a small loss on a decent setup but there was just no movement after entry.
Something tells me summer's gonna really suck.

PTEN - Long

PTEN presented an early entry opportunity off the 5-min chart (6th bar). This was an inside NR7 that formed right at the ORH. Price quickly moved my way and I exited just below the fib. ext. Glad I did as priced dropped down quickly and I would most certainly have been stopped out after revising my stop. This was my only trade of the day.

Have a good weekend.

No trades

Usually expect it after a FED day. Tomorrow there should be some balance in my watchlist.