May 13, 2008

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.




8 comments:

PDT said...

Nice CA trade. Where did you find that beaut?

On my chart i see 3NR7's all of which are inside each other AND the last is a NR Marubozu!

I would have creamed myself if I saw that setup.

OONR7 said...

pdt: thanks... it was either from IB or prophet. I ran both today.

Tom T. said...

PDT and OONR7 - I am not sure why PDT is very excited over this setup and why you took it, oonr7. What I mean is if you timed this perfectly you made 30 cents on a 23 dollar stock.

I was looking at (I did not trade today) MDR and ENER, also considered WRNC. At least with ENER you would have had a dollar gain.

So I am not sure how you go about deciding to get in on a stock that carries 30 cents from entry to fib- seems like the amount you need to buy to make decent money is tough when comparing to the stocks I mentioned. I know there are plenty of stocks we see and pass on every day that later presents as the better choice but I was wondering if there was something you did not like (or maybe you just did not see) the ones I mentioned?

At least you made money - I did not trade, I did not make anything and many times I make the wrong choices - I am trying to determine what you see or don't see in a stock that makes you pick one over the other (a very broad question, I know, but I am asking in the context of the other choices I mentioned).

Anonymous said...

Interesting you mentioned dropping the 10min charts. I dropped them too 2 days ago, because of some poor results. I actually had great result with 10min last month, but 15 minutes are easier, especially now on earning season when the w/l is longer than usual.

And here's another thing - sometimes i miss a trade because i wasn't in sync with the scanning routine (every 15 minutes),so I found a small program to beep me a minute before the candle is closed:
http://www.stopwatch-timer.com/

A

OONR7 said...

tom t: MDR didn't even appear in my scans and ENER did but I later removed it once price exceeded the :15 ORL. As for CA... it was actually .29 from potential entry to the fib. But frankly... I don't even look at that anymore. All the stocks in my watchlist have the ability to make money and that's what I want to do as a daytrader... make money consistently. Honestly, I used to think like you and want to hit a home run every time but I found the more I traded singles and doubles and the less I waited for the home run trade... the better I was at making consistent money. But, let's look a little close at CA and maybe I can show you why I thought that was such a nice trade. First... while .29 was my max gain on this trade, my risk was only .03. So, from and r:r standpoint this was looking like an 8 or 9R trade (with slippage and stuff). Let's not even talk about Rs and focus on what the risk was... just .03 on a really good looking setup. I would be pissed if I didn't get into this trade. There's no such thing as easy money but sometimes patterns scream out and this one did to me. I certainly wouldn't want to risk .03 to make .03 but if I can get some cash into my account while recognizing a good pattern that so be it. I used to be like you and talk myself out of good trades... waiting for almost that perfect setup. Now... I try to talk myself out of bad trades - which isn't easy. Yesterday was a good example. I entered FLR the first time in a bad spot - right below the ORH with a not-so-great candle. However, my next entry (11:15 bar, 5-min chart) was right above the ORH and ended up being the right place. Stock still chopped me up but it was profitable.
My method of trading and compiling my watchlist is such that every stock in my watchlist is tradable... meaning, if I see an entry in these stocks I don't even really think about whether the gain is worthy enough. One way I do this is by looking at the 2-day view of a :15 chart and if price increments are at least .10 then it stays in my list (.20 is ideal).
So, to summarize... was CA a great money-maker? No. Was it a great setup that, once recognized and acted upon, could lead to bigger trades in the future? Yes.

Focus on the setup and the money will follow.

OONR7 said...

trader a: that's weird how we both came to that decision. I'm really torn about it but the bottom line is that it will save me some headaches as it will be one less timeframe I need to follow. Also, the 5 and 15 really do compliment each other especially since I really focus on the :15 opening range. The 10-min chart was like the ugly chick with big boobs that puts out from time to time. You know... you'd hit it but wouldn't want to spend your entire day with her. Where the hell did that come from????

Anyway... I'm hoping to find enough opportunities on the 5 and 15 that will afford me the misses I will have to endure by not watching the 10 as well.

bl said...

4/30" CA looks good too. FLR 5,9/30 10" charts had too many wicks and another chrt to look at,etc. TOO MUCH STUFF.

OONR7 said...

tom t: let me also put it this way: if a stranger came up to you in the street and offered you $290 and all he wanted was $30 in return, besides your skepticism, would you think that was a good deal? Or would you tell him... nah, I'd rather wait for something better. Let's say you decide to wait and three other folks offer you the same deal and you still say no. Now you just passed on $870. Finally, a dude comes over and says I'll offer you $1,000 for only $150... more than likely you'll say yes. If so, you would have ended up risking more to make slightly yes. The other 3 offers would've resulted in 9R where the one you accepted offered 6.6R.
Not sure if I'm making things clear but just don't pass money simply because it's not enough. Look for the right setup.