OONR7

Google Wave

2009-10-02T03:06:00.002-04:00

Anyone of you fine readers happen to get an invite for Google Wave? I would be forever in your debt should you send me an invite as well :)

Thanks!!!

Tuesday's trades

2009-09-22T17:00:00.004-04:00

About my only bright spot today was SGY. But even that turned against me later in the day. My initial position was off the 5-min chart, and I doubled up after a nice pullback on the 10-min. Like I said... it was all for not as price came back down.

Stopped out of ASML, CCL and breakeven on KMX. Finding this week especially choppy. I wonder if the way I've been trading lately just doesn't do well in 'uncertain' market days... like the days leading up to the FOMC.

Also, SpiderScan just came out with a new version which includes a new TDAmeritrade scan - along with some other new enhancements. Do yourself a favor and check out the free trial.

Lastly, I've been thinking for the past 2 months or so if I even want to continue blogging. Personally, I'm just not getting what I hoped (and experienced) when I first started a couple years ago. I don't post charts as a journal... I can do that with a folder on my desktop. I created this blog as a way to interact with other traders. This is a very isolating job and I figured the blog may be the closest thing to having an office-like environment. To bounce ideas off one another and to generally have some fun. Right now, I feel like I'm posting charts just to post charts. It's just not working out.

Granted, I haven't exactly put the kind of energy that I once did (Rise or Fall) but, still, the feedback and interaction is not there.

I'm really having a great time trading right now and personally feel like I've reached a point where I can truly consider this a career. It's taken some time to get here, but it feels good. Not every day will be a great, but what I've always hoped for is consistency and a trading plan I can depend on.

Moving forward, I will probably use this blog to post some very good, textbook trades instead of the day-to-day approach I've used since the beginning. Of course, I can only hope that I have a lot of those to showcase :)

Take care,

OONR7

Monday's trades

2009-09-21T16:54:00.003-04:00

Quite the crazy day. Started off with a quick 3 strikeouts in IAG, HST and SSRI. Then rebounded with some nice action in AMSC and CMA. It was a bit of a roller coaster and I hope that's not a sign of things to come for the rest of the week.

Friday's trade

2009-09-18T16:05:00.002-04:00

Didn't know what to expect today with OPEX and, well, just being Friday. But I ended up in a really nice trade with BHI. I took my first trade off a break of the 10:40 bar high (nr7) and the next bar was also an nr7 so I ended up buying more shares. At this point I was really looking at how price would interact with the ORH (:15) and it immediately acted at strong resistance. I sold some shares there and again as price came back down. However, since I bought additional shares I was still in good shape.

I ended up partialing on the way up and selling all just below the fib. ext. As you can see from the chart - price continued to skyrocket. Just glad I got nice chunk of the action.

No trades

2009-09-17T17:30:00.002-04:00

Not much interested me and I had a dinner to go to. Hope you all did better.

Wednesday's trades

2009-09-16T14:19:00.003-04:00

Some good, some bad, some missed. I really missed an AGCO gimmie play on the 10-min chart. GNA did well for me and since my entry spread was so narrow I was able to double up on my normal amount of shares and make the small move to the fib. ext. count. FO and TTM were duds.

Tuesday's trade

2009-09-15T15:41:00.003-04:00

A very satisfying day. One trade, no worries... winner. Went long ASH (10-min) after it consolidated off the 5-ema and printed a strong bar above the $42 level. Actually proceeded to tag $44 but I exited safely below the fib. ext. (after some partials). Hope you all had a good one.

No trades

2009-09-14T15:01:00.001-04:00

Too much crazy chart action for me to get involved.

Friday's trades

2009-09-11T16:28:00.005-04:00

Today presented a lot of opportunities early on that worked out well and it seemed like it was going to be a very good day. Unfortunately, the wind behind the early bullish sails completely collapsed... as did my profits. I watched half my profits slowly slip away but I was fortunate to scale out at the right time to end the week on a very solid note. I went long on all stocks: MGM, COV, CLF and TXT. I hesitated on JBHT (long) and BRC (short) and those went on to do very well.

Below are a couple charts and I hope you all have a good weekend.

Thursday's trades

2009-09-10T16:37:00.002-04:00

If it wasn't for PG, I would be very happy with today. My entry (long 11am bar high, :05) just wasn't what I normally look for. I think I was just a bit too cocky.
MW short did work out well and made back the loss and put me in the green. Shorted off a break of the 11:10 bar low and it was a bit of a no-drama, slow moving, safe trade. Didn't make it down to the fib. ext. though. Bummer.

Wednesday's trade

2009-09-09T15:05:00.004-04:00

Just one trade today: ITW long. Price broke above the :15 OR then came back down nicely and printed a strong bar at the 5ema. Entered long on a break of the 10:35 bar high (:05) and exited just below $44. Textbook, pullback trade with very little stress.

Chop, chop, chop

2009-09-08T15:24:00.003-04:00

Here's how I know today was very choppy: I entered 6 trades, 1 made money, 3 were BE and 2 lost money. However, in the end, I was down less than 1R. Go figure.

I was actually up a good amount early on and debated whether I should just cash in. But - as is always the case - I tried to wait it out... wait for the right signal and that ended up costing me cash. But I think that strategy will end up making me much more money than it loses.

Trades (all long): ATI (gain), MAS (BE), TC (BE), NIHD (loss), MTL (one BE and one loss).

Hope you all did better.

Wednesday's trades

2009-09-02T16:52:00.002-04:00

Ever type a word and look at and think "that totally doesn't look right" but it's spelled correctly. Well, the word 'Wednesday' did that to me right now. You can have the last 15 seconds of your life back soon enough.

Today was a little bit of yesterday but not as bad. I was quickly killing stocks from my WL but managed to spot a nice winner in ABX and a loser in MTL.

ABX burst above the :15 OR but then came back down and printed a nice strong cande right at the ORH. The stocked traded beautifully and hit the fib. ext. in no time. I kinda screwed up and oversold at the fib. ext but then realized my mistake and quickly bought back the shares.

MTL was a nice setup with an unforunate result. Missed a good setup in PAY that I didn't want to chase... nice unrealized return :) Decent money today and a profitable week which should make us all happy. I will be off to London tomorrow for a few days and will be back to trading on Tuesday. Let's hope we see some nice action next week.

Oh... and if you haven't already gone to my twitter page, please do so:twitter.com/oonr7

I've been adding more than a few followers and actually had some back and forth comments which helped break up the routine.

Have a great week and weekend. Charts and proof of performance below.

Short day

2009-09-01T13:08:00.002-04:00

There really were no opportunities today for me. Well, maybe a small window to make some quick money on RIMM, but had I entered that position I almost certainly would've lost money on half my shares.

Today was also my first full day of twittering. To myself. By myself. For absolutely no one to see. Okay... there are a few followers (thanks mom, thanks bro).

Again, if you're on the twittersphere, be sure to drop by my twitter page. I could use the company :)

twitter.com/oonr7

Back on

2009-08-31T15:34:00.009-04:00

EDIT: In case you hadn't figured it out already, you need to type in OO (as in the letters, not the numbers) to get my twitter username: oonr7. Sorry for the confusion.

Vacation's actually been over for me for just over a week now. However, due to jet lag and two little kids running around, I've had little time to post. Trading's been pretty good through the summer which is encouraging considering the typical summer action I've been used to.

On a personal side, I am going to get more involved in the whole social media scene as I feel like I've been pretty lax about it. I'm not used to playing catch up when it comes to online activity... especially since I worked for an online news site for over 5 years (and I definitely have time on my hands). So, I've started up my old, personal twitter account that I opened about 18 months ago (I had good intentions) and I created a new twitter account for OONR7. You can find me at twitter.com/oonr7

I hope all of you will follow me so I can have the incentive to get it going. I'm hoping for some good feedback and will be another foray into a live trading-like atmosphere. Let's see how it goes. I will continue to post here, but I'm just not sure if it will be every day or just the best of the best setups. Time will tell. So long as your RSS feed is working, you'll have nothing to worry about.

As for today, I had one nice trade with BHI and another in NE which never really materialized. But I'll take the results.

Wednesday's trades

2009-08-12T17:30:00.005-04:00

I was 1 for 3 today with my one winner bringing me slightly above profitability for the day. All happened within the same time span but only one proved to be textbook... ADCT below:

Couldn't take a screenshot of my trade log so you'll need to take my word that I didn't have a wildly profitable day :)

Monday's trades

2009-08-10T13:52:00.005-04:00

Still on vacation mode but I have managed to get in a few trades. Today I had a very nice trade in RIMM. My entry was right below the ORL (:15) and the exit was very near the fib. ext. Although, if I had used Tyler's 34% fib. ext suggestion, this would've been a perfectly executed trade :)

Got stopped out of MPS long, but the RIMM profit more than picked up the slack.

FYI: There's some douch anon poster that keeps sending Chinese comments. Must be a virus or something. In any case, I swictched comments to OpenID. That will eliminate anon postings, but I know some of you also don't have OpenIDs. Sorry about that. I hope to weed out the douche comments and then ultimately have a moderation-free comments section.

Hope you all are enjoying the summer.

Vacation mode

2009-07-20T14:39:00.003-04:00

Well... more like summer mode. There's always stuff to do around here and trading just happens at the worst time of the day for me (3:30pm). And, I'll be heading back to the US at the end of this week for close to a month.

I plan to trade on vacation whenever I feel like it. So, if I put together a healthy WL... I'll trade, if not - off to the beach or pool.

As for today - not so great. INFN, TEX, LFC, CBS and IBN... all losses but a lot were on reduced shares. I had been feeling pretty good about my trading too :)

Thursday's trade

2009-07-16T15:21:00.003-04:00

Tough trading. Shorted SGMS and was stopped out. Made some money back with JRCC (although that was pretty choppy too). Looking like a zero sum week with one day left :)

Goldman Sachs is evil

2009-07-16T09:24:00.003-04:00

Just read an eye-opening article from Rolling Stone. As an American, I can't feel anything more than a sense of hopelessness. GS essentially controls the US. How? Just look at all of the former GS employees in high government positions, their lobbying, and the fact that no one would be able to even take down GS without the fear of complete, financial collapse. My biggest diappointment was reading how Bob Rubin was so instrumental in the Internet Bust and the mortgage crisis.

It's also appalling how self-serving GS is and how the US has lost the meaning of 'for the people'.

Wednesday's trades

2009-07-15T16:55:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the rushed post, but time is in short supply lately. Took 4 trades, 2 wins, 1 loss and 1 BE. Attached are the charts - no time for descriptions.

Monday's trades

2009-07-13T14:43:00.003-04:00

The day's over and I'm none too pleased. Once again, passed on some good opportunities in ADY and MS... especially MS. Entered a couple of losers: AIG and CHU. Got stopped out on both.

Just hope there will be other good opportunities during the week. I've noticed in the past few weeks that I only get a good couple of days during the week to make my money.

EDIT: Just noticed SpiderScan is coming out with a new version. Seems like Greytrader has been working overtime. Looking forward to the new scans.

Friday's trades

2009-07-10T13:45:00.003-04:00

I started off the day well with a short of PSMT off a break of the 10:30 bar low (:05). It was good for about 1R worth of profit. I saw some good, but not great, setups in SGR and RSX and decided to cut my risk in half and go for it. They were both busts: SGR (short 12:10, :10) and RSX (short 11:50, :10). Both were very narrow entries so reducing my risk meant I was risking very little.

All in all, I still ended the day positive but the week was very disappointing (although positive).

PSMT is about the best looking chart of them all so that's what I'll post:

Thursday's trade

2009-07-09T15:28:00.005-04:00

Someone asked yesterday whether I considered proximity to a round number before entering a trade. I said yes, depending on the chart setup. My trade today with FLR is a good example. I entered long off a break of the 11:30 bar high. My entry was $47.99 but if you look at the chart, you'll see that it was a strong candle that formed right at the ORH and price action was very much in an upward trend. To me, it was a strong looking stock - regardless of the round number.

Now, after making an initial move... price became very choppy and I exited the trade with money in the bank. It continued to move where I wanted it to - just below the fib. ext.

Also, if you haven't checked out SpiderScan... do yourself a favor and do it now.

Wednesday's trades

2009-07-08T14:59:00.003-04:00

Had some decent moves after starting the day with a loser. You know, it always seems my first trade is a loser. Anyway, shorted HOT, IBN and SLT. HOT went cold real fast and stopped me out. Not the greatest of setups (9/5) but worth a shot.

SLT presented a nice inverted hammer at the ORL which was hard to resist. Just didn't have the move in it. Made some profit and then revised my stop later.

IBN made a nice move after shorting on a break of the 10:50 bar low (:05). I partialed above the fib. ext. and wanted to see what the rest would do. Well, the rest started riding back up and I exited the rest pretty much at the fib. ext.

A solid day but I'm thinking there may be very few of these as we move further into the summer doldrums. Just need to be patient.

No trades

2009-07-07T14:00:00.001-04:00

I kept deleting stocks from my WL until there was one... CEC. But volume was horrible so I just took the day off. No need to force things.

Welcome back... no trades

2009-07-06T15:41:00.002-04:00

I lost internet access in my place yesterday morning and - in typical French fashion - I need to wait a day or two for them to mail me my router password. However, my neighbor downstairs allowed access to his wireless signal - but it was too late in the day.

I did manage to pull together a list of stocks but didn't really see any good setups. Some crazy action.

SpiderScan - the ultimate scanning tool

2009-07-05T14:55:00.000-04:00

EDIT: SpiderScan costs $79... one-time fee, that's it.

I'm sure many of you have seen comments from Greytrader on this blog and on others. I've known GT for awhile now and about a year ago he talked about putting together a scanning tool. We both used Quotetracker, Interactive Brokers and, at the time, Prophet.net as a scanning tool and our trading styles are very similar so the idea of throwing out ideas to find out what would make a good scanning tool (without breaking the bank) was very easy.

So, GT had a great idea - since he's a programmer - to put together a tool that would basically collect information from various sources in a very quick way and all at the click of a button. After many tweaks, enhancements and feedback... SpiderScan was the end result. I have been using SpiderScan exclusively for about a 6-7 months now and ditched my prophet.net membership in the process. Spiderscan integrates information from sources/scans that include Interactive Brokers, Briefing.com, Prophet.net, Quote.com, Finviz.com and even a new Pre-market scan to help spot the early movers.

From a gap trader point of view... the benefits are really amazing. Yes, I am endorsing this product. And it's well worth the cost (and actually pays for itself after a month if you are a prophet.net silver member). But here are the reasons why SpiderScan rocks for me:

Simplicity - all I need to do is press one button to tally the results of a few different IB scans all at once and usually within a minute. Same thing goes for the rest of the scans.

Flexibility - Not only are there many different types of scans, but I can also set the volume, gap % and price which allows me to runs many different scans within the first half hour. There's also a Sector and Industry scan that shows what's up or down (and, again, does so very quickly).

Speed - not just in the fact that SpiderScan assembles many different scan criteria very quickly but there are built in features that allow me to quickly identify the kinds of stocks I'm looking for. For example, look at the screenshot below. In the 'Open' column on the far right you'll see some prices are in yellow and some are in blue. The 'blue' prices are what I look for... stocks gapping outside the previous day's range. And now, all I have to do is press Shift-B, press the spacebar and viola... all the results are quickly exported into QT and, just like that, I have my watchlist ready. Plus, all the columns are sortable and link directly into Quotetracker. So when I click on a stock... it automatically shows up in a QT chart.

Reliability - Spiderscan is just a solid product from head to toe. Plus, Greytrader is a great person to interact with and very quick to answer questions and... take suggestions.

Here's a good example of how I use SpiderScan. My first scan is at 9:34 in the morning and it's the IB scan (Spiderscan actually merges a couple of scans like the Hot Contracts By Volume and Top Close to Open - % Gainers). I would have to run 4 different IB scans, exported to Excel just to get the same results. I literally cut about 10-minutes out of my routine, not to mention all the aggravation. I adjust the volume to 50,000 shares and look for a gap of at least 1.5%. I also enter the minimum and maximum price. After about a minute I get my results. And by simply pressing Shift-B and the spacebar... all these stocks are magically transferred to Quotetracker.

Now, I run the Finviz scan at around 9:55. Again, I adjust the settings and click a button. This time when I get the results, SpiderScan knows which stocks I've already seen. To makes things simple, SpiderScan makes all new stocks orange, these are ones that did not appear in my previous IB scan. I can press Shift-C and import all these new stocks that are outside yesterday's range right into Quotetracker. Plus, SpiderScan knows what stocks are already in my Quotetracker portfolio and will not import the same stock... no overlapping.

Bottomline: Greytrader has offered to make SpiderScan available for a 10-day free trial period for a limited time. This product and offer is not available anywhere else right now so be sure to take advantage of it. And, if you're wondering... I have absolutely no financial involvment or business stake in SpiderScan. I just know a good product when I see one and Greytrader is as solid as they come. Plus, there's a really nice selection of demo videos and detailed information about all the bells and whistles on the SpiderScan blog: http://spiderscantool.blogspot.com/

I will keep this post as my first post for about the next week. All of my new trading posts will appear under this one.

Thursday's trades

2009-07-02T16:21:00.002-04:00

What a slow moving day. I actually had some personal things that distracted me during the trading and - thank God for that as I most likely would've started banging my head on a table or something.

My first trade was a short of IWM off a break of the 10:35 bar low. I wish I was thinking a little more on this entry. Looking at it again, I really don't like it. I particularly don't like how the second bar dropped so much. Made the same mistake with SO earlier in the week. This can be easily corrected.

The better trades on the day - in the sense that I didn't lose money - were ERY and IYE. Went long ERY off a break of the 10:50 bar high (:10) after price retraced to the ORH and printed a textbook hammer. It jumped a bit but the choppy action later on just took me out on a revised stop.

Shorted IYE off a break of the 11:10 bar low (:10) and - just like ERY - after the initial downward move, price stalled and my revised stop was hit.

I wish I had another crack at VXX (11:10 bar high, :10). Just wasn't on the ball to take advantage of it.

It's been a good week so I can't/won't complain. Hope you all have a great 4th of July. And to all all my non-American readers... just have a good Friday and weekend.

Wednesday's trades

2009-07-01T16:15:00.004-04:00

I feel like I put in a good day's work. Things started off with a questionable entry in GIS off a break of the 10:15 bar high (:05). When I entered, the candle was more hammer-like as opposed to what you see on the chart (I had to clear the chart later in the day and the backfilled info was a little different). In any case, it was a questionable entry because it did have a bit of an upper tail and I prefer my first bar to be more convincing. I actually stopped myself out of the trade a few bars later as price closed below the 5ema. More on GIS in just a bit.

I then entered SNX long off a break of the 10:45 bar high (:05). I really liked the entry and things looked good at first. But price came back down and went sideways eventually closing below the 5ema. So, I stopped myself out for a small gain. My original stop - for both SNX and GIS - was never hit. SNX would've been a nice gainer (I missed an opportunity to enter later).

Back to GIS. Further on in the day, price moved above the OR (notice the nicer looking first bar on the :10) and then pulled back to print a nice hammer and I entered again off a break of the 12:20 bar high. Price came pretty close to the fib. ext. and - as it was getting close to the end of the day - I decided to exit about .20 below my target. This worked out well as price dropped at the very end.

Tuesday's trades

2009-06-30T15:28:00.003-04:00

One loss, one win. Started off shorting SO off a break of the 10:40 bar low (5-min). It was a bit below the the ORL, but I was hoping for a quick drop to the fib. ext. and that's where I would've sold. Kinda wish I hadn't taken the risk.

Next up was SCHN. Shorted off a break of the 10:50 bar low (5-min) and this was a nicer setup than SO. The OR was clearly defined and I basically bought off the pullback into the 5ema. Now, it doesn't look like much of a drop after entry but I was able to get a nice $1.2 move off of it and pretty much exited near the bottom of the day (as of 3:30).

Monday's trades

2009-06-29T14:48:00.002-04:00

Not a whole lot happening today in the way of great setups. But I guess we just need to peck away until we find something nice that's within our rules. That's basically how today's trade in FUQI worked out. Entered long on a break of the 10:45 bar high which formed at what I thought to be the ORH. I've been basing my OR off the 1-min chart and looking for major intraday pivot areas. FUQI's early pivot high was 19.16.

My entry was smack dab on the ORH and I managed to partial near $20 and exited the rest after it went sideways later on. A nice return are a very low volume day.

Friday's trade

2009-06-26T17:00:00.002-04:00

Not much to look at on my WL. I did take a long entry in WBS (10:15 bar high, :05) that went south. ACN looked interesting after the 12:15 bar high (:10) but it was a bit too close to the :30 ORH and I was already in the hole for the day.

Thursday's trades

2009-06-25T16:35:00.004-04:00

Only traded BBBY... long 10:30 bar high (:05). It was a risky entry but I liked the shallow pullback on decreased volume. Just didn't work. Missed some decent moves in ADI and MDRX.

Wednesday's trades

2009-06-24T15:32:00.003-04:00

With the crappy volume and the FOMC announcement... I was happy to have a profitable day. Took 4 trades, 2 were green, 1 BE and 1 a loss. I'm having a pretty decent % of winners to losers this week and look to keep that going.

Went long with WNR, SONC, MGM and AGCO. WNR stopped me out fairly quickly (I probably should've put more weight into the long upper tail a few bars earlier). SONC and AGCO came through for me on fairly ho-hum moves. Again, just happy to find some good opportunities and leave with cash in my account.

Tuesday's trades

2009-06-23T16:06:00.005-04:00

After starting the day with a trade that stopped me out only to drop back down again (SPR), I managed to have a decent day by shorting RMBS off a break of the 10:20 bar high (5-min). I wavered on entering CRMT long (11:20, 10-min) which would've been nice gainer. I'll take what I got... two straight positive days!

Monday's trades

2009-06-22T13:53:00.008-04:00

The good news is that I made money today. The kind of decent money (nearly 2R) I would love to make every single trading day. Also, 3 out of 4 trades were positive with one virtually breakeven and I was finished trading by 11:30 EST. That's the good. The bad news is that I was ultra conservative today with my exits and decided to take money off the table and put it into my account (what a weird idea). This may actually be a good thing... but as you can see from the charts below - two of my trades dropped much further from where I exited.

But hey, let's focus on the positives - shall we???

All my trades were off the 5-min chart which is something new (or newer).

Friday's trades

2009-06-19T17:02:00.002-04:00

What a wicked day. Entered HUM and TPX long at the same time (6/10) and things looked very good at first. But then price just reversed on me. I managed to exit 1/2 shares at BE on both but got stopped out later on. In hindsight, maybe there was too much of a move before my entry. That and the market tanking.

Enjoy your weekend (too lazy for charts).

Thursday's trades

2009-06-18T16:59:00.001-04:00

Man... just can't seem to figure things out. Shorted GNTX off the 5-min chart (something new) and TNDM off the 15-min and both stopped me out. I had a chance to short GNTX off the 10-min but passed. Would've at least made my money back.

The real killer was missing EXC (6/10). There will be better days.

Wednesday's trades

2009-06-17T16:42:00.002-04:00

Another boring day for me. Went short CMI off a break of the 5th bar low (10-min). I misread the spread size and calculated the wrong amount of shares (too many) but things seemed to work out at first. Unfortunately, $32 was a strong support area and I scaled out for a very small loss.

I will be patient.

Trading action

2009-06-16T16:24:00.002-04:00

No trades today as volume has left the market. Hope to find just 1 or 2 decent setups this week.

EDIT: Okay, looked at the wrong number, volume wasn't horrible. But the setups still sucked.

Thursday's trades

2009-06-11T16:07:00.002-04:00

Went long PVH (4/15)... moved past 1R, set half my share at BE which was hit then my original stop was hit later on. That was a quick wrapup.

Missed a nice move in CMA (8/15). I will be out of town starting tomorrow and back on Monday. Have a good weekend.

No trades

2009-06-10T13:39:00.002-04:00

A bit of a wish-washy start and then just boring action. Couldn't find any trades with a justifiable entry. Hope you all found some nice moves.

Tuesday's trades

2009-06-09T16:04:00.008-04:00

As Tyler would say... 'Today was a good day'. Found a nice long setup in RS off a break of the 4th bar high (:10). Price moved and came back a bit but I was still in the trade with my full position after it found some resistance at the ORH. I was also eyeing the :15 chart later on and noticed a nice setup on a break of the 11am bar high so I added more shares (I'm starting to add to winning positions when I can). I was pretty loaded up and price proceeded to go north in a nice, orderly fashion. I scaled out near a $1 gain and the rest just below the fib. ext. It continued to rise but I was happy with my return (close to 7R).

Other than that, there wasn't much else for me to write about.

Monday's trades

2009-06-08T16:00:00.003-04:00

Spotted a couple of reasonable entries on the short side but nothing came out of them. Another strange day. Shorted ACH and X.

Thursday's trades

2009-06-04T13:34:00.002-04:00

Just not my day. Shorted SAP and ANF and got stopped out on both. No groove this week. Had some week-changing trades that I either missed or passed on Monday and the rest has been slop for me (except for RSX yesterday). Off tomorrow to the men's semi-final of the French Open so that's something to look forward to.

I'll probably have another Rise or Fall candidate over the weekend.

Wednesday's trades

2009-06-03T15:25:00.007-04:00

Gotta say... wasn't holding out hope for today either as it started off fairly quietly for me. Shorted CHU (7/15) only to get stopped out. Then I shorted RSX (10/15) and managed to make a very nice profit. Exited a bunch of shares just above the fib. ext. and held out the rest to see if it would fall further (it did not). I also had an order in for AGU (10/10) but price kinda dropped quickly and the order was never filled.

No trades

2009-06-02T13:00:00.002-04:00

Couldn't find anything I liked and the rest of my WL doesn't look promising. Calling it a day.

Monday's trades

2009-06-01T16:02:00.003-04:00

Not a good start to June... but when do my months ever start out well??? Went long PWE, SOHU and BHP. Got stopped out of PWE and SOHU and managed to make cash back with BHP (and a little luck that my stop wasn't triggered). Enterted BHP on a break of the 11:30 bar high (:15) and after a nice gain - and trying to hold for me - I ended up selling for a relatively meager gain on a break of the 2:30 bar low.

Missed trades - WO 5/25

2009-05-31T15:13:00.007-04:00

This may or may not be a new weekend feature on the blog. I suppose it depends on the number of missed trades :)

It happens to us all the time, right? You see a trade in your watchlist but there may be one thing you don't like and you just can't pull the trigger. It always seems those trades end up doing well while you're stuck in a pig. I'm trying to drastically cut down on my 'passed' trades. It's my belief that while some of these 'passed' trades will indeed fail - the majority of them will do well and outweigh the risks/losses.

The following are trades I passed on for one reason or another (actually, I missed MICC because it wasn't in my WL that day. I made some changes to try to include gappers that don't take off immediately. And I missed APOL because I was at the French Open). Both those trades would have made my week (or month at this point).

Friday's trades

2009-05-29T15:29:00.004-04:00

I hate any losing day, but Friday's just last longer. Maybe I should just stop trading Friday's.... always seems to have crappy action. Entered NE and BUCY long. Only BUCY moved to 1R and allowed me to place half my shares at BE.

Looking forward to 4 (got tix to French Open on Friday) straight trading days next week.

Thursday's trade

2009-05-28T14:46:00.004-04:00

Again... didn't really find much from a very reduced list. Fortunately, the one I did find produced. Went long AU off a break of the 5th bar high (10-min) which was an inside nr7/nr3 pullback play. Price rose quickly... almost too quickly and I didn't want to risk too much lost profit. After partialing, I sold all my shares 2 bars later. In hindsight, I think I made the right move as price chopped around after that.

Considering this was my first and only trade of the week I feel lucky to have earned some nice profit.

No trades

2009-05-27T15:09:00.009-04:00

I was actually planning on trading but as things turned out... I just couldn't. Had better things to do like go to the French Open - great seats, standing next to Rafael Nadal and photographing some beautiful players in motion. Here are just a few pics:

Tuesday's (lack of) trades

2009-05-26T15:35:00.002-04:00

Nothing happening. Market opened down... all my stocks gapped back up leaving not a lot candidates to work with. A bummer considering I've had 4 days off and was itching to get back to trading. But it will have to wait until tomorrow (hopefully).

Thursday's trades

2009-05-21T15:04:00.003-04:00

Another bad day. Shorted PETM, DE, HPQ and VALE. Only DE managed to get near 1R and I sold half my shares at BE. I probably shouldn't have entered HPQ but there were some NR opportunities at the ORL.

I will be taking tomorrow off for a short weekend trip. Hopefully next week will bring better results. Enjoy the weekend.

Wednesday's trades

2009-05-20T14:11:00.002-04:00

Today blew... big time. Traded COST, MTL, MT and X (all long). Every one except MTL reached 1R and I was able to bring 1/2 my shares to BE before being stopped out. What a crazy selloff at 11:45. I had actually managed to get back in the green and was setting limit-sell orders before I heard the 'dings' of executed orders.

I will be shocked if other gap traders managed to make some cash today.

Tuesday's trades

2009-05-19T17:17:00.004-04:00

Another choppy day. Took two trades, MT and UYM. Made some dinner money with MT and BE with UYM.

I thought they were both pretty solid entries but nothing really happened afterwards. Lots of candidates in my WL but not a lot of good setups.

Monday's trades

2009-05-18T15:01:00.003-04:00

Considering the strength in the overall market from the get go... I figured there would be a bunch of opportunities. Not the case and the ones I did enter went flat. A very curious day indeed.

Went long BHI (10:10, :10) and KWK (11:15, :15). I exited half my shares of BHI after it just wiggled around and was stopped for a full loss on KWK (luckly my risk wasn't that high).

Today is done... bring on tomorrow.

Rise or Fall - Revealed

2009-05-18T02:31:00.007-04:00

I was happy to bring back the Rise or Fall feature and forgot how useful it is for me. Thanks to all for the comments and insight... really good stuff. Probably the most interesting thing for me is how my thought process was very similar to those who commented. Hopefully it's a sign of maturity on my part. On to the reveal...

Stock: GENZ (5/15/09)

Timeframe: 10-min

Trade: Short

Result: Win (but most likely on half my shares)

Analysis: I didn't take GENZ because it actually wasn't on my watchlist. It didn't gap at least 1.5% but, with a little push from TraderAM's EXC trade, I hope to catch some of these smaller gap plays.

For me, the right decision to make - based on the info on the chart - is to go short. No brainer. And here's why:

-bar three was a doji which indicates indecision. This is bearish especially in a gap down stock right below the PDL.

-entry bar (4th) closed weak below the 23.6% fib. retracement level from yesterday's high to the :30 ORL.

-entry bar also closed very weak below S1 and the 5ema also acted as strong resistance.

-entry bar was NR3, inside bar with a .21 risk from its high to low. The ORL was .33 away so 1R was achievable with a potential 5R reward if it ran to the fib. ext. That looks good to me.

-As King Jamie mentioned in the comments, price did find support at the $59 (ORL) level and bounced back up. Price then pulled back close to the entry area and, if I had taken the trade, I probably would've been out 1/2 my shares at BE (since price hit my 1R level).

-Price could not sufficiently penetrate above the 5ema and fell all the way down to the fib. level.

While there is risk in entering above the ORL, this setup really is my 'bread and butter' play as of late. A couple of these every day and I can spend more time in the French Riviera :)

Rise or Fall - 5/14/09

2009-05-16T12:14:00.009-04:00

And... it's back. By not-so-popular demand I put together a quick Rise or Fall candidate. I figure that in this current market it might not be so easy to predict the move. Or is it????

So, just look at the chart - the same chart that I look at during the day - and let me know if you would put your money long or short in this trade... and why or why not. I want to hear your reasoning.

Friday's trades

2009-05-15T12:47:00.002-04:00

Leaving to dinner now as nothing looks remotely promising in my WL. The day did start with a lot of promise as I was long AGU and IBN. AGU ended at BE as I entered off a break of the 10am bar (:10) high. It was a pretty wide bar and the two long upper tails that preceeded made me set my stop to BE once the stock moved.

With IBN, I entered off a break of the 10:15 bar high. Things looked good but couldn't get past the 24 level (which was my 1R area). Sold half at BE and the rest when price closed below the 5ema (11:30 bar).

Still ended the week up so that's something to be happy about. Other than that... this week sucked. Enjoy the weekend.

Thursday's trade

2009-05-14T15:06:00.005-04:00

Not a lot of action today. Just took one trade... CA. Went long off a break of the 11:10 bar high (:10). Things looked good but the 18.50 level just could not hold as support. Sold when price closed below the 5ema.

Wednesday's trades

2009-05-13T14:57:00.007-04:00

Pretty unspectacular day. Ended up green but not much to write home about. DRYS was an easy-going trade and BAC proved to move in the direction I wanted it to, but I was not convinced it would. VNDA was just not nice with stop-slippage driving me mad.

Tuesday's trades

2009-05-12T15:00:00.005-04:00

Sloppy day. Not just the price action but also the way I traded. First, I went short JNS off a break of the 11am bar low (:10). This turned out to be the ideal entry as price proceeded to fall and reverse at the fib. ext. However, the trade really wasn't going anywhere at first and I sold half my shares at BE. Ended up selling the rest at BE too. I was just very impatient with this trade.

Next, I went long WINN off a break of the 11:20 bar high. Not my usual setup but it was a bit of a 'dummy-style' trade. Everything looked good at first and 1R was reached quickly. But.... price moved down and took 1/2 my shares at BE and the rest at the original stop. I'm just bummed I didn't enter long again off a break of the 1pm bar high (:15) which is more of my kind of setup.

I also passed on GG (6/15) which just added to my frustration.

Monday's trades

2009-05-11T15:03:00.009-04:00

Another come-from-behind day. Started everything off shorting UNH on a break of the 10:40 bar low (:10). Price almost reached 1R before turning back on me and stopping me out. I later tried to short again off a break of the 11:10 bar low but settled that trade for BE after seeing support at 27.50.

The saving grace today was actually a long in DISH. I bought off a break of the 11:30 bar high (:15)... which was a NR3/NR7 combo bar. Price went up nicely... then stalled. I managed to get a little more than 2R on this which helped to offset the UNH loss.

Friday's trades

2009-05-08T13:49:00.005-04:00

I didn't even think I would post today because I hadn't planned on trading. However, I managed to get back home and fire up the scans before 10am (EST).

Went long on both RNP and ATVI. With RNP, I entered on a break of the 10:30 bar high (:10) which was a NR7/NR3 combo candle. Price quickly went up 1R, but then came back down and I scaled out at BE. The rest of the trade went according to plan and I exited just below the fib. ext.

With ATVI, I went long off a break of the 10:30 bar high (:15). Again, price went up to 1R but then came back down just enough to make me scale out at BE. Afterwards... everything looked good I sold just below the fib. ext. It's almost 2pm right now so I don't know if the stock will rise, but it looks like I sold at the top - which feels pretty good :)

This is a much different Friday than the last. Plus, I wasn't even planning on trading today. Have a good weekend.

Thursday's trades

2009-05-07T16:52:00.004-04:00

Tough going today as a lot of stocks faded the gap and it is not something I focus on. Shorted T and EXPD. With T, I entered off a break of the 10:50 bar low (:10) and it quickly stopped me out. I really didn't like the first 3 WR bars but I still took the trade anyway. I then shorted EXPD off a break of the 11am bar (:15). Price moved nicely to the ORL (which was also my 1R target), but then bounced back up. I happened to look at the past 3 days and noticed was a strong pivot/support area at $34 and I moved my stop to BE.

I passed a long opportunity in CXW off a break of the 10:30 bar high. Would have netted a nice profit with the ORH as my target.

Wednesday's trades

2009-05-06T15:29:00.004-04:00

Just a couple of 'stress-free' trades. The kind that don't give you much worry about when you enter and no surprises when you exit. Just trading the plan.

First went short PBI off a break of the 10:10 bar low (:10). Nice shooting star off a pullback to the 5ema. The ORL was actually my 1R target so I was curious to see how price would act. I thought it would continue further below the ORL but it didn't and I exited all my shares on a break of the 12:10 bar high. When price closes above the 5ema (in a short) that's my cue to bolt.

Next I went long AU off a break of the 10:30 bar high (:10). The entry candle was a perfect hammer at R4, closing above $35 and was an nr3/nr7 bar. The only bad thing was it was below the :30 ORH. It all worked out and I managed to squeeze a $1 gain out of it in the end.

Tuesday's trades

2009-05-05T16:09:00.007-04:00

Started the day off with a mistake. Shorted SBAC off a break of the 10:20 bar low. After the next bar closed, I went to set my stop and accidentally set the stop at 23.25 instead of 24.25. I was out immediately for a small loss. After looking at the setup again, I really didn't like my decision to enter and just took the loss. I probably would have exited this trade at BE as price did hit 1R.

Then, I went long PEGA off a break of the 11:20 bar high. The trade took off quickly and I was hoping for a nice run. Even though it was a thinner-than-normal trading stock, the setup was decent. The ORH was an initial target of interest and price broke through that pretty convincingly. Unfortunately, price just churned after that until the close. I ended up scaling out along the way for a nice profit.

I'll take it

2009-05-04T15:54:00.007-04:00

While I wish every day gave me more Rs than I know what to do with... the days when I can work myself out of an early hole and into decent profit are just as satisfying. I executed my trades exactly like I wanted to execute them. I didn't tinker... followed my exit strategy and stayed green.

Traded LVS, BKC, CHL and JOYG. Here's a quick recap of each:

LVS: went long off the 10:50 bar high (:10) after it pulled back to the :30 ORH. Got choppy after the entry and I scaled out at BE. Left the rest to run at the original stop and sold all shares below the fib. ext.

BKC: went long off the 10:30 bar high (:10). This was a little riskier since the entry was below the :30 ORH and R2. The trade was doing pretty well but when it couldn't find support at R2... I bailed at BE. Since it was a riskier entry, I didn't want to risk losing money after being up more than 2R.

JOYG: went long off a break of the 11am bar high (:15). This was my 'bitch' trade of the day. Setup looked wonderful, nice pullback to ORH... lots of room to run, strong gap day. Then... it flopped and stopped me out.

CHL: went long off a break of the 12:30 bar high (:30). This trade saved my day. The entry was a nice pullback to the 5ema off a hammer-like candle. Worked right off the bat but just could not get past $48. Consolidated a bit and I just exited all my shares after it took a convincing bounce down from $48.

These gap and crap days really blow as you think you're in for a good day and then... pffft, nada.

Friday's trades

2009-05-01T16:06:00.005-04:00

Disappointing day. Disappointing because I varied from my exit rules and it ended up costing me. Here's how. First trade was RIMM long (5/15). My 1R point was 72.63... price went up to 72.56 two bars later and I decided to place half my shares at BE (instead of waiting for price to hit 1R). Now, if I would have waited for price to hit 1R before doing anything... I think I would be looking at a profit on this trade instead of a loss as price moved upward close to a dollar later on. Instead, I took a small loss, then tried to re-enter the trade off the 10-min chart (11:30 bar high) and was stopped out for a full loss. Understand the disappointment????

Next was EXPE, the stock I wanted to trade yesterday but passed. Well... it presented a decent setup today as well off the :15 (5th bar high). But I passed again because of yesterday's move and the fact it was right below the :30 ORH. Soooooo.... an hour later I look at the 10-min chart and go long off a break of the 11:50 bar high - price churns, I partial at BE and get stopped out. Again, disappointing because I my first entry was the right one.

Finally, JRCC... not much to say here except choppy conditions ruined the trade. Entered long off a break of the 1:15 bar high and was stopped out later on.

I really hate losing money on Friday. Makes me think about this shit all weekend long. Well, I won't. I had a good mental week coming off vacation, I made some good trades and spotted ones that I should have taken. Things will come together. Enjoy the weekend.

Thursday's trades

2009-04-30T18:29:00.003-04:00

A short day for me as I had some evening plans. Entered BARE off a break of the 10:45 bar high. Three bars later it looked like I was gonna be in for a killer day... but that was short lived. I did manage to partial near $10 and set my stop about .10 above BE. Not a bad gain on the day considering there weren't many options. I did miss a nice setup in EXPE.

Wednesday's trades

2009-04-30T01:35:00.007-04:00

Sorry about the delayed post... I was so tired last night!!!

One weird effing day. Started off with a quick loss in TWX (7/10). I then had a full WL and had to wait... and wait. I then went long CHT (8/15) and it kinda went nowhere. In the afternoon I set my stop to BE but my order was triggered and filled about .06 above it. IB has been doing some weird fills lately but I know it's not worth the effort to contact them.

I also entered SLAB off the 11:50 bar high (:10) which was an inside nr3. While it closed just below the ORH, it did close at the .50 mark which I like. The stock took off and I was happy. Took partial at 2R, but then re-entered off another setup (2nd black arrow). Everything was going well until a $1 drop in a matter of seconds. That big spike down on the chart is not a data spike... about 2R in profit wiped away. I haven't experienced that kind of spike in a very, very long time. I'm glad I had revised my stop to well above BE so as to keep a nice gain.

No trades

2009-04-28T16:16:00.002-04:00

Very funky day with hardly any good setups for me. I almost entered AAN near the end of the day (2pm bar high/:15) but didn't want to risk it. Would've turned into a nice, quick profit.

Monday's trades

2009-04-27T16:09:00.004-04:00

I arrived back from vacation and in my apartment at around 3:05 Paris time. At 3:30 or so I walked over and got some Chinese take out for the evening. Got back and figured I would fire up the scanners to see if anything was interesting. I mention all this simply to point out how great trading can be. Really doesn't take too long to get things up and running and with a laptop and high-speed internet... I can trade anywhere.

Of course, I need to be profitable week in and week out which I'm working on :)

Today was profitable, though. Unexpected profit is always nice. Here's what I traded:

Shorted SII off a break of the 10:20 bar low and ended up scaling out to a -.5R loss. One thing I need to note is that if a stock does not move after my entry... that's usually an indication of a failed setup. Scaling out at BE and waiting for another entry might be the best course of action.

The second and last trade was EWW. I was waiting for a setup off the :15 and got what I was looking for on a break of the 12pm bar low. My entry was an inside, NR7 bar on a pullback in the 5ema. I took profit at the ORL after the 12:45 bar printed a strong hammer. Kept the till close the closing to see what would happen.

It was a pretty choppy morning and I'm happy to end up positive. Just need to keep looking for the right setups.

Also, I took over 400 photos on my vacation through the Eastern Mediterranean and hope to upload more than a few during the week. So keep an eye out.

Feeling ill

2009-04-16T14:58:00.002-04:00

MCO and GPC. Traded both of them and got chopped out of MCO and revised my stop with GPC. They both presented second entries (passed on MCO and was away for GPC) that would have made my month. So ill. The good news is that the tweaks I've been making are presenting some nice opportunities. Now I just need to execute better.

Also, I will be on vacation till the 27th starting tomorrow. While I need a good break, I know I will think about how this month is panning out. Maybe by the 4th day I will forget :)

Until then... happy trading.

Wednesday's trades

2009-04-15T16:18:00.008-04:00

This was another one of those 'nothing-crazy-but-I'll-take-it' kinda days. Actually, at the rate I've been going, I'll take this any day. Maybe I've bottomed out????

Shorted ABT (twice), ETP and ACI. The first short of ABT was off the :10 chart and after a quick run down it came back up and stopped me out at BE (after pocketing some change). The next short off the :15 was much better and $42 seemed like a good place to get out.

ACI was just your average, run-of-the-mill, NR7 pullback to the 5ema and then drop. I decided to exit once the 5ema was breached to the top side.

The only interesting thing about ETP was that I decided to get out quickly. With NR entries... I've noticed the moves tend to happen quickly. If they don't... be careful.

Tuesday's trades

2009-04-14T17:12:00.004-04:00

All I can do is just shake my head. Really wasn't much for me to look at out there today but that's no excuse for missing trades. Looking forward to my vacation. I'm in the midst of a nasty drawdown. Yuck.

Entered here.

Shoulda entered here (later on).

Suckin' it

2009-04-13T16:02:00.002-04:00

That's exactly how my trading feels the last two weeks. Traded SUSQ, TXT and PH. SUSQ turned out okay, TXT was pretty much breakeven and PH screwed me.

Trading is definitely tough as of late.

Hey guys

2009-04-08T15:56:00.002-04:00

I've had a buddy in town and, well... blogging's been on the backburner. I have managed to trade - albeit very poorly, but trade nonetheless. Sometimes I don't even think I know what the hell I'm doing :)

Oh well... that's it for today.

Thursday's trades

2009-04-02T17:32:00.005-04:00

Had a friend come into town so I knew I wouldn't be able to closely follow my watchlist. After an hour or so I just decided to focus on ES. Caught a couple of nice runs and was happy with the unexpected results.

Wednesday's trades

2009-04-01T16:46:00.002-04:00

Nothing spectacular to report. Got stopped out of DHR as I tried to go long off a break of the 10:30 bar high (:10). Ended up traded ES and made back most of the loss.

I'm just not finding a lot of really good setups this week.

Tuesday's trades

2009-03-31T15:32:00.002-04:00

I was down... then up... then back down to breakeven. MT and AMZN stopped me out (AMZN at least went up 1R). RMD made back my loss and then some before it came back down and forced me out.

Felt like a tough trading day for me but I hope you all did well.

Monday's trades

2009-03-30T13:38:00.003-04:00

I was hoping to do well with some nice shorts since the market open down in a big way. However, that wasn't the case. Only traded FSYS for some decent profit and decided to call it a day. Really wasn't anything interesting in the rest of my WL.

Friday's trades

2009-03-27T15:22:00.008-04:00

Managed to eek out a nice profit after starting off poorly. Mismanaged FTO and missed a nice little run - but I'm happy to end the week positive. SWN was my saving grace and TIF was my loser.

Enjoy the weekend.

Thursday's trades

2009-03-26T13:56:00.004-04:00

Calling it a day as I'm about to head out to an Irish bar to knock back a few pints. Had a nice day with just a couple of trades. RTN was about as good as it gets.

Hope you all did well.

Wednesday's trades

2009-03-25T16:23:00.005-04:00

Certainly didn't think I would be going short after the first hour of trading but that's what I ended up doing. Caught a couple of nice moves with LLTC and DF. Red arrows are where I exited all my shares.

Monday's trades

2009-03-23T16:43:00.008-04:00

Some charts to enjoy. Questions? Leave a comment. BHP was a loser but a good day overall.

Thursday's trades

2009-03-20T02:30:00.002-04:00

Also a rubbish day as Traderam would say. Don't remember all the stocks (SSRI, UUP both were a wash) but it was a little over 1R loss for the day.

Wednesday's trades

2009-03-18T16:48:00.004-04:00

Tried a couple of different tactics today. I just need to mix things up to give myself a better chance of making money. The grind of one good day followed by crappy days is really wearing me down. While I don't want to overtrade, I still want to feel like I can approach a chart from a few different strategies.

Anyway... shorted ADBE (10am bar low, :10) and it bascially bounced of R3 and I decided to just get out at breakeven.

Shorted HUM at the same time as ADBE and pretty much got out with a small loss.

Also shorted GFI on a break of the 9:50 bar low and it went my way at first. Partialed at 1R and left the rest which was stopped out.

The best trade of the day was MET. Entered long off a break of the 10:45 bar high (:15), partialed then sold all just below the fib. ext. Wish I could've been part of that explosive move above the FE but I was on the sidelines.

Tuesday's trades

2009-03-17T16:59:00.004-04:00

Not much of an exciting start to the week. Shorted X (10:10 bar low, :05) for breakeven after it hit 1R and came back. I then shorted CLF off the :30 timeframe (4th bar) and it came close to 1R but then bounced back up for a loss.
Didn't really see anything else I was interested in.

Seems like I tend to have a good first week of the month and then everything goes to crap.

Virtually breakeven

2009-03-13T16:21:00.002-04:00

Quick summary:

Long BAC (10:15, :05) - didn't like long upper tails and exited for BE.

Long PGF (9:55, :05) - made some cash, scaled out past 1R and sold the rest at BE

Short CMP (10:30, :10) - did really well but once it got past the ORL it really couldn't any further down. Scaled out then sold the rest near BE.

Pretty ho-hum day to end a pretty crappy week. Had a lot of expectations and while I'm not entirely disappointed with my trades I hoped to have a better week. This up and down crap is really very tiring.

I won't be trading on Monday as I'm en route to Brugge, Belgium for a nice, relaxing 3 day trip to a medieval city (Venice of Northern Europe).

Thursday's trades

2009-03-12T16:10:00.002-04:00

Day 2 of the crapfest continues for me. Went long GLD twice and the first entry (10:10, :10) went to 1R then came back down to stop me out. I was fortunate to bail on 1/2 my shares at BE. I re-entered on a break of the 11:20 bar high and it went nowhere - stopping me out quickly.

Shorted MOS off the :05 chart (11:15 bar low)... got close enough to 1R where I set a stop for 1/2 my shares at BE - which happened quickly (along with the rest of my shares at the original stop).

SFD was about the only bright spot but I wasn't able to see it to fruition. Entered long on a break of the 10:30 bar high (:15) after noticing a nice morning star pattern off the 5ema. It really didn't move much so I scaled out at the ORH then the rest as it came back down below the 12:45 bar low. I just didn't want this winner turning into a loser. Missed the move I wanted all the way up to the fib. ext. Overall, another losing day.

Wednesday's trades

2009-03-12T03:26:00.002-04:00

A very choppy day for me with nothing going right. Entered 3 positions (TNA, RSU, MS) and was stopped out on all three. None of them even made it to 1R. TNA was about the only trade that I wasn't really comfortable with.

Tuesday's trades

2009-03-10T16:06:00.006-04:00

The daylight savings time change will most likely cause me to miss some entries for the next couple weeks until Paris switches over. So till then... I just need to look at the open more carefully.

Today was decent and 2 out of 3 trades performed well. I passed on an entry (:10, 11am bar high) with WYNN that would've produced a generous payout. The two trades (E, AXA) I took were both brickwall setups that primarily used the 5ema as support. My final exit for both was right below their fib. extentions... which was nice. I think I sold at the daily high for E. I might've done better the E off the :15 (10:30) but I wasn't around. My loser was DSX (4th bar high, :10).

Overall I'm happy to be green.

No trades

2009-03-09T15:58:00.002-04:00

A boring day that started off with technical issues with TD Ameritrade's backfill. Didn't really see much of interest. Hope you all did better.

Friday's trades

2009-03-07T03:42:00.003-05:00

Traded FCX (break of 10:20 bar high, :10), but only half my normal shares because I wasn't in love with the setup. Although a variation of the 'brick wall' with the 5ema and fib. level acting as support, I didn't like the amount of penetration below the 5ema prior to entry. But I did like the off-setting bar pattern. Ended up exiting my position on a break of the 10:40 inverted hammer low for a small loss.

POR was the only other stock I was looking at and thought about entering on a break of the 1:40 bar high (:10) but just didn't like the choppiness of the market.

A disappointing end to the week but I did meet and exceed my goal so I'm happy about that.

Thursday's trades

2009-03-05T16:16:00.002-05:00

Not much going on today. Entered AUY off a break of the 10:45 (:05) candle high, scaled out at 8.58 or so then was stopped out at BE. Screwed up with NETL a couple of times. The first time I hesitated pressing the order button on a break of the 10:30 bar high (:10) and watched price go up. Then, I saw another entry on the :05 on a break of the 10:55 bar high but price just blew by my order and I wasn't filled. However, I forgot to cancel the order and it was filled as it fell back down a little later on. It was a partial fill and I got out quickly so not a lot of harm.
Other than that... I didn't see much.

CNBC... it's the best!

2009-03-05T09:02:00.003-05:00

Glad I can't get it over here :) (couldn't get it to embed... sorry)

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220251&title=intro-joe-nocera-is-here

Wednesday's trades

2009-03-04T14:57:00.004-05:00

Couple of FU setups that went my way (one more than the other).

STLD

Went long off a break of the 10am bar high. I was a little hesitant for some reason and thought I would get stopped out. But price ended up going my way and I exited all my shares just below the fib. ext.

BBL

I actually saw a nice formation on the 5-min chart but couldn't find any of my 3 setups to enter. I flipped to a faster timeframe (3-min) and saw a good FU entry at the ORH. Entered long off a break of the 10:36 bar high (but I was late so I let the order slip a bit). Thought I would hit the fib. ext. early on but price fell back down. Had to step out of the apartment and ended up getting stopped out on a revised stop. Still a decent profit as I scaled out at 33.13.