Monday's trades

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.