MVSN - Short

Fairly interesting day, albeit a bit sluggish. Short MVSN off a break of the 5th bar low after a three bar retrace and a hanging man-like entry bar at the ORH. Exited all my shares on a break of the 2:15 bar high after it spiked above the 5ema. Also got slapped around in SGR and ICOC.

In case you haven't heard the news... Tom C. has started his own blog. Tom was/is a protege of Trader-X and is a certifiable bad ass trader. Be sure to bookmark and check out his site daily.

Fun day

Don't know about you, but I found a lot of candidates out there. All in all, I traded 4 stocks today (and partialed out quite a few times).

PTIE Long: 5/15
ZUMZ Short: 12/15
TGT Short: 15/15
SVVS Short: 7/15

The least favorite was TGT and the one I liked the most, although I didn't capitalize on the last push was SVVS. Entered after two inside bars and a small consolidation right at S3. Took a partial off the 11:30 bar high (almost after I entered) then exited all at the ORL. While the PnL wasn't huge today it felt good to crack the knuckles after not having an active trading day for a while.

Here's the chart:

APC - Short

Still waiting for a day this week when I'm burning up the keyboard with orders. Thought today was boring as well. I caught APC short but initially I didn't like the lack of unusual volume. I decided not to discard it since volume was on the fringe (between too low and just right). My entry bar was a failed reversal at the ORL with volume. Exited on a break of the 2:45pm bar high (I would normally partial here, but since I shorted a stock on a big 'up' day I didn't want to risk too much profit). Turned out to be the right move as the stock moved up big after I exited.

LVS - Short

For all the IB users out there... were you experiencing any issues with IB's data in the first hour of trading? My backfill was acting funky and I had to clear my charts and backfill again. Pain in the ass considering how long IB's backfill takes. Anyway, I traded LVS and missed the first 'ideal' entry off a break of the 12pm bar low. However, I was able to get in on a break of the 12:30pm bar low which closed below S2 on increased volume. Exited the entire position on a break of the 2pm bar high.

Tradeweek

With my new schedule I really needed to find a trading style that was simple, effective for gappers and could be applied throughout the day. What I ended up focusing on were two and three bar retracements. I find these to be not only easy to spot but also highly effective. Also, I'm also going to concentrate on just the :15 timeframe for a more 'relaxed' (dare I say) trading experience. The retracement trade is pretty simple. I look for 2 or 3 bar retracements (either up or down) with a reversal bar and I enter on a confirmation of the reversal. I also look for potential 'dummy' retracement plays where the reversal bar sets up against the retracement trend but there is no confirmation. I remember Trader-X saying a while back that this is a pattern you should look for if you wanted to reduce candidates or wanted more high probability trades. So, here's a look at some charts this week that fit the above criteria:

Executing all these trades, including partials, would've produced the following stats:
Total trades: 9
Win: 7
Loss: 2
Win rate: 78%
Total R: 14.46

EXPE - Long

EXPE had all the making of a nice long gain yesterday. My entry was right above R4 and the ORH after a failed 2-bar retracement. I call this a dummy retracement setup. A trend looks like it's about to fail (especially at a key resistance/support area) but then the next bar continues in the direction of the trend. I always like entering on the confirmation bar.
So, my entry was off the 11:30 bar high, price quickly moved to $31 and then fell sharply back. I partialed on a break of the 12:15 bar low and ended up selling the rest of my shares on a break of the 1:45 bar low. Up and down stock which used the round number $31 (and 119% fib. level) as strong resistance. Small loss, but a loss nonetheless. Bastard!!!!

GG, FXI - Short

Made a couple nice trades using the retracement pattern. I had a fortunate 'mistake' on GG. As soon as I entered I went to place a buy-stop order at the top of my entry candle. Instead, I placed a sell-stop order and doubled my position. That's like the 3rd time that's happened in the last few weeks. After a brief debate about whether I should sell or not... I decided to keep all the shares which turned out well. FXI (:15)

• After a previous failed attempt to break the ORH (resistance), a nice 2-bar retracement pattern set up starting at noon (which was also S1)
• Entered short on a break of the 12:45 bar low
• Looked like price was going to once again test the ORH (S1) but it didn't and broke down
• Exited at S2 which was also near the ORL. I figured this was going to be a reversal area (it retraced again and moved further down)

GG (:15)

• I like retracement setups at either a pivot point or the ORH/L
• After breaking above S3, price moved back down and below S3
• A 3-bar retracement started at noon and broke just above the S3
• Entered short on a break of the 12:45 bar (busy time for me) and kept an eye on how price interacted with S3 again
• I was prepared to get out after 1:15 bar as it looked like it was finding support (remember, I had double my position and a very itchy trigger finger)
• Exited just above S4 which was my target price at entry