I’ve moved

I am going to post here starting today.  http://onebadtrade.blogspot.com/

Post in Blogger

I made a post today in Blogger.  I got to run so I do not have the time to post here.

Weekly Wrap 10/9-10/13

I made $1907.38 for the week.  My performance is improving this month as earnings season is picking up steam.  I get this opportunity once every 3 months so I got to take advantage of it.  I have been looking at my performance and I know I have to continue work on two things. 

• Letting my winners run
• Getting more aggressive when I see high quality setups

I already have a ideas on improving my weaknesses, but my execution of those ideas have been inconsistent.  Sometimes I manage to ride my winners but most times I lose my position by getting shaken out or by taking profits too soon.  In order for me to improve I need to have clear cut rules for entries and exits.  Rules will help me get my emotions out of the picture, so the main thing that I have to do is to control myself and let my system dictate my trade.  

Here’s an example of a way to ride profits.  If I follow my rules the main thing I have to do once I get into my position is move my trailing stop up to lock in profits.  Sounds easy but I have difficulty doing this even after trading for a few years.  I have to practice this daily until it becomes a habit.  I got to focus on the trade, not the money.           

  

Trying out Blogger Beta

I have been blogging with WordPress and have decided to try the new Blogger Beta. This is the link to my new blog. Looks like Blogger has done a decent job at making the site easier to use. I will be posting on both of my blogs till the end of this month and I make a choice between the two blogging interfaces.

Slow day, a small loss

Throughout the day my profit/loss fluctuated between -30 and +30.  I was thinking of stopping with my $30 and mark a 5 day winning streak.  I kept trading and got hit with some losers.  Now I am down $50 for the day.  I am going to stop now.  If I lose more I will regret not quitting early.  There should be some good plays next week as more stocks report earnings. 

8ft tall marijuana forests in Afghanistan

Wow!  Those Taliban know how to party.  Article

Decent day, could be better

I did alright today.  My trading is still plagued by recurring themes.  I did not let my winners run.  I also had a memorable losing trade in PPP.  I lost $75 in the trade.  This trade sticks to my mind because I broke a trading rule – cut your losses fast.  I bought 300 share at around 44.87 at 10:41am.  I thought the stock was strong and even though it hit my stop I held on thinking that it would come back.  It goes down more and I end up losing money.  Instead of trading what I see, I was trading what I think.   

Strong trend

Don’t try to short this market until you see a clear trend change.  I will be looking for longs. 

Too conservative when opportunity knocks

I found a nice trade in MTB this morning but my trading was too conservative.  The stock had a catalyst for a move.  It just reported earnings.  I got into the stock early when it reversed of the lows at around 121.06 and was out at 121.24.  I was in again at 121.34 and was out at around 121.77.  I see that the stock is strong but I just kept getting in and out.   I went in for 500 shares at 122.13 at 10.11am and got out at 121.90 for a $115 loss.  This is what I get for losing my position.  When I get in at a higher price I get shaken out easily.  I manage to catch a long again when it moved past 122.30 but I only had a small position.  I also got out way too soon again.  Aside from all this mistakes I managed to make some money today.   I am up around $625 for the day.  I still got to work on letting my winners run and let go of my scalping mentality. 

Distracting thoughts

I had some money issues that caused me to lose focus.  In the near future I will have to spend a couple grand.  One of my weaknesses is letting money matters affect my trading.  I wanted to make money today.  To make matters worse, my quotes were lagging, I had no time and sales and my trading platform crashed a few times.  Since I wanted to make some money pretty bad I did not care. 

I lost around $200 by 10:30.  That hit me and made me stop to take a break.  I calmed down and managed to catch one trade which helped me recover some losses.  Because of my early loss I was trading scared.  When I had a good setup I only had 400 shares.  I also got out too soon.  I ended my day down $85. 

Lessons:

• Be very selective in the morning, take quality setups so I can start out with profits.
• Every trade is unique.  I should focus on managing the trade and maximizing profits. 
• Trade with a clear head.