The commissions suck (I was up $30.50 for the day but that became $3.48 w/ commissions) but suretrader is the only broker that will let me day trade and they have a nice short list as well on top of nice margin, which is a necessity for being able to grow small account sizes. On both trades that I took I used margin but only within my acceptable loss parameters ($50 or less). I will stay small on initial entries but will always look to size in to a winner.
Due to my class schedule, it is difficult to day trade the ideal times like the open. I used that as an excuse to not trade, but I will just have to suck it up and play the lull on stocks that have some volume still and trade around my schedule in preparation for the summer. The key is to not just trade any setup but only setups I feel comfortable with (late day fades, parabolics, ABCD, certain r/g setups, double top/bottom). I believe slowly but surely I can grind my way up and eventually take advantage of a big trade.
Without further ado, here are the two trades I took including my first ever real short, which was great.
TWTR: This was the first trade that I took. It was an ABCD pattern that looked good. I went in after the C pattern completed when the resistance broke. It dipped back a little right after but then it went up to the highs of the day. I was looking for it to make a nHOD and go to $49 for me to sell since that was the daily resistance and I have confidence in ABCD patterns. It went to the highs and then came down where I put my stop at 10 cents above my entry to almost breakeven on my trade including commissions. Well, it dipped down and hit my stop which sold me out but it never went to my initial entry of 48.10 and it then it went right back to the highs of 48.50 where it couldn't clear it. If I hadn't sold out by now I might have sold here when it couldn't get past it again, which would have been nice. The moral of this story is to just not let the commission enter your trade plan. In fact, when I sold out, I should have added on the higher low in anticipation of a bigger move even though that did not happen. Selling the first lower high on this ABCD would have gotten me more profit, so I will stick to that from now on. I was also looking at it for a short after it failed to clear 48.50 but I didn't take it, which would have also been a nice trade.
ZIOP: My first real short. This was a nice late day fade setup into prior resistance. I should have been more proactive and shorted into strength near the resistance but I wanted that "confirmation" which is just fear. If it doesn't work out, no big deal, I always take small positions on entries and scale into winners. I entered after it cracked the support and it became resistance. I then added on a lower high along the way down. I was looking to cover into the low 8.50s which is the clear support but it never came. I put my stop at 66 which was above the resistance and it was holding higher lows so I wanted to be safe. It hit my stop and it spiked up to my original entry and settled back down to low 60s. The line was my guide for over/under which I then lowered to 66 as described above.
Things to work on:
1. Don't factor commissions into the trade plan.
2. There is no confirmation before the fact in trading, only probabilities. When you see a nice probabilistic setup in your favor, take it and if it doesn't work, well you tried and that is what counts. I would rather have tried and failed than not take it at all.
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