Trading Recap 9/29/15

No trades for me today. I think this post is going to be more about my personal psychology and how I am thinking when "trading" (in quotes since I don't really do much trading at this point but rather look at charts and pretend I am about to hit the button and place a trade).

So I just spent around 10 minutes thinking about what was going through my head today and there's nothing new. It's all the same stuff I have mentioned before: analysis by paralysis, no confidence, not accepting the risk, etc. Nothing else to really say about them since I have mentioned them in depth before. I'll just go through some tickers from today.

RJET: I saw the morning stuff at the open and was thinking of shorting but I was too slow. I saw it try to breakout a little later but it got rejected and made new lows. However, that dip got bought back and from there it made nHOD but got stuffed. I thought about shorting here but wanted to see what it did afterward but by then it was sort of too late. The dips held though and it went to new highs before coming back down.

RMTI: No excuse for this one and a case of overanalysis for sure. I saw it peaking the prior support and thought "nah, it can't be that easy. It will probably go higher if I short it". It then proceeded to flush $1.

Trade Recap 9/25/15

No trades again for me. There were some setups I was definitely looking at but at the time it looked fishy, even though in the end I would have banked nicely on it.

VBLT: I was eyeing this for a short since I thought it was overextended. I saw it has resistance around $12 so that was where I was interested. If there was failed follow through then I would have been interested in that as well. Right after the open I saw a decent rejection candle on big volume so I thought about shorting there. It made nHOD and went to 12. It looked like it could have gone either way at the time so I was wary of shorting. It flushed back down to 11.70s where I guess I should have shorted but it still looked like it could go either way. It ended up fading a couple of dollars the rest of the day. This is a good example of having a thesis and then using the chart to play it. I was thinking had I shorted the rejection candle and it went against me, I could have added at 12 and let it play out with 12 over/under. This is hard to do with a $590 account and not really practical but that is one way it could have been played. First arrow is the rejection candle on bigger volume, second candle is it peaking at 12 although it looked like it could have gone either way, and the third is when it was peaking at 11.70s.

Trading Recap 9/24/15

No trades for me today although some decent learning occurred as to some things/setup to be on the lookout for.


ARWR: I saw the huge gap up, which was bigger than any other gap up it has had in the past. I was cautious of shorting it until the backside was in just due to the strength it had. In the beginning it looked like the dips were holding on the 8.9 level and it looked like it could have trapped shorts because each time it broke through the support it came right back. I was looking at a potential long scenario there but the support fell and so I looked for any pops. There was a quick pop to 8.9 and it hovered around there for a minute or so, which gave a great short opportunity but I didn't take it unfortunately. From then on it just fizzled the rest of the day. A bit disappointed I didn't take the retest of support short. First arrow shows the dips holding and then the second arrow shows the retest.

CNAT: I saw that this had faded from the huge run it had last night so I figured if it sold off like that then it would be a good short on any pops. There was a good opportunity near the open when it had a failed push to get short (marked by the first arrow). I was thinking of initiating a short at the second arrow because it looked like an ok lower high to start into for continued weakness. That would not have worked since it squeezed a bit but I saw it stuff 7 and then have lower highs which is where I should have shorted. Had I been playing it I might have shorted where I wanted to and then stopped out but then hopefully reshorted after the stuff and lower highs.

Trading Recap 9/18/15

Today I had a perfect read on CANF and knew it would be crowded going into today when all the Twitter traders were looking to make a big trade on the name. Unfortunately, even after having a perfect read on it and knowing it would be crowded, I didn't pull the trigger. I still have no confidence when it comes to place the trade, even though I have been getting much better at calling plays. I caught the trend change when it was still at $4.2 and had an order ready but never pulled the trigger. Again, I didn't see anybody talking about and even saying to myself internally "I've seen this before and this is going to squeeze" I didn't pull the trigger. I thought to myself if no one on twitter is talking about it squeezing, then why would I be right? This is probably a stuff knowing my luck and I just buy into it and got slammed. Anyway, even though I missed a nice trade yet again I am becoming slightly more assured in my abilities to actually get a correct thesis for a trade. I know I keep saying this but one day I'll be able to take advantage of all the things I've learned. One day.

CANF: I came back home around 10:30 and had an eye on it since it was hadn't broken down yet. I saw it had reclaimed 4 and was interested in a long. It washed out to under $4 but never really peaked there but at the time I thought there was no long trade to make. However, it reclaimed again and I thought this looked like a nice dip and rip. I drew a downtrend line and made a plan to buy on a strength with $4 over/under as risk and I would add if it broke the downtrend line as that would be some added confirmation. The downtrend line also coincided with the 50% range marker (50% of the range the stock traded for today). So if it crossed back past the 50% mark and it is past 11AM, it has a high chance of going higher. Had I done exactly that I would have banked. Anyway, on to the next trade and I would have sold in the $5s anyway since it looked like it stuffed before consolidating and going higher. The arrow is where I was thinking of going long.

Trading Recap 9/15/15

I didn't place any trades today although I wish I did since I was right on the money with a lot of plays. Another case of having the right thesis but not acting on it. For now though I am content with that seeing as I have almost blown up 3 accounts (working on the third currently..). I'll be able to place the trades when the time comes. I know it. For now, here is just a recap of the tickers I was looking at today.

SGEN: I saw this had an offering and know from previous tickers like TRIL that if they are positively received and the stock actually goes up rather then down, there is continuation for a few days afterwards. It had two solid green days up and I was looking for continuation and weak open r/g. I wanted higher lows and got exactly that so no excuse for not taking this. It setup perfectly how I would play it. The reason I did not take it is because it is an idea I came up by myself and I did not see anybody talking about it on Twitter so I figured it might just not be worth it and be a "random name" that I have avoided playing. I think if I had a bigger account and could allocate a smaller position to it and let it work or not, then I would have played it. It is true I did not have the best of confidence in it but the technical setup was there and the reason behind the move was clear. I only have one or two trades left so I guess I didn't feel this was worth taking a shot on. I'll remember this though for next time.

EVOK:  I saw this ramping up and saw the news and compared tit to prior times it gapped up and saw it just fades horribly from the initial spike. Really no excuse to not short if you really do know most likely what the end result will be.

VSR: I saw this running and thought it might go again since it is a former runner. However, a trend never really formed and I saw it got stuffed. I was thinking about shorting it but I saw pro traders on twitter think about going long. Usually they are right and I am wrong so I heeded the warning. Again, I'll take note of this. It's hard to go against the grain when your results have been shit so far but I guess that is what becoming a better trader is about. White arrow is the stuff.

Trading Recap 9/11/15

I want to recap a trade I was going to take but didn't just for review purposes.

TTPH: I was looking at the chart and saw a nice pattern forming. With the SSR on I thought it would finally squeeze and get that bounce that everybody thought was coming. It was holding trend which was different than the prior two days. After it broke the downtrend line, I thought about going long but with the SSR on I wanted a dip but I was thinking of just starting in small and adding in. Never did that unfortunately. Probably because I have low confidence in my ideas now and I didn't have the best of confidence in it. Even if I did do that I'm not sure if I would have sold at 9.50. I might have waited for a lower high or something else but that would have been at a steep discount to 9.50. The prudent thing would be to sell there since that is major resistance and if a trend forms buy the dips later on.

Trading Recap 9/3/15

Another day, another losing trade where I was right but had bad timing/stopped out too early. Account is close to that $500 level. If I hit it, no problem I've learned a lot. The next time I trade for real, if I blow this account up, is with a much higher account balance. Even though I know it shouldn't matter since if I make a good trade I will make money and not go negative, it is hard to go in one shot kill vs. partialing in with set risk. I'll detail this in my recap below.

White arrow is entry followed by exit.

GERN: I saw this was gapping up on BS news and saw that it has a nice tendency to fade after gap ups. With that in mind, I was looking for any failed follow through/lower highs to short into. When it looked to be peaking at 3.50 I entered short with risk to 3.5 over/under. I ended up shorting right at a higher low and reclaim and got squeezed back up and so I stopped out. Ideally, my stop should have been at the HODs which never would have triggered and would have kept me in the position. In addition, I could have added on the lower highs and better my average. Could I have done that with my account? Yes, and to that extent I fucked up. As a last resort, I may be more liberal in my trades since I only have another $100 before I stop trading so maybe this will work. For trades like today and TRVN yesterday, that would have worked perfectly. And on countless others it would have worked as well. Obviously if the trade doesn't work out then I am more screwed with the extra commission and slightly bigger loss, but at this point it doesn't matter for this account and I am willing to try new things.

WIN: I had this on radar for a fade and I had to go to class before a setup presented itself. But just putting this here as a reminder that it was a good idea and the trade would have worked nicely once it peaked at g/r.

TRVN: I had this on watch for a r/g and it looked nice when it had some higher lows and reclaimed support. It failed at r/g and faded pretty nicely from there.

Things to work on:

1. Trade like I have a normal account and not a $600 account.

Trading Recap 9/2/15

Took another loss today even though my thesis was correct. I was just too early and never got the chance to get back in. Kind of disappointing but again, my stop was definitely too tight although I was looking for an immediate continuation move though. On the other hand, I'm glad I pulled the trigger. Unfortunately, I am almost getting to that $500 level again. At this point I am not expecting much. I will continue to trade until I either climb back up or just get to below $500 and stop until I have more money.

Arrows are entries followed by exits.

TRVN: I saw this was holding up in the early morning and I had drew a trendline. Downtrend line breaks on momo stocks are usually good entries and I could have entered here which would have been a great entry. However, my confidence is admittedly low and I did not feel it was a prime setup. Anyway, it consolidated a bit at higher levels and I noticed it had flushed and reclaimed support and then volume came in and it perked. I saw this has worked before on this stock so I went long at 10.06. It was sort of a chase as opposed to a dip but I thought there would be immediate continuation. There wasn't and so I sold out. However, my stop should have been 9.80 o/u although it did look like it was done a few times when it flushed below 9.8. The dips did hold up the entire time though. It did have a premature breakout and it did wash pretty bad but it still held that 9.8 support. At the time I was not sure if my entry was for a premature breakout although I think it could have easily continued higher from there. If it was a little later in the day but before 3pm I would have been more wary.

Things to work on:

1. It's good to have pulled the trigger and not have analyzed as much although that would have saved you here.
2. Really see what the stop should be to avoid these types of scenarios. A lot of plays are probably not possible due to your acct size but it is better to avoid them and stop out prematurely than to slowly bleed your account dry. 

Trading Recap 9/1/15

I didn't make any trades today although I was about to. I was mainly watching TRVN since that seemed to be the best option for today. I was watching DWTI also but was focusing more on TRVN. I'll go over my thoughts on TRVN and DWTI below. One thing to note is it is very important to be flexible and non-biased as a daytrader. I was changing my thesis on TRVN as time went on so I am happy about that. However, it is very difficult to flip sides with my small account although if you get it right I should be green no matter what.


TRVN: Originally, I was looking to short this on any confirmation of the premkt support of 7.8 peaking. It dipped to there and just ripped right at the open. I saw a possible HOD/premkt resistance rejection and wanted to go short there at around 9:36. This would have been a nice scalp and I probably would have covered on that higher low, although at the time I thought this was done. I just monitored it after it had some higher lows with no real bias either way. Once it reclaimed the $8.30s though I should have went long. Once it made nHODs and sort of had no follow through I again looked for the short around 10:00. It was holding 8.70s and at the time I saw that it kept trying to fail but kept being bought back so I thought this might be a crowded trade. Once it looked like 8.70s failed I was about to go in but it quickly came back and started going back up. This was a key trigger to go long but I didn't even though I knew it probably just trapped a bunch of shorts. After that it just kept going higher so that was a miss but at least I didn't short it. I didn't check on it for the rest of the day although it did have a nice stuff move at 1:00. Ideally tomorrow we get a 9.5 test and fail.

DWTI: I was looking for a bounce in this as oil has just straight up rocketed on some headlines. I wasn't paying much attention to it at the time but I missed the morning base support reclaim. From there is was pretty much off to the races minus some dips along the way.

Things to work on:

1. Don't overanalyze anything.
2. Continue to have no bias and actually trade when you see an opportunity.