Trading Recap 8/2/2016

To anybody who reads the blog and thought I was dead, I'm not. Somehow I got hired at a legit prop firm (I know I suck so you might be wondering why I got hired in the first place). So today is the first day we start trading real money so it's time to start the blog up again. I haven't really traded for real since my last post in March, just a bunch of paper trading. The stuff that changed between then and now is I graduated finally so no more BS tests and work and my sleep problem seems to be getting better. It wasn't the brownie/weed that caused but a lot of overexercise. Anyway, here are the shit trades I took today. I tried a lot of stuff I normally wouldn't have and am glad I got that out of my system. It is nice to be able to get in and out without worrying about commission. Like I said before, with being able to get in and out whenever, it is great but I went too overboard and need to scale back accordingly. I also need to trade less size no matter what and this time I can because the commissions won't kill me and I can trade at my own pace. Better up a little than down a lot than today. FOMO is a real thing that I didn't have to combat before because with my old accounts I was too scared to do anything but here I can do anything so it's a different dynamic that I will have to work with. I have to get a blend of how I was trading before and how I can trade now.

White arrows are entries followed by exits.

TOPS: I was short biased going into the day. It seemed like it needed just one more pop to get all shorts out. That is what happened. In the beginning of the day after it was peaking vwap I was still scared to short it so I waited until it peaked a later level. I then wanted to add in, which I did. It was working but then it spiked up all of a sudden and I got out for flat. I figured it got some of the shorts out and would then proceed lower so I shorted again and chased an add because I thought a wash was coming but the wash I wanted didn't come and it came back and I got out again. Then after I took a walk I shorted when it looked like it would go further and all the longs would sell but it just hovered around right under the r/g spot and then it started to move up and that I got out after that. I thought that it would just stay red at least and then head lower into the close but that didn't happen. Overall, I traded this poorly. I was too scared to short when I saw the initial opportunity. Then I added at poor spots which got me scared and wanting to get out for flat. At the end of the day, looking back, yeah the trade could have worked but I wanted a quick wash and I didn't get that and I just let it hover around. I kept trying to nail this washout and going in and out that I just should have kept my initial position and let it ride which is what I wanted to do in the first place. The add and the fact that it came back to my average since I didn't have a good average fucked with me. For next time, get that better entry even with small size. Then add into the winner AND STICK TO YOUR PLAN.

SHIP: This was the first stock I had to locate. So of course I went short but I should have known better and truth be told I did. I remember the conversation I had with myself before and during the trades. I saw that it was hovering and it stuffed into vwap so I went short but got a shit fill after I was done locating it. After it went up and I was risking to vwap over/under. When it seemed to hold I got out and later in the day it came back. When I got back from my walk I told myself don't short until it's confirmed backside but I didn't listen and wanted to be there for that big breakdown (FOMO) and I located the shares so I didn't want that to go to waste. So I shorted the breakdown and that ended up being a trap like I KNEW IT WOULD and it squeezed me right out.

IONS: This was a trade that I wouldn't have done before (scalp a breakdown short) and what happened here is exactly why. I shorted the breakdown and it went down a bit but then came back up and I thought I'll try to get out for flat but I got a bad fill so lost a little. It ended up going back up slightly, retesting resistance, then coming back way past where I wanted to scalp it. I figured I would try this trade but I can tell already I hate these types of trades just because they fuck you right away except in certain circumstances because it is chasing. Assuming I held it would have been nice, although I just wanted to scalp out. 

Things I learned/have to work on:
1. No FOMO
2. You tried the whole breakdown/breakout thing and it didn't work. It's not your style and you feel stupid doing it. Don't do it.
3. Just go in with small size and you can always add if you want.
4. Stick to your plan. If you lose it's ok because you stuck to your plan.