One Bad Trade

I’ve moved

onebadtrade — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 18:39:55 +0000

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

Post in Blogger

onebadtrade — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 20:37:08 +0000

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

onebadtrade — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 23:30:29 +0000

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

onebadtrade — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 02:45:58 +0000

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

onebadtrade — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:04:56 +0000

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

onebadtrade — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 16:41:08 +0000

Wow! Those Taliban know how to party. Article

Decent day, could be better

onebadtrade — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 20:00:34 +0000

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

onebadtrade — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 19:43:23 +0000

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

onebadtrade — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 19:23:21 +0000

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

onebadtrade — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 19:54:25 +0000

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.