That One Time You Missed a Trade Because You Slept in: $SALT

The sleeping schedule is something that I need to improve to ensure that I'm nailing the best morning entries.


But that said, I was super happy to see one of my top 3 picks on my watch list see 45% gains and settling at the EOD with 33% gains. I could have entered after the ticker had already reached 20% gains in the morning, but I didn't like the idea of chasing because I've been burned by that so many times.


Instead I continued to watch the chart and see how it played out. It was a great lesson and reassuring to see how the chart and the indicators reacted.


Here's a screenshot and some notes on what would have been the perfect trade:

Paper Trading Success: $GLUU $HPTG $SYN $ACW

Today's paper trades worked out nicely for me. I had two winners and two losers, but because I kept my risk low and cut losses quickly my gains out did my losses.


My trading schedule needs to improve and be adapted however. Because the markets open so early here on the West Coast I'm finding that I need to work on getting up earlier so that I don't miss some of the better entries and plays, like $SALT today.


The other issue I need to figure out is that I'm having to leave the house around 8:20am to drive my son to school, and often times I'm not back home until about 10-10:30am. While I can exit trades via phone, it removes the ability of using the indicators for exit triggers. I need to find a way to use the Thinkorswim platform on my mobile, the app doesn't seem to have that feature.


I placed three trades this morning, $HPTG $SYN and $ACW. I later entered an afternoon trade with $GLUU for the EOD push... which stalled.


Screenshots and Notes:

Paper Trade Watch List 02-29: Close Eye on $GLUU $IMMR $SALT

Here's a cut and paste of my watch list for this Monday, its a mix of percent gainers from Friday, earnings winners, and a couple that were percent losers last Friday.

I'm paying special attention on $GLUU, $IMMR, and $SALT.

I'm only planning on entering 2 to 3 paper trades in the morning and maybe 1 or 2 in the afternoon push just to further test using the indicators on timing entries and exits.

Of course, when I go back to trading actual money I will limit my trades to 1 or 2 a week to maximize my position sizing and allowing the time to lapse between trades to avoid free-riding. But as I've mentioned before, I might as well take advantage of multiple paper trades to learn from.

Watch List:
02-29, $GLUU $ACW $IMMR $SUNE $CANV $HPTG $BCEI $MNGA $FCSC $NOG $LIOX $JONE $SYN $LIVE $NBV $VRML $SALT $ATRM $SGMS $ERA $PTCT $WATT

A Successful Trading Day on Friday $IMMR $UNT $RATE

Friday turned out to be a really good learning day for me. I followed my trading plan (except the last trade) and used the watch list feature on Thinkorswim. The indicators for my exits work and I was able to end the first three trades with profits, albeit small profits.

The last trade worked well with regards to using my indicators for an entry point and then exiting at the EOD for a very small loss. If the afternoon push had not stalled out I would have likely taken a profit at the EOD. The bad think however was that I had not planned on making a trade in the afternoon and was doing so out of just wanting to trade. Trading out of being board is basically gambling and I'm here to learn not gamble.

Screenshots and Notes:

  

Paper Trade Watch List for 02-26

I'm going to do the watch list a little different and use the watch list feature on Thinkorswim. I'll make screenshots and notes on those that I trade or learn something from. But here's a list.


Momentum trades
$IMMR
$GLUU
$CRDC
$EDAP
$TOPS
$PRSS


Looking for bounces (not sure if this is a good strategy, just playing with it)
$UNT
$RATE


Happy trading!

Can Losers be Winners? $BPTH $EYES $VRNG

So I went into today's trading day with three tickers on my paper trading watch list, $BPTH, $EYES, and $VRNG.


It took me a little bit to update my Thinkorswim platform (had to reinstall it) so I watched from my mobile app and noted that all three were starting in the red. I waited and did not enter a trade.


But then I saw that $EYES appeared to be bouncing and noted that the candles looked like it was going to recover. So I placed a trade and was in @ $5.98 for 100 shares.


Of course a short time later when the platform was up and running I saw that the indicators didn't support my entry and I exited the trade for a loss of -5.18% and a loss of $31.


I to the platform and checked $VRNG and saw that it was a no go, and moved on.


$BPTH however had an entry trigger and appeared to have potential to run up towards the EOD. I placed a trade and was in at $1.77 for 600 shares. Unfortunately the run never materialized, but I used my indicators perfectly and exited at $1.75 for a loss of only -1.13% at $12.


Comparing these three tickers and the two trades was a great lesson on risk management and using indicators.


$VRNG did run around noon but I was getting ready for work when I saw it and I'm not chasing.


Screenshots and Notes:

 

My New Ferrari Broke Already