Stock to Watch: Swing Updates

First and foremost, I hope you have a fun and safe Easter... those egg hunts can be dangerous! Seriously, did you see the article on the egg hunt that was ruined because greedy little moms and dads were behaving worse than their kids? ??

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/27/us/pez-candy-easter-egg-hunt/index.html

But anyways, back to trading pennies and building wealth. I didn't enter any new trades today because the market wasn't speaking to me this morning. $ACAD was on my watch list and really took off pre-market but that was about it.

I thought I'd share one trade setup I found that looks promising as a swing, $ODP on the 4 hour and Daily charts is setting up to be a possible breakout if it can rise past the $7.70ish range, which would then find resistance at about $8 to $8.90 levels. But I don't think it would do this in one market day, maybe a swing of a few days.

I also took a glance at my big win from last week, $SKY and gave my self a case of the should'a could'a wouldas, because it closed the day at $8.23, which would have me sitting at a 83.3% gain and a profit of $748. But I'm not complaining. I took a healthy gain.

Not sure what tomorrow will bring or if I'll be entering any trades, so in the meantime here is an update on the current swings I'm paper trading, many are still in the red but saw some gaining today:

$GRPN +$30, $NADL +$16, $SDRL +$90, $TRIL +$36

Update on swing trades:

$AVP -23.08%, short with a target of $3 to $3.50.

$GRPN +3.70%, short with a target of $3 to $3.20.

$NADL -26.50%, long goal of 10-20%.
$RJET -9.02%, long, looking to exit as soon as ticker is traded again.
$SDRL -17.24%, long goal of 10-20%.
$TRIL -11.19%, Long goal of 10-20% 

Overall total on investment: -12.48%



$SKY Took Profits @ 68.82% Gains! Epic Inspiration!

I was pleasantly surprised to see a huge spike in my position with $SKY this morning when I glanced at my ThinkorSwim platform. I originally entered the trade as a multi-day swing to test out which type of trading I prefer... I'm still not sure by the way...


I used the daily chart to find a trade setup that looked promising and entered $SKY on 03-08 at a price of $4.49 per share with a small position of just 200 shares. This was because I was trying to limit myself to simulate about a $1000 investment for a small account.


The daily chart still shows the same pattern to hold but after such a large spike it felt like it was a smart time to exit and take profits, especially since I was way past the initial 10-20% target.


Now that I'm out of the position I kind of wish I had left a few share in to follow the chart pattern all the way to the sell trigger. But I'll continue to watch from the sidelines and once that trigger is shown I'll do a "what if" comparison.

I also closed another multi-day swing trade this morning $FIG as a short, though not because of spectacular gains or anything. I just lost confidence in the trade and wasn't crazy about the chart patterns. It's a small gain, but a gain is a gain, so I'm not complaining.

Update on swing trades:

$AVP -13.26%, short with a target of $3 to $3.50.

$GRPN +3.21%, short with a target of $3 to $3.20.

$NADL -28.50%, long goal of 10-20%.
$RJET -9.02%, long, looking to exit as soon as ticker is traded again.
$SDRL -19.46%, long goal of 10-20%.
$TRIL -12.08%, Long goal of 10-20% 

Overall total on investment: -11.19%



$TRIL New Swing, $SKY Swing Hits 40% Gains!

Not a huge trading day for me but I did enter a new swing trade with $TRIL as the set up on the daily chart look promising. The most exciting thing of the day was that my swing trade with $SKY hit over 40% in gains and my swing with $GRPN is nearing 5% gains.


Hoping to close out some of the trades this week if the charts suggest it.


SWING SETUP FOR $TRIL

Update on swing trades:

$AVP -16.18%, short with a target of $3 to $3.50.

$FIG 0.00% , short with a target of about $3.85.

$GRPN +4.44%, short with a target of $3 to $3.20.

$NADL -27.75%, long goal of 10-20%.
$RJET -9.02%, long, looking to exit as soon as ticker is traded again. (Seems there was some activity but the chart doesn't show movement??? Not sure but I have a sell order pending)
$SDRL -20.44%, long goal of 10-20%.
$SKY +40.98%, long goal of 10-20%
$TRIL -8.02%, Long goal of 10-20% 

Overall total on investment: -6.72%

$CARA Good Momentum Bad Timing

$CARA had a decent morning run up and I trying to jump in and catch some of the momentum. Unfortunately I was doing more chasing than planned entry and as a result I go in near the top... which of course proceeded to fade and fall... which I deserve, lol.


But I cut losses quickly and was out with only getting hit by a 2.70% loss.

Update on swing trades:

$AVP -20.16%, short with a target of $3 to $3.50.

$FIG -3.22% , short with a target of about $3.85.

$GRPN -1.73%, short with a target of $3 to $3.20.

$NADL -19.25%, long goal of 10-20%.
$RJET -9.02%, long, looking to exit as soon as ticker is traded again. (Seems there was some activity but the chart doesn't show movement??? Not sure but I have a sell order pending)
$SDRL -12.56%, long goal of 10-20%.
$SKY +36.75%, long goal of 10-20%
 

Overall total on investment: -7.55%

$VCEL Profits & Trading Due to Boredom

I decided to close out one of my multi-day swing trades today even though the pattern is still holding. I did so mostly because I'm thinking that any gains with the way I entered a few of the swings will be hard to come by so I better cash out with a profit with they come. Unlike $SKY which is currently sitting on a gain of 34.08% and was entered as a more gradual inclining stock, $VCEL and a couple others were entered after large spikes, which can be very dangerous because the pumps could be fake or over inflated, and I may never get back up to that point. It would have been smarter to find an entry way before the spike.


But that said, I'll take the profit and refocus on my entry.

I did make one stupid mistake today. Though luckily it didn't cost my paper account anything. Watching the swings do little was causing a bit of trading boredom and I started to watch twitter for possible plays into the EOD. That's when I came across an alert for $GRMN that it was about to test the HOD and maybe it could continue the momentum from the earlier part of the day.

It did hit the HOD and go a little past, but nothing spectacular. It was a mistake because I was trading because I was bored and that left me at risk when I shouldn't have been placing myself at risk.

Update on swing trades:

$AVP -25.73%, short with a target of $3 to $3.50.

$FIG -5.15% , short with a target of about $3.85.

$GRPN -2.72%, short with a target of $3 to $3.20.

$NADL -17.00%, long goal of 10-20%.
$RJET -9.02%, long, looking to exit as soon as ticker is traded again. (Seems there was some activity but the chart doesn't show movement??? Not sure but I have a sell order pending)
$SDRL -13.05%, long goal of 10-20%.
$SKY +34.08%, long goal of 10-20%
 

Overall total on investment: -9.52%



A Michael Savage Motivational

This isn't related to trading but so powerful I had to share. I listen to the Savage Nation on a regular basis and remember hearing this live... but when someone added the music and video it morphed into something so much more.

5 Tips for Small Account Traders: Well 4 Good Ones

Here is a nice post on Profit.ly from ConnorAlerts, one of Tim's students that has had a great deal of success. I agree with four out of five tips. #3 regarding a trading app called RobbinHood is not something I'd suggest going with.

I've heard of people having some major issues with that app not allowing traders to execute trades until they complete some survey. In the world of pennies time truly is money because it can move huge percentages in a very short period of time... sometimes within a minute you can see jumps of 10% or more.

Granted, commission slippage is a major thing to take into account with making your trades on a small account because your position size is so much smaller that often times that trade may only see a gain or loss of $20 to $60.

But accepting poor execution to save a little money isn't worth it in my opinion. When I chose to take profits or cut losses I want it to be when I hit the button.

http://profit.ly/user/ConnorAlerts/blog/five-tips-for-traders-with-25000-or-less

20 Tips For Stock Market Success & Success In Life

40+ minutes of pure gold for those of us learning to trade pennies on a small account. Bottom line, small gains add up so stop swinging for the fences. Get educated, inspired, and take charge of your future! NOW!

Such a Sexy Trade: 11.02% Gain with $ONTY

Throughout this process of learning how to trade pennies I've had many failures, but every once in a while you make a trade were everything comes together so perfect that you see why you are learning and exactly how trading pennies can lead to financial freedom.


My trade this afternoon in $ONTY was one of those perfect trades.

Update on swing trades:

$AVP -25.46%, short with a target of $3 to $3.50.

$FIG -2.58% , short with a target of about $3.85.

$GRPN 0.00%, short with a target of $3 to $3.20.

$NADL -2.25%, long goal of 10-20%.
$RJET -9.02%, long, looking to exit as soon as ticker is traded again. (Seems there was some activity but the chart doesn't show movement??? Not sure but I have a sell order pending)
$SDRL -7.64%, long goal of 10-20%.
$SKY +31.40%, long goal of 10-20%
$VCEL -3.56%, long goal of 10-20%


Overall total on investment: -6.08%



Update on Swings the #SKY is the limit!

Watching my swing positions today was a difficult task. I double checked and then checked a third time to ensure that the swing patterns and indicators were still good. But then I forced myself not to watch. A lot of red today for me.


But it isn't all bad today. $SKY has continued to climb and is now a very nice gainer. Some of the other swings did get the red chipped a way a little more as well.


Not sure if I'm closing any of these out tomorrow by the EOD. I hate holding over the weekend, but if the patterns are still good and the indicators aren't screaming at me then I should probably ride it out and see what takes place.


I do think I'll be placing a day trade tomorrow since Fridays can see a lot of volatility.


Update on swing trades:

$AVP -16.71%, short with a target of $3 to $3.50.

$FIG -3.22% , short with a target of about $3.85.

$GRPN -2.47%, short with a target of $3 to $3.20.

$NADL -18.50%, long goal of 10-20%.
$RJET -1.50%, long, looking to exit as soon as ticker is traded again.
$SDRL -7.64%, long goal of 10-20%.
$SKY +35.63%, long goal of 10-20%
$VCEL -7.95%, long goal of 10-20%


Overall total on investment: -6.04%

Testing Another Multi-day Swing (short) on $FIG

As part of learning how to find multi-day swings and entry points I’m going to see if I can short $FIG with an entry tomorrow if it continues to fall.

There is some potential good news but good news doesn’t always translate to upward movement. The weekly chart shows a strong downward trend with a small pop after earnings (good news) but it appears that the trend may be setting up to continue downward. The MACD and AO on the weekly do show some positive  movement though, so I'm interested to see how those indicators react on the weekly chart.

On the daily chart the MACD and AO indicators both show triggers to go short if entering a trade with a crossover of the MACD and red bars on the AO. A pretty clear curving reversal is on the MACD as well.

I have a GTC limit order to short 1000 shares @ $4.01 and I'm shooting for a cover around the $3.85 range were there appears to be a double bottom support.

Not sure if it will work out the way I think it will, there does appear to be quite a bit of positive chatter on some of the social media sites but I've learned to take that with a grain of salt.

 

90% of traders lose money... So how to be in the top 10%?

Not sure about spread betting or trading Forex but his words on risk management and money management are worth listening to.

It's Okay To Be a Dummy I'm Only Paper Trading

One of the fascinating things about trading is that it isn't a one-size-fits-all type of thing. Some people are better at shorting, longs, day trades, scalps, swings, etc. I'm still finding my home and style within trading and thus far I like the idea of shorting pumps like Tim Sykes because it appears much more reliable than looking for stocks that are going to explode in one secession. But finding shares to short can be an issue, especially with paper trading and trading through TD Ameritrade, because they aren't the best broker for shorting.

The other style I find my self gravitating towards is multi-day swings. I like the idea that you can maximize profits over the course of a few days, you aren't as much at the mercy of the PTD, and if done right the stress level can be quite low.

That said, I have a lot to learn with swings. Last week I tested out a few multi-day swing trades to expand and experiment with trading styles. I've learned that I really need to learn how to find my tickers and ensure that the setups are optimal so that I can enter and exit in the best prices.

Some of the trades are doing better than the others and I've noticed that those with the most struggle to go green are the ones where I entered after a huge run like $NADL and $SDRL vs the more gradual incline like $SKY and $RADA.

All though I closed $RADA today with a pretty nasty loss after I had a crossover on the MACD and it looked like it wasn't going to climb higher in price. I may be proven wrong and it continues higher because the MACD lines are still about the zero line, but we will see.



 $SKY on the other hand has turned into a very nice gainer with 28.06% gains at the EOD today, and if I can perfect my entry and setups the pattern shows that had I entered earlier when the stock first started its move I'd have a gainer of roughly 44.11%!!!

So bottom line is that I'm still learning and I'm going to continue to work on improving my trades both day trades and swings... and if I make a dummy mistake that's okay because I'm paper trading and that allows me to learn from my mistakes without killing my trading capital.

I hope that you find these posts useful and maybe learn from my mistakes as well.

Update on swing trades:

$AVP -8.75%, short with a target of $3 to $3.50.

$GRPN +0.74%, short with a target of $3 to $3.20.

$NADL -20.50%, long goal of 10-20%.
$RJET -1.50%, long, looking to exit as soon as ticker is traded again.
$SDRL -9.85%, long goal of 10-20%.
$SKY +28.06%, long goal of 10-20%
$VCEL -3.35%, long goal of 10-20%


Overall total on investment: -4.15%

Tim's Article on Groupon $GRPN: A Must Read Before You Trade

http://www.timothysykes.com/2016/01/whats-wrong-with-groupon/

*I'm currently paper trading $GRPN short 800 shares from $4.05. No cash position*

$AVP Win & Swings

I made a quick short paper trade today on $AVP and was able to log in a nice little win. The downward momentum wasn't a huge surprise to be since the stock was up after some bs pumping by someone who was actually arrested for it. That plus a negative pr talking about Avon cutting 2,500 positions and recording 60m in charges.


I wouldn't be surprised if this didn't fall further tomorrow or the next couple of days.

Update on swing trades:

$GRPN +2.22%, short with a target of $3 to $3.20.
$NADL -21.75%, long goal of 10-20%.
$RADA -20.64% long goal of 10-20%.
$RJET -1.50%, long, looking to exit as soon as ticker is traded again.
$SDRL -11.82%, long goal of 10-20%.
$SKY +17.15%, long goal of 10-20%
$VCEL -5.86%, long goal of 10-20%


Overall total on investment: -5.47%

Fun With Tickers: Leave a Comment if You Get This

$EDUC $ATI $ON $IS $KEY $INVE $ST $IN $IT $AND $PROF $IT

Checking in on the Swings: $GRPN $NADL $RADA $RJET $SDRL $SKY $VCEL

With seven swing trades in play I feel like I have too much on the table to add more and decided to observe the open trades today rather than adding more. I may place a trade tomorrow to further practice my watch list building and day trades.


All but one are currently in the red, though all but $RJET are still holding the pattern on the daily chart and show progress to becoming profitable. $RJET wasn't supposed to be a multi-day swing but was halted on the 7th after the company filed for bankruptcy. Luckily it is a very small position and currently only down $16.


I hope to close out some of these if not all by the end of the week, but it just depends on the charts and if I see an exit trigger.


$GRPN -1.98%, short with a target of $3 to $3.20.
$NADL -10%, long goal of 10-20%.
$RADA -14.94% long goal of 10-20%.
$RJET -1.50%, long, looking to exit as soon as ticker is traded again.
$SDRL -4.43%, long goal of 10-20%.
$SKY +14.03%, long goal of 10-20%
$VCEL -14.02%, long goal of 10-20%


Overall investment P/L: -6.29%

Avon is a Real Company, I Can Trust the News Right??? Wrong: $AVP Bulgarian Man Arrested!

I recently had $AVP on my watch list because of reading a piece of good news about the company. My logic was to see if the name recognition and the good news as a catalyst would push the ticker into a nice uptrend where I could get in and out for a 10% to 40% gain.


Yahoo Finance Article:



The momentum didn't come as fast as other trades, so I left it on my watch list.

As you can see on the chart, the following day of the article there was a small bump in the stock but we didn't see much action until today. Funny enough, it was reported by the US Attorney's Office n Southern District of NY that a Bulgarian man was arrested for stock fraud...

"Bulgarian Man Arrested And Charged In Manhattan Federal Court With $400 Million Market Manipulation Scheme Involving Avon Stock, As Well As Market Manipulation And Insider Trading Of Two Other Securities" ~ https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/bulgarian-man-arrested-and-charged-manhattan-federal-court-400-million-market

"U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As alleged, Nedko Nedev engaged in elaborate schemes to manipulate the market in various publicly traded securities.  His alleged lies caused massive swings in share prices and trading volume, including a sham tender offer that required the New York Stock Exchange to halt trading in Avon shares.  Nedev’s alleged securities fraud schemes also involved purchasing shares of a U.S. insurance company he knew, through inside information, to be the acquisition target of a European company he was advising.  If you manipulate the U.S. securities markets with disinformation and deception, whether from New York or from Bulgaria, as Nedev is alleged to have done, you will be held to account.”

~~

This is a great example of why penny stocks get such a bad rap. Because of their low prices they are easier to manipulate and scam than larger companies like $AMZN... Although don't be fooled, those larger priced stocks get messed with too. Also because of the nature of pennies, people who are gullible, gamblers, or scammers themselves tend to trade them.

So with that said, hear this; don't invest in pennies... trade them! Tim Sykes has spoken in great length about this.

We don't care all that much what the news is, what the earnings are, or who's doing the pumping. All we need to care about is the movement, the momentum, volume, volatility... the up and down part.

We need to teach ourselves to see when a catalyst is hot and to be ready to strike "like a sniper" (Tim's words). You get in and get out and take your profits with you or cut your losses quickly. Then from the safety of your computer you can shake your fist at the scum like Nedko Nedev and yell "Fuck You Scammer! I'm Getting Rich While You're Going to Sit in Prison!"   





Earnings Winners and Good News Getters: $VCEL $XOMA $PLUG

Today was a crazy day on the markets. Lots of earning winners and good news getters, but there was a fair share of falling pumps, earning losers, and Oh yeah.... a HUGE dip in the markets for most of the day.


I was able to come out ahead with the trades that I closed out today and left two to close tomorrow.


$VCEL = $192 profit
$PLUG = $5 profit
$XOMA = -$112.60 loss


$VCEL holding over night, in @ $4.78 currently in the red.
$GRPN holding over night, short in @ $4.05 green


Screenshots and Notes:

Taking Profits is Difficult and Revenge Trading is Stupid: $XCO $AVP

I'll start off with the good. Both of my trades today were exited perfectly and resulted in very little loss. I used my indicators as a trigger and managed my risk well in my opinion.


But here is the bad.


#1 $XCO,


I entered this trade to catch some of the upward momentum that it had seen in the first half of the trading day and it appeared to be working well. The indicators (white lines on chart) suggested that we could see a continuation of the trend and prompted me to continue my hold past the HOD... which is were the mistake was. Once that HOD was touched and followed by a red candle I should have exited and walked away with what ever profits would have been there. In this case a little over $200 at the $1.89 a share range. It's easy now from the sidelines to say that, but the reality is that when you are sitting on $200 gains with all signs suggesting more it is very difficult to cut and run.

#2 $AVP,



Looking back now I think I should have not entered this trade. Avon was on my watch list due to some good news that came out the prior night and the chart looked like it may have made a move higher for the EOD push. But the real reason I took the trade was a mix of revenge trading and forced trading because I was a bit upset with myself for not taking profits on the $XCO trade. But I stuck to my indicators for an exit trigger and managed to only take a small hit.

New Site to "Find a Penny" @ Bottom of Blog

While looking into the news that sent $LEU up over 115% today I noticed that I haven't added 24/7 Wall St. to my "Find a Penny" section located at the bottom of the blog.


As always do your DD when looking to trade any stock, especially pennies.

Shorting a Pump and Cleaning Up: $IO $AUMN $FSI

Today turned out better than I feared after TD Ameritrade was having technical issues on the TOS platform for paper traders. I closed two of the three trades that had been held over from Monday and was luck enough to have a GTC order for shorting a pump get executed.


$AUMN, This was originally a momo trade and I was looking to see the morning momentum continue into the afternoon on Monday. Unfortunately the momentum stalled and I saw my MACD crossover trigger for the exit... only I wasn't able to exit due to the technical issues. I was able to get out today for less than a 5% loss, so while not as good as the less than 1% loss I was looking to exit with, I was able to cut losses.


$FSI, I entered this on Monday looking to catch momentum as the stock was pumped. It didn't move as quickly as I wanted and I attempted to exit. It was held until this morning and I actually saw a bit larger gain because of it.


$NADL, This one is still open. I was planning on exiting this as soon as the trading day opened, but saw that it had almost the same chart as those that I'm doing multi-day swings on. Decided to switch this to a swing, I may regret this but going to test it out.


$IO, I placed a 200 block request to short not really thinking that I'd get the chance. TD Ameritrade isn't the best broker for shorting. The order was executed first thing in the morning as the ticker dropped. I was then able to exit with the use of the indicators to make this a great looking trade.


Screenshots and Notes:

Should'a Would'a Could'a: Comparing $BTU as a Day Trade and Mult-day Swing

$BTU was one of my day trades last Friday and not a good one at that. Poor entry, poor exit, and I failed to cut losses quickly.


Screenshot and Notes from 03-04

As you can see in my screen shot I failed to use my indicator when it showed clear triggers to exit on both the MACD and the AO on a 15min chart. The result was a nasty loss.

$BTU then proceeded to run today, 04-07, with a very nice 41.30% for a gain $1.40 a share.

With that information in hand I decided to take a look at the ticker from the standpoint of it being a multi-day swing trade and using the MACD as I am for $SKY $RADA $NADL, although I'm basing those trades off of a daily chart and not a 15min chart.

But even with a 15min chart the trade would be a completely different P/L.

If I were to have gotten in to the trade when the indicators gave a buy signal at roughly the $2.60 a share price range, with a $1,000 trade window (small account simulation) I would have been looking at a position size of 380 shares. At that entry price and holding over multiple days I would be sitting on gains of 83.85% and a profit of $828.40. Even if I had the same entry as Friday's in at $4.07 a share I'd be sitting on a gain of 17.44% gains and $269.80 in profits.

Granted, this is quarterbacking from the sidelines and after the move, but I am curious if the gains are more probable with a little more time in the trade, much like someone buying a bigger ticker like Amazon then holding for the market uptrend... this would just be on a smaller scale and most likely just during the initial pump/promotion/news/earnings.

Only way to know is to test it. Luckily that doesn't coast me as these are paper trades.



Today's Paper Trades $AUMN $FSI $RJET

Got in at the opens with nice entries. Watching the MACD and AO triggers for exits on the 15min chart.



Update: I've been trying to close out the positions and take a small profit but TOS isn't executing the trades for some reason. I contacted them via twitter, but I'm not sure if they will close in the green or red at this point. grrr

TOS posted a message in the paper trade platform stating that there is issues

So there isn't much I can do but keep the close orders in and see what takes place. I'm guess they go through first thing at the open, hopefully with gains. At one point my play on $RJET had collapsed as my indicators suggested was coming and I was at a lost of nearly $250. It then spiked at the EOD and ended the trading session with only being down $16.

Can Multi-day Swings Become Reliable Gains? $SKY $NADL $RADA

In the spirit of learning how I trade best I'm opening three positions with the plan of a multi-day swing off of the MACD and AO on a daily chart. I'm aiming for gains of $0.20 and up. Each is a position of roughly $1,000 to stimulate a smaller account.

Not sure how this will turn out but I'll make sure to post the trades on the Profit.ly page as well.

Took Losses Today... Time For a Change

Today was a mixed bag with my paper trades, I had three losses, two of which took place while following my trade plans and one without. I also had a decent win.


But that said, I'm getting the impression that there may be a more effect and reliable way to go about trading these.


Starting Monday, I will be starting a little bit of an experiment. I plan on continuing to make daily paper trades as a base line, but then I'm also going to be placing swing trades with the use of the MACD and other indicators.


The swings will likely last for multiple days but I'll keep tabs on them and compare them to the daily trades.


Screenshots and Notes:

Half of Watch List hits 10-20% gains, Momo Paper Trade $SALT

The only thing that would have made my paper trade in $SALT better would have been the ability to use my Thinkorswim platform and exiting with another $0.20 or so. But I'm not complaining, it was a nice 13.03% gain with $172 profits.


Also, it was exciting to see that over half of my watch list hit over 10-20% gains (including neg% for short plays) and exactly half still had over 10-20% gains at the EOD.


Screenshots and notes:

Being a Transparent Paper Trader

I am a firm believer in the idea of being a transparent trader and I think paper trading should be the same. It helps with keeping you in check with your own rules and gives you a visual log on your progress so you can learn from your gains and more importantly losses.


You can follow and check in on my paper trades starting 03-01-2016 at the following link to Profit.ly


http://profit.ly/user/PaperAccount


I will continue to post screenshots and notes here as well as on my main Profit.ly account.


Chris

A Decent Momentum Play: $VALE

I had originally gone into the trading day with plans to paper trade $BPSR, $XLIT, and $PVHO with short positions but found that the Thinkorswim platform couldn't fill the orders due to a lack of shares to short. I'm guessing it takes data from the "real" money world to simulate that if you can't short the ticker with real money neither can you with paper.


That had me switch to plan B and look for a long position within my watch list. I found that play with $VALE which had moved nicely in the morning and appeared set up to continue into the afternoon.


I was able to catch a decent chunk out of the momentum and netted a 5.28% gain with $180 profit.


I did have one small mishap during the morning. I was attempting to place a short trade with $PVHO and trying different position sizes thinking that maybe a smaller order would go through, and accidentally placed a buy order. I quickly exited the trade before it turned into a big loss as the ticker was just about to collapse. In the end I walked away with a whopping 0.68% gain and $6.75 in profits lol.


Screenshots and Notes:

Markets Green / Trades Red... That's What I Get! $ACW $NOG $TOPS

Well I made some stupid mistakes during my paper trades and I saw lots of red because of it. I decided to try for a couple of short trades today and entered $ACW and $NOG. The trades quickly changed direction on me and I made the ultimate no no, I held past my crossover triggers and netted two big losses for holding the trades.


I then attempted an afternoon trade in $TOPS for an afternoon push, but it stalled and I was out with a small loss by the EOD.


3 key points from today that I need to drive into my head:


#1, Cut losses quickly. As soon as I noted the trades not performing like I wanted I should have bailed and been done.

#2, Never hold past my indicators. As soon as the MACD and AO showed crossovers and triggers I should have exited the trades and been done.


#3, I failed to watch the overall market direction. 3 out of 4 stocks follow the overall markets. I didn't respect this fact.