breaking highs, large volume spike













breaking highs, not much volume















breaking highs along with ms and fas













shorting retracement from lows














shorting lows.













it looks like i had a rough day, but i was fine with it until now. during the day, i was happy i stuck to the plan. took larger share size today, and walked away when i was down $100. now, looking back, it is annoying how many bad trades i made. i get upset when i don't make at least one positive trade. i could have flipped a coin today and probably have done better.

i am not trying to place blame, but this morning i was having trouble with my monitors and computer. then after spending an hour getting everything working properly, i went to short 300 shares of CHRW and my executor connection was lost. it seemed lightspeed was having trouble with their connections today. that trade of course would have worked out, but there were probably another 100 trades i could have made today beside the ones that i did.

part of my problem is i get bored just searching for trades. then, while the market is moving, you make your trade because you don't want to look back and see that you should have taken the trade. i did not know what would happen with each trade and that is how you have to think. i was not upset with one losing trade after the next. it didn't bother me. no emotion. but they say you need to know your setups probabilities, but as a newbie, how do i know the probabilities or have confidence.

the setups didn't meet all my criteria but are they supposed to? i try to find volume picking up with my trade, but that only happened with one trade. should i have avoided the rest? i don't know. you look a SHLD and it grinded higher all day. i just watched and watched and watched. have to take some time to review the charts.

i think i may end up having this blog one day behind. it is difficult working on my laptop at home getting all the charts together. it would be easier to do it all at the end of the following days trading. but, then i will forget the reasons for the trade.

too much flip flopping in my head. i am sure you are all glad you are not in my cabesa.

new year, new start

okay, so i am starting over in some ways. i signed up for stocktickr and instead of putting in all of my old trades, i am starting fresh right now. i am down about 3k in my account since starting my trading last march plus a few hundred for scanner and newsletters (no more newsletters).

i have also spent 1k for rent (office plus internet). some folks say they can trade from home, and i think i can as well, but starting out, i believe it is a benefit to have a mentor teach me the ropes. we split the rent, which is great for me, and helps him out as well.

this was the first day back. i got rid of most of my scans and am trying to focus on the high/low ticker. right now it scans nyse and nasdaq but i need to set it up for qqqq/nyse or sandp. we will see. it is also scanning for very fast moving stocks. coming back to trading after a break, all i see is a lot of noise and it is extremely hard to decipher moves as it happens.

i am trying to figure out how scott at fandg gets it done. we will see. i am giving this process a year and after that, i got to get the paycheck.

for now, my problems are as usual, lack of confidence and a fear of freedom. i believe i am afraid of being successful at trading. we are all taught, work hard, earn paycheck, thats life. trading is a whole other beast. it is very easy at the end of the day (or hour) for that matter and say all i had to do was hold, but it is the hardest thing.

enough blabber. here are the charts.





































later in the day. no executions shown on chart



























just checked out stocktickr and i remember i need to start using R to figure out my share size. the problem with me is that i only want to risk $25 per trade and i have to buy multiples 100 so:

.10 stop = 250 shares

.15 stop = 166 shares

.25 stop = 100 shares.

how do i overcome my the problem of not being able to trade odd lots?

increase my risk? i would prefer not to. if i risk $25 a trade, i can take four bad trades. if i risk $50 per trade, i will only allow myself 2 losing trades on the day. maybe i need to increase risk per trade to $35 per trade. then i can take on some share size and still feel comfortable at 3 losing trades on the day and done.

messy charts, i know. what a pain in the ass. i can't copy just the chart image as i can do on my desktop. so i need to erase all the unnecessary junk. i had a chance to trade today from my hotel room. i am trying to get the setup correct on my laptop. its definitely different than my three 22's combined with my one 28 screen. but, it helps me simplify what i am doing. i tried playing the momo and either did not time it right, couldn't hold on through the drop, or didn't hold on long enough. probably the same story as every other new trader. the best trade i had was with POT. the last trade, i decided to walk away and not pay attention, let the stock do its thing and it worked out. obviously, i should have walked away for a longer time, ha!

too freaked out to hold on. then tried to short it as momo seemed to stall. few cents too early.

execution chart

wow. lightspeed now lets me see my executions on their charts. 2.5R. stop was @ .66 below previous candle low of .67

tried to trade today

i was going to post my trades but the internet at the hotel won't let me upload. i will try tomorrow at a different hotel. i traded wfmi as it was breaking lows and bcrx. nothing happened. lost $30. part of my problem is my scanner won't work in canada. we will see what happens when i get back to the states. but then, i am heading to mexico. probably shouldn't be trading at all but i was bored. i am waiting to get out of montreal and head toronto, but i need special permits.