A Complete And Utter Embarrassment

Gross: -$542.89
Net: -$686.24
Loss From Top: $713.77
Trades: 71
Shares Traded: 151994

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Exxon Mobile (XOM): +$47.65
Citigroup (C): +$44.24
Home Depot (HD): +$37.53
General Electric (GE): +$15.25
Walmart (WMT): +$7.39
Micron Tech (MU): -$1.74
Corning (GLW): -$11.74
JP Morgan (JPM): -$139.12
Pfizer (PFE): -$685.12

What's this? The Dow is up over 200 points, the S&P is up over 2% and I somehow manage to lose a ton of money?!?!?

What's going on? Well - I'm a retard, that's what...

Right from the morning, I goofed and screwed up, lost a lot of money and I was never able to recover. Even during the huge rally after the Fed's announced the rate hike, I still managed to lose money!

So what happened? Well, here are just some reasons:

1. I traded Pfizer (PFE)
2. I started the day too aggressively - I put on big positions when I should have known the markets would be quiet before the Fed announcement
3. I traded Pfizer (PFE)
4. After I lost a lot of money on the first trade of the day, I found that my confidence wavered a little and as a result, I hesitated on several occasions and missed out on some great trades
5. I traded Pfizer (PFE)
6. I never learned my lesson and I continued to trade Pfizer (PFE) even though it didn't move very well the whole day
7. I traded Pfizer (PFE)

I am going to make a new promise to the world and I hope that all of you reading this will try to keep me from breaking this promise. I hereby declare that I will never EVER again trade Pfizer (PFE) for the rest of my trading career. I am forever banishing it from my tradelists and I will not be allowed to even look at Pfizer's Level 2.

This retarded stock has cost me an arm and a leg throughout my trading career. Yes, I will have some good days on it from time to time, but that's just the tease to keep you hooked on Pfizer. In the long run, I'll just lose money on it. Early on in my trading career I already discovered this fact, but Pfizer is always a tempting stock and somehow I keep coming back to it.

The first trade of the day was on Pfizer (PFE) and I lost close to $400 on it. I was shaken after the first trade of the day, and I was able to slowly climb back out of the hole, but then I traded Pfizer again and lost money on it again.

Everytime I felt like I was getting back into the rhythm of the markets and when it looked like I would be able to get out of negative territory, Pfizer would pound me back even harder into negative territory.

And everytime the markets rallied today, all I kept doing was watching and "attempting" to trade Pfizer when I could have made money in the other stocks. But because Pfizer's Level 2 always looks so appealing, I kept falling for it and traded it.

Since I was so obsessed with Pfizer today, I wasn't able to make even one good trade (as most of my attention and focus was on this stupid stock). Meanwhile, there were 4 bad trades today.

In all honesty, this day was completely embarrassing for me. I'm really going to have to put it together tonight because I am totally upset at today's performance.

Not only that, it may very well have cost me the chance to break $10,000 by the end of the month (which was one of my goals for this month). Coming into today, I just needed less than $600 to do this, but now I need to make close to $1300 tomorrow if I'm going to meet this goal.

So, this is where I'll part ways with Pfizer. It's been a real love/hate relationship between us, but this will be my final goodbye to you Pfizer!

Good Trades
None

Bad Trades
9:54AM - Pfizer (PFE) was flat while the Futures were moving up. The Futures continued moving up so I went long 10,000 shares. Well the Futures continued moving up, but Pfizer (PFE) didn't move. After a bit, Pfizer started falling, so I was forced from my position. I got out as follows: 2-cent loser (700 shares), 4-cent loser (9300 shares) ($386 loser before fees)

• Damn you Pfizer! I should have known not to trade it based on it's chart. The Futures were moving up all morning but Pfizer stayed flat all morning.
• I must take all the blame on this trade - I just have to be smarter, recognize what I see on the charts and know what to trade, and what NOT to trade

10:50AM - JP Morgan (JPM) was flat while the Futures were moving up. I went long 4000 shares when I thought JPM broke a level, but it became obvious that some big player out there was keeping JPM from moving up. I had to get out of my position as follows when huge sell orders started showing up. Got out as follows: 1-cent loser (200 shares), 3-cent loser (300 shares), 4-cent loser (3200 shares) ($139 loser before fees)

• Like the previous bad trade, I should have recognized what I saw on the charts and should have automatically avoided trading this stock
• All morning I was watching this stock and should have realized that all morning, someone was preventing JPM from moving above the $41.80 level

2:51PM - Pfizer (PFE) wasn't really moving anywhere while the Futures were up, but were retracing back a little. Pfizer looked like it didn't want to go any higher (even though the Futures were ripping up), and there was big size on the offer. So I got short 10,000 shares when the Futures started moving back down. Well the level supporting my trade broke, so I got out for a 1-cent loser ($100 loser before fees)

• At this point, I was losing my mind and I was extremely frustrated with this stock. Pfizer kept refusing to go higher so I decided to short (despite going against my trading rules)
• I also put on a position that was too big (since this was going against my trading rules)

3:31PM - Pfizer (PFE) was uptrending slightly while the Futures were still rocketing higher. I went long 10,000 shares but this stupid stock refused to go up and I was forced to get out as follows: 1-cent loser (5000 shares), 2-cent loser (5000 shares) ($150 loser before fees)

• Yup - that's Pfizer for you
• This was the last straw for me...after this trade I was so upset and frustrated I simply left for the day
• I hope I've learned my lesson from trading this stock and I hope by going through all of this, it will save me 1,000s of dollars further on in my trading career.
  

Not Much Happening Today...

Gross: +$645.97
Net: +$531.37
Loss From Top: $17.40
Trades: 56
Shares Traded: 116800

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Walmart (WMT): +$518.79
Bank of America (BAC): +$56.23
Exxon Mobile (XOM): +$28.88
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): +$25.44
Home Depot (HD): +$19.10
JP Morgan (JPM): +$17.56
Pfizer (PFE): +$5.97
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): -$52.14
General Electric (GE): -$88.49

I'll keep this post short and sweet.

Nothing special really today. Not much movement overall in the markets today, so today I picked my battles wisely and managed not to get into too much trouble.

There was a nice little rally at around 2PM, unfortunately I didn't catch any of it...I was watching for level breaks on both General Electric (GE) at $33.00 and Pfizer (PFE) at $23.00. Both were close, but never broke, and I was stuck missing the entire rally just waiting for either of these levels to break.

I managed to catch a good move on Walmart (WMT) in the morning, but I found myself waiting for the rest of the day for something to happen (and nothing did).

One good trade versus no bad trades...no complaints here.

Tomorrow I'm going to wait for the fireworks as the Fed will announce whether they'll raise rates or not.

Good Trades
10:42AM - Walmart (WMT) was downtrending as were the Futures. A level broke on Walmart (WMT) and the Futures started tanking. I got short 6000 shares when the level broke and I was really really really patient with my position. I got out as follows: 4-cent winner (1000 shares), 5-cent winner (600 shares), 6-cent winner (1400 shares), 9-cent winner (2000 shares), 10-cent winner (1000 shares) ($434 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
None.

No Trading Today - Out Of Respect

Due to a death in the family, I will not be trading today out of respect for my elders.

I will return tomorrow.

The Market Was Crap Today

Gross: +$259.59
Net: +$86.14
Loss From Top: $327.81
Trades: 72
Shares Traded: 195886

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Corning (GLW): +$110.07
Citigroup (C): +$65.28
Walmart (WMT): +$13.90
Micron Tech (MU): -$1.31
Advance Micro Devices (AMD): -$2.08
Pfizer (PFE): -$99.74

What the hell! Why does the market sometimes decide to move the way they did today? There was no trend what-so-ever and we were stuck in tight trading range all day. As a momentum trader, nothing could be more boring and I ended the day just like the overall markets - up only slightly.

I found myself getting into positions anytime the market decided to hiccup, hoping that it would be the beginning of a trend. But alas, no. I ended up taking some big winners, along with some big losers.

Today I felt much more comfortable trading big size and I put on many 10,000 share positions. Unfortunately the markets decided to go nowhere today and as a result, I wasn't able to make much.

In the next little while, I will be increasing the number of 10,000 share positions, which means I'll have to trade PFE, GE, and MOT a bit more. I'll still trade my usual stocks, but I'll try to increase my share size more frequently on them.

Today there were 2 bad trades versus 1 good trade.

Good Trades
11:52AM - Pfizer (PFE) and the Futures were rather flat. Futures popped down, so I went short 10,000 shares. I got out as follows: 2-cent winner (3000 shares), 3-cent winner (7000 shares) ($270 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
10:04AM - Pfizer (PFE) was uptrending while the Futures were in a tight range. I saw a level break on PFE, so I went long and got partially filled for 9400 shares. Just then, the Futures popped down and I was forced out of my position. I got out as follows: 1-cent loser (2000 shares), 2-cent loser (2000 shares), 3-cent loser (2000 shares), 4-cent loser (3400 shares) ($256 loser before fees)

• On a day like today, you'd exect a lot of these kind of trades...since the Futures were in a tight range, this kind of jiggle will occur
• Don't know what else to say about this trade...I guess the Futures weren't on my side
• I guess I can say that I was trying to make things happen...since the Futures were not really trending, I shouldn't have done this trade (but then again, the Futures were like this the whole day!)

1:49PM - Pfizer was uptrending, but the Futures were flat. For some reason, PFE just started rocketing up, so when I saw a chance, I went long 10,000 shares. Well, I went long at a local high and prices came back down. I was hoping that the Futures would move in my favor, but it never happened. I got my entire position out for a 3-cent loser ($300 loser before fees)

• Not good at all - this was another case of trying to make something happen...the Futures were not moving and I thought PFE would continue rocketing up

I Really Needed A Day Like This

Gross: +$1,493.00
Net: +$1,376.12
Loss From Top: $46.82
Trades: 52
Shares Traded: 138200

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Motorola (MOT): +$1,156.54
Citigroup (C): +$196.72
Pfizer (PFE): +$171.64
Walmart (WMT): +$32.98
Home Depot (HD): -$49.17
Micron Tech (MU): -$132.59

This is the 100th post on this blog. I'd like to thank all of you who have visited regularly and have given me the motivation to continue with this blog. Since it's inception back in February, this blog has had close to 500 visits.

I've said this time and time again: this blog has definitely helped my trading and just knowing there are people out there visiting regularly, it motivates me even more to continue to review my trades, along with the ups and downs, the mistakes and the successes.

Today I came into the office as motivated as ever. There was a bounce in my step and I was ready to tackle the day. You can see what difference your mood can really have on your results.

Motorola (MOT) was a cash cow for me today. I managed to make over $1,000 on this stock alone (which is quite weird considering I haven't traded it regularly in quite a while). This morning I was also very aggressive, putting on several 10,000 share trades.

There was a great lunch-time rally in which I managed to make $800 in 20 minutes, all on Motorola (MOT). I was so close to missing out on the rally because I was just getting ready to leave for my lunch-time walk. Needless to say, it's a good thing I didn't go (otherwise it would have been an $800 walk!).

I'm glad that my 3-day trading slump has ended...let's hope I can continue this momentum into next week. It seems like everytime I beat myself up on this blog, I always seem to bounce back. I just hope I can get these kind of days more consistently (maybe I need to beat myself up everyday...).

Almost all of my trades occurred before 1PM. I found that there were hardly any good trading opportunities for the entire afternoon. After the great lunch-time rally, the rest of the day just seemed to wiggle and jiggle around with a lot of fake-outs.

Today there were 4 good trades versus 1 bad trade. Now let's go and enjoy the weekend everyone (because I know I am!).

Good Trades
9:37AM - Citigroup (C) and the Futures were downtrending. There was big size that showed up on the offer, so I just figured I'd throw out an order to see if I can get filled short. Well, I was quite surprised I was filled short 2000 shares fairly quickly when all of a sudden the Futures started tanking. I held my position until the Futures looked like it hit bottom and I got out my entire position out for a 10-cent winner ($200 profit before fees)

10:54AM - Motorola (MOT) was uptrending but was stuck at some resistance at $19.60 where there was about 400 size on the offer. The Futures were uptrending and when it ripped up, I went long 10,000 shares. Well the $19.60 level broke and so I got out as follows: 2-cent winner (3600 shares), 3-cent winner (6400 shares) ($264 profit before fees)

12:10PM - Motorola (MOT) was uptrending while the Futures were also uptrending. Just then, the Futures ripped up hard (which would be the first leg of the lunch-time rally). I went long 10,000 shares and held the entire position as long as I could before it started falling back. I got the entire position out for a 3-cent winner ($300 profit before fees)

12:27PM - Motorola (MOT) and the Futures were uptrending. After a brief rest, the Futures began ripping up hard again (this would be the 2nd and final leg of the lunch-time rally). I managed to get long 10,000 shares again and held the position as long as I could. I got out of my position as follows: 3-cent winner (2000 shares), 5-cent winner (2000 shares), 6-cent winner (1000 shares), 7-cent winner (5000 shares) ($570 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
10:04AM - Micron Tech (MU) and the Futures were uptrending. The Futures started ripping, but for some reason, I tried to hit size that was 2 price levels away from the current offer. Well, the specialist filled me 4000 shares long at the price that was 2 price levels away when the Futures started falling. I was forced out of my position as follows: even (1000 shares), 3-cent loser (1000 shares), 4-cent loser (400 shares), 5-cent loser (1600 shares) ($126 loser before fees).

• I broke one of my trading rules by attempting to hit size that was 2 or more price levels away. My rule states that if I am going to hit size, the size must be at the current price level
• I should have also been a little more weary on Micron Tech because the chart on it was looking very ugly at the time
  

Bleh!

Gross: +$348.72
Net: +$285.78
Loss From Top: $79.77
Trades: 54
Shares Traded: 57552

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Corning (GLW): +$352.28
Micron Tech (MU): +$72.58
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$29.11
Exxon Mobile (XOM): +$9.27
Citigroup (C): +$0.42
Home Depot (HD): -$7.02
Bank of America (BAC): -$80.60
Walmart (WMT): -$90.25

Well, what can I say? I came in late into the office, never had a good feel for the markets, and never really got into a groove today.

To tell you the truth, I've felt this way the last 3 trading days or so. Everytime I got into the office, I just felt like going back home to get more sleep. What could it be? Maybe it's getting a bit warmer (and I'm getting into the office a bit more tired) or maybe it's my allergies acting up. Could be haven't been sleeping as much as I should. Who knows. I just know that I need to get back into a groove and fast!

I felt as though there were hardly any opportunities to trade today. You can tell from the number of trades today that I was really bored to death. I was so bored, I started dabbling around with Exxon Mobile (XOM) (which is a fairly volatile stock).

It felt like the markets weren't doing anything at all today. At one point, I felt like I might as well go home since nothing at all was happening.

No really bad trades today and I only managed to catch one good trade on Corning (GLW).

Tonight I'll try to get some good sleep and hopefully I can tackle tomorrow with more energy.

Good Trades
10:07AM - Corning (GLW) and the Futures were downtrending. Corning broke a support level, so I went short 4000 shares. The Futures tanked, so I tried to hold most of my position as long as I could. I got out as follows: 1-cent winner (1000 shares), 4-cent winner (1000 shares), 11-cent winner (1000 shares), 12-cent winner (1000 shares) ($280 winner before fees)

Bad Trades
None, though there were a few near-$100 losers

The Financial Stocks Cleaned My Clock Today!

Gross: -$106.00
Net: -$360.45
Loss From Top: $723.05
Trades: 116
Shares Traded: 238000

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$310.56
Walmart (WMT): +$182.32
Micron Tech (MU): +$88.73
Motorola (MOT): +$83.74
Home Depot (HD): -$10.36
Bank of America (BAC): -$153.18
Corning (GLW): -$185.76
JP Morgan (JPM): -$228.30
Citigroup (C): -$448.21

Ughh! I hate negative days. And look at the loss from top. It was even worse before I managed to bump it back up a little. At one point, I was down over $600 and my loss from top was $1000 (meaning I lost $1000 from my peak net profit of the day).

Today, all three financial stocks that I love to trade really let me have it. Collectively, I lost over $800 on Bank of America (BAC), JP Morgan (JPM), and Citigroup (C).

Upon review, there are a couple of reasons why I ended the day negative.

#1
I really hate days in which most of the day's move occurs in the morning and the rest of the day is flat. I hate these kind of days because you make money in the morning and expect to make money in the afternoon by getting into trades. However all you end up doing is getting into a position that goes nowhere or goes against you. And today this is exactly what happened to me.

#2
The position size was too big in the afternoon! I think I was really hoping to make some money in the afternoon and as a result, I put on big positions in a market that was going nowhere. A big no no. There were lots of trades that I had to get out for even or a slight loser.

#3
Too many trades were put on! The market was going nowhere for about 2/3 of the day, yet I put on 116 trades! Gotta be smarter. Gotta know when to trade and when not to trade.

All together, there were 5 bad trades compared to only one good trade.

I've got to really focus and be smarter than I was today. I will put all my energy and focus on the three points listed above as they are the things that I neglected or learned today.

Good Trades
3:49PM - Hewlett Packard (HPQ) and the Futures were flat. Just then, the Level 2 on HPQ went crazy and I saw huge size appear on the bid. I went long 6000 shares and got out as follows: 3-cent winner (1700 shares), 5-cent winner (4300 shares) ($266 winner before fees)

Bad Trades
10:09AM - JP Morgan (JPM) was up, but stalling while the Futures were flattening. I went long 5000 shares when I saw a level break. As soon as I went long and as soon as the level was broken, I big sell order came through and I was forced to exit. Got out as follows: 3-cent loser (1000 shares), 4-cent loser (600 shares), 5-cent loser (3400 shares) ($224 loser before fees)

• I don't really recall why I got into this position. Perhaps it was because I saw a level break, however normally I would only get into the position if the Futures were ripping up
• Both JPM and the Futures looked tired and both were flattening. I should have used smaller share size on this one

10:31AM - Citigroup (C) was in a tight range while the Futures were uptrending. The Futures ripped up so I went long 6000 shares. Like most of the day, the Futures immediately came back down before I could exit my entire position. Got out as follows: 4-cent winner (1000 shares), 3-cent winner (1000 shares), even (1000 shares), 6-cent loser (2000 shares), 7-cent loser (100 shares), 9-cent loser (900 shares) ($138 loser before fees)

• This was the beginning of some very frustrating trade. The rest of the afternoon would play out like this - a Futures move that reverses and I'd have to get out for a loser
• I should have been more cautious considering the chart on Citigroup did not look pretty

11:36AM - Citigroup (C) and the Futures were uptrending. The Futures ripped up and I got long 8000 shares. The Futures immediately tanked back down hard. I got out as follows: 2-cent loser (2000 shares), 3-cent loser (2000 shares), 4-cent loser (1200 shares), 6-cent loser (1000 shares), 7-cent loser (1500 shares), 10-cent loser (300 shares) ($343 loser before fees)

• Position size was too big! Considering what was going on in the markets up until this point, I should have been more cautious
• I should have also been more weary about Citigroup's movements during the day - very volatile and didn't really follow the Futures too well

1:18PM - Bank of America (BAC) and the Futures were uptrending. The Futures popped up breaking out of a tight range, so I went long 6000 shares. The Futures popped back down (as usual) so I got out as follows: 2-cent loser (1000 shares), 3-cent loser (5000 shares) ($170 loser before fees)

• All day the Futures were behaving this way. Should have reduced size or better yet, I shouldn't have traded!

2:29PM - Corning (GLW) and the Futures were turning down. The Futures broke a local low and started tanking so I went short 4400 (I got partial filled). Well, the Futures ripped right back up. I got duped again and had to get the entire position out for a 4-cent loser ($176 loser before fees)

• Tricky tricky! The Futures really had a fun time taking my money
• Ah well, next time, I must be more observant to see what kind of a day the markets will trade like and avoid putting on big positions
  

Ha Ha! That Was A Good Trick You Pulled BAC!

Gross: +$213.40
Net: +$103.64
Loss From Top: $348.45
Trades: 59
Shares Traded: 91200

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
JP Morgan (JPM): +$221.82
Citigroup (C): +$144.92
Home Depot (HD): +$63.24
Motorola (MOT): +$33.22
Walmart (WMT): +$1.42
General Electric (GE): -$12.58
Bank of America (BAC): -$348.47

Today I had to leave at around 2PM (and miss the best part of the trading day) because I had to go renew my health card and I had to get to the government office before they closed at 3:30PM.

Anyways, today felt like it was a complete waste of time. There were very few opportunities in the morning and then I lost everything on one of the last trades I did before I had to leave.

The trade in which I lost a bundle (about $246 before fees!) was on Bank of America (BAC). I fell for a trick that someone was playing on Bank of America and ended up taking a big loser on 8000 long shares.

What happened was that around 1:51PM, BAC was downtrending while the Futures were flat. BAC looked like it reached some support and moved up slightly to the $47.30 level. The size on the offer at $47.30 level was about 300.

Then all of a sudden, huge size showed up on the bid at $47.29 (about 1300 size appeared!). Then huge size also appeared on the bid at $47.28 and at $47.27 (both had sizes over 1300!). Overall, there were 3 huge levels, all back-to-back-to-back!

I quickly went long 4000 shares and hit the size at the $47.30 level. I was quite surprised that the level didn't break right away, so I hit it for another 4000 shares (altogether, I was long 8000 shares).

Then I started sweating a bit when I kept seeing big orders being filled at $47.30, but the size on the offer refused to break. Usually if the above situation occurs, the stock would rocket up, but I should have known better and exited when BAC refused to go up.

Then all of a sudden, the three huge levels of 1300+ sizes on the bid all disappeared!

I had to exit my position, but I found myself laughing a bit while I was exiting for a big loss. Nice trick BAC - someone got their money and I lost mine. Ha ha - you basically cost me my day. I guess sometimes if something looks too good to be true, it's probably some guy playing games on the Level 2.

As I said, I found it hard to find opportunities and unfortunately I had to leave early, so I had no good trades to tell you about and only the one bad trade to report.

Good Trades
Unfortunately, none

Bad Trades
1:51PM - Bank of America (BAC) was downtrending, but looked like it caught some support. The Futures were basically flat at the time. Three huge sizes all of a sudden appeared on the bid (each level had size over 1300!). I went long 8000 shares, but it was a trick...probably some guy who wanted to get short, so he scared up prices so that he could get filled. The huge sizes disappeared so I had to get out as follows: 1-cent loser (2800 shares), 3-cent loser (2000 shares), 4-cent loser (200 shares), 5-cent loser (3000 shares) ($246 loser before fees)

• What can I say? I'm a fool who got tricked. This is the type of thing I'd expect to see on Pfizer (PFE) and frequently on Motorola (MOT), but Bank of America (BAC)? That's why I was so quick to go long, even though most of my criteria for a trade were met
• When I saw that the size at $47.30 wasn't going to break, I should have realized it was a trick and exited everything right then and there
• Isn't this kind of thing illegal? Oh well, I'm not the first trader to complain about this kind of activity
  

Big Fat Juicy Level

Gross: +$1,185.07
Net: +$1,066.82
Loss From Top: 0
Trades: 78
Shares Traded: 106920

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$463.10
Micron Tech (MU): +$262.65
Walmart (WMT): +$198.81
JP Morgan (JPM): $174.77
Bank of America (BAC): +$100.75
Citigroup (C): +$9.16
Corning (GLW): -$62.11
Home Depot (HD): -$74.73

A big fat juicy level is a level that is clearly evident that it will break and when it does break, there will be good follow-through.

And today there was a big fat juicy level on Hewlett Packard (HPQ) at the $33.50 level. HPQ was uptrending, and the Futures were also uptrending. The size at the $33.50 was 3000+ on the offer. What made it clear that it was going to break was that big sizes started appearing on the bid (several 500+ size appeared on the bid) and given that HPQ was exhibiting strength most of the morning, you could just tell that that juicy level was going to break.

Too bad I was too chicken to hold my long 10,000 share position for a little longer...I could have had a 20-cent or more winner (that'd be $2000 in my pocket!). I ended up taking only $460 profit on that trade.

Overall, today I stuck to my rules and focused on the main points I stressed yesterday. Nothing really spectacular. The only really good thing about today was that I didn't make any bad trades (trades in which I lose more than $100).

With today in the books, I have officially surpassed my best month. I am currently up about $7,400 so far this month and there are 9 trading days left to go. Looks like my goals for this month will be achieved (multiple $1000+ days, break the $10,000 mark by month end).

Again, in case you missed it, yesterday I started a new blog. For those interested in learning Mandarin through music, movies and TV, check out my new blog (see the "Links" section to the right and click on "Mandarin Immersion"). On it, I'll have reviews on Mandarin music artists, movies and TV shows. I'll recommend sites for learning Mandarin as well. I won't update it as often as this blog, but it's just motivation for me to keep up my learning of the language.

Good Trades
9:32AM - Micron Tech (MU) opened and immediately started going up. There was some big size travelling up on the bid, so when it reached some big size on the offer, I hit it and went long 6000 shares. Got out as follows: 1-cent winner (1000 shares), 2-cent winner (1000 shares), 3-cent winner (900 shares), 5-cent winner (1100 shares), 8-cent winner (2000 shares) ($272 profit before fees).

10:37AM - Hewlett Packard (HPQ) and the Futures were uptrending when HPQ approached it's "Big Fat Juicy Level". When it was about to break, I hit it for 10,000 shares. As soon as the level broke, HPQ popped up, however I started getting scared because the Futures looked like it was going to start tanking. I exited my position, but was angry at myself for getting out too early - HPQ ripped up again as soon as I punched out my last 2000 shares. I could have had a 25-cent winner. I got out as follows: 4-cent winner (6000 shares), 5-cent winner (2000 shares), 6-cent winner (2000 shares) ($460 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
None

Bounce? What Bounce? (Fri Jun 16 Results)

Gross: +$426.28
Net: +$241.22
Loss From Top: $217.21
Trades: 96
Shares Traded: 166022

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$404.30
Walmart (WMT): +$213.53
Home Depot (HD): +$92.38
JP Morgan (JPM): +$55.14
Citigroup (C): +$19.96
General Electric (GE): -$145.75
Micron Tech (MU): -$398.15

Whoa! I barely survived Friday's quadruple witching and believe me, there were lots of games being played!

As mentioned in my previous blog posts, I historically do very badly on any witching day (when options expire, 3rd Friday of every month) and even worse on quadruple witching days (when options expire for stocks, Futures, stock index, and futures for individual stocks).

Micron Tech (MU) played me like a violin on Friday. There were so many times I was fooled by the games being played on this stock that I refused to trade this stock during the last two hours of trade. Huge size would suddenly appear (I'm talking like 2000 size showing up on the bid) and would scare prices up - then just as suddenly, the size would disappear, then there would be an even bigger size show up on the offer (like 3000 size) and would scare prices back down.

There were also times where big size (500+ size) on the offer would get hit and get smaller and smaller, when it looked like it was going to break, another 500 size would show up at the same price. When it looked like it was going to break again, it would refill to 500 size again!

The last few days have not been particularly good for me. And on Friday, I think I realized why. After a big losing trade on Friday, I stopped to think what I was doing wrong. And it all had to do with the "bounce" play I recently incorporated.

My "official" definition of a bounce play is to take a position opposite to a strong move made by the Futures. This was created due to the great volatility that hampered my trading strategy the last few weeks. If, for example, the Futures start tanking (going down hard), I would wait for an opportunity to go long immediately after the hard move down.

What I have been doing the last 3 trading days was I was simply taking a position that was opposite of the overall trend and NOT actually trading on a bounce. Basically, I was using the "bounce" play as an excuse to put on a trade that breaks almost all my trading rules (make sure the Futures are trending in the same direction, make sure the stock is trending in the same direction, make sure there is a good move in the Futures before taking a position).

I came to this realization when I was trading Micron Tech (MU) and lost $269 on it. In my mind, I was thinking that I was trading a "bounce" trade, when in fact it was not. At the time, the Futures and Micron Tech (MU) were downtrending. There was no strong move to the downside before I went long.

And so, here are more things I must do to get myself out of this little mini slump:

• If I intend to put on a bounce trade, I must make sure it is put on immediately following a strong move by the Futures
• Avoid trading during market lulls (when Futures are trading in a narrow range); instead I'll wait for a breakout on the Futures
• I will only record trades that profit/lose more than $100; lately, I've noticed that by recording every trade, I was missing out on opportunities (because I was busy trying to write everything down). I also found that I was trying to figure out how much I was up/down on the day by constantly reviewing the trades done so far (since I'm no longer looking at my net profit) - this is simply another distraction that is best ignored

Looks like the learning never stops for me!
P.S. Check out the new blog I'm working on...check the "Links" section on the right. It's called "Mandarin Immersion".

Good Trades
10:30AM - Walmart (WMT) and the Futures were downtrending. Some size on the bid broke when the Futures tanked, so I got short 4000 shares. Got out as follows: 5-cent winner (1000 shares), 7-cent winner (2000 shares), 8-cent winner (1000 shares) ($270 profit before fees)

3:05PM - Hewlett Packard (HPQ) was uptrending strongly and the Futures were uptrending. HPQ reached the $33.00 level (which had huge size on it - about 2000 size on the offer). The level started to break, so I got long 8000 shares. I got out as follows: 1-cent winner (2100 shares), 2-cent winner (200 shares), 3-cent winner (1000 shares), 4-cent winner (700 shares), 6-cent winner (2000 shares), 8-cent winner (1000 shares), 9-cent winner (1000 shares) ($373 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
10:17AM - Micron Tech (MU) and the Futures were downtrending. I saw some size on the offer break and under the guise of a bounce trade, I went long 4000 shares. Well the Futures tanked and I had to get out as follows: 1-cent winner (100 shares), 6-cent loser (2100 shares), 7-cent loser (200 shares), 8-cent loser (1600 shares) ($269 loser before fees)

• This was the wake-up call to all the things I've been doing wrong lately - in my trading journal, I wrote this in as a bounce play, but there was no strong move on the Futures (well there was one, but it was after I was in a position)
• As I stated earlier, I've been using the excuse "bounce" trade to get into a position that goes against my trading rules - the result of this is reflected in my performance the last 3 trading days
• If I had followed my trading strategy and if I had followed the true definition of a bounce play, this trade would not have happened

3:37PM - General Electric (GE) and the Futures were moving upwards. GE reached the $34.00 level (which had huge size on it). Well, the size started to break, so I went long 10,000 shares. It was a mistake - I got out as follows: even (6000 shares), 4-cent loser (4000 shares) ($160 loser before fees)

• This kind of set-up always seems to kill me: a huge level that breaks, but goes nowhere
• My trading strategy specifically states that I am NOT supposed to get into this kind of trade because there was no strong move made by the Futures. At the time, the Futures were kind of flat; this trade would have been OK IF the Futures had ripped up
• Most times I'm pretty good in NOT taking a position, but I figured that since it was quadruple witching and there were huge sizes and huge orders being thrown around during the last hour of trade, I decided to take a risk - needless to say, I was the one who ended up on the losing side of this trade
  

8 Losers In A Row

Gross: +$473.01
Net: +$241.79
Loss From Top: $439.39
Trades: 86
Shares Traded: 213534

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Bank of America (BAC): +$341.31
General Electric (GE): +$203.64
JP Morgan (JPM): +$117.40
Corning (GLW): +$102.18
Walmart (WMT): +$97.75
Home Depot (HD): +$3.25
Citigroup (C): -$208.55
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): -$415.20

On a typical trading day (when I keep my emotions in check), I will usually have 5 to 10 losing trades spread out throughout the day.

Today however, between 2PM and 3PM, I put on 8 losing trades in a row (and losing close to $900 in the process). When this happens, I can almost assure you that I was not in the proper state of mind. My trading strategy has about a 75% - 80% success rate (i.e. 75% - 80% of the time, I get the desired outcome of a trade), so to have 8 losing trades in a row means that something was not quite right.

It's almost as if I asked you to roll some dice 8 times in a row and all 8 times, you roll the same number. It just doesn't happen - unless something is wrong with the dice.

My day was going great - coming up to 2PM, I was up almost $700. But a bad trade on Hewlett Packard (HPQ) set things off and 8 trades later, I found myself down almost $200 (about $900 loss from top). I tried to clear my thoughts between trades, but I found myself in another losing trade shortly afterwards and the burst of losing trades were in rapid succession. On the very last of the bad trades, I was banging down on the desk and I was swearing out loud even before I realized I was doing it.

You know, it takes a lot to get me angry (I'm a happy-go-lucky kind of guy), and people who really know me probably can't even picture me getting mad. So when I found myself banging on the desk, I knew it was time for a little break.

I've read about a lot of great traders who are into meditation and yoga. And I can see why those traders are so great. It allows them to be emotionally free from the world, which allows them to focus on the task at hand. This is something I haven't tried yet, so I don't know what real impact it will have on my trading (maybe sometime in the future I'll give it a try).

Anyways, I re-gained my focus and managed to cut my loss from top in half and made about $450 back during the last hour.

Had I not lost focus and went off track, I would have probably ended the day up $1200 (instead of having to battle back from minus $200).

What I propose is this: any time I put on a bad trade (in which I lose $100 or more), I will not trade for the next 10 minutes and I will go for a walk; perhaps go downstairs and walk to Yonge street and back.

In our office, there are 2 "Master Traders" (traders who have made $120,000 within one calendar year). If you ever get a chance to watch a "Master Trader" trade, you'll see that they are essentially emotionless throughout most of the day. Every now and then, they'll tell their buddy a great trade they just executed, but if you were to look at them, you wouldn't be able to tell if they were having a good day or a bad day. Both of them are strong enough to avoid the pitfalls of emotional trading.

There's a great book called "Trading in the Zone" which basically goes over your mental state of mind and getting yourself psychologically prepared for trading and tries to steer you to a path of emotion free trading.

But today from 2PM and 3PM, I was clearly trading out of the zone.

Anyways, it's a great book and I'll probably re-read it again for the 3rd time - if only I have stronger will power to prevent myself from getting too emotionally involved.

That being said, can you see what kind of difference "Trading in the Zone" can make? For me, it was the difference between a $200 day and a $1200 day.

Good Trades
1:59PM - General Electric (GE) was flat, but looked like it was at a support level while the Futures were curving up. There was big size on the bid and on the ask, and when the Futures looked like it was going to rip, I went long 10,000 shares. Got out as follows: 1-cent winner (2000 shares), 4-cent winner (8000 shares) ($340 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
2:18PM - Hewlett Packard (HPQ) and the Futures were uptrending. When the Futures ripped up, I went long 6000 shares. While the Futures kept ripping up, I didn't know why HPQ decided to go down. I was forced out of my position for a 3-cent loser ($180 loser before fees)

• This trade was the first of a string of 8 losing trades in a row
• The setup for this trade was perfect and my timing was great, but HPQ just didn't co-operate
• I think that's why this trade sparked my losing streak - because everything about the trade was perfect, but I lost money (which in turn really pissed me off)
• To make matters worse, while trying to exit this trade, I accidentally got overfilled and I ended up 2200 shares short (which I ended up dumping for a 2-cent loser)

2:32PM - Citigroup (C) and the Futures were ripping up. I got long 6000 shares, but unfortunately the Futures finished ripping and started tanking back down. I got out as follows: 2-cent loser (4000 shares), 5-cent loser (2000 shares) ($180 loser before fees)

• Yup - this just added more fuel to the fire
• I think at this point, I was still angry at the previous trade on HPQ and wasn't smart enough to avoid taking a position after the Futures finished ripping up and as a result, I got long at Citi's intermediate high

2:39PM - Corning (GLW) and the Futures were uptrending. I got long 4000 shares when I saw some size on the offer break. Well, how much worse could it get? I ended up taking a loser on this trade because the Futures stalled for a bit and GLW decided to tank. Got out as follows: 3-cent loser (2000 shares), 4-cent loser (2000 shares) ($140 loser before fees)

• You can really see the rapid succession of bad trades...this doesn't even include those losing trades that were less than $100
• There were 3 more losing trades after this one, but nonetheless, this trade really got me roiled up
• The reason I was getting more and more pissed was because the Futures and all stocks were moving up hard, but for some reason, every stock I touched went down
• Because my thinking was not clear at the time, it never occurred to me to continue holding these positions...instead I would see that it turned into a losing trade and angrily place orders to get out of my position like 10-cents out of the money (of course, the specialist will give me the best price possible)

I'm Rich!

Gross: +$241.63
Net: +$27.93
Loss From Top: $371.12
Trades: 97
Shares Traded: 206158

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
JP Morgan (JPM): +$158.49
Bank of America (BAC): +$107.82
Walmart (WMT): +$34.50
Home Depot (HD): +$33.94
Corning (GLW): +$28.11
General Electric (GE): +$21.24
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): -$5.39
Motorola (MOT): -$12.58
Micron Tech (MU): -$17.00
Citigroup (C): -$321.20

Well...not really. I only made $27 today! Talk about a difficult day! I started the morning as usual, but throughout the afternoon, all the wiggles and jiggles of the Futures kept forcing me out of my positions for losers.

As we rolled into the last hour of trade, I was down $400. Luckily there was some great moves to the upside during that last hour and I was able to eke out a gain.

But still, I'm not happy. It was mostly a total lack of focus and getting too emotionally wrapped up in what I was doing. I was also straying from the rules I had recently established. This was mainly because I was getting all flustered from all the positions that went against me.

Almost all day, the Futures would quickly move up 3 ticks, then tank one whole handle, then rip back up a handle and a half, only to be followed by a quick 3-tick tank. Bring up any intraday chart of any stock and you'll see what I'm talking about. Or just bring up an intraday chart for the S&P 500.

At one point during the day, my loss from top was approaching $800 (which means I lost close to $800 from my peak profit during the day). One of my problems today was that I was getting into a position and attempted to hold on to it for a big winner. However, because of the nature of the markets today, this literally got me killed.

Surprisingly, all my bad trades were on Citigroup (C) today and the only good trade of the day also belonged to Citigroup. At one point, I lost over $600 on Citigroup alone. The problem I had with Citigroup was that either I was in a position that was too big (considering the kind of market it was today) and there were a lot levels that refused to break no matter what the Futures were doing.

That being said, I've got to work on the following for tomorrow:

• Concentrate on the task at hand - don't let my mind wander
• After every trade or every few minutes, close my eyes, take a deep breath, clear my mind, and prepare for the next trade
• Don't look at my net profit at all (I'm not too sure why, but today I was constantly looking at my net profit - and getting frustrated with the amount of money I had lost)
• Identify what kind of day it's going to be by observing the Futures movements in the morning - if it is like it was today, get in and out fast and don't overdo it with regards to position size

Good Trades
3:48PM - Citigroup (C) and the Futures were uptrending. I went long 8000 shares when the Futures continued to rip up. Got out as follows: 2-cent winner (2000 shares), 3-cent winner (6000 shares) ($220 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
1:35PM - Citigroup (C) and the Futures were downtrending when it appeared as though Citigroup arrived at some support. There was big size on the bid and when the Futures popped up slightly, I went long 8000 shares. Well the Futures came tanking back down and the support looked like it was going to break so I got out as follows: 1-cent loser (4000 shares), 2-cent loser (4000 shares) ($120 loser before fees)

• Several problems with this trade - firstly, the size was way too big for this "bounce" play
• Secondly, I went in basically based on what I saw on the Level 2 - which is never good
• Knowing how the Futures were behaving, I should have waited until it was clear which direction the Futures were going

2:21PM - Citigroup (C) was downtrending while the Futures were slightly uptrending. I went long 4000 shares, but the Futures came falling back down. I got out as follows: 4-cent loser (3000 shares), 5-cent loser (1000 shares) ($120 loser before fees)

• This was a frustration play. All day I was getting screwed by getting long on Citigroup and for some reason, the Level 2 tricked me into going long again
• For most of the afternoon, I wasn't thinking too clearly because the Futures were moving all over the place and in my mind I kept thinking I was missing many opportunities (when in reality, I should have just sat on the sidelines)

2:42PM - Citigroup (C) and the Futures were starting to downtrend. I went long 8000 shares after the Futures had just finished tanking in hopes of a bounce in prices. It never happened. Got out as follows: 2-cent loser (6000 shares), 4-cent loser (2000 shares) ($200 loser before fees)

• Another mindless trade that was way too big for a bounce play
• This was the very last losing trade of the day. After this trade, I took a break and went back to following the rules I set-up as part of my new strategy. At this point, I was down a little over $400. Over the course of the next hour or so, I was able to claw my way back to positive territory.
  

I Love You Citigroup!

Gross: +$1,578.44
Net: +$1,337.22
Loss From Top: 0
Trades: 101
Shares Traded: 240698

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Citigroup (C): +$1,305.32
Walmart (WMT): +$225.74
General Electric (GE): +$148.89
Bank of America (BAC): +$137.38
Home Depot (HD): -$96.89
Disney (DIS): -$111.06
Motorola (MOT): -$122.51
JP Morgan (JPM): -$149.64

Well would you look at all the money I made on Citigroup today! The amount I made on it was practically everything I made today.

I also managed to break more personal records today. Unlike yesterday's somewhat insignificant records (# of trades and # of shares traded), today I broke two more important records: biggest winning trade ($880 profit before fees) and highest total net profit.

Again, I'm noticing I'm trading a lot more than before - not too sure if it's because of my new trading plan or what. Another day with 100+ trades and I managed to move close to a quarter of a million shares.

I'm sure in the next little while I will be setting new records with regards to total net profit, but I'm glad I'm back in a groove. I was worried for a bit that the weekend somehow tripped up my streak, but it was just a matter of discipline. It also helped that the morning and the last half hour of trade the Futures were rather well-behaved in terms of movement.

The morning provided some great trades as there was good follow-through on some of the moves. However from about 1PM to about 3:30PM, it was a very crappy trading environment. There were so many fake-out moves and whippy trade, I ended up losing over $400 during this period.

But during the last half hour of trade, I managed to make it all back plus a little more.

I found it very frustrating during the 1PM - 3:30PM time frame and I found myself getting too emotionally involved (I started banging on desks, swearing out loud). I think I was angry because there were too many trades in a row in which I had to get out for a loss.

By about 3PM, I took some time to calm down a bit and managed to sail smoothly till the end of the day.

Most of the money made on Citigroup was the result of a great trade in which I went long 8000 shares and the Futures kept ripping up (see below).

Today I took a lot of $100+ winners, but only recorded one good trade, and two bad trades. There were a few losing trades today, but I managed to keep most of them under $100.

And, oh yea, before I forget, "I Love You Citigroup!"

Good Trades
9:51AM - Citigroup (C) and the Futures were uptrending. There was some good size on the offer at $49.20 (about 500 size on the offer). The Futures started ripping up hard and lots of huge buy orders flooded the Level 2 on Citigroup. I managed to put my order in just before the rip, so I got long 8000 shares. Once in the position, I was surprised that the Futures kept ripping up. I got out as follows: 10-cent winner (4000 shares), 12-cent winner (4000 shares) ($880 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
1:26PM - Bank of America (BAC) was downtrending while the Futures were flat. I tried a bounce play and got long 4000 shares. It didn't work. Got out as follows: 2-cent loser (2000 shares), 3-cent loser (2000 shares) ($100 loser before fees)

• Starting around this time, the Futures were shaking and baking a lot and "faked" me into several positions. This was the first of several positions I took over the next few hours that ended up as losing trades

3:05PM - Motorola (MOT) was downtrending but looked like it caught support while the Futures were flat. I went long 10,000 shares because there was about 800 size on the bid behind my position. Well guess what - it broke. I managed to get out my entire position of a 1-cent loser ($100 loser before fees)

• This was one of the last of a string of trades in which I lost money. I took a little break after this trade because I realized this was a revenge trade
• Including this losing trade, I lost over $400 from top and I was really really frustrated with the Futures because of it's erratic movements

My Lazy Brain

Gross: +$720.82
Net: +$399.49
Loss From Top: $41.95
Trades: 134
Shares Traded: 311000

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
General Electric (GE): +$385.53
Home Depot (HD): +$143.33
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$133.44
Corning (GLW): +$45.44
Citigroup (C): +$7.59
Micron Tech (MU): -$28.77
JP Morgan (JPM): -$138.65
Motorola (MOT): -$148.22

Today I managed to set some new records - most # of trades (at134 trades) and most # of shares traded (311,000 shares moved). But the overall results reflect how well I traded - which is not very well.

It was a combination of being too aggressive, being dead tired, being sloppy, and being (slightly) caught up with emotion when trading. Today there were just as many losing trades as there were winning trades (which is NOT a very good ratio for me; my average winning trade-to-losing trade ratio is about 5:1).

I started the day with my sights set on upping my share size when trading. This was a mistake on some stocks because I found that most of my positions were too large and I had difficulty getting out for a profit before prices went the other way. But on others, it seemed to work fairly well (General Electric is a prime example).

I also made the mistake of playing "bounce" trades with bigger size. This ended up with me losing money. Tomorrow I will keep my share size on "bounce" plays to 4000 shares max.

I also believe that my concentration wasn't where it should have been today which probably explains why I traded so much. Instead of assessing and analysing the situation, my tired brain just decided to put on the trade, even if the prospects were not that good - perhaps my brain was being lazy and didn't want to have to think. During the afternoon, I really had to fight from falling asleep (even after my afternoon coffee).

Lots of big sized positions were put on today (a few 10,000 share trades), most of which went well. However, since I was using bigger than usual sized positions, I also had several bigger than usual losers. Altogether, I had 6 bad trades ($100+ losers) compared to only 2 good trades ($200+ winners).

Things I've got to work on tomorrow:

• GET SOME GOOD SLEEP TONIGHT!
• Keep my bounce plays to a maximum of 4000 shares
• Use larger share size depending on how confident I am about the trade
• Trade smarter - know when to trade and when not to trade
  

Good Trades
10:04AM - General Electric (GE) appeared to start downtrend and the Futures were downtrending. The Futures started tanking hard and a lot of big sell orders were hitting the Level 2. Since GE is adheres to the uptick rule, I just thought I'll just place an order to get short and if I get filled, I get filled. So I put out a 10,000 share order. I was surprised it was filled right away. GE then began a slow and steady tank. I got out as follows: 1-cent winner (1500 shares), 2-cent winner (4000 shares), 3-cent winner (3000 shares), 4-cent winner (1500 shares) ($245 profit before fees)

3:46PM - General Electric (GE) was downtrending but appeared to hold at a support level. The Futures were downtrending. All of a sudden, big size showed up on the bid (about 800 size showed up on the bid). I hit the offer and got long 10,000 shares. The Futures popped up a little, so I got out as follows: 1-cent winner (3000 shares), 2-cent winner (3000 shares), 3-cent winner (4000 shares) ($210 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
10:13AM - Citigroup (C) was flat while the Futures appeared to be bouncing up. I went long 6000 shares, but the Futures tanked again. I got out as follows: 1-cent loser (800 shares), 2-cent loser (3600 shares), 5-cent loser (1600 shares) ($160 loser before fees)

• I was too aggressive here - this was supposed to be a bounce play and thus should have been for only 4000 shares
• Because of my tiredness, I let this trade go from bad to worse - when I saw that this trade was going to be a loser, I hesitated in getting out and as a result the loss was bigger than is should have been

11:22AM - Hewlett Packard (HPQ) and the Futures were downtrending. I saw some support on the Level 2 (in the form of size), so I went long 4000 shares. The support for my trade disappeared and I had to get out for a loser. I got out as follows: 1-cent winner (300 shares), 3-cent loser (3700 shares) ($108 loser before fees)

• I broke one of my rules again: never get into a trade based entirely on what you see on the Level 2
• I'm just glad that on this bounce play I used only 4000 shares
  

11:27AM - Motorola (MOT) and the Futures were downtrending. The Futures started tanking some more and I managed to get short 4400 shares (MOT adheres to the uptick rule). The Futures ripped right back up (as it has done for the last several weeks) and so I had to get out as follows: 2-cent loser (100 shares), 3-cent loser (3400 shares), 4-cent loser (900 shares) ($140 loser before fees)

• I shouldn't have left my order to go short out there after the Futures had finished tanking (because of the volatility, I was probably going rip back up)

11:59AM - Micron Tech (MU) was downtrending while the Futures looked like it was turning up. I went long 6000 shares, but the Futures started tanking. I got out as follows: 2-cent loser (3000 shares), 3-cent loser (200 shares), 4-cent loser (2800 shares) ($178 loser before fees)

• Share size too big! This was a bounce play! Only 4000 shares next time!

3:25PM - Home Depot (HD) and the Futures were downtrending. The Futures "faked" a tank (where it quickly breaks a low and looks like it would go lower, but instead it rips up) and I got stuck with 4000 shares short on HD. I got out the entire position out for a 3-cent loser ($120 loser before fees)

• I was a little too eager to get into a position
• I should have waited a little longer as there were plenty of shares to hit if I had wanted to get short

3:36PM - JP Morgan (JPM) was downtrending while the Futures bounced up. I went long 5000 shares, but the Futures tanked again. I got out as follows: 1-cent winner (1200 shares), 2-cent loser (700 shares), 3-cent loser (3900 shares) ($119 loser before fees)

• Too big! Too big! Too big! Next time, bounce plays use 4000 shares!
  

Not Enough Time (Fri Jun 9 Results)

Gross: +$981.80
Net: +$804.87
Loss From Top: $46.31
Trades: 98
Shares Traded: 168300

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Citigroup (C): +$399.38
Home Depot (HD): +$191.70
Bank of America (BAC): +$94.97
General Electric (GE): +$67.96
Walmart (WMT): +$60.33
Tyco (TYC): +$25.71
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$25.17
Merck (MRK): +$24.21
JP Morgan (JPM): -$5.60
Motorola (MOT): -$22.80
Micron Tech (MU): -$56.20

As a result of my slightly improved trading strategy, I might have to accept the fact that I may put on more trades than usual. Not that I'm complaining or anything (the results from the last few days have been more than I could ask for), but usually when the number of trades become high, I often wonder if it is possible to reduce the number of losing trades (and hence reduce the number of overall trades).

I'll continue to trade the way I have the past few days and if it continues to be successful all next week, I'll then look to improve upon it.

On Friday, I was a little disappointed with the results, but still a good day nonetheless. I kept my losses to a minimum, but I just felt as though there wasn't enough time during the day. I was basically trading away and before I realized it, there was only 10 minutes left in the trading day.

Who knows - since the NYSE and Euronext have agreed to merge, they may come a time when we can have a 12-hour trading day (where NYSE equities begin trading on Euronext at 4AM, continue on when the NYSE opens until it closes until 4PM).

I wouldn't know what I'd do if it ever came down to that. But if it does ever happen, I know I'd be in the office by at least 8AM (I'd love to trade when all those 8:30AM economic numbers come out).

It was a fairly whippy trading day on Friday with a lot of bounces and jiggles in the market. Because of all the bouncing and jiggling, I found myself having to exit many of my positions for small losers. I still don't feel comfortable yet holding positions like before because the volatility was still alive and kicking.

I can't wait for Monday!

Good Trades
9:56AM - Citigroup (C) and the Futures were moving up when the Futures suddenly ripped up hard. I got long 6000 shares and got out as follows: 3-cent winner (1000 shares), 4-cent winner (1700 shares), 5-cent winner (2000 shares), 6-cent winner (1300 shares) ($276 profit before fees)

1:16PM - Home Depot (HD) and the Futures were downtrending. There was some support at the $36.85 level (about 400 size on the bid) when the Futures started tanking. The size at $36.85 started breaking, so I went short 4000 shares. I got out as follows: 5-cent winner (3000 shares), 6-cent winner (1000 shares) ($210 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
10:44AM - Micron Tech (MU) was flat and so were the Futures. I saw two levels on the bid with big size (each at about 500 size on the bid) and so I went long 6000 shares. Well prices hung around for a while at which point the Futures decided to start tanking. I got out as follows: 1-cent winner (500 shares), 2-cent loser (800 shares), 3-cent loser (4700 shares) ($152 loser before fees)

• Firstly, my trading rules specifically state that I should never get into a position based entirely on what I saw on the Level 2. The two levels that were supporting my trade quickly disappeared and I was a sitting duck
• When prices started hanging around with such good support, I should have started second guessing the position and exited wherever I could (instead of waiting for the Futures to tank)
• Lastly, because this trade did not meet all my requirements and if I still wanted a position, I should have used fewer shares
  

Blogger Problems....Please Stay Tuned....

Gross: +$1,232.86
Net: +$1,014.12
Loss From Top: 0
Trades: 106
Shares Traded: 197814

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
JP Morgan (JPM): +$290.96
Motorola (MOT): +$236.03
Micron Tech (MU): +$209.58
Bank of America (BAC): +$162.16
Corning (GLW): +$129.22
Home Depot (HD): +$58.13
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): -$21.31
Citigroup (C): -$50.68

The last couple of days there has been problems with Blogger and I am finding it rather difficult to log in and post. Blogger reports they are busy working on the solution, so in the next little while, my posts may be a little late and if I'm not able to post on a particular day, I will attempt to post results the following day.

I'm not even sure if this posting will be published properly or not...anyhow, back to business...

Yet another day to sticking with the same game plan, and another day with great results.

In fact, the last 3 days, I've been rather conservative using smaller share size (there were no 8000+ share size positions and there were only three 6000 share size positions). Perhaps tomorrow I'll step it up a little and creep my share size up a little.

Also, I won't stop trading even if I hit $1000. Today I ended my day early and missed the last half hour of trade. But tomorrow, I'll see how much further beyond $1000 I can take it (if I get that high).

Today I felt like I overtraded a lot. There were several times I traded when I shouldn't have traded and I estimate that these types of trades cost me around $400 today, including a $256 loser (see below).

The last three days I've incorporated a "bounce" trade in which I go the opposite direction of a strong Futures move. Since this volatility is alive and well, what's been happening a lot is that immediately after a strong Futures move (up or down), the Futures counters with a move back in the opposite direction.

I've been using small share size when putting on these "bounce" trades (2000/3000/4000 shares) and my profit outlook is usually 2 or 3 cents. I never realized that by doing this over and over again, all those $60, $90, and $120 winners really do add up.

Because I booked many smaller profits due to volatility, I only have one good trade to report. I did have one mental lapse that cost me big time and is the only bad trade of the day.

I just can't wait for the day when the chopping around stops and we get more follow through on any Futures move. That way, I can continue trading the way I currently trade, but the difference is that I can hold on to my winners for more of a profit.

Again, I can't help but think how much of a difference the bad day I had on Monday really affected my trading. And all it took was some subtle ways in which I trade so that I can be emotionally detached from trading.

Let's see if I can keep this streak going shall we?

Good Trades
10:54AM - Motorola (MOT) was downtrending as were the Futures. Suddenly I saw huge sell orders show up on the Level 2. I decided to throw out some short orders to see if I would get filled (Motorola adheres to the uptick rule). I was quite surprised I was filled right away for 3000 short and it made me panick a little (because this usually means that prices might be going higher). Then I saw even more big sell orders show up. I got price improved by the specialist for an 8-cent winner on the entire position ($240 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
1:15PM - Citigroup (C) looked like it was going to start an uptrend while the Futures were uptrending slightly. The Futures started ripping and I had to wait a little for Citigroup to reach a resistance level with big size on the offer. Well just as the Futures finished ripping up, the resistance level was about to break, so I got long 6000 shares. Bad move - especially in a volatile market and the Futures tanked back down. I got out as follows: 2-cent loser (400 shares), 3-cent loser (1600 shares), 5-cent loser (4000 shares) ($256 loser before fees).

• I broke one of my rules in that I hit size after the Futures finished an extended move upwards. For this to be a good trade, Citigroup had to have already been at the resistance before the Futures ripped (and not arrive at the resistance AFTER the Futures ripped)
• The position size was also too big. Not all criteria were met and so this should have been a 3000 share position (and not 6000 share)
  

Close, But No Cigar

Gross: +$1,047.52
Net: +$919.05
Loss From Top: $39.27
Trades: 59
Shares Traded: 107800

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Citigroup (C): +$680.57
Bank of America (BAC): +$202.86
Home Depot (HD): +$53.20
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$40.46
Corning (GLW): -$12.49
Micron Tech (MU): -$45.55

Sorry for the late posting....Blogger was down and I could not log in to post.

Anyways, I'll keep this posting short and sweet.

I stuck to the same game plan as yesterday and it seems to be working well. By keeping my mind free and clear of any emotional ties, I was able to pull off a near repeat performance.

Unfortunately I had to leave a little early because our water heater in our house is not working and I had to go home to meet with a technician.

Had I stayed a little longer, perhaps I might have been able to break $1000 again. Time will tell, but for today, it was close, but no cigar.

Today I thought the markets traded in choppy fashion, but ultimately ended in a down day. Look at the ton of money I made on Citigroup! At one point, I had made close to $800 on Citigroup alone, but I put on a few small losing trades on it and ended up making only $680 on it.

I did miss a few good trades because I was too slow in reacting...could be because I felt dead tired today - didn't sleep too well because I felt disgusted...I hadn't taken a shower for almost two days (because of the water heater problem) and I feel really icky!

Good Trades
10:30AM - Citigroup (C) and the Futures were uptrending. Citigroup met some resistance at $50.10 and then the Futures ripped up. I went long 8000 shares and got out as follows: 4-cent winner (2000 shares), 5-cent winner (2000 shares), 6-cent winner (3000 shares), 7-cent winner (1000 shares) ($430 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
None

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

Gross: +$1,137.59
Net: +$1,036.64
Loss From Top: 0
Trades: 64
Shares Traded: 103216

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Micron Tech (MU): +$273.13
Home Depot (HD): +$231.59
Corning (GLW): +$144.39
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$139.26
Citigroup (C): +$93.91
Bank of America (BAC): +$81.56
Walmart (WMT): +$52.32
Tyco (TYC): +$16.21
JP Morgan (JPM): +$4.24

After what happened yesterday, I changed a couple of things in the way I trade. And it seems to have paid off.

I truly believe that trading is about 50% skill/analysis/judgement and 50% psychology. It would seem as though I have real problems with the psychology part (because I always seem too emotionally charged especially when things are not going my way).

And so, here are a few things that I changed today (which seemed to work like a charm):

• I refused to look at my net profit during the day. I had no idea of how much I was up until near the end of the day.

I find that many times I get frustrated when I see how much my net profit has gone down after a bad trade, which ultimately affects the next trade I put on. I also find that if I see I'm close the next round number (i.e. $700 or $800), it also affects my thinking (and I usually end up losing money on the next trade). Since my net profit was out of sight, it was out of mind

• After every trade or every once in a while, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, cleared my thoughts and got ready for making the next good trade. I will forget the previous trade ever happened (regardless if it was a good trade or not) and tackled the next trade with a fresh mind

This allows me to look at the markets with an unbiased view. Often times when I am angry or trading on emotions, I usually want to have revenge on the stock that lost me money and try to take the reverse trade (i.e. if I went long and lost money, I'd get angry and say "Fine! If you want to go down, then I'll short!", which usually makes me lose more money)

• I reduced my share size (2000 shares) on any trade in which one or more of my trading rules are not met, but I still wanted to put on the trade.
  

These kind of trades include bounces (in which I try to go long after the market has tanked hard, hoping for a bounce in prices). I found that this helps satisfy my need to trade (i.e. fill the void whenever there are currently no opportunities and it helps keep me out of those "I'm bored" type of trades)

• I adjusted my share size according to how strong the trade looks. If the uptrend on a stock is strong, then I'll use bigger shares. If the uptrend on a stock is only slight, then I'll use less shares
  

I'd also like to thank a fellow trader for giving me some encouraging comments (thanks Kelly!). It really put what I'm doing into perspective and re-enforced the idea that what I'm doing through this blog will actually help me in the long run.

That being said, I think being shutdown yesterday was worth it and was not in vain. I'm just so glad that I decided to sit down and review my trading day yesterday (I was sooo close to not wanting to review that day). By forcing myself to review my problems, I was able to make some adjustments to help my psychologically.

The trick will be to see if I can pull more of these $1000+ days.

Good Trades
9:56AM - Home Depot (HD) was downtrending as were the Futures. HD approached the $37 level. The Futures tanked and the $37 broke, so I got partially filled short for 1800 shares (I attempted to short 4000 shares). I got out as follows: 12-cent winner (800 shares), 14-cent winner (1000 shares) ($231 profit before fees)

10:32AM - Micron Tech (MU) and the Futures were uptrending. The Futures ripped, I got long 6000 shares. Got out as follows: 2-cent winner (2000 shares), 5-cent winner (2000 shares), 7-cent winner (2000 shares) ($260 profit before fees)

10:53AM - Corning (GLW) and the Futures were downtrending. GLW reached the $24 level. When it broke, I got short 3000 shares. I got out as follows: 3-cent winner (1000 shares), 6-cent winner (2000 shares) ($150 profit before fees)

12:41PM - Citigroup (C) and the Futures were uptrending. The Futures ripped, I got partially filled long 2400 shares (out of 5000 shares). Got out as follows: 2-cent winner (500 shares), 9-cent winner (1900 shares) ($181 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
9:43AM - Citigroup (C) and the Futures were downtrending. I saw something on the Level 2 and I got long 3000 shares. Citi and the Futures kept going down and I had to get out for a 4-cent loser ($120 loser before fees)

• I think what happened here was that I wasn't completely awake. After I got out of this trade, I asked myself "What am I doing????". This trade should not have been put on
  
• As part of my new way of trading, this trade did not phase me and I was able to keep my emotions in check
  

Coming Away With Something Positive On A Negative Day

Gross: -$444.15
Net: -$603.07
Loss From Top: $991.40
Trades: 69
Shares Traded: 150834

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Micron Tech (MU): +$152.22
General Electric (GE): +$105.55
Corning (GLW): +$48.59
Sprint-Nextel (S): -$0.54
Citigroup (C): -$74.11
JP Morgan (JPM): -$124.38
Walmart (WMT): -$218.08
Home Depot (HD): -$233.28
Bank of America (BAC): -$259.04

I've noticed that everytime I lose a lot of money or get shutdown (when the system locks you out because you've lost too much money), I often come home too frustrated to review my day and I don't update this blog.

But I really think that that is a mistake. If I do not review my day and try to learn something from it, I don't think I can ever improve. So what I propose is this: everytime I end the day negative, I must review my day and try to come up with at least one thing I learned during that day.

By forcing myself to write what I learned in this blog, I can hopefully imprint and ingrain that lesson into my head. I often find that the act of actually writing down rules or lessons actually makes them more concrete.

Today we had major problems at the office.

First of all, the branch manager asked us all to use INET RASH (an ECN) because it is cheaper to use. But the first few trades I put on using that ECN, I found that it took forever to cancel orders, my orders were not appearing on the Level 2, and I was getting delayed fills. Many other traders also had problems with this ECN. After the first few trades, I simply went back to using my usual ECN.

It also didn't help that the execution server (the server that handles all buy/sell orders) went down 3 times today.

I could very well blame these problems for shutting me down today. However, I will not use these problems as an excuse for my poor performance because if I always blame other factors, I will never learn or improve.

The first hour of trade went well enough (I was up almost $400 by 10:30AM). But for the rest of the day, I slowly died an slow and agonizing death in which I lost close to $1000 during the day. By no means am I happy with this result.

But I look at it this way: even when you have a bad day, if you are able to learn something from it and take it with you, in the long run, it will be worth it. And on a day like today, it will feel as though the day was not done in vain.

So what happened today? Well these are the things I learned today:

• I was frustrated with the lack of opportunities today - I started trading big sizes because I just wanted to make things happen (the next time I get this feeling, I'm going to remember how I felt this afternoon when I was shut down)
  
• I was also frustrated because it seemed like time after time I would try to short a stock, but it would actually go against me, even though the Futures and overall market were tanking
• This frustration simply snowballed from there and it got worse and worse. For the rest of the day I was trading on pure emotions
• When I saw my day go from positive to negative, I started increasing my share size in the hopes of catching a good trade and make up all the profits I lost
• When nothing seemed to work, I started randomly placing 6000 and 8000 share orders and hoping they would work themselves out - this actually made it worse and I got shutdown

There were many bad trades today - mainly due to poor judgement and to share size being too big. I might as well review all my bad trades today (just to torture myself into realizing how poor my judgement really was today).

Good Trades
10:18AM - Micron Tech (MU) was starting to uptrend and the Futures were uptrending. I got long 8000 shares and got out as follows: 2-cent winner (2000 shares), 3-cent winner (6000 shares) ($220 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
10:33AM - Micron Tech (MU) was uptrending while the Futures were slightly uptrending. I thought a significant level was going to break on MU and a combination of a keystroke error got me long 8700 shares. Then MU started tanking before I could fully book my profit. Got out as follows: 1-cent winner (3000 shares), 1-cent loser (400 shares), 2-cent loser (300 shares), 3-cent loser (5000 shares) ($130 loser before fees)

• This was the start of my frustrations. Everything looked good on this trade - MU just decided to start tanking for whatever reason

1:34PM - Citigroup (C) was looking strong and was uptrending while the Futures looked like it was going to start turning upwards. I got long 3700 shares and the Futures did pop up. But like a lot of my trades today, C decided to start tanking. I ended up getting long at the high of the day. I got out as follows: 1-cent loser (2000 shares), 4-cent loser (100 shares), 5-cent loser (1600 shares) ($104 loser before fees)

• This built my frustration up more and more...This was probably the trade that set me off into psycho-trading man!
• It was another trade that looked good and Citigroup was showing strength even though the overall market was down. When the Futures looked like it was going to start uptrending again, I thought this would have been a good trade...I guessed wrong

2:53PM - Bank of America (BAC) had temporarily bounced up while the Futures were downtrending. Without thinking about it or analyzing this trade, I got long 8000 shares. I got out as follows: 2-cent loser (100 shares), 3-cent loser (7900 shares) ($239 loser before fees)

• There was no rhyme or reason for this trade - just something flicked on in my brain and it felt as if I was no longer in control over my actions

3:07PM - Home Depot (HD) was trading very volatile and the Futures were moving slightly sideways. I shorted 5000 shares (don't ask for the reason behind it because I don't know either) and I had to get out for a 2-cent loser on the entire position ($100 loser before fees)

• Nothing much to say about this trade (because there was no real reason to get into this trade). Just wondering why 5000 shares on such a thin stock! I was lucky I didn't get murdered by Home Depot!
• It was at this point I was spiralling out of control where the loss from the previous trade made me more angry on the next trade, which in turn lost more money, which got me more angry, etc.,
  

3:21PM - JP Morgan (JPM) was downtrending as were the Futures. Got partially filled long for 2000 shares. Got the entire position out for a 6-cent loser ($120 loser before fees)

• This trade was flat out wrong - this is kind of like the anti-trade - everything about it was wrong

3:33PM - Walmart (WMT) was moving all over the place while the Futures were downtrending. I went long 6000 shares when the Futures started tanking some more. I got out as follows: 3-cent loser (1800 shares), 4-cent loser (1100 shares), 7-cent loser (2700 shares) ($287 loser before fees)

• This trade was the final nail in the coffin and I was done like dinner (I was shutdown after this trade)
• I would love to interview my brain to find out why it thought this trade would work...I guess I might never find out