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:
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)
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
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
- 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
- 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)
- Share size too big! This was a bounce play! Only 4000 shares next time!
- 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
- Too big! Too big! Too big! Next time, bounce plays use 4000 shares!
posted by J.C. at
7:35 p.m.
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