Not A Good Day To Swing A Big Bat

Gross: +$270.48
Net: +$53.90
Loss From Top: $99.32
Trades: 107
Shares Traded: 207404

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Walmart (WMT): +$400.31
General Electric (GE): +$325.45
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): -$10.62
Exxon Mobile (XOM): -$24.92
Bank of America (BAC): -$28.00
Motorola (MOT): -$35.27
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): -$56.70
AT&T (T): -$516.33

Talk about chop chop! Take a look at a chart for any of the major indices (Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq) and you'll know what I'm talking about. I usually call these types of chart patterns "spikes of death" because it indicates a very choppy up and down day without any kind of distinct trend. These kind of days usually don't amount to much and today was no different.

It's too bad too...I came in today knowing I must start being aggressive and start swinging a big bat by trading 10,000 or more shares and holding them for big profits. Good idea - bad day to do so. There were several times I was looking at a great winner on a big hefty position, but because of the choppiness of the markets, prices kept moving up and down like a yo-yo and it was difficult to capture much profits.

Lately I've had a great run with AT&T (T) and managed to pocket a lot of great profits with this stock. But today I couldn't get anything right on it. Practically every position I put on AT&T turned out to be a loser and as a result the majority of my losses on the day were because of AT&T.

I would have to say that I'm pretty happy with the amount of patience I had with several of my positions today. Had the markets actually trended, I think today would have been extremely successful.

However, because of the jagged way the markets moved today, I gained some, I lost some and resulted in an insignificant day.

I'm very disappointed. Not one of my goals were met this month. Only one $1000+ day and I am still looking for my first $10,000+ month. Next month, I will not put any monetary goals (it may affect me mentally) and I will strive to be as aggressive as ever (but at the same time, I have to know WHEN to be aggressive). I'll post my monthly statistics this weekend.

A pathetic end to a pathetic month.

Good Trades
10:51AM - (M) Walmart (WMT) started downtrending as were the Futures. There was some support at the $45.00 level and when the Futures started tanking, I went short 2000 shares at $45.00. I rode it down and took a bulk of the move downwards as profit. I got out as follows: 12-cent winner (800 shares), 13-cent winner (1200 shares) ($252 profit before fees)

3:19PM - (M) General Electric (GE) looked like it caught some support while the Futures looked like they were starting an uptrend. There was some great support on the bid, so I went long 10,000 shares. Just then, the Futures ripped up big time. I got out of my position as follows: 3-cent winner (5000 shares), 4-cent winner (5000 shares) ($350 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
10:04AM - (M) AT&T (T) and the Futures were uptrending and when some resistance broke, I went long 10,000 shares. The Futures continued ripping up and AT&T went up a few cents. I gave this position more time in the hopes of catching more profits, but I held too long. Prices started falling back down, so I got out of my position as follows: 3-cent winner (900 shares), 2-cent loser (2000 shares), 3-cent loser (800 shares), 4-cent loser (2000 shares), 5-cent loser (200 shares), 6-cent loser (3300 shares) ($341 loser before fees)

• I've always been the type of trader that takes his profit too soon, but in this case, I was trying to practice patience (in other words, I was trying to be more greedy), and I ended up taking a big loser
• I could have had a 4-cent winner on 10,000 shares ($400 winner!), but I decided to hold on a little longer
• I think I have to learn to hold on to a loser a bit longer and to give a trade more time to become profitable; this went as bad as a 6-cent loser, but it quickly rebounded and would have been a profitable trade had I waited a minute longer

10:56AM - (M) Hewlett Packard (HPQ) was flat while the Futures were also flat. I went long 5000 shares when I saw some size on the ask break. HPQ didn't go anywhere and I had to get out for a 2-cent loser ($100 loser before fees)

• Not a very good trade on my part...I guess I was still in my aggressive mode and just tried to hit anything that looked like it might go somewhere
• there was no trend in both the stock and the Futures...so this trade should not have happened.
• This trade was also part of frustration...was fairly bored because the markets were not going anywhere and neither were very many stocks
  

Slow And Steady Deflation (Fri Jul 28 Results)

Gross: +$665.94
Net: +$488.69
Loss From Top: $150.62
Trades: 106
Shares Traded: 159730

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
AT&T (T): +$200.51
Bank of America (BAC): +$172.09
Motorola (MOT): +$106.40
Exxon Mobile (XOM): +$104.38
Chesapeake Energy (CHK): -$2.37
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): -$14.58
Walmart (WMT): -$26.38
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): -$51.36

On Friday the markets staged another big day gaining more than 100 points on the Dow and up 1.2% on the S&P 500.

The morning action on Friday was great - big strong moves to the upside, but the afternoon action was something I cared little for.

I really hate days in which the bulk of the moves occur in the morning, and when the afternoon hang on to those gains (or losses) on the day, but moves little in either direction.

On Friday, we were basically flatlining starting from 11AM till close. I was very conscious of this fact, so I spent the entire afternoon putting on small positions and trying to scalp for a penny or two here and there.

However, since the markets were acting like they were, I was up a bit over $600 by 11AM, but I slowly lost my profits and ended up losing about $150 during the course of the afternoon (my loss from top).

I was very glad I held back and didn't put on any really big positions in the afternoon (otherwise I would have lost a lot more).

No good trades and no bad trades on Friday. This was definitely not the result I'm looking for and I didn't get much cooperation from the markets.

It's pretty clear that I will not be able to reach any of my goals this month (break $10,000 on the month, have 10 $1000+ days). We've only got one more day in the month of July (Monday).

Next month, I start aggressive and we'll go from there to see if I can maintain it. Like I've said before, I love the beginning of the month because I can be aggressive and not worry too much if I happen to lose money (because I know I have the rest of the month to try to make it back).

Good Trades
None.

Bad Trades
None.

It's All About Focus (Or Lack Thereof)

Gross: +$1,084.06
Net: +$908.79
Loss From Top: 0
Trades: 100
Shares Traded: 190200

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
AT&T (T): +$667.08
Walmart (WMT): +$108.64
Exxon Mobile (XOM): +$56.53
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$58.02
Motorola (MOT): +$79.49
Bank of America (BAC): -$60.99

Today I decided to focus on a core list of stocks so that I could focus on what was going on in these stocks and I could have a better feel for the price action.

Usually when I trade, I'm usually flipping my Level 2 screens between 10 to 12 stocks which I think it way too much. I think it's because of this, I don't have any focus on any particular stock and I'm not too sure what the price action had been during the day.

Lately, AT&T (T) has provided great opportunities and I decided to make this stock my central focus for today...and it didn't disappoint.

I initially decided to focus on T, WMT, XOM, HPQ, and BAC. During the course of the morning, I didn't like the price action on BAC, so I decided to switch it to MOT.

I also had to force myself not to trade during market lulls and I'm glad I was able to resist the temptation to trade when the markets were not trending.

I'm going to start playing around with trading 20,000 and 30,000 shares at a time fairly soon and hopefully start making some real money.

Good Trades
9:43AM - (M) AT&T (T) was uptrending and so were the Futures. Some size broke on the offer so I went long 6600 shares. I followed it up and got out as follows: 2-cent winner (2300 shares), 7-cent winner (4300 shares) ($347 profit before fees)

10:26AM - (M) AT&T (T) was uptrending while the Futures were falling slightly. Since AT&T was looking so strong, I decided to go long 5000 shares when a price level broke. AT&T kept going up and I got my entire position out for a 4-cent winner ($200 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
9:34AM - (M) AT&T (T) had just opened and the Futures started moving up. I saw some size on the offer break, so I went long 5000 shares. Well, AT&T started going down, so I got my position out for a 2-cent loser ($100 loser before fees)

• I think this trade was put on a little too early and the price action during the first few minutes were not very definitive
• I took a chance on this trade...unfortunately it just didn't work out

11:32AM - (M) AT&T (T) was uptrending while the Futures were slightly uptrending. I went long 5000 shares when I thought AT&T was going to break out of a trading range. Unfortunately prices came back down so I got out for a 2-cent loser ($100 loss before fees)

• Again, I took a chance, but it didn't work out this time
• I should have waited until AT&T was absolutely clear of the trading range before putting on a position
  

No Excuses Today

Gross: +$241.39
Net: +$45.98
Loss From Top: $194.57
Trades: 96
Shares Traded: 186254

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
AT&T (T): +$200.35
Exxon Mobile (XOM): +$93.95
Motorola (MOT): +$2.14
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): -$7.31
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): -$11.76
Bank of America (BAC): -$44.94
Walmart (WMT): -$63.63
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): -$122.80

This morning I was told by the branch manager that he had increased my buying power to $900,000 (from $500,000) and that he set the maximum number of shares I can trade to no limit.

This was great news as I felt that he entrusted me with more responsibility.

But I think it was because of this news that I felt I needed to prove something to the branch manager (and I was hoping to pull off a great day).

The morning provided sooo many great opportunities, however I was a little too slow and I was not able to get shares when I wanted them.

One of the greatest opportunities this morning occurred on AT&T (T). AT&T opened and was trending upwards strongly. It reached a resistance level at $28.95 with a little over 600 size on the offer. I really felt that that level was going to break, so with my new found buying power and no cap limit on the number of shares I can trade, I tried to go long 20,000 shares at $28.95. Unfortunately I was a little too slow and I missed it!

That trade would have made my day! As soon at that level broke, AT&T exploded up by 10 cents and continued going up non-stop for at least 25 cents! Going into the trade, I told myself I would hold this position for as long as I could. If I had taken 25-cents on 20,000 shares, that would have been $5000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the rest of the morning I was fuming mad! As the morning progressed, I missed opportunities on HPQ, MOT, and XOM because I was a little too slow and never got filled! The HPQ trade would have been at least a $400 trade, the MOT at least $500 and the XOM at least $500!

When the morning rolled into lunch time, I was extremely pissed off. All the right calls, just got no fills.

From that point on, it was all downhill from there. Lots of bone-head trades so I was lucky I didn't lose money today.

But in all honesty, I could have gotten filled if there wasn't that split second hesitation and many of the losing trades should not have occurred. It was a combination of pressure (from me trying to prove to the branch manager that his decision to increase my buying power was a good one), and from just being angry that I missed so many opportunities (this had me jumping into bad positions because I was afraid I was going to miss another great move).


Good Trades
None (though the $5000 trade on AT&T would have been a huge boost to my ego)

Bad Trades
10:32AM - (M) Hewlett Packard (HPQ) was uptrending but appeared to be topping while the Futures were slightly uptrending. I went long 5000 shares when I saw some size break on the ask. Just then, the Futures started falling and so did HPQ. I got out as follows: 1-cent loser (500 shares), 2-cent loser (2100 shares), 3-cent loser (2400 shares) ($119 loser before fees)

• From the chart patterns I was seeing at the time, I should have been cautious with this trade...it was starting to look like HPQ could no longer move up
• I should have reduced my share size because I didn't really have a good feeling for this trade
• This was one of those trades in which I didn't want to miss another big move in the markets, and I kind of jumped the gun on this one
  

2:00PM - (M) Walmart (WMT) was downtrending and the Futures were also downtrending. The Futures started tanking hard so I put in an order to go short 4000 shares. From the Level 2, it looked like I wasn't going to get the shares, so I put in another order to go short 4000 shares on Island (an ECN). The Futures continued to tank hard, but somehow I was starting to get filled on my shorts. I started feeling uneasy so I tried to cancel all my outstanding orders. I was too slow in cancelling, so in all, I was short 6800 shares. Well, there was a reason for feeling uneasy! WMT started going up. I got out as follows: 1-cent loser (2000 shares), 2-cent loser (3800 shares), 3-cent loser (1000 shares) ($126 loser before fees)

• All day WMT was not behaving very well and I saw something similar to the above trade happen several times during the course of the day where the Futures would make a big move, but WMT wouldn't
• I really should have thought twice before placing two orders on this trade
  

...A Late Start...And No Chart....Makes A Trader...Fall Apart

Gross: -$564.79
Net: -$651.91
Loss From Top: $727.76
Trades: 42
Shares Traded: 90200

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Exxon Mobile (XOM): +$7.49
Bell South (BLS): -$16.96
Corning (GLW): -$21.16
AT&T (T): -$55.88
JP Morgan (JPM): -$127.56
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): -$217.43
General Electric (GE): -$220.38

Holy crap! I've never seen soooo much red before!

Our system was still down this morning (from yesterday's problems) and we didn't get to start trading until about 11AM. But by that time, we missed a fantastic movement in the overall markets! A huge rally, followed by a huge tank!

When we finally came back online, all we got were choppy markets that didn't go anywhere. Worst of all, I had to leave an hour early (for a dentist appointment), and missed a gigantic rally after I left!

In other words, I only got to trade during the worst time of the day to trade!

When we were given word that the system was back up, I didn't feel comfortable trading because we couldn't see how the markets moved during the first hour and a half. Worse yet, our charts were not working properly until about 12PM. I had no idea what I was doing and why I was putting on positions (I had no idea where the trends were).

And I have never been tricked so many times by the Level 2. So many times big sizes were showing up on the bid on several levels...once I got long, the sizes disappeared and then appeared on the ask.

This just didn't happen on one stock...this happened over and over again on several stocks during the 11AM - 3PM timeframe.

Never before have I ever felt so useless! Literally every trade I put on went against me! If I had followed my trading rules, I probably would have only put on one or two trades today.

However since we missed most of the morning and I knew I had to leave early, I felt as though I had to do something...but that was a mistake as I lost a lot of money and I was not able to put on any good profitable trades.

How pathetic it is that Exxon Mobile (XOM) was the most profitable stock today and I only made a little more than $7 on it!

Definitely a terrible day...and so, here are the things I've learned (or need to do) from today's events:

• Never ever trust what you see on the Level 2; you must use the charts to confirm the direction of the trade and you must use the Futures as the momentum for your trade
• Feel under pressure? Don't worry about it...today I knew I missed some great action in the morning and I knew I had to leave early, so the pressure for me to make money was high, which is never good
• Never put on huge positions when you are flying blind and you have no idea of what the current situation is; today I put on a huge position without really feeling how the markets are reacting and without charts (I had no idea what the overall trend was!)
• If the conditions are not ideal for trading, then don't trade! Even if it means you don't trade at all during the day, it surely beats losing money! Today I probably would have only put on 2 trades for the whole day because the Futures were not trending in any direction between 11AM - 3PM

I'm also feeling that I shouldn't put any monetary targets or goals for the month because this just adds to the pressure. Instead, my goals should be to put on the best trades that have high probability for profitability everyday. With those goals in mind, money is surely to follow.

For now, let's just get this somewhat crappy month out of the way so that we can get August underway.

Good Trades
Sadly, none

Bad Trades
11:09AM - (M) I had no idea what General Electric (GE) was doing and I didn't really know which direction the Futures were trending. I just saw lots of green prints on the Futures and decided to go long 10,000 shares as I saw some big size show up on the bid. I ended up getting out as follows when the support level broke: 1-cent loser (5000 shares), 2-cent loser (5000 shares) ($150 loser before fees)

• Just wrong, wrong, wrong! No charts! Unsure of the direction of the trend! Trusted what I saw on the Level 2 without other considerations! Position size was too big given I had no idea what I was doing!?!?!?!

11:19AM - (M) Absolutely no clue as to which direction Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was going and I *think* the Futures were going down. I tried to go short 4000 shares when I saw some size on the bid break. I got partially filled for 3400 shares and I cancelled the balance of the order. I don't know what happened, but somehow prices on AMD just went the other direction. I got the entire position out for a 6-cent loser ($204 loser before fees)

• For the same reasons as the trade before...I had no idea or clue as to what was going on and I trusted what I saw on the Level 2

1:20PM - (M) JP Morgan was uptrending slightly and the Futures were moving up slightly. I saw lots of huge size appear on the bid on several levels (there were 2 levels with 100+ size on the bid and one level with 200+ size on the bid). I quickly went long 3000 shares. Well, once I was long, all the sizes on the bid disappeared and prices fell back. Worse yet, the big sizes now appeared on the ask, so I quickly got the entire position out for a 4-cent loser ($120 loser before fees)

• This kind of thing happened for the remainder of the afternoon and I kept getting suckered into getting into a position merely on what I saw on the Level 2
• I was surprised that these size games were played on many stocks in the afternoon (T, GE, AMD, GLW, JPM, and BLS)
• I guess it serves me right for falling for the same trick over and over again
  

Closing Up Shop Early

Gross: +$567.40
Net: +$414.94
Loss From Top: $239.97
Trades: 73
Shares Traded: 151280

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Bank of America (BAC): +$293.03
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): +$243.90
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$131.40
General Electric (GE): -$19.20
Walmart (WMT): -$22.57
AT&T (T): -$23.83
Exxon Mobile (XOM): -$49.32
Motorola (MOT): -$138.41

Arrrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhh!

The execution server went down this afternoon and they were not able to get it back up and running and told us all to go home. Arrrghhh!

After a great morning, I made some stupid mistakes around lunch hour and lost over $200. I was preparing to make it all back and more in the afternoon....but no luck....we were down company wide.

Today I really tried to push myself to my limits and it seemed to work in the short run. I really tried to increase the sizes of my positions and really waited as long as I could before banking profits on my winners.

Two bad trades and one good trade today. I slowly began losing money during the lunch "dead zone" and I was so upset that our company halted trading for the rest of the day (I didn't get a chance to make my money back).

Ohhhhhh wellllll.....what is one to do?

Good Trades
10:49AM - (M) Bank of America (BAC) and the Futures were uptrending. BAC had just broken big resistance at the $50.48 level (there was over 2000 size on the ask) and it approached an even bigger resistance level at $50.50 (there was over 4000 size on the ask). When it started to break, I went long 8000 shares. I got out as follows: 3-cent winner (6000 shares), 4-cent winner (1000 shares), 5-cent winner (1000 shares) ($270 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
10:03AM - (T) Motorola (MOT) was uptrending while the Futures were pulling back. I went long 10,000 shares when I saw an intraday high break, but prices rolled back down. I got out as follows: 1-cent loser (900 shares), 2-cent loser (3000 shares), 3-cent loser (5000 shares), 4-cent loser (1100 shares) ($263 loser before fees)

• This was meant to be a trend trade, but for some reason I decided to get in with a hefty position
• The Futures were not confirming the direction of Motorola and hence I shouldn't have traded it at all

11:50AM - (M) AT&T (T) was uptrending while the Futures were uptrending. I went long 5000 shares shortly after the Futures had finished ripping up. The Futures pulled back and I was forced from my position and got out as follows: 1-cent loser (900 shares), 3-cent loser (3700 shares), 4-cent loser (400 shares) ($136 loser before fees)

• I wasn't really paying attention when I put on this trade - I simply saw something on the level 2 and just went ahead and put the trade on without looking at the charts
• I shouldn't have put on a position after the Futures had finished it's move up
  

Jumping Ship Too Early (Fri Jul 21 Results)

Gross: +$981.67
Net: +$845.25
Loss From Top: 0
Trades: 93
Shares Traded: 140506

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$623.75
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): +$358.34
Motorola (MOT): +$100.75
AT&T (T): +$28.16
Corning (GLW): +$23.31
Exxon Mobile (XOM): +$9.85
Walmart (WMT): -$15.34
JP Morgan (JPM): -$130.78
Home Depot (HD): -$152.80

I started option expiration Friday on the wrong foot, but during the rest of the day, I managed to make a comeback, even though I left the day early.

On the very first trade of the day, I lost close to $200 on a trade on Home Depot (HD) that was put on way too early (considering how volatile it was). But I paced myself and I tried to implement my new strategies and by the end of the day, I came out on top.

However, I found that whenever I tried to get in on a trend trade (one in which I intend to hold for a longer period of time - at least 5 minutes), I was always too quick to exit a good trade. In other words, I kept jumping ship way too early. Everytime I saw the slightest bump or obstacle standing in the way of my trend trades, I was quick to exit an otherwise great position.

As a result, I didn't take many big winners (though I did take many $100+ profitable trades).
Both HPQ and AMD were very profitable for me on Friday. HPQ had some very nice movements that were fairly easy to pick up and I had a great time shorting AMD all day

I still found myself reluctant to put on bigger position sizes as well. So for next week, those are the two things I will work on: holding on to those trend trades and using bigger share sizes.

Only one good trade versus one bad trade.

Good Trades
10:20AM - (M) Hewlett Packard (HPQ) and the Futures were uptrending. There was some big resistance at the $30.50 level that was breaking and at the same time, the Futures were popping up, so I quickly went long 4000 shares. As soon as the $30.50 level broke, HPQ surged up and in less than 10 seconds I took a huge profit. I got out as follows: 10-cent winner (2100 shares), 15-cent winner (1900 shares) ($495 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
9:36AM - (M) Home Depot (HD) opened and was very volatile while the Futures were tanking. The Futures started tanking some more, so I went short 2000 shares. HD was extremely volatile and as soon as I got into this position, prices went against me almost 15-cents!!! Prices were moving back and forth so rapidly, I got out when I could and ended up exiting as follows: 7-cent loser (300 shares), 9-cent loser (1700 shares) ($174 loser before fees)

• HD was so volatile on option expiration Friday that I should have stayed away from this stock (especially if you look at an intraday chart of HD during the first 30 minutes of the trading day)
• I shouldn't have trusted what I saw on the Level 2 during this volatile period...I saw some size break on the bid and so I decided to go short
  

The Trend, The Bounce, And The Momentum

Gross: +$653.60
Net: +$537.10
Loss From Top: 0
Trades: 93
Shares Traded: 124200

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Walmart (WMT): +$445.74
AT&T (T): +$262.26
Corning (GLW): +$6.89
Ford (F): -$7.39
Home Depot (HD): -$7.96
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): -$24.58
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): -$36.15
Exxon Mobile (XOM): -$101.69

Today I tried out a few new strategies and implemented a few new rules I added last night. I used smaller share sizes (for testing purposes) and the results seemed fairly positive. I will continue to practice some of the new features of my trading strategy and hope I can begin implementing them with some decent position sizes soon.

I spent a lot of time last night re-organizing my trading strategies and divided my entry strategies into three categories: the trend trade, the bounce trade, and the momentum trade.

Trend trades will be those in which I hold for longer periods of time and basically trade with the trend. I will give these trades a wider stop-loss (maximum of a 5-cent loser) and will try to be patient with these positions. I will start the position off with small size and add more shares if the position continues to look promising.

Bounce trades will be those that will be in the opposite direction of a hard move made by a stock in the hopes of catching a bounce. Hold times for these positions will be fast and have a profit target of a few cents. Position sizes for these trades will be small.

Momentum trades will be my usual bread and butter trades in which I react off the movements of the Futures and where I'll attempt to hit size in order to get into a position. These position sizes will be larger and hold times will vary depending on where the Futures or the stock takes it.

From now on when I highlight my good and bad trades, I will denote them using (T) for trend trade, (B) for bounce trade, and (M) for momentum trade.

If I've got time on the weekend, I'll update the site so that terms and definitions will be available for viewing on the right side of this blog page.

Since I used lots of smaller size, I have no good trades nor any bad trades to review today (just lots of profitable trades under $200). Many of the trades I put on today involved only 1000 or 2000 shares.

Tomorrow I'll up my share size when implementing some of my new strategies and with luck there'll be stuff to review.

Good Trades
None.

Bad Trades
None

Looks Like It's "That Time Of The Month" Again...

Gross: +$151.44
Net: +$10.20
Loss From Top: $159.19
Trades: 78
Shares Traded: 132784

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Bank of America (BAC): +$201.68
Walmart (WMT): +$106.47
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): +$60.42
Motorola (MOT): +$56.68
Exxon Mobile (XOM): +$54.30
AT&T (T): +$18.20
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): -$1.93
Corning (GLW): -$89.33
Micron Tech (MU): -$157.89
Home Depot (HD): -$238.41

I've noticed that every month so far in my trading career, I always seem to go through a "rough" patch that lasts about 2 or 3 days in which I'm either negative or where I make very little.

And I've noticed that this seems to re-occur usually during the middle of the month. I can certainly understand why. At the beginning of the month, I'm usually all hyped up and I try to get into the full swing of things with the goal of making it a great month. All my strategies and rules are laid out and I swear to obey them.

But as time rolls along, I start to get sloppy and I start to lose focus. When "that time of the month" rolls around, I'll start forgetting some of my rules, I get emotionally wrapped up in my trades, and my temper often flairs up. When I run into this rough patch, it forces me to wake up and to realize the mistakes I've been making.

Finally when we get near the end of the month, I start getting conservative as I try to preserve as much profits as I possibly can.

With yesterday's and today's poor performance, you can see that "that time of the month" has come right on schedule (I apologize to all my female readers out there....but it seemed like the perfect way to describe what I'm going through).

I'm extremely upset at the way the past two trading days have gone. I'm going to spend the whole night tonight reviewing, updating, re-organizing, and adding to my trading strategies and rules. I believe that if I'm going to evolve into a great trader, I must include longer-term trading strategies (half an hour or more hold times). It's also a great opportunity for me to do my monthly review of my strategies (I haven't done so in almost two months).

Today was a great day if you were long. All the major indices were up almost 2%, however I had trouble finding those great longs. I had 3 bad trades today, all of which were longs and all of which would have turned out to be a great trade if I had the patience.

Tonight when I review my trading strategies, I'm going to widen my stop loss, especially if there is an obvious trend. I'm thinking that I should increase my stop loss from 3-cents to 5-cents. There will be, of course, the odd trade in which I'll try to get out earlier, but I must practice patience in getting out of my trades.

I really hope that today was my last day of my trading "funk" and I hope tomorrow I can get back on track.

Good Trades
10:03AM - Bank of America (BAC) was uptrending while the Futures were also uptrending. There was huge size on the offer at $49.27 (there was over 1500 size). The Futures ripped up, so I went long 5000 shares when I saw that big buy orders were hitting the huge size. I got out as follows: even (100 shares), 1-cent winner (900 shares), 4-cent winner (400 shares), 5-cent winner (1600 shares), 6-cent winner (700 shares), 11-cent winner (100 shares), 13-cent winner (1200 shares) ($314 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
9:33AM - Bank of America (BAC) was moving up and the Futures were also moving up. I went long 3000 shares when I saw some size break, but as soon as I got long, there was a flurry of sell orders that hit the Level 2. I ended up getting out as follows: 3-cent loser (2000 shares), 4-cent loser (1000 shares) ($100 loser before fees)

• I had a lack of patience here...if I had held it for a split second longer, BAC would have popped right back up
• It also might have been a little too early into the trading day to put on a trade.

11:02AM - Micron Tech (MU) was fairly flat while the Futures were moving up. There was big size on the bid and big size on the offer, so when the offer looked like it was going to break, I went long 6000 shares). MU just wiggled around and even though the Futures ripped up, MU didn't go anywhere. MU then started falling and I got out as follows: 1-cent loser (1100 shares), 2-cent loser (1000 shares), 3-cent loser (3900 shares) ($148 loser before fees)

• I should have known MU wasn't going to go anywhere...it's chart was flattening out and it appeared to be heading into a dead zone (where prices don't move)
• I was watching MU for the better part of the morning and should have known that it was going to behave the way it did (where size looks like it breaks, moves a little, but then size re-appears and pushes prices back down)

1:14PM - Home Depot (HD) was uptrending and so were the Futures. Home Depot looked like it was going to break the $34.00 level, so I went long 4000 shares. The level at $34 initially didn't break, so I decided to hold on to the position because the Futures were uptrending. However, HD kept falling and I finally gave in and exited my entire position for a 4-cent loser ($160 loser before fees)

• This trade would have been fantastic had I held it for a little long...the worst I would have seen in my blotter would have been a 4-cent loser
• This trade is the reason why I am now going to implement a 5-cent stop loss, but only if the stock and the Futures are clearly trending

My New Unlucky Charm: Citigroup

Gross: -$334.60
Net: -$524.56
Loss From Top: $860.70
Trades: 108
Shares Traded: 200800

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Motorola (MOT): +$148.36
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): +$111.32
Walmart (WMT): +$51.75
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$12.13
Home Depot (HD): -$16.40
Coca-Cola (KO): -$36.83
AT&T (T): -$261.36
Citigroup (C): -$533.83

Tsk tsk...I thought I was smarter than this...some mental mistakes and two bad trades later and this is the result.

I managed to survive the better part of today's market "jiggle-fest", but late in the afternoon I put on a bad trade which was followed up by several losing trades and I felt myself sinking deeper and deeper in the red.

Last week I described my problems I've been having with Citigroup (C) , and today it really let me have it. So far this month, I've traded it on 7 trading days and lost money on it on 6 of the trading days.

I think I know what the problem is. Since Citigroup adheres to the uptick rule, I cannot short it as easily as some of the other stocks. As a result, I've mainly been going long on it. The problem is that Citigroup has been beaten up the last several trading days and has been tanking really hard. As a result, I've been longing a stock that everyone is selling.

Perhaps I should only trade Citigroup when it's longer-term trend is up so that I'm not going against the grain. For now, I'm going to avoid trading this stock until it's overall trend changes.

I took two big hits (bad trades) today, one on AT&T (T) in which I lost $240 on it and another on Citigroup in which I took a $428 loser on it late in the afternoon. Those two trades alone basically shot my whole day down.

After I took that $428 loser on Citigroup, it shook me up a little and as a result I was really hesitant and when I did get into a position, I ended up losing more money.

I really think that I should be in a position in which these kind of days should not happen any more. I understand that trading will involve losing days and I wouldn't mind if I lost $100 or $200, but today's result is totally unacceptable.

That big losing trade on Citigroup was a stupid trade to get into in the first place and could have been easily avoided. I've really got to smarten up because I cannot keep having these kind of pathetic days.

What did I learn today? Here are just some of the things:

1. Never put in a big order higher than the current bid/ask even if the Futures are ripping/tanking in that direction (this was the mistake I made on Citigroup)
2. Just because you missed a move in a stock it doesn't mean you have to get in early to hopefully catch the next move (another mistake on the same Citigroup trade)
3. Watch your position size - some of my positions today were a little too big considering the circumstances
4. If you are having problems trading a stock, leave it alone for at least 2 weeks (I should have done this on Citigroup; last week I had already identified my problems with Citigroup...today I shouldn't have even traded it)
5. On stocks that adhere to the uptick rule, I should only trade it if the stock's longer-term trend is up
   

Needless to say, I've learned my lessons today (the painful way).

Good Trades
9:33AM - Motorola (MOT) and the Futures were moving up. Motorola exhibited strength and when it broke some size on the offer, I went long 5000 shares. I got out as follows: 5-cent winner (2600 shares), 6-cent winner (1000 shares), 7-cent winner (1400 shares) ($288 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
12:52PM - AT&T (T) was uptrending while the Futures were slightly uptrending. When some size broke on the offer, I went long 10,000 shares. AT&T came falling back down so I got out as follows: 1-cent loser (2500 shares), 2-cent loser (2800 shares), 3-cent loser (2900 shares), 4-cent loser (1800 shares) ($240 loser before fees)

• What was I thinking going long 10,000 shares during the lunch hour? I should have used 5000 or less
• Aside from the size of the position, everything else seemed to look good on this one

2:38PM - Citigroup (C) was uptrending while the Futures were ripping up hard. I initially missed a great move to the upside on Citi when the Futures exploded to the upside. I kept watching Citi and I saw some large size on the offer about two cents above the current offer. Well the Futures exploded upwards again and I was thinking that I didn't want to miss the next move up, so I put in an order to get long 8000 shares two cent above the current offer (hoping to hit the size). Well I was filled for all 8000 shares two cents above the best offer, so I waited a bit for more of a Futures move. Well, the Futures exploded up again, but Citigroup moved down!!! I got out as follows: 3-cent loser (200 shares), 4-cent loser (1400 shares), 5-cent loser (1800 shares), 6-cent loser (4600 shares) ($428 loser before fees)

• I was over-anxious because I missed a great move just moments before when the Futures ripped up, and so I got in too early not wanting to miss the next move....well I got a move alright...in the wrong direction!
• I broke one of my trading rules in that I should never put in an order to hit size if it is not the best bid/offer, as a result, as soon as I was long 8000 shares, I was looking at a $160 loser
• I should have avoided trading Citigroup altogether...I was watching it all day and found that it's movements were not very good; it did just have the one great move to the upside (the one I missed), but aside from that, I found that Citi has been trading very sloppily lately
  

As Flat As Flat Can Be

Gross: +$743.80
Net: +$669.03
Loss From Top: 0
Trades: 61
Shares Traded: 80876

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Walmart (WMT): +$296.51
AT&T (T): +$271.49
Home Depot (HD): +$29.14
Bank of America (BAC): +$27.31
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$26.37
JP Morgan (JPM): +$18.24
Corning (GLW): +$13.00
Citigroup (C): -$13.05

I cannot believe how unbelievably flat the markets were this afternoon! The morning market action was great - several swings to the up and downside, but once 11AM rolled around, nothing...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING was happening in the markets until about 3:30PM.

It was kind of a good thing the execution server went down during part of the market flatness. I would have probably lost money during this time and I'm just thankful that downtime prevented me from doing so.

I was looking forward to the possibility of another $1000+ day today as I was up about $600 by 11AM. Unfortunately the overall markets did not cooperate and I spent the whole afternoon waiting...

Oh well...no complaints here...it just that it's almost certain that I will not be able to reach my goal of ten $1000+ days. Perhaps I should switch it around a bit and instead try to obtain a $2000+ day...Hrmmmmm.....we'll see what happens.

Today my main focus was on patience in riding winners. I tried to really resist the temptation to jump out of a trade that was working for me. Tomorrow I'll continue to practice this and hopefully it will soon become second nature to me.

There were two good trades today versus no bad trades.

Good Trades
10:32AM - Walmart (WMT) was downtrending as were the Futures. A level broke on the bid so I went short 5000 shares. I rode this position for as long as I could and there was a brief moment in time in which I thought this position was going to go against me, which is why I got some of my shares out for evens. I got out as follows: evens (500 shares), 1-cent winner (1900 shares), 2-cent winner (600 shares), 8-cent winner (900 shares), 10-cent winner (1000 shares), 14-cent winner (100 shares) ($217 profit before fees)

10:58AM - AT&T (T) was starting an uptrend while the Futures were curving up into an uptrend. A level broke on the offer, so I tried to get long 10,000 shares, but only got partially filled for 5600 shares long. I rode this position out as long as I could and got the entire position out for a 4-cent winner ($224 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
None

A Complete Waste Of Time (Fri Jul 14 Results)

Gross: +$284.70
Net: +$182.66
Loss From Top: $165.37
Trades: 45
Shares Traded: 98700

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Home Depot (HD): +$231.97
Motorola (MOT): +$59.48
Corning (GLW): +$33.34
Walmart (WMT): +$31.23
Bank of America (BAC): -$9.11
Micron Tech (MU): -$21.58
General Electric (GE): -$142.67

I felt as though Friday was a complete waste of my time. Yes, the markets were down quite a bit, but if you look at the overall action, there was nothing I could have worked off of.

All day, everything just giggled and wiggled around without going in any particular direction and I just spent most of the day waiting for the markets to pick a direction to trend in. You can see from the number of trades I put on that I was fairly inactive for most of the day.

I'm just glad I refrained from putting on many positions because I know for a fact that I would have had a negative day on Friday had I put on trades that I "almost" put on.

I am also finding that lately I haven't been able to make money on the thick stocks like GE, MOT, and MU like I used to. What could be going wrong? Perhaps I am getting fooled by the sizes on the Level 2 of these stocks and maybe it's because of the size of some of my positions.

I know I lack patience and these thicker stocks usually move at a snail's pace, so perhaps I'm jumping ship a little too early on these stocks. I'll have to try to figure it out...

I'm getting the feeling that my money-makers are growing thin...I haven't been able to make money on Citigroup and now the thick stocks?? I really must figure this out.

Because of the market action on Friday, I wasn't able to make one good trade, but there was one bad trade.

Good Trades
Sadly, none

Bad Trades
9:50AM - General Electric (GE) was turning upwards while the Futures were uptrending. I saw a level break so I went long 10,000 shares. The position didn't go anywhere and the Futures began pulling back, so I got my entire position out for a 1-cent loser ($100 loser before fees)

• I took a risk, and this particular trade just didn't work out...the Futures were all over the place and never really trended strongly in the up direction
• No much else to say about this trade...some trades work out, some don't
  

Tank-O-Rama

Gross: +$1,189.36
Net: +$1,044.17
Loss From Top: $13.07
Trades: 90
Shares Traded: 125800

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Walmart (WMT): +$711.62
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$234.27
Motorola (MOT): +$141.81
Home Depot (HD): +$59.08
Corning (GLW): +$44.34
Bank of America (BAC): +$15.02
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): -$14.90
General Electric (GE): -$38.13
Citigroup (C): -$108.94

It was another blood red day on Wall Street as a number of concerns dragged everything down. Today the markets just kept tanking...and tanking...and tanking!

Oh well...as long as the market moves, I'll be happy!

Walmart (WMT) continues to be a star so far this month and today is no different. So far, I've made close to $2700 on this stock alone! Walmart has been taking a serious beating the last little while and it has been a very profitable short.

And what the hell is wrong with Citigroup (C)? This stock used to be one of my favorites but so far this month I haven't been able to make a dime on it? What gives? It's movements intraday have been so horrible lately and when I do take a position, I always seem to lose money. Perhaps I should just stay away from this stock for the next little while.

There were two things that I could have improved upon today: 1) I should have used bigger share size when putting on some of my positions and 2) I should have had more patience when holding some of my winners.

If these two things were done, I should have easily made over $2000 today.

Eventually I'll get there....eventually.

One bad trade versus one good trade today. There were alot of near $200 trade put in the bank as well.

At least today I was able to break $1000...I was starting to get worried for a bit there....

Good Trades
9:52AM - Walmart (WMT) was moving down hard as were the Futures. Walmart (WMT) reached the $44.00 level that had about 800 size on the bid. The Futures then tanked really hard, so I went short 5000 shares at $44.00. It broke and the next thing I knew, I was looking at a 10-cent winner. I got out as follows: 10-cent winner (3000 shares), 11-cent winner (2000 shares) ($520 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
10:08AM - Citigroup (C) was turning up into an uptrend while the Futures were also starting to curve upwards. The Futures popped upwards so I went long 4000 shares. Citigroup (C) moved up 1-cent, then came back down. I got out as follows: 1-cent winner (100 shares), 2-cent loser (2200 shares), 3-cent loser (1700 shares) ($102 loser before fees)

• For the last little while, Citigroup as left a bad taste in my mouth and this is an example of why
• I'll temporarily put Citigroup on my "Do Not Trade" list until it's price movement get better
  

A Day Not Worth Writing About

Gross: +$485.35
Net: +$298.29
Loss From Top: $219.33
Trades: 96
Shares Traded: 191002

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
AT&T (T): +$226.14
Walmart (WMT): +$212.88
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$20.45
Home Depot (HD): +$17.04
Citigroup (C): +$11.36
JP Morgan (JPM): -$19.65
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): -$33.66
Exxon Mobile (XOM): -$34.60
Corning (GLW): -$101.66

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh....well. A frustratingly difficult day to trade today and I took a big hit near the end of the day and I wasn't able to recover.

Today I was more daring in terms of share size, but I think this caused more problems than I'd like. I found myself unable to fully exit a losing position and I ended up having to chase prices (and making losses even worse).

There were lots of great moves to the downside today. Unfortunately when the Futures were tanking, most stocks were not (most stocks that I observed tanked when the Futures rested or when Futures were going up!). Lots of unbelievable levels that never break (size gets hit, refills again, gets hit again, then reappears again).

Some of the worst price action I've seen in quite a while...What would happen is that when Futures started tanking, prices would move down, but then a huge buy order would come in and push prices upwards. When the Futures tanked again, the same thing would happen (and prices never seemed to go down).

If I had the patience, then maybe my trades would work out in the end, though I would probably have to stare a $500 loser for a while before prices go back my way (mainly because of the share size I'm using).

Ah well, there's always tomorrow. So far, I've blown 6 trading days without a single $1000+ day. Looks like I won't be able to reach my stated goal of having 10 trading days with $1000+ as I only have 3 "screw-up" days left.

Good Trades
11:06AM - AT&T (T) was uptrending while the Futures looked like it bottomed. The Futures started climbing back up and I saw an opportunity to get long. I went long 10,000 shares on AT&T and got my entire position out for a 4-cent winner ($400 winner before fees)

Bad Trades
10:39AM - Corning (GLW) and the Futures were downtrending. Corning reached the $21.00 level when the Futures started tanking hard. The level looked like it was going to break, so I went short 6000 shares. Corning initially moved 2-cents down, but then size re-appeared at $21.00 on the bid. I waited a bit to see if the level would break again. Then, the Futures started tanking hard again! The $21 was hit and looked like it would break, but then huge size showed up again at the $21! Arg! I got out as follows: 2-cent winner (1300 shares), 1-cent loser (1000 shares), 2-cent loser (2200 shares), 5-cent loser (1500 shares) ($103 loser before fees)

• It seems like I'm encountering more and more moves like this where everything seems perfect, but the stock just wouldn't cooperate.
• I was really pushing my limits with this stock as I used 6000 shares. Granted if this stock goes in your favour, it will really go in your favour. Unfortunately the reverse is true as well and I ended up having to chase this stock to get out of my position

3:15PM - AT&T (T) was flat while the Futures were rising slightly. The Futures popped up so I went long 10,000 shares. AT&T refused to budge on the initial rip of the Futures. I waited some more and then the Futures ripped up again. Again, AT&T refused to budge. A big seller then stepped in and I was forced from my position. I got out as follows: 1-cent winner (800 shares), even (300 shares), 1-cent loser (2800 shares), 3-cent loser (6100 shares) ($203 loser before fees)

• I should have known something was fishy when I saw the chart of AT&T...the Futures were moving up, but AT&T was flat (completely flat!)
• I had an opportunity to get my entire position out for a 1-cent winner, but I elected to wait...under the circumstances, I should have exited since the chart for AT&T looked "funny"

Afraid Of Losing Money

Gross: +$919.70
Net: +$707.61
Loss From Top: $29.61
Trades: 98
Shares Traded: 194994

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Home Depot (HD): +$277.28
AT&T (T): +$186.73
Micron Tech (MU): +$184.91
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$92.54
Walmart (WMT): +$20.82
Exxon Mobile (XOM): +$14.44
Bank of America (BAC): +$4.67
Citigroup (C): -$15.03
Corning (GLW): -$58.76

What a rally there was today starting at 1:30PM! The Dow rallied almost 100 points while the S&P Futures rallied up over 12 handles during the course of the afternoon!

That being said, I should have made a lot more than I did. There were at least 3 trades that I was in that could have made it a $1000+ day. Unfortunately, I was afraid....afraid of losing money.

Recently, I've been taking a peek at my net profit during the course of the day (just out of curiousity) and it was because of this that I got out of my positions too early and didn't ride my winners.

What happened was that if I saw I was just a little over $600, I would be so afraid that the next trade might be a loser and bump me back below $600. As a result, as soon as I saw a profit, I would quickly try to take it, and thus only taking 1 or 2-cent winners.

Considering the extent of the afternoon rally, I'm very disappointed at myself of missing out on so much free money.

Well, I've learned my lesson - I won't look at my net as often during the day (i.e. I won't look at it after every trade!) and hopefully it won't mess with my mind too much.

Today I was a little more daring in terms of share size and I tried to force myself out of my comfort zone when taking a position. It helped a bit and I was able to make a few good trades and several near-$200 profit trades.

There were 2 good trades versus 1 bad trade today.

I'm beginning to miss seeing a $1000+ day (I'm starting to yearn for one!). I really hope one comes soon if I want to reach my goals this month.

Looks like it's time to push myself a little harder the next little while. Gotta use good position size, gotta be willing to take some risks, gotta ride my winners longer and I've definitely must NOT be afraid of losing money!

Good Trades
12:07PM - Home Depot (HD) was downtrending all morning while the Futures were rather flat. Home Depot reached the $34.00 level when the level looked like it was going to break. I went short 6000 shares at $34.00. Once the level broke, all hell broke loose! The Level 2 became so messy with huge buy and huge sell orders being flung all over the place. Home Depot tanked straight down, the ripped straight back up! I managed to get most of my position out for a winner, but I had to chase my profit back up. I got out as follows: 6-cent loser (200 shares), 1-cent winner (1000 shares), 3-cent winner (500 shares), 4-cent winner (800 shares), 9-cent winner (2200 shares), 10-cent winner (1300 shares) ($373 profit before fees)

1:57PM - Micron Tech (MU) was uptrending while the Futures were in a middle of a massive rip up. A level broke on MU, so I went long 10,000 shares. I was "afraid of losing money", so I got out of my position prematurely. I got out as follows: even (2000 shares), 2-cent winner (4000 shares), 3-cent winner (4000 shares) ($200 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
10:32AM - Home Depot (HD) was downtrending while the Futures were downtrending. The Futures tanked really hard so I went short 4000 shares. The Futures continued tanking and all other stocks were tanking as well....except for Home Depot! The Futures tanked 2 handles down, but yet Home Depot was moving up! I was forced out of my position and had to get out as follows: 3-cent loser (3300 shares), 4-cent loser (700 shares) ($127 loser before fees)

• This was another case of the perfect setup, perfect criteria, and perfect entry...the only thing was that Home Depot didn't want to cooperate!
• Not much can be said here...this trade will work 9 times out of 10, but as I said before, trading will involve losers; as long as you can control your losses, you should still come out on top at the end of the day.
  

Lightning + Power Glitch = No Trade

Gross: +$354.17
Net: +$313.81
Loss From Top: 0
Trades: 38
Shares Traded: 35014

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Walmart (WMT): +$260.38
Corning (GLW): +$30.83
Exxon Mobile (XOM): +$27.49
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): +$4.99
Home Depot (HD): -$9.89

After an exhausting (but enjoyable) weekend, I came in today a little weary and tired. Add to it a thunderstormy and dark day, and you'd probably find it hard staying awake too.

The overall markets were down, but it moved down at such a snails pace, I really couldn't take much profit. Part of it is because I don't have patience, part of it is because of the overall market action (go down, then go up, then go down even further, then go back up).

Our trading day was cut short at around 1:50PM when there was lightning that struck nearby and the power quickly flickered off, then back on again in the office tower we're in. Well that was enough to screw up the entire system and they were not able to get it back up and running for the rest of the day.

Because of the market's movements in the morning and the afternoon being shot, there are no good trades nor any bad trades to report today.

I was kind of disappointed the day was cut short, but at the same time I was kind of glad...I got to get home early and rest up a bit.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Good Trades
None

Bad Trades
None

Too Chicken To Put On A "Real" Position

Gross: +$744.50
Net: +$611.45
Loss From Top: 0
Trades: 93
Shares Traded: 113300

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Walmart (WMT): +$446.15
Home Depot (HD): +$160.15
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): +$10.76
Motorola (MOT): +$6.92
Bank of America (BAC): -$1.11
General Motors (GM): -$11.41

Boy oh boy! Did I ever see a lot of smoke and mirrors today! Lots of tricks, fake sizes, price levels that never break, and just plain weird moves made by stocks today.

It was because of all these games being played that I never pulled enough courage to put on any real big positions. I was very cautious as I was always afraid someone was going to pull a rabbit out of a hat and pull a fast trick on me, and as a result, I never really felt confident for most of the day, and so I used smaller position sizes.

Walmart (WMT) was good for me again today. This stock has been taking a beating the last few days and has been a fairly good short.

Around 2:30PM, there was a nice move downwards in the overall markets, but unfortunately, almost all the stocks I was watching never really moved down during that time! The only thing that was a clear short was Walmart (WMT), since it had been also been downtrending with the Futures.

Although I missed my goal again today, I think one of the things I need to be is consistent. If I cannot make my goal of at least 10 days of $1000+, I'd still be happy as long as some consistency returns.

There were many $100 or so winners today. But because of all the trickery that was going on today, my mentality today was get in and get out fast (and so I didn't really let any winners run).

Anyways, I've had a long day and I'm nearly falling asleep as a write this, so I'll relax, enjoy the weekend, and get myself ready to do this all over again on Monday.

Good Trades
9:35AM - Walmart (WMT) and the Futures started the day downtrending. Walmart broke a price level, so I went short 4000 shares and got out as follows: 3-cent winner (1000 shares), 8-cent winner (200 shares), 9-cent winner (2800 shares) ($300 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
10:03AM - Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was uptrending while the Futures were falling. I was watching AMD when all of a sudden, I saw many big sell orders show up on the Level 2 that were several cents lower than the current bid. I just decided to throw out an order to go short 1000 shares since it looked like the next print would be several cents lower. Well I was filled short 1000 shares, but then the Level 2 got even messier...I saw several big buy orders suddenly show up. During the entire time, the specialist didn't fill anyone. The next thing I knew, the specialist put the next print several cents against me. I got out for a 10-cent loser. ($100 loser before fees)

• This whole situation was messy to begin with...I'm just glad I used only 1000 shares
• AMD was strong after gapping down in the morning...I should have been more cautious with this one

1:10PM - Walmart (WMT) and the Futures were tanking hard. There was some size on the bid at the $46.20 level. The Futures started tanking, so I went short 6000 shares at $46.20. That price level was unusually strong, even though all the size on the bid was filled. I waited even more to see if it would go down further. The Futures tanked again really hard but surprisingly, WMT refused to go down! There was hardly any size on the bid and for several cents below it, but for some reason it didn't go down. The Futures tanked again for the third time, but WMT again refused to budge. I got out as follows: 1-cent winner (1000 shares), 1-cent loser (100 shares), 2-cent loser (2000 shares), 3-cent loser (2900 shares) ($118 loser before fees)

• This is a classic example of the perfect setup and everything about the trade would suggest that this is a great short...unfortunately WMT decided not to cooperate
• This is also a good example of how losing trades are part of trading. No matter how perfect your trading strategy is, there will always be trades like this that just seems to defy what should happen

Is Bigger Really Better?

Gross: +$770.00
Net: +$641.53
Loss From Top: $9.10
Trades: 69
Shares Traded: 111800

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Walmart (WMT): +$634.93
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$261.11
Home Depot (HD): +$22.71
Corning (GLW): +$13.67
Micron Tech (MU): -$42.97
Citigroup (C): -$80.34
General Electric (GE): -$167.57

Another day, another missed opportunity to get closer to my goals. Although I'm disappointed, I'm also glad to finally see a day over $500 (it's been a while since I've seen more than that).

Let's hope that yesterday and today is just the warm-up to what's to come.

I've also come to the conclusion that sometimes bigger is not necessarily better. The last few trading days I've been mainly trading thick stocks like GE, MOT, and MU. I originally traded these stocks because I could easily get long or short 10,000 shares and I could also easily get in and out without liquidity problems (since there is always big sizes on the bid and offer).

However, what I'm finding is that most of the time these thick stocks don't really move when the overall markets move. And since there are so many big players on these stocks, it's really hard to get a real idea of where it's going.

Granted, if you had the patience and are willing to wait for a half an hour or an hour for your position to go for you, then GE, MOT, and MU are great stocks to trade.

Unfortunately, my weakness as a trader is patience in holding positions. And in this game, you've got to know your weakness and find ways to get around them.

Today I switched back to the "medium" stocks ("medium" meaning the sizes on the bid and ask are medium sized). I like these stocks because when the Futures move, so will these stocks. And these stocks won't just move 1-cent or 2-cents when the Futures move....they'll really move. These "medium" stocks include WMT, HPQ, C, BAC, and HD. The only problem with these stocks it that you can maybe get 5000 or 6000 shares at a time (maybe more if there are level breaks).

The last couple of days have really sucked because I kept putting on huge positions that wouldn't move and I'd get out for even or maybe 1-cent. The problem with this is that I was too impatient and if the stock didn't move for 10 minutes, I'd start panicking and I would get out of my position. Add in trades that go against you, and the result will be those measly $100 or $200 days.

There have been times when these thick stocks moved great when the Futures moved, but these are far and few in between. For sure, I'll still watch these thick stocks for opportunities, but I won't make them my sole focus.

There were 2 good trades vs. 1 bad one today. I took a lot of near $200 trades which more than offset my losing trades.

Good Trades
9:50AM - Hewlet Packard (HPQ) and the Futures were moving up. The Futures ripped up and HPQ looked like it was going to break the $33 for the second time in the morning, so I went long 4000 shares. I got out as follows: 5-cent winner (1800 shares), 6-cent winner (200 shares), 7-cent winner (2000 shares) ($242 profit before fees)

2:31PM - Walmart (WMT) and the Futures were downtrending. The Futures tanked more, so I went short 5000 shares. I got out as follows: 2-cent winner (1000 shares), 3-cent winner (1700 shares), 6-cent winner (1000 shares), 7-cent winner (1300 shares) ($222 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
10:23AM - General Electric (GE) and the Futures were uptrending. The Futures ripped up and the $33.50 level looked like it was going to break so I went long 10,000 shares. While the Futures kept ripping up, GE didn't move up and started falling! I got out for a loser, but shortly afterwards (when the Futures weren't doing anything), it broke $33.50 again and kept going up. I got out as follows: 1-cent loser (5000 shares), 2-cent loser (5000 shares) ($150 loser before fees)

• This is a typical example of what's been going on the last few trading days. Even though everything was moving up, some really big seller used the opportunity to dump a large number of shares - it spooked me out of my position and I had to take a loser
• If I had waited about 10 minutes more, my position would have worked, but I would have had to stare at a 4-cent loser for a while (on 10,000 shares that's $400!)
• This trade also demostrates my weakness as a trader - my impatience when it comes to holding positions - perhaps when my shutdown (the maximum I can lose during the day) gets bigger, I'll feel more comfortable holding such a big position
  

Motorola And It's Bag Of Tricks

Gross: +$375.00
Net: +$108.87
Loss From Top: $288.18
Trades: 111
Shares Traded: 248800

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Walmart (WMT): +$406.16
AT&T (T): +$401.72
Micron Tech (MU): +$176.56
Bank of America (BAC): +$93.19
General Motors (GM): +$11.56
Sprint-Nextel (S): -$4.72
Citigroup (C): -$19.22
Exxon Mobile (XOM): -$25.76
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): -$49.66
General Electric (GE): -$95.56
Corning (GLW): -$149.01
Motorola (MOT): -$636.43

Not exactly the kind of start to the month I was looking for, but considering the circumstances, I'll take it.

I started the day as aggressive as ever and before I knew it, I was throwing 10,000 share orders left, right, and centre! Unfortunately I was fooled twice by Motorola (MOT) and I ended up losing over $600 on it over the course of the day.

And the way Motorola (MOT) fooled me was exactly the same in both instances. Like the saying goes "Fool me once - shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" and there was no way in hell I was going to let Motorola fool me for the third time.

All day Motorola would show big size on the bid on several levels and when it looked like it would start an uptrend, all the size on the bid would disappear, then big size would show up on the offer and the stock would come tumbling back down.

I should have been weary of it the first time it happened, but I fell for it a second time. The second time was even worse because I was double-filled long for 16,200 shares and I ended up taking a $441 hit on that trade (see the trade at 10:36AM under "Bad Trades" below).

For the rest of the day, I was tempted many times to take a position on Motorola, but time after time, I saw Motorola do this same trick throughout the remainder of the day. I'm glad I only fell for it's bag of tricks twice and not more.

Overall, I would say I was happy with the amount of aggressiveness that was displayed on my part today. However I must be smarter to avoid some of the tricks that many of the thicker stocks play (GE, MOT, TWX, F, MU). I was also not too happy about how most of my positions really didn't go anywhere (partly because the markets themselves felt like they didn't really want to go anywhere).

Today there were 2 good trades (profit of $200 or more) and there were 3 bad trades (loss of $100 or more).

I've got to wake up and smell the coffee...in order to reach my goals for this month, I only have 8 days left for screw-ups!

Good Trades
9:44AM - AT&T (T) looked like it caught support while the Futures were downtrending. Just then, the Futures popped up so I went long 8000 shares. I got out as follows: 1-cent winner (2000 shares), 2-cent winner (2000 shares), 3-cent winner (2000 shares), 4-cent winner (2000 shares) ($200 profit before fees)

10:12AM - AT&T (T) and the Futures were uptrending. AT&T broke a level so I went long 10,000 shares and got out as follows: 2-cent winner (6000 shares), 3-cent winner (4000 shares) ($240 profit before fees)

Bad Trades
10:16AM - Motorola (MOT) was downtrending while the Futures were flat. It looked like Motorola was about to start uptrending when suddenly huge size showed up on the bid (about 900+ size) and lots of 400+ and 500+ sizes showed up on the bid just below this huge level. I saw this and went long 10,000 shares. Well - I was duped...once I was long, all the sizes on the bid disappeared and they appeared on the offer (one 1000+ size showed up on the offer and several 500+ sizes showed up just beyond that level). I quickly got out as follows: 1-cent loser (5000 shares), 2-cent loser (5000 shares) ($150 loss before fees)

• I was watching Motorola for most of the morning up until this trade and didn't know it was a trap
• In any event, this was the first trick of the day on Motorola, and unfortunately I was on the recieving end of this trick
• Also, conditions at the time would not have really warranted a trade - if I had stuck to my trading criteria, this trade would not have been put on (I guess you can say this was just an aggressive trade)

10:36AM - Motorola (MOT) had just curved upwards and looked like it was going to start uptrending while the Futures were flat. Suddenly, huge sizes appeared on the bid (again, it was another 900+ size on the bid, followed by several 500+ sizes just below it). Size on the offer was getting hit, so I put in an order to get long 10,000 shares. It looked like all the shares on the offer were gone and I thought I wasn't going to get filled, so I hit some shares on Arca. I got 6200 long shares off Arca, so I tried to cancel the other 10,000 shares. Unfortunately I was filled for it too! Overall I was long 16,200 shares. And guess what - all the sizes on the bid disappeared and big sizes showed up on the offer! I got out as follows: even (3400 shares), 1-cent loser (500 shares), 2-cent loser (5000 shares), 3-cent loser (1200 shares), 4-cent loser (500 shares), 5-cent loser (5600 shares) ($441 loser before fees)

• Duped again! I should have realized what was going on when the exact same situation occurred again. It was so uncanny that even the sizes and the way the stock reacted was exactly the same as before at 10:16AM!
• I learned my lesson after this trade and avoided trading it for the rest of the day. I did see this similiar situation occur several times throughout the remainder of the day

1:41PM - General Electric (GE) and the Futures were uptrending. There was some big size on the bid (over 1000+) so I decided to go long 10,000 shares. Well, the size disappeared so I quickly got my entire position out for a 1-cent loser ($100 loser before fees)

• I might have jumped the gun when I saw the size on the bid disappear (I was fearing another Motorola-like move)
• This was just one of those trades that didn't work out, but because of the size of the position, you just lose so much more when you do lose

Trading Statistics For The Month Of June

Total Gross for Month of June: +$12,336.13
Total Net for Month of June: +$8,889.46
Total Fees (Gross - Net) for Month of June: $3,446.67
Total Trades for Month of June: 1666
Total Shares Traded for Month of June: 3,319,728

Best Day for Month of June: Fri Jun 23 (+$1,376.12 net)
Worst Day for Month of June: Thu Jun 29 (-$686.24 net)

Number of Positive Net Days for Month of June: 18
Number of Negative Net Days for Month of June: 3
Number of Trading Days Missed for Month of June: 1 (for bereavement)
Number of Trading Days Lost Due To System Downtime: 0

Compared to Previous Month: +$3,355.56 (up 60.6% from previous month)
Compared to Same Month Last Year: +$8,786.40 (up 8523.0% from same month last year)

Top 3 Stocks For Month of June (Net Profit):
Citigroup (C): +$2,390.30
Walmart (WMT): +$1,340.85
Motorola (MOT): +$1,197.38

Worst 3 Stocks for Month of June (Net Profit):
Pfizer (PFE): -$607.24
Disney (DIS): -$250.53
Tyco (TYC): -$68.51

Top 3 Most Traded Stocks for Month of June:
(2 stocks tied for 1st place)
Citigroup (C) - Traded on 20 out of 21 trading days
Home Depot (HD) - Traded on 20 out of 21 trading days
(2 stocks tied for 3rd place)
JP Morgan (JPM) - Traded on 16 out of 21 trading days
Micron Tech (MU) - Traded on 16 out of 21 trading days

Bottom 3 Most Traded Stocks for Month of June:
(3 stocks tied for last place - each traded on 1 out of 21 trading days)
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
Merck (MRK)
Sprint-Nextel (S)

Total Number of Different Stocks Traded for Month of June: 18

List of Stocks Traded During the Month of June (with net profit):
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): +$23.52
Bank of America (BAC): +$581.18
Citigroup (C): +$2,390.30
Disney (DIS): -$250.53
General Electric (GE): +$701.04
Corning (GLW): +$835.00
Home Depot (HD): +$381.21
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$833.84
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): +$25.44
JP Morgan (JPM): +$482.14
Motorola (MOT): +$1,197.38
Merck (MRK): +$24.21
Micron Tech (MU): +$741.98
Pfizer (PFE): -$607.24
Tyco (TYC): -$68.51
Walmart (WMT): $1,340.85
Exxon Mobile (XOM): +$263.09

Monthly Recap
In all honesty, I had expected so much more this month. This was another long month with 22 trading days and although I had met some of my goals for this month, I narrowly missed the most important goal: to exceed the $10,000 net for the month.

I was so close, but unfortunately I lost close to $700 on the 2nd last day of trading for the month. What made it worse was the fact that I lost this amount of money on a day that I should have easily made a ton of money.

This month was also about steady improvements and I worked up more courage to trade more 10,000 share positions. At this point, I feel much more comfortable than I did in the past and I can now say that I wouldn't mind putting more of them on.

One thing that has kind of bothered me about this month...there were three negative days, which in itself is alright, but I am concerned with how much money I lost on those days. On the three negative days, I lost $603, $360, and $686, which means I collectively lost $1,649 over the course of those three days.

And it wasn't because of a single trade that caused me to lose so much on those particular days...which means something happened on those days to break me down mentally and I spiralled down to lose even more.

This is something I have to work on. I can recall about 5 trading days in which I had a rough start (I lost a lot of money in the morning), and on 2 of those days I was able to climb back into positive territory, but on the other three, you can see I was never able to recover mentally and continued to lose more money.

I have tried hiding my net profit so that I wouldn't know if I was positive or negative on the day, but I am still not sure if this is having a positive impact or not. The reason I'm not sure is because I know if I'm having a rough morning (if I put on a couple of bad trades, it's pretty obvious if I'm positive or negative). Nonetheless, I will continue this practice into next month.

Some positive things I found this month:

• I met my goal of having multiple $1,000+ days - there were 5 trading days in which this occurred
  
• I am being more comfortable putting on 8,000 and 10,000 share positions
• Exxon Mobile is becoming a pleasant surprise - this is a stock I have avoided due to the volatility, but now it seems like the volatility is what attracted me to it
• I broke several personal records this month, including most trades, most shares traded, most profit, and most profit on a single trade ($880 profit on Citigroup (C) on Tues Jun 13 on a single trade)
• I had to adjust my trading strategy due to the change in the overall way the market moved this month (more chop, less momentum), and I was able to adapt
  

And here are some things that were not so great this month:

• I narrowly missed achieving my goal of exceeding $10,000 by month end - it was a lack of focus and not being able to pinpoint where the problem lay (PFIZER!)
• This month was by far the most emotional for me because the big positions hurt so much more when they went against you...and unfortunately there were times when I succumbed to revenge trading
• I must be more aware of what should constitute an all out trade (one in which I use maximum position size) and trades in which I should scale back the number of shares I use (if not all my criteria for a trade are met)
• I must not be afraid to get into a position...there were several times this month in which I hesitated and missed a great trade
• I must continue to adjust and weed out things that are not working from the things that are working
• There were far too many sub-par days (days in which I was positive, but made less than $500); there were 9 such days this month...to tell you the truth, I'd rather lose money and learn something from it than to have so many sub-par days

And finally, here are some goals and expectations I will have for myself next month. I am really going to push myself in the month of July, and hence my lofty goals. My goals are:

• Double the number of $1000+ days...this means I'll need to have at least 10 trading days that are over $1000. There are only 19 trading days in July, which means that more than half the days will have to be more than $1000
• Since I could not break $10,000 in June, I'll keep this goal for July. Granted, if my goal is to have 10-$1000 days, that'd be $10,000 already, but I will give myself some room for some big negative days (which I'll expect next month)
  
• I'll trade Exxon Mobile a lot more...I can't sit around all day waiting for moves from my usual core of stocks; however I can always expect Exxon to move...I'll start trading bigger sizes on it (3000 or 4000 shares)
• Put on more 8000 and 10000 share positions more frequently to the point that they become the norm for me. I'll still use my typical 4000 and 6000 share positions on trades I'm not 100% comfortable with, but all others should use 8000 and 10000