On Tap For Thu Mar 1, 2007

The following are some of the NYSE stocks that I will be keeping an eye on and possibly trading tomorrow. Obviously there may be news on other stocks that come out overnight or in the morning, so I may be trading those stocks as well.

The list:

• The following companies reported after the close today (these are not all the companies that reported after the close - just the ones I'm watching):

Input/Output Inc. (IO)*
Limited Brands Inc. (LTD)*
Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation (MRX)*
Southwestern Energy Company (SWN)
Tenaris (TS)

• The following companies are reporting tomorrow morning (these are not all the companies reporting tomorrow - just the ones I'm watching):

Pride International Inc (PDE)
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (CTB)*
Deutsche Telekom (DT)
Pinnacle Entertainment Inc (PNK)*
First American Corporation (FAF)
TODCO (THE)

• Motorola Inc. (MOT) was active during after-hours trade after Carl Icahn filed to buy more MOT shares...MOT was up 3.5% in after-hours; MOT closed at $18.52
• AK Steel Holding Corporation (AKS) was up strong today after it announced an agreement with it's union to end a year-old lockout...it closed near resistance and near it's 52-week high; AKS closed at $23.13
• Worthington Industries Inc. (WOR)* was up 9.5% today on no news in particular (perhaps it's just a bounce from the day we had yesterday) and closed near some resistance; WOR closed at $19.91
  

Please note that those stocks denoted with a * and highlighted green indicate that they are on the SHO Pilot List which means you can short them on a downtick.

Treading Cautiously & Anonymous Comments

Gross: +$52.00
Net: -$86.31
Loss From Top: $329.62
Trades: 77
Shares Traded: 130800

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK): +$213.68
DIRECTV Group (DTV): +$101.23
Wells Fargo & Company (WFC): +$76.52
The Home Depot Inc. (HD): -$15.51
EMC Corporation (EMC): -$56.16
Sprint Nextel Corporation (S): -$68.37
Time Warner Inc. (TWX): -$119.24
Alcatel Lucent (ALU): -$218.45

Today I just traded cautiously and didn't really want to take too much risk.

We seemed to have a continuation of the system problems we were having yesterday, so I didn't want to do anything drastic and just tried to trade conservatively.

After a while I just got used to the messed up Level 2's and the weird prints going off on the time and sales. It looks like those weird prints that are going off 10 cents out of the money appear to be real because they also show up on the eSignal charts.

Browsing around on the EliteTrader message boards, I found that I could filter out those weird prints on eSignal so that my charts didn't look too horrid.

For most of the morning I was reluctant to do anything, but when the afternoon rolled around, I started trading a little too much. All in all, I would hover around the unchanged mark for the whole day and I ended the day slightly negative.

I feel as though I've been battered and bruised closing out February. I guess I'll just have to adjust to whatever appears to be going on at the NYSE with the weird prints and I'll just have to get used to all the constant stickies. But when all of these problems started this week, I feel as though it kind of messed me up and that I've had difficulty getting in the zone.

Aside from that, not much else to say. No good trades or bad ones. It just felt like I was just churning and racking up the fees.

On to other things....

The web traffic on this blog is slowly increasing and I knew it would be inevitable that I'd start getting those dreaded negative Anonymous comments. We've all seen them on other blogs and now they have arrived on this blog.

And it seems as though these kinds of comments come to those who post their numbers daily. I know Boogster and Glenn have had their share simply because they are not afraid to post their numbers, good or bad. I commend those two guys because I know they are strong enough to not let those negative Anonymous comments bother them.

Unfortunately, whenever they (or I) hit a trading rough patch, those negative Anonymous comments come in a flurry and they just seem to pound you into the ground even further.

And it also seems that those negative Anonymous comments appear to be attracted to posts in which I either express anger or frustration in my posts. So from here on in, I'm going to try to structure my posts with less emotion....hopefully it will be more constructive for myself and it will deter those negative Anonymous comments.

For now, I'm simply going to ignore those negative comments and I'll only respond to those who appear to be giving constructive criticism or those that are genuine. Who knows, I may have to do what some other bloggers do and simply do not allow Anonymous comments.

So if I'm late in responding to your genuine comment, it's not because I'm ignoring you, but it's more because I'm now more reluctant to check to see what comments have been left on the blog because sometimes I just feel too tired to have to respond to negative comments or I feel too tired to have to try to defend myself.

But I do know this: every time I do get one of those negative comments, it sometimes lets a little air out of the tire (especially after a rough day) and when I sometimes get a lot of them, I just feel as though this blog is probably more work than it's worth. It can sometimes get in my head and play games with me, especially during the trading day, but I'll try my best not to let it bother me.

Anyways, February has now ended and I'm limping to the finish line. If I cannot get back in the zone tomorrow, I may have to take Friday off.

Good Trades
None.

Bad Trades
None.

On Tap For Wed Feb 28, 2007

The following are some of the NYSE stocks that I will be keeping an eye on and possibly trading tomorrow. Obviously there may be news on other stocks that come out overnight or in the morning, so I may be trading those stocks as well.

Let's see if I can make back some of the money I lost these past few days. After a day like today, anything can happen tomorrow so I'll mainly be playing it by ear. Here's the list:

• Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (WPI)* reported after the close today, but after the moves made by the markets today, I'll watch to see where this one goes
• The following companies are reporting before the open tomorrow (these are not all the stocks reporting before the open - just the ones I'm watching):

Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG)
Sprint Nextel Corporation (S)*
Allied Capital Corporation (ALD)*
American Financial Realty Trust (AFR)*
CenterPoint Energy Inc. (CNP)
Fremont General Corporation (FMT)
Hospira Inc. (HSP)
Omnicare Inc. (OCR)
Service Corporation International (SCI)
TETRA Technologies Inc. (TTI)
VeraSun Energy Corporation (VSE)

Please note that those stocks denoted with a * and highlighted green indicate that they are on the SHO Pilot List which means you can short them on a downtick.

This Sucks....

Ohhh man! It sucks not trading this crazy market. Things seem to be moving fast...one moment the Dow is down 500, 2 minutes later it's down only 350.

Sheesh! A good trading day is when the S&P Futures move about 10 handles....today it moved over 50 handles! 50 handles! I've never seen anything like it!

But this sucks! I'm shutdown and I can't trade. This is the kind day I've been waiting for and I'm out on the sidelines.

I hope all you folks out there are making a killing!

Screwed

Gross: -$703.00
Net: -$720.74
Loss From Top: $720.74
Trades: 8
Shares Traded: 18000

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Blockbuster Inc. (BBI): -$49.78
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN): - $89.36
Tenet Healthcare Corporation (THC): -$581.60

Dammit....

This was turning out to be a relatively good month, but the last two trading days I've lost close to $1200 and I managed to screw it up.

Before I go any further, let me describe to you what kind of system problems we've been having the last two trading days. I'm not blaming these problems for my poor performance, but I just wanted you to know what we've had to put up with.

Here are some of the problems:

• Stickies every where (where ECN shares are filled, but remain on the Level 2)
• When you hit the buy or sell key, order prices are sometimes not at the bid or ask...thus if you try to punch in or out, your order will be placed 10, 20, sometimes 50 cents out of the money and with this new Hybrid market, more often than not you'll usually end up getting the prices you set
• "Fake" prints go off on the time and sales...this one really screws you up because you're in a position when suddenly you see lots of prints go off 10 cents or more out of the money - I don't know what the hell these prints are or whether they are just going off on the bid or ask
  
• You get a "fake" P&L when you are in a position - even though you're in a losing position, the blotter will report a profitable position
  
• The Level 2 is all messed up and often times you can't see where prices are - either they are delayed or you'll see NYSE orders crossed on the Level 2 (this is now Hybrid and we should no longer see crossed NYB orders on the Level 2)...of course, add to it all the stickies and you have no idea what's going on
  

There are probably other problems that other traders have reported, but these are the ones that bother the hell out of me.

I didn't want to mention it in yesterday's post (I thought these problems would be a one day event), but these problems screwed me up yesterday too. There was a position I got in yesterday and as soon as I was in, my shutdown clock appears (even though I was no where near being shutdown). In the confusion, I checked my order logs, checked my prices, and basically lost focus and when I came back to focus on the trade, it was already a bad loser.

Well, today I got screwed very early in the morning....2/3 of it was my fault, and the other 1/3 I'd have to blame the system.

I was watching Tenet Healthcare (THC) and it looked like it caught some support. After a hard market tank in the morning, it appeared to be stabilizing.

The first problem was just a bad decision to try to go long on THC. I was thinking that it caught support and that since the market tankage had stopped, that THC could move up from there. I thought I'd just test the waters with a small position on it.

The second problem was a keystroke error. I had only wanted to go long 3000 shares (a rather smallish position on this stock), but somehow I accidentally hit the "6" key instead of the "3" key on the NumPad and I went long 6000 shares instead.

The last problem was just the screwed up system. As soon as I was long on the stock, the blotter was showing me a winner. The Level 2 was all messed up and I really couldn't see what the real price was on THC.

Add to it those annoying "fake" prints going off mixed in with real prints and you have total confusion. I tried very hard to see where the real prints were, as I couldn't see where prices were on the Level 2.

But my blotter was showing a 5-cent winner. In the confusion, I didn't really know what to believe. The Level 2 was screwed. The time and sales were screwed and showing screwed up prints. My blotter was showing a winner, but my charts were showing a loser.

Crap. I hesistated for a good while as I sat there in confusion. I decided to get out, so I quickly put in an order to dump half my shares (3000 shares), but the stupid system set the price 15 cents lower than I wanted, but I was too quick in trying to exit that I didn't double check the prices I was setting on my orders. I got filled (but I didn't check to see at what price I got since I was concerned with exiting my entire position).

Then I quickly put out another order to exit the other half of my position and out of the corner of my eye, I saw that it was setting the price 15 cents lower than I wanted. It was too late...I had pressed Enter and I had punched everything out for close to a 10-cent loser.

I was done for the day by 10:15AM.

And so, I was screwed on the trade, I was screwed on the trading day, and now I'm screwed for the month. I really wonder if other prop firms really encounter as many problems as we do.

I realize that I'm at the head office and that we are usually used as guinea pigs when they want to test new versions of the software, but come on! The problems I described above could have been identified by the testers or even the programmers for that matter.

I don't know what kind of education those programmers have, but when I went to university to study programming, I know this is not the way it should be done....when I learned all this stuff, I learned that there are proper procedures and steps programmers should follow to ensure high quality work. Even if you have testers, the obvious things described above should have already been taken care of.

Sorry about all my ranting....I guess when you get screwed, it usually brings out the worst in people....

Good Trades
None.

Bad Trades
10:04:23AM - Tenet Healthcare (THC) was moving down, but appeared to stabilize at the $7.20 level. It was a bad idea to go long at this point, which was why I wanted to get in with a small position and add to it if the position went my way. But a keystroke error had me going long 6000 shares at $7.21. Then the ball of confusion occurred and the system malfunctions had me getting out as follows: 9-cent loser (3000 shares), 10-cent loser (3000 shares) ($570 loser before fees ; Long 6000 shares @ $7.21 ; Out: didn't record)

On Tap For Tue Feb 27, 2007

The following are some of the NYSE stocks that I will be keeping an eye on and possibly trading tomorrow. Obviously there may be news on other stocks that come out overnight or in the morning, so I may be trading those stocks as well.

Tonights list seems to be longer than usual as there are quite a few companies reporting. Here it is:

• The following companies reported after the close today (please note that these are not all the companies that reported after the close today - just the ones that I'm watching):

Herbalife Ltd. (HLF) - up in after-hours
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) - down in after-hours
Superior Energy Services Inc. (SPN) - up in after-hours
GlobalSantaFe Corporation (GSF) - reported late Monday
Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. (HLX)* - reported late Monday

• The following companies are reporting before the bell tomorrow....I'll be watching for surprises (note that these are not all the stocks reporting before the bell - just the ones I'm watching):

Target Corporation (TGT)*
El Paso Corporation (EP)
Federated Department Stores (FD)*
Harrah's Entertainment Inc. (HET)*
H.J. Heinz Company (HNZ)
Blockbuster Inc. (BBI)
Cablevision Systems Corporation (CVC)
CapitalSource Inc. (CSE)*
CBS Corporation (CBS)
Citizens Communications (CZN)
Dynergy Inc. (DYN)
Rowan Companies Inc. (RDC)*
Tenet Healthcare Corporation (THC)

• Finally, I'm going to continue to watch Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD)* as it was up 6.7% today on buyout rumors...I didn't have much success trading it today, but I'll see about tomorrow....could this be the news that turns this stock around? AMD closed at $15.68
  

Please note that those stocks denoted with a * and highlighted green indicate that they are on the SHO Pilot List which means you can short them on a downtick.

Loser After Loser

Gross: -$256.00
Net: -$459.01
Loss From Top: $459.01
Trades: 97
Shares Traded: 240600

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Motorola Inc. (MOT): +$155.62
Champion Enterprises Inc. (CHB): +$141.59
Fortress Investment Group (FIG): +$124.22
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK): +$41.74
Citigroup Inc. (C): -$3.37
Novartis (NVS): -$18.31
Arcelor Mittal (MT): -$18.51
The Dow Chemical Company (DOW): -$29.41
Time Warner Inc. (TWX): -$54.34
Station Casinos Inc. (STN): -$57.46
TXU Corporation (TXU): -$64.15
Micron Technology (MU): -$103.98
EMC Corporation (EMC): -$279.51
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD): -$293.10

Ahhhh....what a miserable morning it was for me.

Aside from a few system glitches (I'm not going to get into them here...I shouldn't need to blame system problems for my trading problems), I really had a tough time getting anything going this morning.

The very first trade resulted in a small loser......no problem...there were more trades to come.

But then the next trade was a loser....hrmmm...not a very good start.

The next trade was yet another small loser....ahhh...a lousy start to the trading day.

Then the next bunch of trades also resulted in losers and for some reason I just couldn't seem to book a winner.

I was starting to get frustrated as I seemed to take loser after loser and it seemed as though there wasn't going to be an end in sight.

The thing that ticked me off was the fact that all of those morning trades were initially a winner (albeit for only a few cents) and I had plenty of opportunities to take the winner...but I was a little too patient on all these trades and they all ended up either being a loser or a break even trade.

I simply just could not believe all the losers that quickly racked up and by 11AM, I was down close to $800 and I only managed to take one winner during the whole morning.

At that point, I felt like I was painted in a corner and I started flipping from stock to stock trying to find the next trade.

I was so upset that I kept having winners turn into losers I got fed up with the markets and the stocks I was trading that I decided that if they were going to cheese me into taking losers, I'm going to cheese them and trade like a freaking piker and only take one cent winners on everything.

And you know what? It seemed to work....

I was just so pissed that almost all my trades went my way for a few cents and I tried to practice patience, but then the trade would quickly turn back and become a loser, that I decided to just take the sure-thing and take the penny winner.

Jeeeeez...I felt like a frigging cheesy trader and at some point late in the afternoon I just got fed up with everything that had happened and fed up with lousy moves being made that I packed up and just left.

It seemed kind of rough on a lot of traders at the office too....many were dropping like flies as quite a few traders got shutdown. I was mere dollars away from being shutdown too, but I managed to cut my losses by almost half.

I really should have recognized what kind of markets we were in for this morning and I think I would have done things differently had I recognized it sooner.

The key was to take profits quickly, as the overall markets seemed to bounce around quite a bit. I know I missed a lot of good moves on some of the story stocks....I just wasn't fast enough to get myself into a position.

There were at least 5 times in which I wanted to punch into a position, but I was just too slow and I missed....the levels on some of those stocks just melted away too quickly and I never got filled.

Just too many mistakes and too many problems today....time to file it away, make note of what went wrong and move on. Tomorrow is another trading day.

Good Trades
None.

Bad Trades
None.

On Tap For Mon Feb 26, 2007

The following are some of the NYSE stocks that I will be keeping an eye on and possibly trading tomorrow. Obviously there may be news on other stocks that come out overnight or in the morning, so I may be trading those stocks as well.

Sorry folks...I didn't have time to post up my "Weekend Reading" as I was out of town for most of the weekend. Don't worry...next weekend will be a "2-for-1 Weekend Reading" as I will combine this week's links along with next week's links.

Next weekend will be busy in terms of posts and I will also provide my monthly review and a monthly review roundup for February.

Now, let's get back down to business. Buyouts, buyouts and more buyouts...that's all I have to say about my list tonight.

• The following companies are reporting before the bell tomorrow (please note that these are not all the companies that are reporting tomorrow morning - just the ones I'm watching):

Cablevision Systems Corporation (CVC)
Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (MVL)*
Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN)
Grey Wolf, Inc. (GW)

• On Friday after the close, there was a report that two private equity firms were preparing a $32 billion bid for TXU Corporation (TXU)*....TXU jumped over 18% on the news in after-hours trade; TXU closed at $60.02
• Over the weekend, Station Casinos, Inc. (STN)* board accepted a revised buyout offer from a private equity firm...there were reports that the revised offer was for $90 per share; STN closed at $83.30 on Friday
• I'm going to watch Fortress Investment Group (FIG)...it recently had it's IPO and media reports say that FIG may be one of the potential bidders for the troubled EMI Group; FIG closed at $29.68
• There was another report over the weekend that stated that The Dow Chemical Company (DOW) will soon be acquired in a takeover bid worth up to $54 billion and that DOW could fetch between $60 - $80 a share...these are just rumors at the moment; DOW closed at $43.45
  

Please note that those stocks denoted with a * and highlighted green indicate that they are on the SHO Pilot List which means you can short them on a downtick.

Pasta, Potatoes, Bread, & Trading?

Gross: +$1,140.00
Net: +$1,012.61
Loss From Top: 0
Trades: 50
Shares Traded: 147600

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
EMC Corporation (EMC): +$394.69
Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW): +$224.69
Micron Technology, Inc. (MU): +$168.18
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK): +$114.26
Circuit City Stores Inc. (CC): +$75.38
Hecla Mining Company (HL): +$68.56
H&R Block, Inc. (HRB): +$18.32
New Century Financial Corporation (NEW): +$7.77
NovaStar Financial Inc. (NFI): -$25.12
Ford Motor Company (F): -$34.15

Today there really wasn't much in the way of earnings, so I had to keep my head up for stocks on the move during the day.

Maybe it was because of the lack of story stocks that I felt more comfortable sitting and waiting. Had there been lots of stocks reporting or gapping up, I'd probably feel as though I was missing a move somewhere and as a result, I'd end up over trading and take poor setups for the sake of trying to get in on the action.

In fact, there were several times today when the Futures were tanking really hard and I didn't feel the need to be short something.

In the past, whenever I'd see the Futures tanking hard, I'd scramble and just short anything I came across....obviously not sound trading.

But today when the Futures kept tanking hard, I didn't take any short positions because I didn't really see any real good setups and I was actually quite comfortable waiting for better opportunities (i.e. I didn't feel as though I were missing out on some big moves).

This kind of thinking probably saved me today from making bad trades.

It was because of my patience in waiting for a good trade that I didn't have many losing trades today...just a few small ones here and there. This would account for my relatively low number of trades today. I also really tried to keep to the sidelines when trading the fat, thick stocks today and I only traded them when higher probability trades presented themselves.

Today I still felt as though I was on edge when holding onto those winners and I exited most of them fairly quickly....this, however, ended up being a good thing today as I took many of my winners before they turned into losers.

And now, the the point of my post....

The prop firm I work for has lunch catered for us full-time traders and it will usually consists of a soup, a main course, something on the side, and salad. The meals vary....anything from salmon steaks to hamburgers to grilled chicken to kabobs to lasagna.

But it seems like every time I eat a lunch with lots of carbs (pasta, breads, potatoes, etc), I find myself very tired and sleepy in the afternoons.

Take today as an example. They served sub-sandwiches and even after having some coffee shortly after lunch, I still found myself feeling very sluggish and sleepy.

By about 2:30PM, I just felt as though I couldn't concentrate any more, so I called it a day.

On most days when they serve lunch, I always try to avoid the potatoes, the breads, and the pastas if possible and I find if I avoid these foods, I don't feel tired in the afternoons.

I wonder if this means I'm diabetic or something....

By no means am I an unhealthy individual (I'm 5 foot 11 inches, 185 pounds) and I eat a fairly healthy diet at home and I exercise whenever I can.

Hrmmmmph.....I guess it's just another thing I have to factor in when it comes to trading....

Two good trades and no bad ones today.

Have a great weekend folks and I'll see you back here again sometime on the weekend for some more great trading links!

Good Trades
9:37:07AM - Lowe's (LOW) had gapped up in the morning and appeared strong on the open so when it came up to the $35.40 level, I waited for it to break (it had some fairly big size on the offer at $35.40). When it broke, I only went in with 1000 shares just to test the waters. Well LOW just exploded to the upside so I waited for it to do it's thing and when it seemed to get a bit tired, I exited my position as follows: 20-cent winner (500 shares), 25-cent winner (500 shares) ($225 profit before fees ; Long 1000 shares @ $35.40 ; Out: 9:38:55AM)


10:01:05AM - EMC Corp (EMC) was weak when it opened and kept going down. It came down to some support at $14.40 and I waited for it to break. Well at that point, the Futures had been tanking quite hard, so when I had the chance, I went short 10,000 shares @ $14.40. EMC quickly came down and I quickly took a 3-cent winner on my position ($300 profit before fees ; Short 10,000 shares @ $14.40 ; Out: 10:02:14AM)


Bad Trades
None.

On Tap For Fri Feb 23, 2007

The following are some of the NYSE stocks that I will be keeping an eye on and possibly trading tomorrow. Obviously there may be news on other stocks that come out overnight or in the morning, so I may be trading those stocks as well.

Tomorrow there are fewer stocks of interest that are reporting, so I've got more technical "stocks to watch" tonight. Here they are:

• The following companies reported after the close today (please note these are not all the companies that reported after the close - just the ones I'm watching):

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK)* - up in after-hours
Chiquita Brands International, Inc. (CQB) - down in after-hours
H&R Block, Inc. (HRB)* - up in after-hours

• The following companies are reporting before the bell tomorrow (please note these are not all the stocks reporting before the bell tomorrow - just the ones I'm watching):

Clear Channel Communications, Inc. (CCU)*
Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW)
Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings, Inc. (AVR)

• NovaStar Financial Inc. (NFI) continues to take a beating (along with other sub-prime mortgage lenders) and today it was down another 7.5%...I'll keep an eye on this one; NFI closed at $9.34
• McAfee, Inc. (MFE) just ripped through some resistance today as it was up over 4%...there wasn't any news on MFE that I could find; MFE closed at $31.48
• I liked the way Halliburton Company (HAL) moved today and I shall continue to watch it tomorrow; HAL closed at $31.51
• Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) gapped up and kept going up after it reported good earnings before the bell today; ADI was up 10.4% today to close at $36.80
  

Please note that those stocks denoted with a * and highlighted green indicate that they are on the SHO Pilot List which means you can short them on a downtick.

Lots Of Stocks And Another Missed Opportunity

Gross: +$760.00
Net: +$650.44
Loss From Top: 0
Trades: 75
Shares Traded: 140600

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ): +$208.14
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI): +$186.86
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): +$181.08
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (GT): +$118.92
Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc. (FBR): +$113.20
Micron Technology Inc. (MU): +$103.54
EMC Corporation (EMC): +$96.98
Health Management Associates Inc. (HMA): +$40.63
Newmont Mining Corporation (NEM): +$34.83
Safeway Inc. (SWY): -$24.81
Halliburton Company (HAL): -$30.31
American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. (AHM): -$42.78
Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation (CDE): -$60.81
Time Warner Inc. (TWX): -$116.06
Motorola Inc. (MOT): -$158.98

Lots and lots of different stocks traded today. I'm finding that the last few trading days I've had a tough time making good, solid trades and as a result, I have very little to report (in terms of good trades).

I'm not sure why....it seemed like most of the stocks I was watching didn't really have nice looking charts and there weren't many sustained trends.

Instead, I found that a lot of these stocks in the news just chopped up and down and as a result, I kept switching to different stocks for opportunities.

And it was because of the increased amount of chop occurring in these stocks in the news that I'm reluctant to hold onto winners longer. I got caught a few times in the morning taking a trade that was initially a winner, but many eventually turned around and became a loser.

And on those few times the Futures tanked hard in the morning, I just couldn't find any good shorts. Either things didn't move downward with the Futures or I found that I couldn't get a short position on them.

It was a combination of all these things that led me to constantly jump from stock to stock, trying to take advantage of any small opportunities that presented themselves.

I also missed another good opportunity similar to the one I missed last week on Ford (F). This time it was on Alcatel-Lucent (ALU).

All day I was keeping a close eye on the $13.00 level on ALU and a few times it tested it and I was ready to punch in with a 20,000 share position.

Take a look at the 1-minute chart of ALU and look at what it did around 2:30PM:

I had been watching it closely since around 2PM when it tested the $13.00. But then around 2:25PM, my attention was caught elsewhere as I was in a Goodyear (GT) trade.

As I was concentrating on my GT trade, I look out of the corner of my eye and see the $13 level break and ALU just explode to the upside. Shortly afterwards we hear that ALU won a patent dispute with Microsoft.

Hrmmm....had I been focusing on ALU, I wonder if I would have been able to get 20,000 shares or not (i.e. if I would have been quick enough).

Ahhhhh well....I let another one get away. It seems like big opportunities have been dangled in front of my face a lot recently...and I'm constantly missing them.

Just one good trade to tell you about today and no bad ones to report.

Again, today I took a few unnecessary trades on Time Warner (TWX) and Motorola (MOT) that probably didn't need to occur. Those two stocks accounted for most of my losses today.

Let's see what kind of opportunities present themselves tomorrow.

Good Trades
1:39:27PM - Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) was moving up after making a bottom at around 12PM. It steadily climbed up to the $40.85 level where a bit of resistance momentarily stopped move upwards. HPQ fell back a little and when it tested the $40.85 level again, it broke and I got long 5000 shares @ $40.85. HPQ moved up further, but when it started stalling, I started scaling out of my position. I got out as follows: 2-cent winner (2000 shares), 5-cent winner (1000 shares), 6-cent winner (1000 shares), 7-cent winner (1000 shares) ($220 profit before fees; Long 5000 shares @$40.85 ; Out: 1:45:09PM)

Bad Trades
None.

On Tap For Thu Feb 22, 2007

The following are some of the NYSE stocks that I will be keeping an eye on and possibly trading tomorrow. Obviously there may be news on other stocks that come out overnight or in the morning, so I may be trading those stocks as well.

Whoa...tomorrow looks like it's going to be a busy day with lots of earnings. I'm watching to see which of the following companies are making big moves tomorrow. Here's the list:

• The following companies reported after the close today (please note that these are not all the companies that reported after the close - just the ones I'm watching):

Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM) - down in after-hours
Ambercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) - down in after-hours
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) - up in after-hours
Kinross Gold Corporation (KGC) - down in after-hours
Oceaneering International (OII) - down in after-hours
Trinity Industries Inc. (TRN) - up in after-hours

• The following companies are reporting before the open tomorrow (please note that these are not all the companies that are reporting tomorrow morning - just the ones I'm watching):

Sempra Energy (SRE)
Newmont Mining Corporation (NEM)
Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX)
CMS Energy Corporation (CMX)*
Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation (CDE)*
Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc. (FBR)
Health Management Associates Inc. (HMA)
Quanta Services Inc. (PWR)*
Safeway Inc. (SWY)*
Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL)*
Williams Companies Inc. (WMB)

• Finally, I'm watching General Maritime Corporation (GMR) after it declared a special one-time dividend of $15/share after the close today...GMR was up 7.2% in after-hours trade; GMR closed at $39.72
  

Please note that those stocks denoted with a * and highlighted green indicate that they are on the SHO Pilot List which means you can short them on a downtick.

Less Fat, More Action

Gross: +$655.82
Net: +$504.31
Loss From Top: $55.10
Trades: 73
Shares Traded: 180000

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Hecla Mining Company (HL): +$538.58
EMC Corporation (EMC): +$189.62
El Paso Corporation (EP): +$116.67
Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ): +$103.32
Medco Health Solutions Inc. (MHS): +$13.69
NovaStar Financial Inc. (NFI): -$41.16
Motorola Inc (MOT): -$60.63
Medtronic Inc. (MDT): -$92.47
General Electric Company (GE): -$263.32

I've noticed that for the last few trading days, my trading has been focused mainly on those fat stocks I always talk about (stocks with big sizes on the bid and ask...names like EMC, TWX, MOT, GE, ALU).

Over the course of those few trading days, I've had less than stellar trading results.

So why have I been so intent on trading these fat stocks?

Well last week I started having trouble making profits on those faster moving stocks in the news. It seemed like for several trading days in a row, I just couldn't pull out any money from the thinner in-the-news stocks and that the profits from the fat stocks seemed to pull up the slack.

At that point, I started paying less and less attention to those stocks-in-the-news and tried to trade the fat ones exclusively.

Well, as you can see from the last few trading days, it hasn't worked out as planned.

The reason?

By focusing mainly on the fat stocks, my opportunities were limited. You see, these fat stocks hardly move at all during the day. In fact, sometimes they make only one good move for the entire day and if you miss it, well...too bad.

However, since I focused all my energy trading these fat stocks, I found myself trading them too much. I traded them when nothing was going on, when they weren't trending, or when they didn't follow the Futures.

As a result, I'd either take a lot of break even trades or a lot of 1-cent losers and all the fees just racked up.

This morning I started the day off just trading these fat stocks....without any success.

Halfway through the morning, I found myself down over $300.

Then I started thinking and asking myself why my trading has been so lousy the last few trading days when the above thoughts came to me.

At that point, I began looking at stocks in-the-news and this time, they were the ones that pulled up the slack.

Though I didn't really take any good winners, the collection of a good trend on these stocks along with the patience to wait for the opportunities added up quickly and I got myself out of the hole and came away with some profits today.

What I've got to do is to keep a balance between the fat stocks and the action stocks. I've got to keep this in mind as I continue forward with my trading.


Good Trades
None

Bad Trades
None

Sleepless Night, Frustrating Day

Gross: -$45.88
Net: -$352.36
Loss From Top: $694.48
Trades: 69
Shares Traded: 308200

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Ford Motor Company (F): +$115.02
EMC Corporation (EMC): +$24.84
Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ): -$20.14
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): -$21.05
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT): -$23.73
General Electric Company (GE): -$62.61
The Home Depot Inc. (HD): -$65.91
Time Warner Inc. (TWX): -$298.77

Well, like a lot of traders today, I made some money in the morning. But the smart ones and the patient ones were able to keep their money, while I gave it all back...and then some.

Even though there seemed to be quite a few companies in the news or reporting, I couldn't seem to make very good trades on them.

Part of the reason is that I felt dead tired and half the time I didn't really feel like being there. I hardly slept last night because the residents living in the next townhouse had music blaring until midnight and once it stopped, I found that I couldn't sleep. I think I fell asleep at around 2AM, but then woke up at 3:30AM and then I couldn't sleep again. I fell back asleep at around 5:30AM and woke up at 6:30AM.

In the morning, I felt a little groggy and it really felt like a lot of effort to get myself into the office. Once I got there, all I felt like doing was sleeping.

I had some profits in the morning and I completely missed lunch as I was in a trade and I didn't want to leave my position to go get it.

But then the afternoon just became one big ball of frustration as nothing seemed to be moving and the Futures just kept shaking and baking all day.

Then I started becoming impatient for something to happen and every time the Futures or a stock made any kind of movement, I'd find myself in a trade (even though I shouldn't have).

Add to it my tiredness and you get the kind of day I had today. I just wasn't into it.

There were lots and lots of break even trades so all the fees just added up.

By the end of the day, I felt as though it was a complete waste of time and for most of the day, I just flat out didn't care. I also found myself cursing the markets for being so boring and that there was absolutely nothing to trade.

All of these feelings probably came out because of the lack of sleep (you know that feeling where every little thing seems to tick you off).

Not gonna bother with tonight's On Tap post. I'm really tired right now and I'm quite surprised I found the energy to type this up.

I've got a letter all typed up for our neighbors should the noise continue again tonight.

Good Trades
None.

Bad Trades
None.

On Tap For Tue Feb 20, 2007

The following are some of the NYSE stocks that I will be keeping an eye on and possibly trading tomorrow. Obviously there may be news on other stocks that come out overnight or in the morning, so I may be trading those stocks as well.

Alright! Let's get this week started right! Aside from the usual fat stocks (EMC, F, TWX, GE, MOT, MU, ALU) these are the other stocks I'm watching:

• The following companies are reporting before the open tomorrow (please note these are not all the stocks that are reporting before the bell - just the ones I'm watching):

Alltel Corporation (AT)
Elan Corporation (ELN)
FirstEnergy Corp. (FE)
The Home Depot Inc. (HD)*
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT)*
Boyd Gaming Corporation (BYD)*

• The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (SMG) declared a one-time dividend of $8/share after the close on Friday...it was trading up 3.4% in after-hours trade on Friday; SMG closed at $53.37
• Finally, I'll be watching Nortel Networks Corporation (NT) as it has been strong lately and I want a piece of the action; NT closed at $31.63
  

Please note that those stocks denoted with a * and highlighted green indicate that they are on the SHO Pilot List which means you can short them on a downtick.

Chinese New Year Weekend Reading For Feb 17 - 19, 2007

In "Weekend Reading" I'll collect what I thought were the best posts and articles for the week from various bloggers.

I only focus on posts and links that relate to trader improvement or trading in general.

This weekend I've been really busy with family and traditions as this year we celebrate the year of the golden boar. It's a good thing this weekend is a long weekend because I feel I'll need that extra day to recover from all the food and celebrations!

So if you're bored this long weekend, check out these great posts from these great bloggers. As for me, I'll be here, there and everywhere as I meet up with family. Enjoy!

• Here, Trading For The Masses reviews Dennis Gartman's "not-so-simple" rules of trading in 13 Rules

• TraderGav has a nice series of quotes from legendary traders and this one is a Quote From Paul Tudor Jones

• HighChartPatterns does a great job of describing the Four Categories Of Trading and does an excellent job of categorizing the various trading bloggers...unfortunately I didn't fall into any of the categories, but I did get a mention under "miscellaneous"...I'm in a category all my own :-)

• Jeff White at The Stock Bandit shares with us another free newsletter - this one is entitled Trading With Indicators

• I've always loved the trading interviews done by Dave over at StockTickr...here they roundup the the Most Popular Interviews Of 2006 (there are so many other great trading bloggers out there that I was surprised I made it on the top 10 list!)

• TyroTrader does a fantastic job of collecting Momentum Scan resources and also lists the pros and cons of each

• Lord Tedders over at the Forex & eMini Future Trading wrote this great article entitled Designing A Robust Mechanical Trading Strategy

• Over at TraderFeed, Brett Steenbarger refers us to a great site where you can replay a recorded trading day (you can even fast forward or slow down the recorded info)...just check it out at Replaying The Trading Day: A Best Practice In Trading

• TraderGav continues with quotes from the trading greats - here's Another Quote From Paul Tudor Jones

• Patience, patience, patience - there are so many levels to this difficult trait to master when it comes to trading...here Phileo, a regular contributor over at Move The Markets, wrote about it in Take A Patience Pill Dude

• TraderGav keeps it coming with those quotes - here is a Quote From Linda Bradford Raschke

• Kevin takes a look at the age-old question Which Is Better - Fundamental Or Technical Analysis?

• Brett Steenbarger shares with us an interesting trading idea - it's Stock Screening For Index Traders - A Best Practice In Trading

• Finally, another one from Brett Steenbarger hot off the press - it's Dealing With Price Spikes: A Best Practice In Trading

The Trade That Got Away

Gross: +$624.00
Net: +$472.64
Loss From Top: 0
Trades: 40
Shares Traded: 208200

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
Ford Motor Company (F): +$444.51
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): +$119.33
Campbell Soup Company (CPB): +$86.23
Nortel Networks Corporation (NT): +$59.57
Allied Waste Industries Inc (AW): -$4.17
AMR Corporation (AMR): -$37.76
The Mills Corporation (MLS): -$94.47
Time Warner Inc (TWX): -$100.58

Man oh man!

I missed a golden opportunity today and I missed it by a fraction of a second! Literally!

Ok - so the day is going along with very little happening in the way of opportunities.

Then at around 11:30AM, we hear rumors that General Motors may be in talks to buyout DaimlerChrysler (DCX). Both these stocks make big moves.

At the time, I was watching Ford (F) all morning as it chugged along in a narrow trading range. But after the GM/DCX news, Ford (F) slowly starts moving upwards, taking out some heavy resistance along the way.

When the upper end of Ford's (F) trading range looked like it was going to break, I hit it - with 30,000 shares (the biggest position I've held to date).

So Ford (F) moves up one cent and just stays there. I waited for a few minutes and I began feeling a little impatient with the trade. I had thought that the GM/DCX news may move Ford and when it looked like Ford was going to move to the upside, I hit it with full confidence.

But here I was with 30,000 shares of Ford (F) and what I thought it would do, it wasn't doing. So I waited for a few minutes. Every minute I was in that trade felt like an eternity.

Then, something in my brain said "Well, Ford is not going where you thought it was going to go" and at that moment, I decided to exit my 30,000 shares for break even.

BUT literally at that same moment, Ford rips up 17-cents! I got my shares out for break-even and Ford just moved up like crazy to the upside!

Just look at the chart:


I went long 30,000 shares @ $8.57 and I waited for about 4 or 5 minutes. Ford didn't do anything and just when I wanted to get out, Ford decides to move.

Even if I had taken only a 5-cent move, that would have been $1500! If I had captured a 10-cent move, it would have been $3000! If I had taken the whole move, it would have been a $5100 move!

Yes yes, I know....I probably wouldn't have had the courage to hold through the whole move, but I would have at least caught a good chunk of it.

I should have known to give Ford (F) more time to work. On other stocks, moves can occur rather quickly, but when you're trading stocks like Ford (F), you sometimes have to be extra patient for a move to occur. You may even have to wait an hour before Ford moves one-cent sometimes.

Well, after I got out (and watched Ford move like crazy), I did manage to catch some of the move it made, but only on 10,000 shares.

Well that was the big trade that got away from me today.

Aside from that, the day offered no opportunities at all. In fact, I stayed intently for the whole trading day...but I didn't even put on a single trade in the afternoon.

I guess if I continue doing what I've been doing lately, sooner or later I'll catch one of those big moves. Today I missed it by a fraction of a second. Had I hesitated, even for a split second, I might have been able to catch that move on Ford.

Oh well....it's time for a long weekend...time for me to re-charge (after the week I've had, I feel as though I desperately need it!).

Happy President's Day! Happy Chinese New Year! Happy long weekend!

Good Trades
None - well, there was one on Ford (F), but I didn't record it as I sat there in disbelief that I missed a huge trade by a fraction of a second!

Bad Trades
None

Mind The S&P Futures

Gross: +$53.15
Net: -$187.55
Loss From Top: $187.55
Trades: 61
Shares Traded: 212200

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
General Electric Company (GE): +$268.79
Micron Technology Inc. (MU): +$181.12
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): +$82.92
Elan Corporation (ELN): +$80.11
CSX Corporation (CSX): +$76.23
ABB Ltd (ABB): +$55.72
Agilent Technologies Inc (A): +$49.44
Weyerhaeuser Company (WY): -$77.85
EMC Corporation (EMC): -$119.53
Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. (BUD): -$200.54
Terex Corporation (TEX): -$254.85
Time Warner Inc. (TWX): -$329.11

Recently a reader asked why is it that I pay so much attention to the S&P Futures, especially now that I'm trading more "stocks-in-the-news". The reader also asked whether these "stocks-in-the-news" really follows the S&P Futures and whether I can just disregard what's happening in the Futures when I trade them.

I would say that if one were a longer-term trader (like holding onto a position for a couple of hours), then I'd say that yes, you could probably disregard what's going on with the Futures, since the overall supply and demand is more likely to move the "stock-in-the-news" in the long run.

BUT, if you are a short-term trader that's in and out very quickly, then I'd say that the Futures MAY have a brief (but noticeable) impact on a stock's movement. Of course, not all stocks will follow the Futures, regardless of whether it's in the news or not.

I'd have to say that if you're a short-term trader and if you want to increase the probability that a trade will go in your favor, then it's best to trade in the overall direction of the S&P Futures.

So if the S&P Futures suddenly moves up, look for longs and if the S&P Futures suddenly tanks, look for shorts.

Yea, sure, you could get into a trade and the stock you're in disregards what's happening with the Futures, but unless you're willing to hold onto a loser for possibly a long time or if you intend on holding your position for a long time, then why take the chance? Trading is all about probabilities, and I like the odds to be in my favor by as much as possible.

So if you are like me (I don't like holding onto losers and I don't have the patience), then using the S&P Futures simply increases the probability the trade will go in your favor. If you are already in a position and the Futures starts moving your way, then great! It'll probably help your position along.

Ok, ok...where am I going with this....

Well, since I've been trading a lot of stocks in the news lately, I've noticed that I've been paying less attention to what the Futures were actually doing. Sure I've taken some good trades, mostly because at the time, the Futures were either moving sideways or at least they weren't moving significantly enough to affect the overall direction of the stock I was trading.

But today I completely ignored what the Futures were doing in the morning and I got myself into a bit of a jam.

I traded both Anheuser-Busch (BUD) and Terex (TEX) early in the morning and on both occasions, I disregarded the fact that the S&P Futures were tanking quite hard and took longs in both stocks.

Both BUD and TEX were in the news and I figured that since both would be actively traded today and both were gapping up, that I could ignore what was going on with the Futures.

Well, had I been a longer-term trader and a trader who doesn't mind looking at a temporary loser, then sure, the trades would have worked.

When I first got into both longs, I saw the Futures tanking hard, but I figure that both stocks are in the news and I can ignore what's going on with the Futures. So I got into them (when every instinct just told me to not to). Well, both stocks fell...not by too much (but I didn't know that...nor did I would I know the extent of the S&P Futures move to the downside) and I had to jump out of my positions for losers (see both bad trades below).

Both were for $200+ losers.

And all morning I kept getting into positions right when the S&P Futures moved strongly in the opposite direction. And every time, I just hesitated...unsure of whether I should get exit my position or not.

My original trading plan had me trading in the direction of the S&P Futures. Go long when the Futures are moving up, go short when the S&P Futures are going down.

Today, I seemed to ignore those rules.

As a result, I was down over $750 by lunch.

I wasn't very happy at that point. There were about 6 trades back-to-back that resulted in losers because the Futures made sudden movements in the opposite direction of my trade.

I then found myself having to trade in a conservative way on reduced share size and I was not liking it at all.

At one point, I just didn't feel like being there. I felt like sitting there in the office was the last place on Earth I wanted to be and I just wanted to get my mind off trading and forget about trading altogether.

Add to that some choppy afternoon markets that traded in a narrow range and you got lots of time to think about what a terrible trading day you've had.

Well, for some reason I just stayed. I wanted to leave the office really badly, but I just stayed and traded the day.

So I began the arduous task of chipping away at my loss. The markets didn't really give me many opportunities to do so, but I just continued to chip away at it and slowly I began digging my way of the hole.

Well, I guess you can just say that time ran out, so I was stuck with a losing day today.

Today I just didn't really feel into it. Like most weeks, my focus and attention level is high on Mondays but I slowly feel fatigued and less excited as the week goes on. I feel as though this post isn't well-written as I'm completely fatigued by this week's trading and my mind feels like mush. I'll try to get some good rest so that I can finish off this week on a good note.

No good trades and two bad ones. Not gonna post up charts...this post has taken longer than expected to type up and I have some things I need to do tonight.

I know, I know, losing days come with the territory and I'm not ashamed of posting a loss....just as long as I learned something from it....at least it reminded me of one of the most basic trading rule I have in my trading plan: Mind The S&P Futures!

Good Trades
None

Bad Trades
9:38:14AM - Anheuser-Busch (BUD) had opened and I was eyeing the $51.75 level because there was some decent size on the offer that I could hit should it break. Well BUD was at that level and just then, the Futures started tanking hard....at the same time, the $51.75 level was breaking, so I went long 2000 shares. BUD quickly fell back down and I wasn't planning on seeing how far down BUD would go. I got out as follows: 9-cent loser (600 shares), 10-cent loser (1400 shares) ($194 loser before fees ; Long 2000 shares @ $51.75 ; Out: 9:38:33AM)

9:40:32AM - Terex (TEX) was moving up and came up to the $65 level. When it broke, the Futures tanked, but I went in long 1000 shares. TEX fell with the Futures, so I got out as follows: 11-cent loser (500 shares), 35-cent loser (200 shares), 42-cent loser (300 shares) ($251 loser before fees ; Long 1000 shares @ $65.00 Out: 9:40:54AM)

On Tap For Thu Feb 15, 2007

The following are some of the NYSE stocks that I will be keeping an eye on and possibly trading tomorrow. Obviously there may be news on other stocks that come out overnight or in the morning, so I may be trading those stocks as well.

Here's what I'm watching for tomorrow:

• The following companies reported after the close today (please note that these are not all the companies that reported after the close - just the ones I'm watching)

Guess? Inc. (GES) - up in after-hours trade
Terex Corporation (TEX) - up in after-hours trade

• The following companies are reporting before the open tomorrow (please note that these are not all the companies that are reporting tomorrow - just the ones I'm watching):

Advance Auto Parts Inc (AAP)
Foundation Coal Holdings Inc (FCL)
ABB Ltd (ABB)
Baker Hughes Incorporated (BHI)
HRPT Properties Trust (HRP)
Precision Drilling Trust (PDS)
Reliance Steel & Aluminum (RS)

• CSX Corporation (CSX)* made yet another strong move to the upside today and continues to make all-time highs...I just wished I traded this more than I did today; CSX closed at $42.10
• Weyerhaeuser Company (WY)* was another company that looked strong today despite a downgrade and it too made new all-time highs; WY closed at $81.56
  

Please note that those stocks denoted with a * and highlighted green indicate that they are on the SHO Pilot List which means you can short them on a downtick.

Fortunes Won & Fortunes Lost

Gross: +$658.95
Net: +$340.30
Loss From Top: $647.28
Trades: 82
Shares Traded: 295200

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
General Electric Company (GE): +$844.64
CSX Corporation (CSX): +$118.27
Deere & Company (DE): +$105.76
Southern Copper Corporation (PCU): +$99.96
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): +$75.07
Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (RIO): +$27.73
Arcelor Mittal (MT):-$6.27
The Coca-Cola Company (KO): -$86.32
Time Warner Inc (TWX): -$114.87
EMC Corporation (EMC): -$133.23
Pfizer Inc. (PFE): -$590.43

Ah dammit....

I had an absolutely horrid time trading this afternoon (see my loss from top...lost almost $650 this afternoon).

The morning had started promising enough...

I watched Deere (DE) open and managed to catch a good trade on it (see good trades below) for a nice $457 profit. But it could have been more....

This morning the system seemed to have a multitude of problems with orders...either they weren't being accepted, were pending, or you couldn't cancel orders. These problems were intermittent for about an hour or so.

I had just gotten into that Deere (DE) trade and watched DE just climb. I took partial profits and I was intent on holding the rest of my position. But then some of the other traders were screaming that they had problems with their orders and so I decided to exit the balance of my position just in case the system went down. Well DE just continued moving without me.

I was kind of upset that I got out of that one too early and shortly afterwards I got into it again...but this time, I'd take a $345 loser on it (see bad trades below).

Just like that, I had made some good profits, but it was taken away just as quickly.

Well that didn't really bother me that much....it was still early in the day and there was going to be lots more trading ahead.

Well the morning went by just great as I caught a couple of good trades on General Electric (GE) and by lunch I had close to $1000 net profit on the day.

I'm not too sure why, but I decided to stick around for the afternoon. Well that was a mistake.

I'll admit that most of this afternoon went by just fine...losing a little here, gaining a little there (a typical afternoon when I've had a good morning). And I was being very conservative this afternoon (for those who follow this blog closely, you know I often get screwed over by afternoon trading).

But then it happened.

I got into a trade on Pfizer (PFE) which I thought was a fairly good position. I went short 5000 shares and I was only really expecting to take 2-cents or even a 1-cent winner. PFE was downtrending and you could see the urgency of a big seller (big size kept moving down and wiping out the bids). PFE had also broke some support.

But then PFE does this crazy-ass move up, wiping out huge sizes on the offer along the way (I'm talking about wiping sizes of 800+ and 1000+ on the offer!). And it was a straight up move too and I was thinking "Crap! Some kind of news has come out on PFE!!!" and I was putting out orders like crazy, trying to get out of my position.

Dumb PFE and it's crazy-ass moves!

Well in my haste to get out of the position, I ended up getting triple filled...that 5000 shares I covered resulted in a $220 loser (see bad trades), but now I was long 8400 shares and PFE was quickly falling back down!

Dumb PFE and it's crazy-ass moves!

I would eventually exit that 8400 share long position out for a $256 loser (see bad trades).

Just like that 1/2 of my profit on the day was wiped out within two minutes!

Dumb PFE and it's crazy-ass moves!

At that point I was totally fuming and I would struggle for the rest of the afternoon, losing a little bit more along the way.

A long time ago I swore on my life that I would never trade PFE ever again. But slowly PFE crept back into my trading and today reminded me of why I stopped trading this stock a long time ago.

As I sit here typing this all up, I realize now that I should just be happy I came away with profits.

I could have easily lost it all because near the end of the day I found myself taking on 10,000 and 20,000 share positions for no particular reason (well actually, it was the deadly cocktail of wanting to make a quick buck mixed in with some revenge trading). It's a good thing I was sane enough to know when to exit those positions for break even (because all of those late day positions would have been extremely costly had I held onto them).

Three good trades and three bad ones.

Today illustrated how easily fortunes could be won and how easily they could be lost. Take the Deere (DE) trades as an example - good profits made on it, but were quickly lost on a bad trade on it. Also take my morning trading and afternoon trading as an example - good profits in the morning, only to be lost in the afternoon.

So what's the moral of the story here?

Respect the markets. Just because that previous trade you put on made you good profits and it seemed easy to come by, it doesn't mean the next trade will be just as easy. Those Deere (DE) trades are an example. That first DE trade was a good one and it seemed fairly easy to come by...DE just kept moving up and it's moves were pretty smooth. But then I got in again, thinking "Hey! DE is providing good easy money!". Well, not so because I didn't respect what DE could do to me.

Another example is my morning and afternoon trading. It felt as though the mornings profits were fairly easy to come by. I was thinking "Hey! That $1000 net profit was easy to come by...the afternoon should be just as easy!". Well, not so, because I'd end up losing 2/3 of what I made in the morning.

Respect the markets!

Good Trades
9:44:00AM - Deere & Company (DE) opened strong and was moving up and when the $110.00 level broke, I went long 500 shares. DE just exploded from there. I held on and quickly took partial profits on 200 shares. At this point, I was totally intent on holding the rest of the position and to let the charts tell me where I should exit the balance of the position. But then several other traders started yelling and screaming that orders were not cancelling or not going through and knowing the problems we were having in the morning, I got out (just in case we went offline and I can't exit my position). I got out as follows: 29-cent winner (200 shares), 133-cent winner (300 shares) ($457 profit before fees ; Long 500 shares @ $110.00 ; Out: 9:46:17AM)


10:00:20AM - General Electric (GE) had been moving up all morning and approached the $36.00 level. Right at 10AM, the markets exploded as it digested what Bernanke had to say, so I went long 10,000 shares @ $36. Seeing the strength of the Futures move, I put in another order to get long another 10,000 shares @ $36, but GE had already moved. Then we started having system problems with our orders again. I had a difficult time trying to enter, cancel, and move my orders around. I was upset that I got out when I did, because I felt as though I could have had a lot more profit had we not had all these system problems...half the time I didn't know if my orders were accepted or not nor did I know if I had successfully cancelled my orders. Somehow I got out as follows: 4-cent winner (5000 shares), 5-cent winner (1500 shares), 6-cent winner (100 shares), 7-cent winner (1800 shares), 9-cent winner (1100 shares), 10-cent winner (500 shares) ($556 profit before fees ; Long 10,000 shares @ $36.00 ; Out: Did not record as I was too upset I got out at the prices that I did)


10:57:56AM - General Electric (GE) was coming up to test resistance at $36.10 and when it broke, I went long 10,000 shares @ $36.10. GE moved upwards and I waited until it started rolling back down when I got my entire position out for a 3-cent winner ($300 profit before fees ; Long 10,000 shares @ $36.10 ; Out: 11:00:13AM)


Bad Trades
9:48:53AM - Deere (DE) continued moving up after I got out of that good trade (see above). Well I was upset that I got out of my original position (as I was afraid we were experiencing system problems) and when DE reached the $112 level, I hit it and went long 500 shares. Well DE very quickly told me it was a bad position to take and I got everything out for a 69-cent loser ($345 loser before fees ; Long 500 shares @ 112.00 ; Out: 9:49:13AM)

2:44:53PM - Pfizer (PFE) started moving down and there were some urgent sellers that kept wiping out the bids. Huge size kept taking out level after level, so I went short 5000 shares @ $26.58. I thought this was a fairly good position because PFE was moving down and it had broken some support at $26.58. The next thing I know, PFE jumps up rapidly, wiping out all the huge sizes on the offer. I panicked a little as I though some major news announcement was released, so I hastily put out orders to exit, but when prices kept moving away, I put out more orders. I got this particular position out as follows: 4-cent loser (3000 shares), 5-cent loser (2000 shares) ($220 loser before fees ; Short 5000 shares @ $26.58 ; Out: 2:45:04PM)


2:45:05PM - Continuing from the above trade, I found myself triple-filled on my orders (I got filled to cover my shorts, but then I got filled long on 5000 shares AND a partial fill long on 3400 shares) and I found myself long 8400 shares. Damn PFE and your crazy-ass moves! PFE slowly moved back down and I'd exit my triple-filled position as follows: 2-cent loser (3000 shares), 3-cent loser (2000 shares), 4-cent loser (3400 shares) ($256 loser before fees ; Long 8400 shares @ various prices ; Out: I was too upset I didn't record) (sorry - no chart for this one...I didn't really record where I got overfilled...)