An NYSE Scalper's Tale - A Trader's Diary

Friday, April 27, 2007

Too Much

Net: +$398.47
Trades: 76
Shares Traded: 33400

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
MasterCard Incorporated (MA): +$229.13
Noble Corporation (NE): +$192.48
DeVry Inc. (DV): +$148.97
Weatherford International Ltd. (WFT): +$140.16
National-Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV): +$91.31
Parker-Hannifin Corporation (PH): +$64.79
Service Corporation International (SCI): +$49.05
Curtiss-Wright Corp. (CW): +$28.62
Jefferies Group, Inc. (JEF): +$23.26
ONEOK, Inc. (OKE): +$3.84
Transocean Inc. (RIG): -$3.63
Cornell Companies, Inc. (CRN): -$8.94
Waste Management, Inc. (WMI): -$21.70
Boston Properties, Inc. (BXP): -$29.40
Countrywide Financial Corporation (CFC): -$57.17
Eaton Corporation (ETN): -$71.52
Emerson Electric Co. (EMR): -$71.97
GlobalSantaFe Corporation (GSF): -$86.72
3M Company (MMM): -$96.37
Cummins Inc. (CMI): -$125.71

Today there were just too many trades, too many stocks traded, too many "not-so-great" setups taken, and just too much of going nowhere fast.

This morning I found that I was having difficulties making some good trades out there....it was another day in which I felt out of sync with the S&P Futures.

I'd get into a long position and just when the stock was about to run, the Futures would make a hard move to the downside and would stop the stock in it's tracks....I'd dump half my position and hold the rest for quite a while, but most of the time, the stock just couldn't continue to the upside.

Likewise, I had similar experiences with a couple of my shorts this morning...I'd get into a short position, it starts running maybe 10-cents or so, but then the Futures would make a hard move up and the stock would follow.

By the end of the morning session, I hadn't gone anywhere in terms of profits.

The only semi-decent move was on Mastercard (MA)....

I was watching it as it pushed to intraday highs and when it broke the $110 level, I went long 200 shares.

It was only a semi-decent trade because I could have had a lot more....I got 100 shares out for a $1.05 winner and the other 100 shares out for a $1.27 winner and I only got out because MA pulled back by almost a dollar which scared me out of my position (and I couldn't see any news on MA).

Well after I got out, MA would continue going up another $3 before it stopped....

But aside from that MA trade, there was nothing really spectacular done today....all afternoon it just felt like I was standing still and even though I put on a lot of trades, I just wasn't going anywhere fast.

I think today I did something that I feared I would do when I first subscribed to Trade-Ideas and that was to try to trade all the alerts that came in.

Earlier in the week I was fairly cautious and waited for the right opportunity to trade the alerts....but today it just seemed like I was taking every alert that I got as a signal to trade, which is obviously not the way things should be done.

It was also another day in which I couldn't get any of my "bigger" 1000 share positions to really run...in fact, like the previous few days, they all turned out to be losers. Maybe there is something I'm not quite seeing when it comes to trading a little bigger.

Eventually I'd like to start going in with 2000 and 3000 shares on some of the alerts I get.

Today I also started getting more comfortable with some of those high-fliers. As mentioned I did trade MA today and I've also been dabbling with IBM, CMI and BXP the last few days and I'm starting to get more of a better feel for these $100+ stocks.

Lastly, I'd like to thank some of the folks leaving comments out there giving recommendations as to where I can possibly go from here. I'd like to continue to tweak the way I trade and once I'm satisfied and more consistent with what I'm doing, I'll definitely consider the other alternatives out there.

But for now, I've got to continue to learn how to trade first before I can strike it out on my own (there's no sense in blowing myself up and having nowhere to turn...).

But keep those suggestions coming - I'm sure the other readers out there could benefit from your recommendations....for me, I've got to build up my bank account and I've got to start building up that risk capital....

Have a good weekend folks! This week has really tired me out so I need the rest!

Good Trades
(trades in which I make $250 or more)
  • None

Bad Trades
(trades in which I lose $150 or more)
  • None

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