Wicked Fed Chop

Net: +$686.61
Trades: 81
Shares Traded: 45000

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
USEC Inc. (USU): +$465.42
Barnes Group Inc. (B): +$240.70
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TXN): +$138.78
Tiffany & Co. (TIF): +$133.91
Guess?, Inc. (GES): +$125.08
Deere & Company (DE): +$48.33
The Shaw Group Inc. (SGR): +$42.18
Manpower Inc. (MAN): +$14.72
KBR, Inc. (KBR): +$13.16
Automatic Data Processing (ADP): -$4.62
MGIC Investment Corp. (MTG): -$16.74
Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. (CBI): -$18.42
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (APC): -$20.52
Uniao de Bancos Brasileiros SA (UBB): -$24.49
Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (SID): -$27.93
MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (WFR): -$49.05
RTI International Metals (RTI): -$58.29
L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. (LLL): -$61.37
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (CTB): -$151.61
CVS/Caremark Corporation (CVS): -$172.60

What a vicious hack, slash, and chop there was after the Fed announcement today.

I'm just glad I didn't get caught in any position while that nasty down, up, down, then up move occurred.

I couldn't really get much done after the Fed announcement and I felt as though I waited for it for nothing (as most of my profits came before lunch).

Today I could have done a better job at trade selection as I traded way too many stocks with not-so-great setups.

But, I quickly got out of losing trades when things didn't pan out and I never hesitated to get out for a small loser.

Unfortunately I was fooled twice on Cooper Tire (CTB) and three times on Caremark (CVS) and I just couldn't read these two stocks properly.

So after lunch I started playing around (and traded stocks I shouldn't have) just until the Fed announcement. Again, I was anticipating a lot of opportunities and I was eyeing a few levels just before 2:15PM.

So when the Fed announcement came up, things dropped like a rock...."OK, wait for the first move before deciding on a direction to trade", I told myself.

Then the S&P Futures rips back up again back to the level it was at before the announcement..."Alright, let's see where it goes from here", I was thinking.

Then the Futures drop like a rock again..."Ok, is this going to be a short and will it keep going down? Perhaps I should get short here...."

Then the Futures rip all the way back up...I got in on some longs, but for whatever reason, they didn't want to move to the upside...I ended up getting them out for small winners.

Then the Futures continues to rip up and takes out the intraday highs. I got in on some longs yet again, but yet again, they didn't go anywhere.

So after all of that, I think all that moving around wasn't really worth waiting for (well, at least for me).

There were also a lot of trades taken today....mainly because I was trying to use larger share size and I was scaling out a lot more (I'd get in with 2000 or 3000 shares and I'd peel my positions off 500 shares at a time).

I know I have to do a better job at trade selection to try to cut down on all those unnecessary trades. I also should start really pushing myself in terms of share size if I really want to go somewhere (sheesh, how many times have you heard me say that?).

One good trade and no bad ones today.

I'll try and work on some of the things mentioned tomorrow....

Good Trades
(trades in which I make $250 or more)

• 9:51:46AM - USEC (USU) was strong since the open as it was making new all-time highs. It approached the $23.00 level and when it broke, I went long 2000 shares. I slowly peeled out of my position and yes I do know I got most of it out waaayyy too early but I saw things falling back back and it kind felt like it didn't want to go further to the upside (but boy was I wrong)....this is something I have to work on. I got out as follows: 10-cent winner (600 shares), 25-cent winner (900 shares), 26-cent winner (100 shares), 28-cent winner (400 shares) ($423 profit before fees ; Long 2000 shares @ $23.00 ; Out: Didn't record)

Bad Trades
(trades in which I lose $150 or more)

• None