Kat Bay's Blog

Charts & Trades April 29, 2010

2010-04-29T14:48:00.000-07:00

Weird day, good opportunities, but I didn’t cash in on them. For example I had LIFE set up in my trading program to buy on the break of the 3rd bar. I didn’t pull the trigger. I had an order in for BMY, that one didn’t trigger and somehow I missed RIG altogether.

I did trade UPS, which came back to break even. And I traded UPS again, not knowing.
During the previous trade I had set the stop to break even when the price came close to 1R and walked away from the computer fully expecting 1R to be reached. When I came back about half an hour later Bracket Trader showed a message on the computer screen saying that additional shares of UPS might have been purchased, please check TWS. And indeed, I got stopped out and shares were purchased again 20 seconds later. No stop, no target. I closed it out immediately, nothing lost but my trust in all sorts of software programs.

UPS (Gap Up)

Gaps up with an upper wick on the candle I’d rather not see. It pulled back, but worked itself back up to the ORH. In fact, the 4th candle is big and strong and penetrates the ORH, closing above it. The next candle bounces off the ORH and closes strong and is our trigger bar. It worked right from the start. It came within 6c of 1R before it took a dive and I got stopped out at BE.

Hope you had a good one.

Charts & Trades April 27, 2010

2010-04-27T15:25:00.000-07:00

Two trades today, one winner one loser, overall I came out with just over 1R.

ALL (Gap Down) black arrows.

First a big red candle followed by a smaller one, closing weak and the 3rd candle an NR7 bouncing off the ORL closing weak. The whole number is in the way and there is no support by the EMA. I entered a short order for 33.98 which was hit on the next bar, but then I got shaken out on the very same bar. -1R.

ALL (Gap Down) red arrows.

Although I previously got stopped out on this one, the 5th bar was once again an NR7, closing weak and off the ORL. Really the same as the previous trade, but with the EMA much closer. I really felt it had been bad luck that I got shaken out (shouldn’t trade with feelings) and once again entered a short order, this time 2c below the 4th bar low.
Order got filled and I took partial on the 8th bar. Zoomed nicely through the FE and I set my target at the 61.8FE at 33.36 and stop at the 38.2FE at 33.64 (until the 20EMA on 5 min chart would catch up). It hung between the two FE’s for well over half an hour and I decided to close the trade at 33.44. Initially that seemed a smart move as the price went up to 33.60, but then it came down again and hit the 33.36 anyway. Over 2R out of this trade. Happy with that.

Hope you had a good day.

Charts & Trades April 26, 2010

2010-04-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

There was nothing sparking an interest in me to trade.

Hope you saw something worth while.

Charts & Trades April 23, 2010

2010-04-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

One trade. Didn’t go too well and got stopped out for a loss of 1R.

LLY (Through PDL)

First a big red candle followed by a sideways movement with nice long upper tails, showing weakness. The 4th bar is an NR4 off the EMA and closes at the bottom of the bar. This is our trigger. Bought on the break and initially it went our way, but turned around 3c shy of 1R. Got stopped out a few bars later.

Hope you had a better one.

Charts & Trades April 22, 2010

2010-04-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

One trade today. I handled it poorly and ended up with nothing gained, nothing lost.

SNDK (Gap up)

The market overall started very poorly, but not so SNDK. It roared right from the start end didn’t pull back until the second hour of the trading day. The 7th candle is an NR7 and pulls back to the EMA and closes in the top third of the candle. This is our trigger bar. Bought on the break. Three bars later it gets within 4c of 1R and on account of I had to leave to run some errands I set the stop to break even and left. I got stopped out before it went up to a dollar gain, my target.

Hope you had a good one.

Charts & Trades April 21, 2010

2010-04-21T14:43:00.001-07:00

I traded a couple of times on Monday, trying out some new things with stocks that had pulled back from recent 52 week highs. Always trying new things, last Thursday it was very successful, but this time I got caught with my pants down when the GS news hit the market. Good thing we have stops.

One trade for me today. Kind of agonized over the set up, as it wasn’t picture perfect, but it sure worked for me today. Just over 2R.

AMGN (Through PDL)

2 big red bars for starters followed by a pull back to the EMA. The 4th and 5th candle both closed weak; both were NR4s and were off the EMA. Bought on the break of the 5th candle and price action went instantly in my favor. I took partial at the FE, just over 2R and let the rest run with the 20EMA on the 5 min chart as trailing stop. Target was the 61.8 FE at 58.02. That was never reached and I was stopped out at just over 2R at 58.52.

Hope you had a good day.

Charts & Trades April 14, 2010

2010-04-14T14:21:00.001-07:00

I’m getting trashed here. After closing March alright and having a good start in April, things are not going so well. Total of -1R today, one trade only. I had an order in for WFR, long on the break of the 4th bar, but canceled that when the stop loss level was breached before it reached the buy point.

AXP (Gap up)

Big green bar followed by 2 red bars back down to the EMA. The 4th bar was pretty well up to the last few minute a nice small bar. It started to take off in the fleeting minutes, in my mind a little too early as I wasn’t in on in yet. Still an IB NR4 and I entered on the break. And that trade lasted 2min and 26 seconds. I hate that when that happens. I got shaken out and then it had the audacity to go up to 3R. There is just no justice.

I hope you had a much better trading day. Don’t know yet if I can trade tomorrow.

Charts & Trades April 13, 2010

2010-04-13T13:29:00.000-07:00

One trade today, nor very good. Traded IR with what I thought a very reasonable setup.
It didn’t work out and I exited before my stop loss was reached. That left me with a loss of a little under 1R.

IR (Trough PDL)

Big red bar for starters followed by two green bars followed in turn by a doji, off the EMA, an IB and an NR4. This is our trigger bar and I entered on the break on the next bar. Initially it went the way of the Dodo, but the market had turned and the SPY was coming up fast. I exited the trade a little before my stop loss was reached, set at 37.11.

I hope you had some good trades.

Charts & Trades April 8, 2010

2010-04-08T16:22:00.000-07:00

Had an order in for shortening AKS and then a passing storm took out my internet connection. Actually a sprinkle of snow, first since Christmas. Found out 3 hours later that nothing had happened. Worse case scenario would have been -1R, best case, the sky.

Hope you had a good one.

Charts & Trades April 7, 2010

2010-04-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

None for me.

Hope you had a good day.

Charts & Trades April 6, 2010

2010-04-06T13:11:00.000-07:00

Not a good trading day for me. I had two trades that went each down to the stop loss at -1R and I botched the exit on the third trade leaving me with about –0.75R on the day. Of course, it could have been a lot worse. As much as I try not to have one trade influence the other, I failed miserably at that today. After I was 2R in the hole and in fear of losing even more I exited the third trade after an explosive 10 minutes of upward price action, fearing it would go down as quickly as it went up. I know that if this had been the only trade of the day, no little guy in the back of my head telling me to make up for the losses, I would have handled this trade quite differently. As soon as the price started to move up with the speed it did I canceled the partial order I had in for half the shares at 1R. I think that was prudent and I should perhaps have taken the partial later on at 63.50 instead of exiting the whole trade at that level. Then the remaining shares would have been subject to the stop dictated by the 20EMA on the 5min chart. Those shares would have been stopped out at 64.00, which amounted to 3R.

Even if I had taken partial at 1R and the rest at 3R, the original plan, I would have been better off than what I am now. Time to read ‘Trading in the Zone’ again.

ACI (Through PDH)

Big green bar, opening below yesterday’s close, followed by 2 red bars, the second with a long lower tail. The 4th bar is an NR4 IB off the EMA and is our trigger bar. I bought on the break of that bar and got stopped out on that very same bar. -1R.

SU (Through PDH)

Really a set up I’m not that comfortable with. In fact, I went back and forth to some of TraderAm’s old trades for inspiration. He always seems to pull off those ‘buying above the ORH’. In hindsight the setup looked much better to me then, than what it looks to me right now. Regardless of win or lose. Not a good trade.

First two bars are solid green, followed by a 4 bar sideways movement, waiting for the EMA to catch up. The last of those 4 bars bounces off the EMA and is our trigger bar. Bought on the break and initially headed in the right direction before it came down and I got stopped out 3 bars later. -1R.

APOL (Through PDH)

Massive first green bar, followed by a pull back to the EMA. The third bar is an NR4 IB off the EMA and closing very strong. Bought on the break and initially it looked I was going to get stopped out on that very same bar I bought on. I cancelled the partial at 63.37 and exited the whole trade after an intraday high of 63.65 was hit and the price came down again. I set my stop at 63.50, kind of a round number, which was hit not much later. A little under +1.5R

What a day. Hope you had a good one.

Charts & Trades April 5, 2010

2010-04-05T13:28:00.001-07:00

Just one trade today, it worked out okay, giving me a total of 1¼R.

IGT (Through PDH)

First bar is a big green one followed by 2 red ones with rather large tails. The 2nd bar bounces off PDH and the 3rd is a spinning top with long tails. The 4th bar opened just above the close of the 3rd bar, but then went down to the EMA, before coming back very strongly at the end of the 15 min period. This strength in the latter part of the bar was more convincing to me that we had a set up than the actual pattern that the first 4 bars formed together. I bought on the break of the 4th bar and took partial 3 bars later. It touched the FE at 19.59, just over 2R, but I was holding out for more. Got stopped out at 19.43.

Charts & Trades April 1, 2010

2010-04-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

Two trades today. Started off with a watch list the length of the Nile, but I quickly fished a handful of stocks that were destined for greatness out of the river. That’s what I wanted to believe anyway. I ended up with a total of just over +2R on the day. Good start of the month.

ANF (Through PDH)

First bar through PDH followed by a pullback to the EMA. The 4th bar is a green NR7 IB and our trigger bar. Entered on the break of that bar and took partial 3 bars later. It then shot up and hovered around the 46.70 mark for a while before it started to creep back down. Once again, what is the exit strategy? Although I had increased the stop according to the 20EMA on the 5 min chart, the stock had been trading well over 3R and to see it go below 2R was too much for me to bear. I exited at 46.55, just over 2 R and 5 cents above my stop. I would have been stopped out on the next bar. Total on the trade just over +1.5R. My initial target was the FE, at 47.06, but I changed that to the whole number instead, which would have been just in excess of 5R. That level was never reached.

DTV (Gap up)

Very similar set-up as the ANF trade. Big green bar followed by a pullback to the EMA. The 4th candle is an NR4 off the EMA and our trigger bar. Entered on the break of the trigger bar and initially was in the red for the first hour or so. I kind of lost faith in this trade because of that and after the first hour adjusted my stop to the 20EMA 5 min chart level. The 9th bar started to perk up and especially the 11th bar came through before it went down again. I exited about midway the 13th bar for really no other reason than not believing in a successful outcome. About +0.5R on the trade.

Hope you had a good day. Enjoy the long weekend.

Charts & Trades March 31, 2010

2010-03-31T13:03:00.000-07:00

One trade today, one that worked out beautifully, that gave me just over 2R. I’m certainly happy with that, closing the month on a positive note. As soon as I entered the trade, IB gave me the following message. I have no idea if there will be a charge, or how much that will be.

FMCN (Gap up)

First two bars are strong green bars followed by three smaller red bars. The 5th bar touches the EMA and although the 6th bar goes through the EMA it closes very strong above it. The complete pull back never touches the ORH. The 6th bar is an NR7 and is our trigger bar. Bought on the break and took partial 3 bars later. I originally set the 38.2 FE as my target, which was just over 2R. When it actually got there and went through it I set the 61.8 FE as the new target at 18.29. I still adjusted my stop with the rising 20EMA on the 5 min chart, which was now at 18.01. I decided to take the last shares off the table at just over 3R at 18.17, as the FE seemed too far away. WRONG!! Very wishy-washy behavior on my part regarding the exit strategy and although the FE was hit, I would have been stopped out at 18.11 six minutes prior. I find these exits very difficult as I obviously want to maximize my profits. I’m still learning.

Hope you had a great day and a good month. See you in April.

Charts & Trades March 30, 2010

2010-03-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

Nothing for me today.

Charts & Trades March 29, 2010

2010-03-29T14:05:00.001-07:00

I couldn’t find much on my watch list today. Nor could I last Friday, forgot to post ‘no trades for me today’ that day. Today I looked at AVG, and although I didn’t like the rapid pullback of the second candle that much, I did put in an order for a buy at the break of the third candle. I canceled the order before it could be filled as I didn’t like the shape of the third candle either all that much. Shame on me, as it soared.

Put in an order for BUCY too that I canceled as the spread went up to 9c. I don’t really like anything above 3c, preferable 2c.

So I traded AGNC, my third mistake of the day. Not a great set-up, but it could have gone my way. It didn’t. -1R on the day.

AGNC (Gap down)

Big gap, two solid weak candles for starters. Back up to the EMA. I’d hoped it would bounce off the ORL, but it didn’t. The 7th bar is coming down again, as is the next one. I put a sell order in on the break of the 8th bar and below the ORL. It got filled, but then came back to stop me out 2 bars later. Notice the difficulty in closing the trade and the slippage in the box below, 2 seconds, 2 cents.

I hope you did better today.

Charts & Trades March 25, 2010

2010-03-25T15:30:00.000-07:00

No trades for me today.

Charts & Trades March 23, 2010

2010-03-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

No trading for me today and probably tomorrow.

May the bulls run with you.

Charts & Trades March 22, 2010

2010-03-22T15:54:00.000-07:00

Not a good start of the week. I couldn’t find anything real interesting and in the end I probably should have left it at that. However, I made one trade and that one pretty well went against me right from the start. Total on the day -1R.

CNX

Big red bar for starters followed by three green bars, all with higher highs and higher lows, nice pattern. The third green bar, a spinning top is off the EMA, but is not an NR 4 or 7. The close was quite far from the low, my thought was that if the next bar would come down a few cents below that low, we might have some momentum going in that direction. It did come down, order was in for 43.90, but was filled at 43.88. It went as far as 43.76, but it then reversed and went up in a hurry. I got stopped out two bars later.

Hope you had a good day.

Charts & Trades March 19, 2010

2010-03-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

When the market was nicely trending down for the first 2 hours, I was way too occupied by wading through a huge number of charts to eliminate stocks, that Trade-Ideas had spit out as my initial watch list, to come up with something a little more manageable of a list. Not good, I missed entering a trade in PXP, which I had entered in my trading software, but then ignored on account of all the other stocks setting up and in the end I traded not a single one of them. I have to limit my initial list to about 50 I think, when so many stocks qualify. Perhaps set an extra parameter, such as take the 50 stocks with the highest volumes, or the ones with the shortest candle wicks, etc,.

In the end I traded only one stock, long, rather than going with the market. Definitely turned out to be one of my better trades.

CI (Gap up)

The first candle is a strong green one, followed by 2 weak red bars. The fourth bar is a spinning top, an NR4 off the EMA. This is our trigger and although the next bar went initially down, it did come back up and the order was filled at 36.51, 1c more than I had put the order in for. And then it just took off from there. Partial two bars later and to protect my profits (fear) I took a quarter of the original shares off the table when it blasted through 3R. I then closed out the rest at the fib extension, very close to day high. Obviously, I’m very pleased with this trade, netting a total of just under 2.5R.

I hope you had a good day trading and have a great weekend.

Charts & Trades March 18, 2010

2010-03-18T13:09:00.001-07:00

A rather stupid and embarrassing thing happened here today. On my two screens I have open, IB’s TWS, Excel, 3 copies of Bracket Trader, Amibroker, eSignal, Trade-Ideas and MS Word. After closing my first trade, my one and only I thought, I must have triggered a short order for GLW, which was still on Bracket Trader from yesterday. I just found out as I got back to the computer to write up the MTL trade.

Well, even if I would like to cry you a river here, I still walked away at the end of the day with a little under 0.5R. That could have been a lot worse. Just the way Bracket Trader is set up, no matter what I do, unless I change the settings, I can never lose more than 1R (plus commission). Saved me today.

MTL (Through PDL)

First solid red bar, followed by a green bar with a fair size upper tail. Nice red doji next off the EMA and an IB. This is our trigger. Entered on the next and took partial on the following bar. Feeling good here. It went as low as in excess of 3R, but my target was the fib extension at 24.77. It never went that low and the 5 min chart 20EMA took me out of the trade at 25.17, just over 2R, giving me a total of just over 1.5R.

GLW

I might as well show you the trade. Entered on the NR7, the 10c to target is the number from yesterday, and got stopped out 3 bars later. Not much logic there.

Charts & Trades March 17, 2010

2010-03-17T12:36:00.000-07:00

Well, March has been here for a few weeks now and I have been back trading since Monday after a rather unsuccessful week of diving. Due to the weather, mostly cancelled.

I couldn’t find a decent set up on Monday and Tuesday, but managed to put two trades in today, ending up with a combined result of just above +2R. Happy with that. For some reason I missed ANR, probably concentrating on IVN.

I have been thinking about where to set stops again. If I look back at my trades and also TraderAm’s trades, and although I haven’t done a statistical analyses, it is easy to see that many trades come back to break even after having taken partial at 1R. I really should look at the data more in-depth, but for now I think I go with the 20EMA on a 5 min chart. Quite a few traders seem to use the 20EMA as their trailing stop.

In hindsight, both trades would have come back to break even if I hadn’t sold the remaining shares at the 20EMA level. Today the trailing stop worked.

IVN (Gap up)

Solid first candle, followed by three red candles. The second and third red candles are off the EMA and the third is an NR4 IB. This is our trigger. I had an order in, or so I thought, for a buy at 16.61, but it didn’t fill on the next bar. My fault! I then actually pressed the button and now the order went life. Bought at 16.61 on the next bar and took partial at just over 1R 4bars later. I then switched to a 5 min chart with a 20 period EMA using that as my stop-loss. I got stopped out 10 bars later. Total gain was about 1.3R.

GLW (Gap up)

First 4 bars are green followed by a red bar followed by a nice green doji off the EMA and off the ORH. It is also an NR7 and it’s our trigger bar. Filled on the next bar and I took partial at the whole number when it became apparent to me that it didn’t want to go through that barrier. 1R really was at 19.01. In the end it did go through the 19 level and went as high as 19.06. I once again went to the 5 min chart and was stopped out at 19.01. It went back up to 19.06 again, but then it dropped. Total gain was about 0.8R.

Charts & Trades March 1, 2010

2010-03-01T20:27:00.001-08:00

February is gone and if it hadn’t been for the Olympics it would have been a pretty gloomy month. I had 17 trades this month and ended up with a profit of 36 cents. That’s less than a penny an hour, who works for that?

I’ll be away until the 15th. Going diving for a week. I then plan to blog a little more than I have in the last few months. Also planning on making better trades…………..

Until then, may the bulls be on your side.

Charts & Trades January 29, 2010

2010-01-29T11:16:00.000-08:00

It has been a terrible month for me day trading. Not that I lost a lot of money, or couldn’t get a winner, I just couldn’t find any day trade set ups at all. I followed HCPG newsletter and tweets for a week and a half, but I just couldn’t trade the set ups they suggested. And they seem to be doing alright. Generally they trade break outs, but because of the nature of the market they would almost buy blindly into supports and, to their credit, do very well with doing that. In the first 5 minutes of the day they would sometimes buy positions in ten different stocks, calling it taking candy from a child, if it went down they’d buy more and it all seemed to go up in the end. I strongly suggest to anybody to take a look at their web site. I think I’d be more comfortable buying breakouts. So when the time comes and the market turns I’d be keeping a close eye on their alerts.

I scanned the gaps every morning and I have not traded a stock from that for a week and a half now. If the setups were there, I didn’t see them. Or I’m just too scared, who knows.

It’s getting pretty tedious sitting behind the computer day in, day out and not executing a single trade. I guess that’s how the dice rolls sometimes.

I certainly hope you had a better month than I had and I’m looking forward to the next.

Charts & Trades January 12, 2010

2010-01-12T10:05:00.001-08:00

No trades from me as I’m not trading from my watch lists this week. I’m really going to concentrate on HCPG newsletter picks and follow them on twitter to see how they are doing and how I would be doing if I were trading their newsletter exclusively.

Will let you know.

Have a good week trading.

Charts & Trades January 8, 2010.

2010-01-09T15:26:00.000-08:00

Not a good day. First trade went against me. I really thought that that one would pull through, but it didn’t. Second trade was from the HCPG watch list and put me back at break-even again for the day. I then made a totally bonehead move and shortened a stock I had no business trading and ended up for the day with a -1R.

CPB (Through yesterday’s low)

First candle is weak and closes below PDL. The trend continues with lower highs and lower lows with the fourth candle an NR4, completely below ORL and nicely off the ema. This is our trigger and we bought the stock on the break. The trend continued with the next candle, but then the tide turned and we were stopped out for a complete R. I thought the setup was good and I would take it again.

RIG (HCPG watch list)

RIG had resistance at 92. It broke through that early in the trading day and then came back to find support on the ema20. Bought the stock just above 92 and took partial on the next bar. It went as high as 2R before it started to come down and I exited just above 1R. That might have been a premature exit in hindsight, but using the ema20 as a stop, as suggested by HCPG, we would have been stopped out before it went soaring to well over 93.

SPG (from no list)

I read about this stock on a website and saw it plummeting throughout the first three hours of the day. On the daily chart it still could go much lower before it would find any support so I decided to jump on the wagon and ride it down to that support. Obviously the ride went the other way. A trade worth forgetting. Got stopped out for 1R loss.

Hope you had a better day. Have a good weekend.

Charts & Trades January 7, 2010.

2010-01-07T13:06:00.000-08:00

One trade only and not even that great of a set up. Walked away with just over 1R. Had I shown a little more patience, it could have been a little more.

ZION (Through previous day high)

ZION started with 5 strong bars, followed by a reversal pattern. The seventh bar was large and really weak, followed by an NR7 small red bar. This bar could not penetrate first 30 minutes ORH. I bought on the break and for the first half hour it didn’t do much, but it then broke through to the up side. Took partial at 1R and tightened my stop to 1R when the price reached 2R. This turned out to be an unfortunate move as I consequently got stopped out. It went as low as 16.23 (8 cents above BE) and it then started to rally back up to new highs, reaching 17.00.

Have a good one!

Charts & Trades January 6, 2010.

2010-01-06T10:52:00.000-08:00

Traded two recommendations from the HighChartsPatterns Group newsletter I recently started to subscribe to. I find the newsletter difficult to understand and consequently I find it difficult to follow their guidelines, but two successful trades nevertheless. Trading from a one minute chart is a challenge by itself for me. HCPG is not watching that many stocks on a daily basis, so I just might add their watch list to my desktop. See how it goes. I’ll show you the one minute charts I traded from, but I don’t know if that is to any interest, as there are no simple explanations to go with it such as nr7, bouncing off the ema, etc. The idea is that a stock breaks out of its base, the longer the base the better and then you find the appropriate ema for that stock. Difficulty of course is to know when a stock breaks out, or when it just extends its base.
I didn’t really see a set up from my own watch list. Total of just over 1.5 R gain today.

BJS Daily

BJS Minute

MDR Daily

MDR Minute

Charts & Trades January 5, 2010

2010-01-05T14:16:00.000-08:00

First, to all of you, I might just be talking to myself, I wish you a very prosperous 2010. My first trading day in some time and unfortunately it wasn’t the start of the New Year I hoped for. Two trades, one going for the full 1R loss and the other I closed out at the end of the trading session for just better than break even.

My original watch list, before tweaking, contained about 80 stocks. A lot of stocks had phenomenal runs in the first hour or so. I’m getting a bit peeved (not frustrated) seeing these stocks climb or descent in a beautiful linear pattern, but with no obvious entry point to jump on. For example, have a look at stocks like FIS, CSIQ, BBBY and there are lots more that traded with that pattern today. There has to be a way to incorporate a set up to trade these stocks within our trading methods. It is not only today that we see this, it happens virtually every day. I start my scan 15 minutes into the trading day and finish my final watch list, about 40 stocks, perhaps half an hour later. At that time there is still a lot of life left in these nicely moving stocks, but how and where to enter a buy or sell order? Obviously there is no NR or pull back to enter on, nor is there a clear or obvious place to set a stop. Maybe use a previous day ATR, or find an entry point on a five minute chart? But look at FIS, even on a five minute chart there is no pull back. Points to ponder.

CHKP (Gap down)

I was watching A and CHKP for a short and decided to go with CHKP. Had I gone with A I’d be laughing now. Big first red candle followed by three green ones, the last one, an NR4 touching the ema. Entered on the break and initially the trade went my way, going to 1/3 R, but it then reversed and I was stopped out for a full R on the 11th bar.

BBY (Gap up)

Good run in its first hour, but then started to weaken. It came back to the ORH, but never penetrated that line. It printed two green bars, both NR7s I used the second one of that as the trigger bar, convinced enough that it was continuing the trend up. The stock didn’t do much from there on and I exited in the last five minutes for a few cents profit. A little better than break even.

Hope you had a good day.

Charts & Trades November 30, 2009

2009-11-30T13:31:00.000-08:00

Nothing for me today. Not much of a watch list at all. Closing out November with a tiny profit. I might trade tomorrow, and if so that will most likely be my only trading day in December. I'll be taking off on Wednesday and won't be back until the New Year. To everybody a merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year.

Charts & Trades November 23, 2009

2009-11-23T14:01:00.001-08:00

Hello. I think I got hit with the flu bug last Wednesday, but feeling good as new again today. One trade and not a very successful one. Loss of 1R.

UNH (Gap up)

UNH gapped up with a lot of stocks today, but didn’t pull through with the second, third and fourth bar, while the DOW did. The fourth bar is an NR4 off the ema and our trigger bar. I didn’t originally think the order would trigger, but it did with a strong green bar, while the DOW printed a red bar. It then didn’t really go anywhere and we got stopped out at the end of the day. I hope you had a better day trading.

Charts & Trades November 18, 2009

2009-11-18T13:07:00.000-08:00

Hello. One trade today ending up in a loss of about ½ R.

ADI

ADI gapped up and printed two big weak bars, before it bounced on previous day's high. It then printed two green bars with the second one closing close to bar’s high. This was an NR4 and the trigger bar. I bought on the break and then it just moved about for the next six hours or so. Mostly in the negative, but a couple of times sticking it’s head into positive territory. I wasn’t here to watch it as I run some errands, but was very surprised still finding myself to be in the trade when I returned an hour before market close. It just hit breakeven then and I saw it going down from there. Sold it in the last minute for a loss. Hope you had some better trades.

Charts & Trades November 17, 2009

2009-11-17T12:57:00.001-08:00

Hello, not much of a trading day for me. Entered two trades, but bailed out of both at break even after having been in for over an hour and didn’t like the way the stocks were behaving. Had I stayed in I would have walked away with 1R as both stocks did eventually hit the 1R mark. I would have taken partials there and the remainders would have come back for break even. Now I walked with nothing. Live and learn.

ACN

ACN had been in an uptrend for the last ten days and broke any overhead resistance (40.00) convincingly with the first bar of the day. The fourth bar was a bit of a pullback, an NR7, IB, off the ema and our trigger bar. I bought on the break. Although the eighth and the ninth bar were a bit of a hick up in the up going trend, the tenth and the eleventh bar were a sign to me to get out. Long upper wicks at day’s high not a good sign. Initially the next two bars proved my point, but then it did go to 1R.

AGO

I think this picture looks like the classic MaoXian’s trading for dummies set up. Big jump on the first bar, then coming down with buy points above the previous bars. Had I done it right I would have bought on the break of the sixth bar, but I waited for a little more confirmation and bought on the break of the eighth bar. After it repeatedly didn’t want to get through the 26.00 mark, I tried to get out just above BE on the fourteenth bar. Run into some slippage there. And then, just like ACN, it went on to hit 1R and then came back again. Oh well, I hope you had some good trades.

Charts & Trades November 16, 2009

2009-11-16T14:58:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon. Two trades today, two small winners. I think I was lucky getting through this day unscratched. These were not great set ups. Pretty amazing altogether I couldn’t find anything better. I had well over 160 stocks qualifying for today’s watch list, but it is tough when the market jumps enormously in the first half hour and then just piddles around for the rest of the day.

COP (Through previous day high)

Three strong green candles for starters, following the general market, followed by some consolidation. COP hit major resistance around the 54.10 level and did not manage to break that level. I thought it then acted weaker than the market based on the fourth and fifth candles. In hindsight I’m not too sure about that. I decided to short the stock based on not breaking the 54.10 level and because of the weakness of the fourth and fifth bar and bought on the break of the sixth candle. It hit the 53.09, but once again didn’t go through that. I caught a lucky break with the twelfth candle as it seemed that the DOW was going to pack it in. I took partial at 1R and then the rest came back for break even.

CAT (Gap up)

CAT caught my eye after the twelfth bar. It came back up with a bit more resiliency than the general market after the DOW had plummeted there for a bit. It wouldn’t run into resistance until around 60.90. The 14th bar closed strong, was a NR7 off the ema. I bought on the break and took partial at 1R. I closed the remainder just above 1R, probably a bit pre mature, but in hindsight not a bad place to take profit.

Charts & Trades November 13, 2009

2009-11-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

Two trades today. Once again a rather small watch list. I had one losing trade and one winner.

AGO (Gap up)

A big jump for AGO, two big green candles to start the day, followed by a pull back to close to the ORH. The fourth candle is a NR4, off the ema and is our trigger. Entered on the break, initially went the right way, but then came down and I got stopped out two bars later. Now I read the other day that although a stock might gap for whatever reason, after the first hour of trading it very often behaves like it did in previous days. If we look at the previous few days, the stock indeed looks very flat and that pattern continued today after the first hour of trading. Perhaps this is something to keep in mind.

NTRS (Through previous day low)

Big red bar followed by three green bars, but obviously the stock is much weaker than the NDX. Looking back, NTRS has been much weaker than the NDX for quite a while and when it responded rather lukewarm today when the NDX picked up, making new highs for the day, I felt it was a good stock to short. The first signal was the fifth bar, but when that one didn’t trigger the next bar, a very weak one, became the trigger bar. Bought on the break. It trashed around for a long time moving into positive and negative territory a few times, before solidly going down. Took partial at just over 1R and closed out close to the whole number. My target was the FE at 47.12, not very realistic perhaps, but it was something to shoot for. When the stock started trading below the 48 mark (47.90) I decided to set my stop at 48, about 2 ½ R, as I thought if it would break that to the upside it might go much higher. I got stopped out and in the end the price pretty well consolidated around that level.

Have a great weekend.

Charts & Trades November 12, 2009

2009-11-12T14:26:00.000-08:00

Got home last night after about a month in the field and I couldn't wait to start trading again. Started with a watch list of about 60 stocks that quickly dwindled to about twenty and still didn't give me much to go on. The only stock on my watch list I saw that could get something started was IR. The fourth candle was a bit of a pullback, an NR4, off the ema and closed strong. Entered on the break and took partial on the next candle. The next candle went as high as 1 1/2 R, but then came rapidly back to break even. Closed the remainder right there. Hope you had a good day.

IR (Through previous day high)

Charts & Trades October 9, 2009

2009-10-09T16:48:00.000-07:00

Couldn't find anything with a decent setup. I probably won't be trading for a couple of weeks as my presence is required elsewhere.

Hope you had a good day.

Charts & Trades October 8, 2009.

2009-10-08T09:29:00.001-07:00

No trading for me today. Hopefully back tomorrow.

Have a good trading day.

Charts & Trades October 7, 2009

2009-10-07T08:39:00.000-07:00

Short day for me. Short watch list too. I wish I had traded EL on the break of the fifth, but I didn't.
I traded SLB twice. On the daily chart it had bounced off the 50MA a couple of days ago and was about to break the 20MA. It would be a good buy at 60.

SLB

Had an order in for 60.03, which got filled at 60.05. Stock went up to well over 1R, I didn't take partial and got stopped out at BE.

Entered again, this time at 60.04, took partial at 1R and exited the trade at just over 3R. The FE lay at roughly 4.5R (60.96), which I thought to be a very tall order. But it was hit 4 min later. Still walking away with over 2R.

Hope you had a good day too.

Charts & Trades October 6, 2009

2009-10-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

After initialy having some software problems, I started to get going about 30 minutes into the trading day. My morning scan came up with a huge number of stocks, way more than I possibly could go through, so I selected about 60 of them based on volume. In the last few days large watch lists had dwindled to small lists very early in the morning, as I scrapped any stock trading back in previous day territory. Not today though, market was very strong, few moved back in previous day territory, but in all these movements I couldn't find a single place where I could jump on board. Very frustrating as I felt this was going to be a good day for going long.

So I went short for something completely different.

EOG

On the daily chart EOG had major resistance at the 84.50 level. It reached that resistance at 8:10 but couldn't hold that level. I shortened it at 84.28 and covered the whole at 84.06. It had gone down to 83.68, my target was 83.44, about 1%. I had put a stop in at 84.00 I didn't want to stay in it if it went up through the whole number again. Ended up with 6c slippage, on an R of 0.25, that is huge. Total gain 0.84R.

Charts & Trades October 5, 2009

2009-10-05T18:19:00.001-07:00

Nothing for me today I'm afraid. Just didn't see anything.

Hope you had a better day.

Charts & Trades October 2, 2009

2009-10-02T13:18:00.001-07:00

Once again I can kick myself. I only made one trade and I exited too early. Broke even on the day. After the first fifteen minutes of trading I ended up with a huge watch list of which I then picked the ones with highest volume. Within half an hour my watch list was next to nothing as almost all stocks were closing the gap. I take a stock off my list as soon as it trades within previous day high or low ranges. I then took the qualifying stocks with lower volume and started working from that list as well. Still, in the end only one trade. And I still think this was the stock with the best set up from my watch list, with the exception of ITT perhaps.

FIS (Gap down)

Although down, the first candle was a green candle but then followed by a weak red one. The fourth candle is an IB NR7 and is off the EMA. It is a small pull back that bounced off the ORL. A good trigger candle and we enter on the break. It was in the green for well over an hour, but never reached 1R before it started to pull back again. After a well over an hour in the green I had no stomach for letting this trade go against me and I exited when it hit break even. It instantly reversed and it went beyond the fib extension. Figure that.

Charts & Trades October 1, 2009

2009-10-01T08:23:00.001-07:00

Short day for me. One trade and not a good one. Came out of September with a little profit and want to build on that here in October. I'd like to have a good start. Anyway, Traded DISCA long and got stopped out for a full 1R.

DISCA (Gap up)

Good solid first candle, followed by two smaller red bars coming back to the EMA. The fourth bar, off the EMA, an IB and an NR4 closing close to the top of the bar. Bought on the break of that bar, but went pretty well straight down from there to get stopped out a couple of bars later.

In hindsight it is easy to say that buying in a down market and a down sector is a disaster waiting to happen. Might be, but lately we see big moves in the first half hour followed by either chopping around, or some sort of recovery. The DOW and NASDAQ both started to show green candles when DISCA did, but now it looks like just a little flag.

While in this trade I lost track of my watch list, looking back at it now 11.30AM (New York time) shorting DD off the sixth bar looks promising.

Need to run some errands now, hope you have a good day.

Charts & Trades September 29, 2009

2009-09-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

This morning, in the first few minutes of the trading day I closed out two trades, Stewie alerts, held overnight from yesterday. Total combined loss amounted to something close to 4.5R, enough for me to stop trading for the day. Still up for September though, but not continuing anymore with Stewie's service. Parted on good terms. Used it for two months, decided it's not working for me. Obviously it works for other people, I'm not knocking the service, but it does not fit my style of trading.

Hope you had a good day.

Charts & Trades September 28, 2009

2009-09-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

Nothing for me today. I really thought something would materialize with the DOW up over a hundred points. Some stocks on my watch list rallied for almost two hours, but I couldn't see a good set up for entering a trade. QCOM and BMY come to mind.

Hope you did better.

Charts & Trades September 25, 2009

2009-09-25T13:33:00.000-07:00

Nothing today from my watch list. In hindsight ADM, MCD, UTX were tradeable, but even then, I would have been stopped out on MCD on the 9.15 bar. UTX would only have given me 0.5R. I don't know why I missed ADM. It happens.

Hope you had a good week, make sure to read yesterday's comments on TraderAm's blog.

Looking forward to a great next week.

Charts & Trades September 24, 2009

2009-09-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

Got out of RINO in the second minute of trading with well over 3R in my pocket. Gave back almost 2R trading RINO again later on in the day, major slippage. Only traded one stock from my watch list for a gain of approximately 0.5R. I wasn’t following the rules. Took partial too early and exited too early, but it saved me from going in the red. I don’t think the set ups on the 15 min charts are working very well lately. The market is too choppy.

TWX (Gap down)

TWX dropped significantly in the first half hour. A tiny pullback on the third candle, but closing weak. This third candle is an IB NR4 and the trigger bar. Bought on the break and it started to go down steadily on the next candle. It almost hit 1R, but then started to reverse. I took a partial as soon as I saw the trend reversal and then closed it out before it got back to break even. That’s how much trust I had in this trade. It then chopped around for the rest of the day. Gain of 0.5R. I thought the set up was good, there just don’t seem to be any follow through.

Charts & Trades September 23, 2009

2009-09-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

Tough trading in today’s market. Had two trades from my watch list, one winning, one loosing. Total loss on those two amounted to 0.09R. A Stewie MOMO play (RINO long)at the end of the day put us in the green for just over 2R. Bought that stock back after it retraced and holding it for an overnight. It is so difficult to trade in a market with no obvious direction. You’d think you got the setup and everything reverses the next second.
One stock I carefully watched was GIS. It was setting up really nicely for a long position, but I could not find an entry point. I had hoped the 6th candle would be an NR7, but it didn’t work out that way.

If you have a minute, see comments on 00NR7 blog from yesterday. Very insightful.

COCO (First candle closes below PDL)

First candle is a solid red one, followed by three green candles, the third an NR4 touching the declining EMA. Wanted to buy on the break of that fourth candle, but I must have looked the other way, as all of a sudden it was trading at 18.00. Entered at 18.00 and the price went down from there. Took partial at 1R on the next bar. Target was 16.89, a couple of cents above the FE, but when the tenth bar penetrated the ORL I decided to exit the remaining position. Gain 1.03R.

WLP (First candle closes below PDL)

The 9th candle drops below ORL, price then consolidates along the 52.50 mark through very narrow candles. The EMA is still coming down and the 12th candle is a red NR7 off the EMA. Entered on the break, but that was pretty well as low as it went. Got stopped out 2 bars later. Loss -1.13R

Charts & Trades September 22, 2009

2009-09-22T15:51:00.000-07:00

No trades for me today. The only decent set up I found was in DE. I put in an order for a buy on the break of the fifth bar, an nr4, but cancelled the order when it wasn’t filled on the next bar. One penny shy of the entry target. Entry would also have been very close to FE. Should have left the order open and it would have been filled on the next bar.

I hope you had some profitable trades.

Charts & Trades September 21, 2009

2009-09-21T15:26:00.001-07:00

Not a great day for me. Two trades from my watch list. One got stopped out for the full 1R and one was closed out at the end of the day for a minor loss. Total loss 1.26R. The one Stewie alert going long on RIMM was also a major dud. Total loss on the day including RIMM comes to roughly 1.7R. Hope you did better today.

MHP ( First bar closes below PDL)

Two big solid bars to start off the day. Third bar, although green still has a lower low and a higher high. Fourth bar an nr4 IB pull back is our trigger bar. Bought on the break, but it didn’t go anywhere. The Nasdaq really picked up around that time. Stopped out about an hour later for the full R. Loss 1.05R.

HANS (First bar closes above PDH)

The 11th bar is a nice nr7, off the ema, well above ORH and a good pull back. I should have entered on the break, but I didn’t as I felt the enter price would be too close to the 36 level. I decided to buy on the break of the 36 level, which I did on the 19th bar. It then trashed around a lot and never got going. Exited on the last bar, just below BE. Loss 0.21R.

Charts & Trades September 18, 2009

2009-09-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

And another hectic day. Closed the two open trades from yesterday, one for a profit, one for a loss. Profit much larger than loss. That was good. In addition traded 4 other securities, 2 from my watch list, 2 from Stewie’s alerts. Although, the second one of my watch list, after I had been in it for 22 minutes, also became an alert. My two trades ended up with a total of a positive 1.48R. Would have been more had I not clicked the wrong button (see HAR trade). Stewie’s trades, including the over nights amounted to roughly 0.4R, 2 big losers in there. All Stewie trades are a fixed amount of money. The gain or loss I convert to R’s, just to keep track. I go into Home Depot these days and walk out with 3R worth of lumber.

CTB (Gap up)

I thought this to be a good set up. 3 bars up followed by a little retracement. The 4th bar is off the ema, and is an nr7. This is my trigger bar and I entered on the break. Took partial at 1R, but then it came back to get stopped out at BE, then it continued the rally up, but without me. Total gain 0.42R.

HAR (Gap up)

A good solid first bar followed by some movements along the rising ema. The 8th bar penetrated ORH, and is followed by an nr7, closing just below the big green penetrating bar. This is my trigger bar and I enter on the break. I take partial 4 bars later and then attempt to set target at FE (3R), but instead of clicking the ‘increase’ button I press the ‘decreased’ button and am instantly taken out of the trade (target is now below market). The picture shows how nicely the FE is reached. Gain 1.07R.

Charts & Trades September 17, 2009

2009-09-17T18:52:00.001-07:00

Another active day. Seven trades, of which three of my watch list and four of Stewie’s alerts. Two still open as you can see from the trades box, hope I can sleep tonight, as both are in the red. Started off with an Apple trade; absolutely perfect if I may say so. I was flying high. Followed that up with two losers, which planted me solidly back on terra firma. Total gain on my trades a meager 0.20R. Stewie’s trades amounted to roughly 0.30R, but,…..two still open.

AAPL (First bar closes above PDH)

Fourth bar was a small pull back and an nr4. Entered on the break and took partial 2 bars later at 1R, pretty well the FE. Where to set the target? Initially at the next FE(61.8), but we cruised through there. I decided I would exit when a 2 dollar gain was reached. Exited 4 cents below day high. How excellent is that? Yes, enough to get cocky and blow the next two trades!! Gain 1.85R

BK (Gap up)

The fifth bar a pull back to the rising ema and an nr7, did not buy above the break of that bar, but rather on the break of day high. It went slowly down from there and we got stopped out for a full loss. Still think it was a good set up. Loss 1.05R.

ABB (Gap down)

Lot of chopping around initially, but then the Dow started to pack it in. ABB went with it. The 13th bar could not penetrate the ORL, closed weak, an nr4 IB off the ema. Bought on the break, going down nicely, but then the DOW started to reverse. Got out before stop was reached. Loss 0.60R.

Charts & Trades September 16, 2009

2009-09-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

Very active trading today. Traded from my own watch list and from Stewie’s alerts.
Traded TYC, DD and DGX from my list, ANR and SGY from Stewie’s. Great day where my trades added up to 1.43R, roughly half of the day’s profits.

TYC (First candle closes above previous day high)

Not a gap up, but rather the close of the first bar above the PDH. Fifth bar is a slight pull back and also a nr7 close to the ema. This is the trigger bar. Entered on the break of the trigger bar and taking partial on the next. Two minutes later I decided to exit the trade as we had entered pretty well on the fib extension, perhaps very close to a probable day’s high. Price trashed around at that level for the remainder of the day. Normally I wouldn’t have entered at the FE level, but yesterday I didn’t take a trade in TEVA because of that reason and that would have been a profitable trade. Gain 0.93R.

DD (Gap up)

Good start of the day with the fifth bar a pull back, a nr7, off the ema and closing above the ORH. This is the trigger bar. Entered on the break of that bar, but lost faith in this trade after it printed a doji type 7th bar followed by a red candle. I bailed pretty well at BE, that way just losing the commission. Obviously a mistake as it went up in access of 2R an hour later. Loss 0.01R.

DGX (Gap down)

I watched this stock closely from the open, but couldn’t find a good entry point. In hindsight the 4th bar was an excellent trigger bar, I just didn’t see it. I decided to enter on the break of the ORL and did so. Took partial on the next bar and got stopped out on the next. I really thought it would go way lower. Just didn’t happen. Gain 0.51R.

Charts & Trades September 15, 2009

2009-09-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

Looked at a couple of trades, but only took one from my own watch list. I used eSignal to trade, rather than Bracket trader and thinking I put in a limit order, it got filled instantly at market price. Turned out to be good for me. I really liked TEVA today with the fifth bar as the signal to go short. What stopped me from taking that trade was it was already trading at its FE. Would have been a good trade though. Some good set ups during lunch time in New York (breakfast for me), PNC, POT, CCL to name three. The FIRE trade in my trade box was a ‘Stewie’ trade. I bailed on that one before it went down the tubes.

STJ (Gap down)

Second candle is a tiny bit of a pullback and our signal to go short. Meant to buy on the break of the second candle, but order got filled right away at 38.20 rather than 38.12.
Worked out alright. Took partial at 1R and the remainder came back for BE. Had it filled at 38.12, 1R would have been on the 8th candle and the rest would have come back for BE as well. No difference there. Total gain 0.43R.

Charts & Trades September 14, 2009

2009-09-14T13:57:00.000-07:00

First day back, all great intentions, but couldn’t find anything remotely resembling a decent set up. No trades for me. I hope you all did well today.

Charts & Trades September 3, 2009

2009-09-03T16:47:00.000-07:00

Managed to get in two trades this month so far. One losing, one winning. I'll be leaving again tomorrow for a week, but I hope to be back behind my desk on Tuesday the 15th, or even Monday the 14th.

INFY (Gap up)

First trade was on the 1st of September in INFY. The second candle goes beyond the ORH, but then comes back to the ema. The fourth candle is an IB NR4 off the ema. Entered on the next bar, but it didn’t go anywhere. Pretty well the NASDAQ went sour and took INFY with it. Question here is should I have entered on this pattern as it already had broken the ORH before it came back to the ema. Next trade is the same idea, but the ORH wasn’t broken before coming back to the ema. Also the market acted more favorable.
Loss of 1.10R.

FFIV (Gap up)

Fourth bar an IB NR4 off the ema. This is our trigger bar, bought on the break. Initially price was mostly below our entry and I thought I would lose it on the 7th bar, but then it started to take off in my favor. Took partial just below 36.60, once again a partial at 36.90 (3R). I then left the house to pick up my daughter from a sleep over, with stop and target firmly in place. Upon return I saw that the price had been coming down for the last three bars and decided to close out the remainder. In hindsight I should have left it run a little longer. FE, my target was never reached, or had even come into play. Good trade. I had split this trade in three. First partial just above 1R the second at 3R. I thought 3R was a far more likely target than the FE as that was so far away. Nevertheless I kept some shares, just in case. Total gain 2.19R.

Charts & Trades Aug 21, 2009

2009-08-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy summer. Although, trading wise not so active, got a few trades in here and there, but not many to write home about. Nevertheless, August has proven to be a very frustrating month with very few trades going my way. I’m looking forward to the middle of September when everything hopefully returns to normal. Anyway, I have run into the following situation a few times now and would like to vent my frustration on this.

FSLR

Today’s trade was FSLR. The symbol didn’t show up on my watch list as the spread on occasion is too far apart and hence gets filtered out, but I still kept an eye on it. The fifth candle was the trigger bar, although a nr7, off the ema, too close to the 126 line, which could act as support. My thought, if ask and bid both come down below the 126 level than it would be a good short. I set my order for 125.95. Didn’t get filled on the next bar, but this bar again was a good trigger bar and I kept my order, with a slight adjustment to the stop. It got filled on the next bar. Stop loss was set at 126.55, 10c above ‘second’ trigger bar. The stop was taken out 2 bars later. FSLR then proceeded to come down over 7R in the remainder of the day. Should these stops be wider? I don’t know. I don't kid myself in thinking that I could have made 7R, I know I would have exited earlier, but still with a good chunk of money.

Charts & Trades July 27, 2009

2009-07-27T07:01:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
GLD BEAV YGE HIG VAR ENDP ENER GSK IACI TEVA BP OSIP SYNA LBTYA ASH CHL RDS.A MFC MHS WDC RSX VALE.P PRU AET AZN GLW BCS PXP GD NOC

Couldn’t find anything to trade.

Like Anarco, I also have signed up for Stewie’s Trading Service. Signed up this morning as a matter of fact. Following the trading service suggestions might limit my blogging. I obviously cannot enclose what is in Stewie’s emails. But I will comment on the overall progress. I will also continue to take trades in the fashion popularized by Trader-X and TraderAm.

Charts & Trades July 24, 2009

2009-07-24T06:51:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
SPWRA SEPR CNW BDK IR RSH IBKR CB BLUD CSIQ CA BIDU STP FCL TLM VOD NFLX STAR BRCM AXP WFR RMBS NOC WDC RVBD INFA

Turned out to be a break even day. Not much of a watch list and the first trade long on CSIQ came of an additional scan. I did put on a trade later on in the day, later on being after nine o’clock local time. I think that the chairman is right when he says that if you are not in the market two and a half hours after the opening bell, stay out.

CSIQ (Gap up)

Big first green bar followed by a big red one coming back close to opening price. The fourth bar is a NR4 and off the ema. This is the trigger bar. Entered on the break and almost immediately got taken out at -1R. Almost, as my stop didn’t trigger and the price went up from there. Took partial on the ninth bar, but it came back to BE on the 12th bar.

CNW (Gap up)

I was eyeballing CNW right from the start and really wanted to enter on the break of the fourth bar. Really a nicer set up as that we saw in CSIQ, but no NR bar to enter on. I guess I could have used the 6th bar as the trigger bar, a NR4 and IB. I didn’t.
CNW came back from its day high in three solid red bars, but bounced of the 50% retracement of ORH. I entered on the break of the sixteenth bar, not a NR bar. It really didn’t do anything after that, just up and down around the 41 mark. I decided to exit at that 41 level after been in the trade for two hours with about 35 minutes left in the trading day. Had I waited 20 minutes I would have done a bit better than BE. Who knew!

Total Gain on the day a whopping 0.06R.

Charts & Trades July 23, 2009

2009-07-23T06:52:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
CREE NTAP BLL AMZN LFC MBT WU MEDX EMC EBAY ISRG CELG ABB NFX HBC VMW FFIV FST T MMM KMB BHP NIHD IGT RJF ZMH DF WLT PM AAUK SWY MCO GR SNDK MCD QCOM MHP POT FLIR KR DHR CTXS UPS LOGI AZN OMC

Big day today for the Dow. Broke the 9000 mark. In spite of having such a surging market, I only had one trade, a gapped down stock. I missed a DHR trade, also gapped down, with the sixth bar being the trigger bar. Shame. I could have entered many times after that at the same price, but somehow the chart didn’t look as good anymore after having chopped around for a while. I did trade FLIR for a small profit.

FLIR (Gap down)

Entered on the break of the fifth candle, a NR4 off the ema. It went down nicely, but came back to pretty well entry price and even a bit above that before it hit 1R on the ninth bar. I thought my partial didn’t get filled there and I pressed the partial sell button once to sell manually. As you can see in the trades window, the partial did get filled as was suppose to and my button pressing sold another partial at just less than 1R, leaving me with very few shares. Originally target was 20.63 the FE, but I didn’t want to keep watching it and sold the remaining shares on the 12th bar at 21.16. In hindsight not a bad place as price went only as low as 21.07. Normally my partial is half the shares, but I had an odd lot, of which I had made the first partial a round number, leaving the rest of the shares in an odd number lot, having a few more shares than the first partial. This time I took another round number partial out of that.

Total gain 0.97R.

Charts & Trades July 22, 2009

2009-07-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
SBUX ATHR PTV LLY ILMN CHRW ADSK RHI LLTC SY AAPL ASML COH WDC BRCM OMC SCO NVLS WFC MS PPDI BBL STJ CAN OIL GILD WHR NBR ATI BK BHP AIZ YHOO BCS SEPR POT A COP INFY JPM VLO RDS.A RSX RRC CHL ABB MOS

Another losing day, with a big, big, scare. I was going through my watch list, sorting and entering symbols in all sorts of software, which usually takes me until a quarter after seven (eastern time). I really never put on a trade before then. At 14 after seven I look at my account page in TWS and notice I got an open trade. What the hell? I instantly closed it, before even seeing what it was. I did however notice it was in the red. Apparently I bought Starbucks at two after seven for $17.00 and in hindsight I should have kept it as it went for a really nice run. I was literally shaking as there was no stop and I opened my account page just by chance. I wouldn’t have noticed it otherwise as I use third party software for entering trades. I had entered SBUX just after seven in the ordering software and must have hit the buy button by accident. The TWS page, although open, sat minimized at the bottom of the screen. I chalk this mishap up for a loss of -1.81R and feeling fortunate about it.

ATHR (Gap up)

The stock gaps up massively before coming back to the 24.00 mark supported by the ema. The fifth bar is an IB and a NR4. This is the trigger bar. Bought on the break and took partial at 1R. At reaching 3R and seemingly not wanted to move any higher I moved my stop up to 2.5R and got stopped out on that. My initial target was 24.94, but I wanted to make some money back after yesterday’s debacle and Starbucks this morning. A gain of 1.67R

BK (Gap down)

Obviously didn’t go as planned. Price dropped and came back to ORL and ema. I tried to get a fill at 26.91, but it was 26.82 when all was set and done. Chased it a little too far. Because of that chase I moved my stop to 0.5R instead of a full R. I got stopped out a couple of bars later. Loss of -0.5R.

Total loss on the day -0.64R.

Charts & Trades July 21, 2009

2009-07-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
CAT CEDC VALE MRK STP ALV DOW BEN TIN IP WYNN MON DE CNI AGCO JOYG GSK BUCY FCX T SGP IR VZ PH TOT ABB WFT PFE RSX AFL BHP SO NE CAM XOM LXK SCO CHL BBL MMM SU MRO NOV TWC ADM RDC ESV HES

Terrible day today. I was in two trades when I had to leave home to take the car to the mechanic. Both trades were in the green. When I returned an hour later, with high hopes, both trades had been stopped out. The DOW had taken a dip, so had my stocks.
To make matters worse, I tried to gain some money back by jumping on a stock in the last 45 min of trading. That didn’t work either.

ABB (Gap Up)

ABB gapped up and printed three red bars with lower highs and lower lows. The fourth bar was a NR4, green and closed well above yesterday’s high. This was the trigger bar. Initially it did well, but when the DOW plunged it plunged with it. Stopped out for a full loss.

ALV (Gap up)

Pretty well the same story as that of ABB. Decline on the first four bars, followed by a doji like fifth bar which is off the ema, an IB and a NR4. Bought on the break of the fifth bar and was stopped out three bars later. The stock never really picked up again.

CAT (Gap up)

Little to say. I was taken in by the steady incline since the 15th bar. Nicely going along with the DOW. But when the DOW printed two good final bars for the day, CAT’s two last bars went down.

A day to forget. Total loss -3.31R. I have to get a job soon to support this hobby!!!!!

Charts & Trades July 20, 2009.

2009-07-20T12:18:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
YHOO RHT CAT DOW GLD GSK JCI RSX ITUB BTU CSCO FCX KGC INFY VMW SYNA IBN BP RDS.A ABX NVS HOG AGN PCZ DIS IR GG TCK SID CTSH MFC PBR CHL BUCY AAPL NLY NEM CLF PCU RIMM ECA MAT BHP AMX SU VALE HK STP VALE.P OXY HES CSX NOV VLO NYX WMB UTX

Big watch list today, but very few set ups I could find and of the ones I found, only one order got filled. I desperately wanted to get a few trades under the belt after quite an absence, but fortunately I caught myself from forcing trades that really weren’t there, or that I didn’t see.

GLD (Gap up)

GLD gapped up high, but then printed four red bars with lower highs and lower lows. The next bar was a hammer with a tiny body and a long tail. This was the trigger bar and the order was filled on the next bar. It was filled after the big wick, perhaps a data error, I don’t know. I had envisioned a steadily climbing price, not dissimilar from the steadily decline of the second to the fifth bar. The plan was to take partial at 2R, but move the stop to BE at 1R. The price chopped around quite a bit and didn’t touch 1R until the 12th bar. I wasn’t all that set anymore on waiting to take partial at 2R and took partial on the 14th bar at 19.44. The trade then came back to BE and got stopped out. Gain of 0.64R. Not a great trade, I looked for others, but to no avail.

Charts & trades July 7, 2009

2009-07-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
AIG ABB APC MCK MCO MT HCN HES KSS MMM NLY ROST BHP MHS NTES IBN

Not much of a watch list I’m afraid. That combined with an internet fading in and out all morning resulted in no trades. Also a power failure to boot.

I hope you had a great profitable day.

I’ll probably be back on the 20th this month.

Charts & Trades July 6, 2009

2009-07-06T11:47:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
WFC JPM MSFT XOM PBR MS AAPL COP SU CVX FCX X XTO PBR.A RIG OXY SWN CAT MRO HPQ GLD KO BP NOV GG ABX DVN HES BHP CVS BBY NE MCD APC NEM SID AMGN MT CSX CLF STT DD APA BHI INFY

Managed to do a little trading today and perhaps a bit tomorrow, before going away on Wednesday again.

Two mediocre trades amounting to 0.32R. It’s still good to be in the green though.

XOM (Gap down)

Big red opening candle followed by a strong green one, the next is also green, hitting the EMA5 and then closes weak. This is our trigger bar. Bought on the next bar and the price went down to 5c shy of 1R. The DOW picked up from there and XOM followed suit. I changed my stop from 30c to 10c and got stopped out on the 7.45 bar. Loss -0.42R.

AAPL (Gap Down)

Apple started with two big red bars and then slowly worked its way back up to the 15 min ORL. The 7th bar, a NR7, opened and closed below the ORL and is our trigger bar. This is carried over to the next bar as trigger isn’t hit and we enter on the 9th bar. Took partial at 1R and moved stop to BE. The price went as low as 2R, but then came back up. For a second it touched my stop level before dropping to almost 3R. I say for a second as BE was 137.28 and I got filled at 137.14. Talking about slippage going the right way for a change. I wouldn’t have sold at ‘almost’ 3R anyway as I had the FE of 135.92 set as my target. Gain 0.73R

Total gain on the day 0.32R (I know it’s the rounding off).

Charts & Trades June 5, 2009

2009-06-05T07:04:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
FLIR DNDN VALE TIN AAUK RSX BA BHP PWR BBL MMM UTX TDC LUK JOYG BEAV EMR NSC CVA MET BUCY ACH HPQ PEP NYX TWC TWX CAN BCS MCO CHU DD GG AEM KGC VOD

Loosing day. First trade was a good set up, the next two ones not so much.

CVA (Gap up)

First big green bar. Followed by some retracement to the EMA. The first bar, a NR4 of the EMA is our trigger bar. Doesn’t trigger and the next bar becomes the trigger bar. Bought on the break, took partial at 1R and the remaining shares were stopped out two bars later. Total gain 0.23R.

EXC (Gap Up)

I couldn’t find anything on the watch list, so I looked at the stocks on the S&P 100 that were trading above $20 for some inspiring set ups. EXC seemed on a steady climb after two big red bars and while the DOW started chopping sideways EXC kept going (I’ve gotten into trouble before using this pattern to trade). I missed buying on the break of the ninth bar and got in a little later. Price went up and because of the stock not being on the watch list and not being a strong set up I moved stop to BE after reaching ¾R. Stop got hit, barely, and the price shot up to over 1R. Don’t touch those stops!!
Loss because of commissions and slippage -0.11R.

MMM (Gap up)

Also doing better than the DOW. Nicely trending from the 9.15 bar until the 10.30 bar. I jumped on rather late and also way too close to the FE. Got stopped out three bars later for -1.04R.

Total loss on the day -0.91R

Charts & Trades June 4, 2009

2009-06-04T06:55:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
ATHR SAI CTL SNY RJF TEVA DNDN GS XOM TOT HCP TXN MSFT LLTC ADI ROST BJ GPS COST FDO BHP TGT BBL ANF SAP

Short watch list and only one trade. I had an order in for shorting GPS on the break of the sixth bar, but I cancelled it when it traded higher than the sixth bar high, briefly continuing the trend of the last three bars. How I regret that cancellation.

GS (Gap up)

Good trade, could have been excellent. Don’t move those stops too tight and too early!!!
GS chopped sideways for about six bars just below ORH, on a rising EMA. The eighth bar, solid green, a NR7, off the EMA, is our trigger bar. I didn’t want to buy on the break of the bar, but rather on the break of the ORH. Took partial on the entry bar at 1R and again at around 2R on the next bar. I moved my stop to 1R, as the price started dropping rather rapidly and consequently got stopped out on the next bar. Had I left my stop at BE, I would have hit my target of FE 148.84 four bars later. Still a good trade.

Total Gain on the day 1.41R.

Charts & Trades June 3, 2009

2009-06-03T06:54:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
IBM GLD DO RIG OXY CVX DVN AEM CNQ BHP TOT SLB NKE FCX RDS.A BP BBL COST AGU EXC WLL COP APC MHS TEVA PBR SAP HBC SWN PCZ AU AZN MCK TGT BHI NE CAT DRI X INFY MT FAST SU JOYG GSK DDUP TSRA FE STI

Two trades, one good one not so good.

IBM (Gap down)

After initial large red bar, IBM seemed to claw itself back up to the approaching EMA. The third bar is a NR4 IB off the EMA and is our trigger bar. Entered on the break, but the price stalled there and reversed. Got stopped out on the fifth bar, a rather long range one, before price came down again. However, the price never reached 1R. Total loss -1.05R.

APC (Gap down)

Text book. The sixth and the seventh bar bounce off the ORL. The seventh is a NR7 IB off the EMA. Entered on the break. Took partial at 1R, partial again at 2R and closed out the position at the FE, at 3.5R. It still went down from there, but I’m happy with the way it went. Total gain 2.09R.

Total gain on the day 1.04R.

Charts & Trades June 2, 2009

2009-06-02T06:51:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
DDUP DV DOV FDO SNE PEP MMC BMY SAP UN AXP BCS MS JPM NVS CAM AZN ATHR CHL TOT VRTX WFC GSK RDS.A

Although I saw some good set ups, the timing didn’t seem to be in sync with them. For example the set up would be at 13 min into a 15 min bar. When a new bar came along 2 min later, the NR7 would now be a long red or green bar. Then, of course there is the argument to look at different time frames. I’m sometimes amazed comparing a 10 min and a 15 min chart of the same stock. Great set ups on one, nothing on the other. 00NR7 trades on different time frames, taking advantage of these opportunities, but others like TraderAm stay with the one time frame and are very successful doing so. It’s all a matter of preference I guess.

One trade today. Only a little gain of 0.28R.

AXP (Gap down)

AXP moved quite a bit around in the first hour of trading, but then its bars became smaller and started to move downward with lower highs and lower lows. The eighth bar closed at OR low and although not a NR is our trigger bar. Bought on the break and less than 10 min later took partial at 1R. The price kept steadily declining and came within 5c of 2R. My target was 3R. Price started to go up and after almost one and a half hours in the trade I got stopped out at BE. That’s the way it goes.

Total gain on the day 0.28R.

Charts & Trades May 28, 2009

2009-05-28T06:56:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
RWT OIL NOK SNY ESRX RIMM STP CHL TSRA RSX LEAP MCO PH PEG LXK JWN CAT ETN RBA LNCR

I won't have much time today to trade. Won't be here on Friday, so back on Monday.

May all of you have two great trading days to end this month on a positive note.

Chart & Trades May 27, 2009

2009-05-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
SNDK VOD MT DLTR TSRA OIL LEAP ESV AAPL BUCY SID WLP SWN GOOG ACI MEE PBR PCZ X WFT HAL PBR.A MET SII SU BRCM HES OXY TSO CNX CVX GS NOV CMA ECA RSX CHK DVN APC BBT LINE IBN MON

Did two trades today and twice I pretty well bailed out at BE. One stock went all the way to FE, the other went to 1R. I’m a little tired to see my trades go almost to 1R and then plummet. Obviously this type of trading wasn’t the answer. Total gain today 0.19R.

BRCM (Gap up)

Strong start on the day, two solid green bars, then retreating to ORH. The fifth candle is a NR4 bouncing off the ORH, this is our trigger. Bought on the break, R was set at 20c and we came to within 2c of 1R before it went down again. I really disliked the seventh bar, a spinning top with a longer upper wick, it followed a solid green bar and peaked well above that bar’s high. The makings of an ‘evening star’. I got out. It reached 1R eight bars later. In all, it really went only 6c lower than BE before reaching 1R. I can almost hear trader Mike say, “Don’t touch those stops”. Gain was 0.04R.

X (Gap up)

X had a long upper wick on the first bar, which slowly got filled in by the next four bars. The sixth bar is a NR7 IB off the EMA, our trigger bar. Buy wasn’t triggered, but the next bar, once again a NR7, became our trigger bar. Bought on the break and coming to within 1c of 1R. I actually thought partial would be filled, but it didn’t and the price dropped to 2c below BE. I bailed just before that on the way down. 20 minutes later X hit our target FE, just below 5R. What a surprise!!! Total gain 0.14R.

Total gain on the day 0.19R.

Charts & Trades May 26, 2009

2009-05-26T07:04:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
HBC GENZ COP DGP STO RDS.A RHI ABX UPL WLL GLD BHP OIL ECA KGC AU NFX ACH CNQ EOG DNR NEM CCJ TOT PAYX CA CVX GG AOC ABB CHL IBN UN PBR.A MT VLO MET PNW SYNA AAPL

I felt like being on the wrong side of the eight ball here. A huge rally by the DOW and my watch list is all about gapping down. I’m sure there were lots of opportunities today, I just didn’t see them. I did trade two stocks out of desperation, after having stared at the screen for hours and obviously, to me at least, it didn’t work out. Total loss of -1.15R.

PLCM (No Gap)

Not on the watch list, but rather from an intraday scan. PLCM traded 25% below today’s high. Weak set up, stock came back from its high and printed a hammer. Entered on the break of the hammer and saw it initially go up, before it came down. I exited above BE as I had little faith in this trade. It went the other way of course as it hit 2R on the next bar. Total gain 0.18R.

NFX (Gap down)

Huge rally by NFX, up until noon. It stalled there and I looked for a short that wasn’t there. But I wanted it to. Bought on the break of a small green bar and initially it went down to -0.5R. I got stopped out on the next bar with some slippage Total loss -1.33R.
A day to forget. Should have stayed on the side lines.

Total loss on the day -1.15R.

Charts & Trades May 22, 2009

2009-05-22T06:52:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
ADSK SHLD GLD ARO RDS.A DGP GOLD IGT ADM ABX CPB ESV CAN BCS UN FSYS RDC MT LINE NE GG AAP ABT NEM FCX AEM PBR TLM IBN AVP PCZ BHP VOD PBR.A KFT OXY STEC CRM MON

Just the one trade. Did okay, but had problems exiting the trade. I wonder if this was due to being left with an odd number of shares. See yesterday’s post for discussion on lot size.
Total gain was 1.33R.

MON (Gap down)

I really like this set up. Big weak candle to start the day, then coming back to the EMA with a NR7. Fourth candle is our trigger and I bought on the break. Took partial two bars later and price went down to target, 85.51, OR low. I decided not to sell, but see what price would do. If it would come back to 85.51 I would close out, if not I would sell at the whole number, 85.00. FE, in my mind, was an unattainable miles away. Price did come back, I pressed the button at 85.53 to close out and nothing happened. Bracket Trader flashed the message it was closing position. I kept clicking the button (don’t know if that does any good) and finally it closed at 85.73. Talking about slippage!! Again, I wonder if this was due to being left with an odd number of shares.

Total gain on the day 1.33R

Charts & Trades May 21, 2009

2009-05-21T06:55:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
IBM AMZN RIG XOM CVX CL CEPH OXY MMM MOS JNJ SLB PG FPL BHP UPS UTX RDS.A NKE FCX AGU UNP BP CHL EXC COP MHS APC RTN BA DE HBC TGT XTO PNC PBR PRU SWN NUE JEC PCZ AMX CAT NSC NOV DDUP TSRA INTU LINE

Three trades. Did alright on two, lost on one. For the second day in a row I end up with a losing R value -0.03, but money wise I ended up ahead. A bit more than a cup of coffee this time, we’re talking lunch. Because I have been doing so poorly lately I have turned down my capital at risk considerately. Now I’m running into trouble in comparison trades, as my capital at risk varies from one trade to another without averaging out at all. For example if the very max I’m willing to put at risk is $60 I would buy 400 shares if R is 15c. But I would only buy 100 shares if R is 35c, putting only $35 at risk. Gain 1R on the first, loose 1R on the second and we have a total Gain of 0R, but monetary we’re $25 ahead. ------------ Actually, can somebody comment on this. Is it just me who buys shares by the hundred. Is there anybody who divides the $60 by 35c, and puts an order in for 174 shares. I really never thought of doing that.-----------

UNP ( Gap down)

NR4 off the EMA is our trigger bar, buy at the break and two bars later take partial. I was really more looking at the overall market than finding a great set up. I was stopped out on the remaining shares. Total gain 0.45R

DE (Gap down)

Very weak bar going through the 30 min OR, closing at its low. The DOW had gone up for the last two bars while DE was printing lower highs and lower lows. To me DE appeared weaker than the DOW, which would be a good sign today. It didn’t work out, I got stopped out on the next bar.

JNJ (Gap down)

NR4 off the EMA below ORL, not a strong set up, but the market was weak. Entered on the break and took partial two bars later. By accident, instead of setting my stop at BE at reaching 1R, I set it to 5c below that. I got stopped out on the next bar because of that. My target was the FE at 54.48, which was reached four bars later. Unfortunate things just happen sometimes. And they’re always my fault.

Total loss on the day -0.03R.

Charts & Trades May 20, 2009

2009-05-20T06:55:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
POT GLD RIG CVX GOLD HES DB MOS MCD TOT SLB CNQ AEM PG RDS.A BIIB COST BP COP APC TEVA TGT PBR CELG PCZ BHI NOV GG ABX NFX CMI GSK IPI NE SU CAM FST SAI PPDI FPL HPQ STO STAR CL SCO

What a tough market to trade in. it seems everything I trade the DOW will find me and goes against me. Two trades today one loosing, one winning and although a total loss of -0.13R, I was actually the price of a cup of coffee in the green. The R of the second trade was slightly higher than the first.

BHI (Gap up)

First two bars are green and strong The third bar fills the second bar wick and closes at its top. This is our trigger. Bought at the break and the price comes as close as 5c of 1R. The DOW then really started to dive and we went with it. Got stopped out at -1R. Total loss -1.10R

SAI (Gap down)

I really didn’t pay much any attention to SAI until it had printed three strong bars in a row, seemingly totally oblivious of what the DOW was doing. The fourth green bar was a NR7, but still within the day’s OR. I decided to buy on the break of yesterday’s low, which was just above today’s ORH. Took partial at 1R, then the stock seemed to run out of gas. I closed the rest out at 1R when it came down a bit. The DOW was taking a quantum leap down at the time. It actually did go to 2R, but never reached my target of 17.40. Total gain 0.97R.

Total loss on the day -0.13R, but dollar wise a tiny gain.

Charts & Trades May 19, 2009

2009-05-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
DB GD SHW AEM BHP PEP MTB FCX UNP URS MHS AAP HBC PBR SAP AMX CAT HPQ SMG GYMB NOV GG MYGN GSK HON PBR.A BWA TJX CSX MRO MS MT WMI X DD CCL INTU MEE VOD INFY UN CTSH CEPH

Couldn't find a decent set up. No trades, I hope you did better.

Charts & Trades May 15, 2009

2009-05-15T06:54:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
BCS LNC HIG PETM AGU RHT ORCL MOS INFY IBN POT DB COF MT NAT OSIP ABT CVX GILD ECL AYE HNZ PFE VOD SAP FRX GENZ CCE

I don't know how much time I have this morning to trade. When gone, I'll be back on Tuesday. Have a great trading day and an excellent weekend.

One trade, not a very good one. Loss -0.72R.

LNC (Gap up)

LNC gapped up and came down to hit the EMA on the third bar. The next bar was a green NR4 of the EMA, with a higher high and higher low than the previous bar. This is our trigger bar. After entry the price went up, but then came down, seemingly getting some support at the 17.30 mark (1 min chart), but overall a steady decline and I decided to bail before my stop would take me out. Stop would have been hit on the next bar.

Total on the day -0.72R.

Charts & Trades May 14, 2009

2009-05-14T06:51:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
PNC STO TOT SCHW WU TS AU ECA ANR RDS.A MRO MEE COP NBR OXY SU GOLD AMSC URS NVLS BCS CA ASML APOL

Just the one trade. I thought I had an order in for a TNDM long trade, but when I got back to the computer it hadn’t triggered. After initial blowing steam and cursing at IB, I noticed I had filled out the screen, but hadn’t actually entered the order. Sorry IB. I’ll show the chart anyway. Despite of walking away with only 0.19R, I feel pretty good about picking two stocks that went for home runs.

CA (Gap up)

The fourth bar was a NR4, off the EMA, closing in the top 20%, this is our trigger bar. It did not trigger. The fifth bar became the trigger bar, once again a NR4. Bought on the break and it pretty well went up right away. I didn’t feel all that great about this trade, I don’t know why, and set my stop at BE at ½R. I took some profit just before BE was reached. BE was as low as it would go and the stock went as high as 2½ R, short 9c of the FE. Total gain 0.19R.

TNDM (Gap down)

Didn’t trade this stock, but thought I did. I initially put an order in 2c above the ninth bar, a NR7 IB, off the EMA clear of ORH. It didn’t trigger. I cancelled the order and changed the numbers to 2c above the 10th bar, again a NR7 IB, off the EMA clear of ORH. This is the order I forgot to enter. Would have been a great run.

Total gain on the day 0.19R.

Charts & Trades May 13, 2009

2009-05-13T06:53:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
AMZN V CERN UPS FDX UTX BHP EXC WMT FCX UNP BP BBL BA KSS HBC CNI PRU CAT FO PBR PCZ BBY CTRP NSC ED LLY EMR BMC DRI DPS AZN SNY SAP NVS UN GSK UL

Again a day without trades. I seem to be very reluctant to get into a trade. Good opportunities, I just can’t pull the trigger. Obviously I don’t want to add more trades to my losing streak, but that shouldn’t stop me from trading.

This is what happened. I generated my watch list at 6.45, posted above, ‘called Daily Picks’ in my software. I went through this list and added potential set ups from that list to my ‘Favorite’ watch list (that’s what it’s called in Amibroker). I do this every morning. When I don’t like stocks on the Favorite list anymore I take them off and add new ones from the Daily Picks. This way stocks with good set ups are always on the Favorite list and there are generally no more than six or seven at a time.

At 7.29 this morning my Favorite list was comprised of BBY, CERN, DRI, ED and PCZ.
Now have a look at the charts for BBY and DRI, both short on the break of the fourth bar. Solid set ups. I just didn’t trade them.

BBY (Gap down)

DRI (Gap down)

Charts & Trades May 12, 2009

2009-05-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
CTRP FCL ANR AZN SLG STO GSK GLD OIL MDR NVS XOM PBR UL TJX UN VOD CS ACI RSX PBR.A DGP AEO WLT INFY MO RDS.A MEE HES TS ANF IBN TOT TSO BTU GG SU CNQ USB APC PFG BK IVZ UNH LINE UBS

Nothing for me. Very much regret not pulling the trigger on ANR at the break of the seventh bar. I was watching it and in hindsight it was so obvious. I hope everybody did well today.

Charts & Trades May 11, 2009

2009-05-11T12:08:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
RDS.A BBL BHP FDX CLX TOT BCS LOW ATHR INTC JNJ FRO NTES SYY ACH WYE ASML KLAC PCU SPLS CSCO CHL MON ED TS LLY ADBE UNH STP BRCM MT NTAP ADI CCL CMCSA AET SWN AKAM EL AZN PBCT SAP DISH UL CPB STAR

It’s becoming embarrassing, another losing day today. Maybe this blogging is a bit too humiliating after all. I have reduced my R value significantly, not losing much this way. Technical troubles prevented me from looking at the market and running my scanner not until three hours into the trading day. I really didn’t see anything, but I wanted to trade. Stop that!!!! Total loss -1.08R.

AET ( Gap down)

Really not much to go by. AET was chopping around since getting below its OR low. I thought on the next cycle, if it prints a new daily low I would get in, which I did. I got stopped out on the next bar. It really gave three good red bars in a row, showing significant weakness, but it didn’t continue.

Total loss on the day -1.08R Total loss on the month so far -3.67R.
Still a lot of month to go.

Charts & Trades May 8, 2009

2009-05-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
VRSN ACM MCD CEG DOW SNY ACH MIR EIX ETN TOT UNH XEL XOM BP SAP ABT RDS.A EXC CI ED MDT PM LLY KMB JNJ FWLT D MS NVS WFMI SGR STAR

Only had two hours before I had to fly out of the door for a couple of meetings. Still managed to lose one R though. I thought I do a Trader-X set up, but on a fifteen minute chart. Didn’t I only say two or three days ago that I would only stick to set ups I know. Well, there you go, back in the land of the unknown and back to a negative trade.

CEG

First bar big and green, second is red, but closes above the 50% of the 30 min OR. The next three bars all bounce off the 50% line, but all closed above. The 5th bar a NR4 is our trigger and we buy on the break, initially with good momentum. It moved around a bit and I got stopped out two bars later, on the bar’s low and ½c above the 50% line. Why I didn’t put a stop at ½c below that line, I don’t know. I’m writing this after I have come home from the meetings at about 11.30 PST and looking at the chart I would still be in the trade. Total loss -1.04R.

Have a great weekend

Total loss on the day -1.04R.

Charts & Trades May 7, 2009

2009-05-07T06:56:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
GLD XOM CVX OXY HES DVN GENZ SLB UPS GD TOT BHP ECA PG APC AEM RDS.A PNC BP WLP COP DLTR NEM XTO FLR TGT HBC STT PBR CNX PCZ JPM AMX HP PRU PCAR NFX NOV BJ MET EXPD CECO SYMC ENER VOD T JNPR ITU DNDN

Once again a short day as I have some errands to run this morning. I missed an excellent set up on GENZ while I was watching it. Tyler did trade it this morning ‘Am I Bald?’. I keep my finger on the mouse and when the right price comes up I press the ‘Buy’ button. In GENZ’s case it just blew by and my finger was frozen somewhere in mid air. I don’t like chasing the price and buy in much higher than the break of the trigger bar. I do use ‘Bracket Trader’ though, I can just type my price in for order executions, but I found sometimes they just don’t get filled. It is still probably the better method. Traded two stocks today, one long, one short. Both positive.

ENER (Gap down)

Using a 30 min OR, price came back up to the lower OR, but bounced off it. The tenth bar is a NR7, off the EMA, off the OR and is our trigger bar. Bought one cent above the trigger bar low - finger a little too quick on the mouse -, and it went right in the green from there. Partial on the next bar, but where to set a target? Although far from 3R I decided to set my target at the whole number, it bounced off that and I exited at 16.06, just above it. Total gain 1.44R.

CECO (Gap down)

I was watching this stock for a short set up. The sixth bar was my trigger bar, so was the seventh and so was the eighth. Half way the ninth bar I finally got the message that this trade wasn’t going to be short. It blew through the 15 min upper OR and I missed it once again. I decided to buy on the break of today’s high which was 19.41. Got in at 19.46, took partial on the next bar and got stopped out for BE on the next. Total gain 0.24R.

Total gain on the day 1.69R.

Charts & Trades May 6, 2009

2009-05-06T06:55:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
AAPL AMZN RIMM RIG HES UPS NKE DVN SLB TOT UTX FCX CHL AGN UPL MOS BP BBL QCOM BA PNC FLR JEC CAT HBC XTO PBR NVS ARO AMX AZN BJ ESV NOV AU HON ABX NTES PRU X PBR.A GSK ANR JOYG SNY GRMN HRS BCS IBN DOW

Totally not on the ball today. I’m looking at excellent set ups on the screen, but my brain seems to be not reacting to the impulses. Pull up some charts, look at IBN’s third bar. It’s the only screen open on my monitor and I let it slide. HRS’s 12th bar. Can’t penetrate the OR and down from there. Again, I was watching this and did nothing. However, I traded NVS. It’s still two hours before the closing bell, but I call it quits for today. Go for a run, clear my head.

NVS (Gap up)

NVS gapped up at pretty well at the high of the day (2 hours before the closing bell) and came rapidly down from there. I was looking for a NR7 to go long from, preferable off the EMA. The fifth bar provided me with the opportunity. Bought on the break of the trigger bar, took partial on the next and was stopped out one bar later. Total gain a meager 0.26R.

Total gain on the day 0.26R.

Charts & Trades May 5, 2009

2009-05-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
TAP HLF MVL ICON CVS HBC KFT PHG MVSN GLD CTSH AFG ABX CTL KO KGC LLY HNT HANS FIS MBT PBI ACI ERTS MT GG ROK SE GOLD AEM AU DGP HNZ RIMM SII CAG NBR HAL OXY NEM ITU STAR FCX BJS WLP MYGN FMC UL CEG CHT SYMC SAP

It’s just not getting any better. Big loss again today. I will be lowering my R value until I get back in positive territory. It’s not that I’m losing the farm, I’m only a few hundred dollars in the hole, but it’s not where I want to be. I guess this is part of the struggles as pointed out in the header of the blog. But, this blog should not become a blog on what not to do. 4 trades today. Total loss -2.54R. I will become more rigorous when it comes to my set ups. The pattern is either there, or it isn’t. Don’t fabricate patterns just to get in a trade.

ERTS (Gap up)

ERTS gapped up, but came down rather quickly to its EMA. Two good green bars, followed by a NR7. This was our trigger. Note that it was trading below the upper OR. Bought on the break and was stopped out on the same bar. Although not a great set up, the reason I took this trade was that ERTS was not at all keeping with the DOW. As the DOW was going down, ERTS was going up. That was right up until the bar I bought on. They went both down on that one. Total loss -1.07R.

ACI (Gap up)

I saw ACI coming down not unlike TRV did yesterday. I hoped to hop on the wagon and ride the stock down. I hopped on alright, just as it was about to reverse. I was actually 13c in the black and my R was 25c, before it started to reverse. As I really had no sound plan on where I should have put my targets and stops, I bailed just before reaching BE getting out with enough cash for my wife to buy a fancy coffee at Starbucks. Total gain 0.07R.

HAL (Gap up)

Same story as that of ACI above. Bad timing Total loss -0.48R. I saw that Tyler ‘Am I Bald?’ did well on this one. Good going.

ABX (Gap up)

From the eight fifteen bar ABX started a steady rise taking itself to above the upper OR. The 13th bar is a NR7 clear of the OR and is our trigger. Bought on the break and got stopped out on the next bar. Total loss -1.07R.

It just wasn’t my day.
Total loss on the day -2.54R.

Charts & Trades May 4, 2009

2009-05-04T06:52:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
AAPL IBM POT GLD MON RIMM LFC SLB JNJ PG ECA RDS.A FCX CHL AGU UPL TEVA BP DE MOS QCOM COP FO ABT BA TRV SAP CAT MCK PM HPQ AZN MBT OSG STT TWC PCZ EL MDT INFY WAG JCP PEG PBG D ADBE SNY DNDN LPNT

It’s Monday!!! Three trades today. The first two were losing ones, making it five in a row. What a lousy record. The third trade made up for it and we ended the day with a 0.4R gain. Not much, but better than the other way around. I wasn’t proud of any of the set ups. The DOW was doing well for the first hour, but then kind of started moving sideways. I couldn’t find a great set up and hence took some marginal ones. I shouldn’t do that!!!!! I paid for it.

QCOM (Gap up)

The eighth bar is a NR7 IB off the EMA and completely above the OR. Bought on the break and got stopped out on the same bar. Pretty well bought on the high of the day. Total loss -1.03R.

WAG (Gap up)

WAG started the day strongly, but started to falter after the third bar. It went on a steady decline until it printed a ‘kind of’ hammer, the 9.30 bar. This coincided with a strong bar on the DOW, but as the DOW slowly went up, WAG did not. I really didn’t like the set up all that much, and bailed before -1R was reached. I would have been stopped out on the low of the 11 o’clock bar. Total loss -0.61R.

TRV (Gap up)

I wasn’t really watching this stock until the bar with the downward arrow. It came down rather quickly, not at all keeping trend with the DOW. I thought if this continued I would buy on the break of the OR. Even on the one minute chart it was dropping in a very linear way. I bought on the break of the OR and took partial on the next bar and once again partial at the whole number (41) and got out at 40.81, just over 3R and 11c from the bottom. That was it for the day. I went out for a six mile run and did not see those last three bars until after the market had closed. I’m sure I would not have taken a long trade, but just the idea I could have. Look at the rise in volume too. Anyway, total gain 2.04R.

Total gain on the day 0.4R.

Charts & Trades May 1, 2009

2009-05-01T07:07:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
CLI DF SGR MET MMC PWR EBAY NSC HCP ABX VPRT MFE LPNT PKI FLIR RIMM RSG FRO OIL PPL GPRO NATI PLXS RVBD JRCC

Not a great start of the month of May. Traded four stocks with only one winning one. I really thought that all set ups were pretty decent and I was rather surprised it worked out so badly. Certainly would have been nice to start the new month on a winning note, but there is always next week. I am now $126 in the hole from when I started to trade back in September. My wife, who has been very supportive along the way, now really starts to wonder if there is a future in this day trading business. A future for me that is, she takes my word for it that there really are some people out there who make it happen. Keep the faith. It is ironic in a sense that to make one or more Rs it sometimes takes hours in a trade to accomplish. And in the end you still might end up at BE with the last remaining shares and a total gain of less than one R. it feels like a lot of work. To lose one R is generally accomplished within fifteen minutes from entering the trade. No problem there. In and out in no time, no work there.

MET (Gap down)

First candle down, the next two up, followed by a red NR7 off the EMA. Bought on the break and down it went. Took partial at 1R. I really didn’t know to where to set the target. The FE was 25.60, miles away, an unlikely target. 27.00 was just over 3R and more realistic. The price movement down stopped at 27.01, on the one minute chart you can see how it kept bouncing off that level. I bailed a little late at 27.24. Total gain 1.69R

CLI (Gap down)

Probably the weakest set up. After gapping down the price moved around the OR for a while. The fifth bar opened and closed below the OR, it was our trigger bar. I would have liked to have seen that a NR bar, but that didn’t happen. I bought on the break of that bar, which happened to be the low on the entry bar. It surged up and I was stopped out. Total loss -1.05R.

RIMM (Gap up)

I liked this one. First two bars are very strong, followed by a weak green bar. The fourth and the fifth bars have almost equal highs, but the fifth has a much higher low. The fifth is also a NR7. Both of them are off the rising EMA. The sixth bar a NR7, although red, is also off the EMA, again a much higher low than the previous bar. This is our trigger bar. Entered on the break, it went up a bit and then came down. Got stopped out on the next bar. As you can see on the chart, it went up from there and went to well above the 73.00 mark. The trigger bar had a range of 30c, I put the R at 35c, It needed to be 48c for not to get stopped out. Maybe I set the R a little too tight. Total loss -0.93R.

GPRO (Gap down)

The nine ‘o clock bar is a small hammer and the price started rising from there. I plotted the NDX below it and the corresponding bar was also very strong. GPRO printed five green bars in a row, steadily rising, higher highs, higher lows. The fifth of that series was a NR7 inside the OR and had the support of a rising DOW and NDX. This NR7 was our trigger and we bought on the break of that bar. The entry bar was a small green hammer, still with support of the NDX and DOW. As the NDX kept going up GPRO packed it in and printed a red candle. I got stopped out on the next bar. Total loss -1.06R. Frustrating day.

Total loss on the day -1.34R.

Charts & Trades April 30, 2009

2009-04-30T06:58:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
GLD POT MON PX RIG APOL V ESRX MMM JNJ EXC RDS.A AGU K CELG AOC MOS NEM BA NUE WYNN JPM HBC TMO CAT EMR AU MDT TWC HON GSK LPS CSX MET D DTE PRU CCL PRGO CTXS GRMN AIZ SPWRA AXP JOYG TYC

Four trades to report. First two loosing then two winning. Unfortunately the two loosing trades were both just over 1R. Just over because of slippage and commissions. The two winning closed for small profits only and hence we were left with a loss of -1.75R on the day. Overall the month was closed out at a loss of -1.05R. Will do better next month!!!!

CCL (Gap up)

CCL gapped up, with the third candle being very strong closing above the OR. The fifth candle is a green NR7 inside bar and a hammer. This is our trigger. I bought on the break of the trigger bar at 27.67. And that happened to be the high of the day. Got stopped out two bars later. Total loss was -1.06R.

PRU (Gap up)

The tenth bar is a NR7 and our trigger bar. My reasoning was that the price tried to get through the 29.92 resistance for the last two bars. Our trigger bar was a strong comeback after the previous red bar. I thought if the next bar goes through the 29.92 mark it will keep going. I bought at 29.93, it went as high as 29.95 and down from there. Very much like the previous trade, pretty well bought at day high. Got stopped out three bars later. Total loss -1.13R.

BA (Gap up)

BA had started the day strongly, but went pretty well down hill after the fourth bar. The red arrow points at an excellent trigger bar, dipping below the OR. That’s hindsight though, at the time I wanted to see a bar completely below the OR. Two bars later is our trigger bar, a NR7. Bought on the break, took partial one bar later and got stopped out on the next. Total gain 0.33R.

AU (Gap down)

The two green bars prior to the downward arrow are very strong and gave me the impression that the tide was turning. I was anticipating the price to move inside the OR and go long from there. But the price never moved inside the OR. The next bar was a small red NR7. I decided to go short, reasoning that if the OR could not be penetrated, it would go the other way. Bought on the break, took partial two bars later and got stopped out two bars from there. Big slippage though, ended up with a total gain of only 0.10R.

Total loss on the day -1.75R

Charts & Trades April 29, 2009

2009-04-29T06:12:00.000-07:00

I'll be away today, I won't be trading.

I hope you have a good day! May the charts be clear to you.

Charts &Trades April 28, 2009

2009-04-28T06:57:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
GLD NTRS DB DVN UTX AEM BHP WHR PNC SAP FCX DE MOS FLR NUE BBY WY PM AZN STT HBC RS HP GME ABX NOV GG MRO HON CSX AVY NE PBR.A TRA PRU AMP ADBE BTU BK X SII MT SPWRA AG TYC FPL SWN CCE

Three trades today. Two went well, the other was really a mistake to get into and as soon I got a change to get out at BE I did so. Once again the DOW was pretty choppy and the S&P and NASDAQ went up and down around the zero mark. The advancing and declining issues were pretty equal, really, no trend to build on.

HON (Gap down)

HON gapped down, which was followed by three green bars with higher highs and lows. The sixth bar was a NR7 off the EMA and was our trigger bar. Bought on the break of the trigger bar and took partial three bars later. It then came back and stopped us out on the 12th bar at BE.
Total gain 0.51R.

NOV (Gap Down)

I was lucky to get out of this trade unscratched. The down arrow is our trigger bar, a green NR7. I bought on the break of that bar, but didn’t buy enough shares. My R was 10c, but I did let it go below that stop as I had very little money riding on this trade. I finally got out with a ‘profit’ of 3 cents. Looking at the chart, I should have stayed in as it went to 4R. Don’t forget though, had I bought the appropriate number of shares I would have been stopped out two bars after entry. It was a bodged trade from the start, I was happy to get out at BE.
Total gain was 0.03R.

FPL (Gap up)

The red arrow points to what should have been the trigger bar. It’s a green NR7 off the EMA, completely within the 30 min OR. I missed it though and my trigger bar came three bars later, a strong green bar. Entered on the break, went up a bit and then came down in a hurry. It recovered and the same scenario played out on the next bar on which we took partial and partial once again on the next bar from there. The OR high was the target for the remaining shares, but the highest reached was 54.70. When it went down from there and being in the last hour of the trading day, I set my stop at 2R. That was taken out on that same bar. Total gain 1.33R.

Total gain on the day 2.07R

Charts & Trades April 27, 2009

2009-04-27T06:55:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
APA CVX XOM OXY MCD LFC DVN TOT SLB GD CNQ BHP GILD RDS.A CHL KO NFLX BBL BP SAP QCOM COP FCX CNI WHR ROST DRI NSC HBC AZN YUM SWN PBR AMX ESV PCZ CSX WAG GSK NE CCL SII HUM TWC MT

Only one trade today. Again, I wasn’t very happy with the market movement as the DOW went up and down and there was little consistency between the DOW, the S&P and the NASDAQ. Difficult environment to pick stocks.

NFLX (Gap Up)

Nice price movement in the first 30 minutes, very strong. The first downward arrow was my trigger bar, a green NR4. So far all consecutive bars consistently showed higher highs and higher lows. Then my wife, who is away for a couple of days, skyped me, the screen went into video mode and I missed the entry on the break of that trigger bar. Still strong showing and I decided to enter on the break of the sixth bar, using the range of the fifth bar as the stop loss and target determinant. Bought on the break, and price went down almost instantly. I wasn’t too worried as NFLX tend to move around quite a bit. Took partial at just over 1R and then got stopped out three bars later at BE. Problem at entry was that the FE was less than 1R away. Instead of the FE I made the weekly pivot my target, 47.62. That obviously wasn’t reached. Total gain 0.51R.

Total gain on the day 0.51R.

Charts & Trades April 24, 2009

2009-04-24T06:59:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
RIMM XOM CVX EOG HES OXY DHR DB JNJ DVN SLB MICC TOT CNQ AMGN BHP ECA PH RDS.A ABT BBL APC CB SAP RRC COP HPQ AZN SWN SWK BHI LLY PBR PCZ MRO MET CAN DD SII CPT MT AEP PBR.A SU ADBE CIG SPWRA VOD

No trades today. I was away from my computer for about 45 minutes in which a nice set up developed for ADBE. Pull up a chart, the 7th bar would have been the trigger. Apart from that, although a lot of stocks rallied, I didn’t see any obvious entry points.

Have a great weekend.

Charts & Trades April 23, 2009

2009-04-23T07:07:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
EBAY PTV KNX SVU EFX GR MAR YUM BDK CNX RTN SAP COP TOT MICC HSY NE SY BP SEE HTLD NVS INFY BRCM CCL UN OIL IBN RDS.A TMO POT DTV VMW LIFE RS CTXS NUE UPS MYGN WAT VRTX TWC GSK PAYX INTU WAG MDT BIIB

Choppy day today. Very difficult trading environment. Traded one stock for an overall gain of 0.69R. I was a bit in the dumpster yesterday after all my trades went against me, but this morning I felt much better and looked forward to a new trading day. I also received some very encouraging words from TraderAm. Thank you very much! If interested, you can read his mail in yesterday’s comments.

CCL (Gap up)

After a strong first bar CCL started on a long path of decline, seemingly totally unrelated to what the DOW was doing. The eighth bar was a NR7 and our trigger bar. Took partial at 1R and got stopped out at BE on the next bar. The pattern of the price started to fall in line with that of the DOW by then. By a bit of luck I sold ¾ of my shares at 1R, instead of ½ the shares. Total gain was 0.69R

Total gain on the day 0.69R.

Charts & Trades April 22, 2009

2009-04-22T12:24:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
T WMS IR GILD CHRW CAKE CELG BA AAPL ABB EAT MO JAH ALTR CREE GSK ILMN LFC GENZ UN CTXS TEVA ACH UL MDT BAX PFCB SY LII NSC

Terrible day today. Traded three stocks and lost all three times. The DOW was chopping around quite a bit. My loss was a total of -3.13R, I think the most I have lost in a day. Am I too impatient, too eager to get into a trade? I will spend the rest of the day pouring over charts posted by TraderAm and see what the big differences are between his and my trades. This loss takes me to -2R on my trading since I opened an account. Many people tell me, that is not too bad, a lot of people lose the farm, or at least part of it early on in their trading career, before they get better. That might be, but I see little progress in what I’m doing. Well over a hundred trades and being at -2R seems pretty random. No skill involved. You win one, you lose one. I can do this for the next ten years and still be at this number. I have to get better. Be more conservative in taking trades and perhaps trade more later on in the day, after a lot of dust has settled.

AAPL (Gap up)

Second bar fills in the wick of the first bar. Initially I wanted to buy at the break of the second bar, but thought better of it as all was rather volatile. Third bar closed strong, this was our trigger. I wanted to wait for the 125 resistance to be taken out and I placed an order for 125.05. It was filled at 125.10. It went to 125.35 and south from there. So did the DOW and the NDX. How do you read that? Total loss -1.04R

EAT (Gap up)

The fourth bar went through the OR, but didn’t finish very strong. The fifth bar did however and filled in the wick of the fourth. That bar was our trigger. Bought on the break, initially went well, but then came crashing down. I thought we might be in trouble when the bar I bought on became a hanging man. A strong green bar followed by a hanging man generally is not good news. I should have exited the trade, as I have said before, this pattern should be the exemption on the ‘not to change the stops rule in the first hour’. Total loss -1.07R

AAPL (Gap up)

Once again, Apple. I thought things had calmed down a bit. Tenth bar is a green NR7 with a slightly longer wick above than below and above the OR. This is our trigger, Bought on the break at 124.96, went as high as 125.15 and then started the long road down. Total loss –1.02R.

Total loss on the day -3.13R.

Charts & Trades April 21, 2009

2009-04-21T07:03:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
AFL APA APC APOL ATI BHP BK BP CAT CCL CHL CMI CVX DD DV ECA FCX FLR GS HBC HPQ JEC JPM MET MRK MT NOV NTRS NVS OSIP OXY PBR PBR.A PCAR PEG PNC RY SAP SLB SPG STT TD TRA XTO ZMH

I have a dentist appointment this morning, just under two hours available to watch the market.

Traded one stock, didn’t go well and loss was -0.8R. It would have been -1R, but I had to close out early, as my daughter missed the school bus and I had to drive her. 40 minute round trip. I got 30 minutes left for trading, which is not a comfortable time period for entering a trade. I don’t dare to leave with an open trade and find out down the road that my software malfunctioned, or my internet connection went down, or the world blew up. I use Bracket Trader and for this particular trade, I accidentally closed the box after entering the trade without entering a proper stop loss. I have no idea how to rectify that in IB TWS manually.

Perhaps the force is just not with me today. Who knows?

CHL (Gap Down)

Entered on the break of a NR4, off the EMA. Very similar to a yesterday’s trade, which also didn’t work. Obviously the DOW was rallying up this time in a major way, not a good idea to be against that flow. I exited the trade at not quite -0.80R manually in TWS as I had to drive ‘Miss Daisy’ to school.

Total loss on the day -0.80R

Charts & Trades April 20, 2009

2009-04-20T18:08:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
GS RIG XOM CVX OXY V DB HES MMM LFC PEP CHL BHP UTX TOT CNQ ACE COST ECA KSS NUE APC RTN MOS FLR QCOM FCX COP BP DE TD SAP BA PM MBT HBC NOV PBR JPM BHI BMC AMT ITW YUM ESV

Three trades today, two losses, one win, with a total gain of just under 0.5R. It does go to show that you indeed can have a winning day when the majority of your trades tank. It has happened two days in a row now. For the very first time I reversed a position, which worked out very well. I had to go on errands an hour prior to market closure, but that really made no difference to the trades.

BMC (Gap down)

Third bar is an inside bar, I would have liked it to be a NR bar, but that didn’t happen. The third bar was red and off the EMA. This was our trigger bar. Bought on the break. Initially the price came down, but then reversed and started to make a solid rally upwards. I was not going to touch my stops for an hour and eventually I got stopped out. On the chart, look at the black arrows for this trade. The red ones are the third trade. Total loss -1.05R.

BA (Gap down)

I thought this to be a promising trade. The third bar is completely below the OR. It’s a red bar and it’s a NR7.Its our trigger bar. Bought on the break of that bar and it pretty well stopped me out a few minutes later. Here is the thing though. I like to learn from my loosing trades, you know you do a dumb thing and you don’t do it again. However, I think this is a good set up, I would trade it again. Sometimes it just doesn’t work. I might be very wrong about that. Let me know what you think. Total loss is -1.10R.

BMC (Gap down)

The red arrows on the chart this time. I was so impressed with the rally by BMC that the bar I got stopped out on in the first trade, became the trigger bar for the last trade. It was a NR7 with a high of 32.48. I wanted to see it go through the 32.50 level first and I bought at 32.52. I set the target for 32.97, the FE of the first 30 minutes, this was also almost 3R. The target was reached on the 20th bar. It was actually the bar’s high and I got filled at 32.94 on the way down. Total gain is 2.56R.

Total gain on the day 0.42R

Charts & Trades April 17, 2009

2009-04-17T14:11:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
WYE PPL MHP RAI VZ TEL BMY HAS CAM JNJ SYY LOW NOC PG CTL MCD MOLX EQ ABC MRO LO SPN COG HD TSO CNQ VOD SU PBCT BIIB UN SKM ACH PBCT BIIB UN SKM ACH

Not much happening on the market today. DOW chopped around a bit, but nothing major. Not a good day for trading as no trends developed. Advancing and declining issues were pretty equal and the Nasdaq and the DOW were often not in agreement. Maybe stand aside in this type of environment. Nevertheless, I traded three issues today, two losing, one winning, for a profit of just over 1R.

CAM (Gap Up)

Wanted to repeat what I did yesterday. First bar is green with a smallish wick on top. The second bar fills in the wick of the first bar. Good momentum. Entered on the break of the second bar and price kept going up, before it came crashing down. Got stopped out for a full R. Not good Total loss -1.07R

PG (Gap Up)

Looked pretty good, with the exception of perhaps having the upper wicks a little long. The fourth bar is a NR4 completely above the OR and is our trigger. Bought on the break of the trigger bar and that was pretty well as high as it went. Stopped out two bars later. Total loss -1.06R

AAPL (No Gap)

I couldn’t find any set ups developing on stocks on my watch list. Regardless of the watch list I always check stocks like AAPL, RIMM and other big movers and see what they are up to. AAPL was doing pretty good in spite of a lousy DOW and a negative NDX. I noticed the 123 would be a level of resistance. It went through, came back a bit and went upwards again. Initially I wanted to buy at 123.05, but I didn’t get in until 123.20. I got almost stopped out on the next bar, but then it rallied up. I had set 124, just over 3R, as a target and sold all at 124.07 Total gain on this trade 3.32R. Why didn’t I take any partials along the way? My software wasn’t working properly, it was suppose to take a partial at 1R.

Total gain on the day 1.19R

Charts & Trades April 16, 2009

2009-04-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
JPM SHW VOD CCK HOG HPQ BAX ITW HTLD ETR STO MCO RIO INTC NTES FST CIG AAPL SCHW XLNX MHP GS BP QCOM AGU HP MCHP PEG TEVA TXN NTAP MT X HAL DTV IBM CHL PG CL TS CTSH ERTS BRCM ORCL ALTR TYC PAYX SLB PCS NKE TWC AEP SPLS ASH DIS WDC RIMM WFR ADBE

Four trades today, three reasonably successful ones and one not so. Again, where to get out of the trade. On one of the other day trading blogs I read no so long ago, can’t remember whose blog right now, that person set the rule that he could not change his stop for the first hour in the trade. We’ll look at that when discussing the trades of today. Actually that was Trader Mike who made that rule for himself. He has an excellent blog in which he details his trading.

HOG (Gap Up)

This trade was just a quick one early in the day. Trader X, trader Tom and some others are now looking to take trades early in the day. Visit Trader X’s blog to see the rules. He uses a ten minute chart, I used a 15 min chart. Rules are the same.
Hog opened strong, big gap up followed by a candle that totally engulfed the first one, finishing strong. With much momentum behind it I entered on the break of the second bar high. Took a 10c partial one minute later. The target was today’s fib extension (19.66) based on first 30 minutes low and high. It went as high as 19.58 and then started dropping rapidly. Bailed at the 10c level. I did not want to go in the red on such a trade set up. Had we played by the rules and not touching the stop we would have been stopped out at -1R. Played by the rules, we would not have gotten into this trade!
Total gain 0.35R

ADBE (Gap Up)

I really thought the price action was going to change once the third bar hit the EMA and the next bar was a strong green bar. That turnaround bar was our trigger. Bought on the break and initially went the right way, before it came back. This pattern, a strong green bar followed by an almost gravestone doji, is pretty well a sure sign that there is trouble ahead. Most of the time the next bar will be red. And so it was, and we got stopped out. I think from now on, when I encounter this pattern I’ll exit the trade.
Total loss -1.07R

CL (Gap Up)

I mismanaged this trade a bit. First I bought less than the normal quantity of shares. Then I made the FE as my target, not realizing that that was only 2c above 1R. The seventh bar was the first one clear off the OR and off the EMA5. The type of candle is a hanging man, supposedly forecasting a reversal, but I often find it, in the right situation, a strong uptrend bar. Bought on the break of that bar, Took partial on the next bar and after hitting the FE was stopped out just above 1R.
Total Gain 0.98R

AAPL (Gap Up)

Nice set up for AAPL, I always fear Apple, as it is so volatile. Its range in a bar can be huge and it can jump a dollar in seconds. Very scary sometimes. Starting with the ninth bar, the price is trying to get through the 121 level. That level is tested by the next four bars. We’re also seeing the formation of an ascending triangle. All good signs and I decide to buy as soon it breaks through the resistance. I got in at 211.11 and nine minutes later took partial. My target was the FE at 122.06. At 3R I raised the stop to 2R and got stopped out at that level. By the one hour rule we would have gotten to the FE 30 minutes later.
Total gain 1.26R

Total gain on the day 1.53R

Charts & Trades April 15, 2009

2009-04-15T14:34:00.000-07:00

Watch list:
AZN AYE CSX NTES CHL UL BNI ACH UN CVTX BKC FNF KMT RJF INFY TOT COF BTU SI MCD INTC ABT BBL CTSH ACI BHP NVO DLR ANR DRI CMA AXP SYMC AMZN SYY CLF KLAC TXN CNX BBY NDAQ MS IVZ STT WFC JCP RIO V MET NUE PBR ADBE VMW PBR.A QCOM CELG

Once again three trades today. The market was down at the start of the day, then went up, down again, up again, down again and then finished strong for a gain of 109. Again the positioning of the stops had some major influence on the gains and losses of today. Where to take a profit or a loss is probably the hardest part of trading. For today the menu serves up one win, one loss and one break even for a total of a tiny little profit.

BBY (Gap Down)

I love these type of trades, at least when they are winners, but I do like the set up. The trade is in the direction of the gap, which I find preferable to going against the gap (next two trades). Big first bar and then a move towards the EMA. This could take a couple of bars, but it easily could take five or ten. The third bar is weak off the EMA and closes at its bottom. This is our trigger bar. We buy on the break off the trigger bar and take partial on the next. The price moved to 2R and I moved my stop to 1R The price came back up and we got stopped out. I had set my target at the weekly pivot at 36.76, far from today’s low of 37.14.
Total gain is 1.02R

ANR (Gap Down)

That stock went down for 5 bars followed by a small hammer. It went right up from there and I wanted to jump on the wagon. I waited for the stock to trade back in its OR. Bought at 17.68 and it came to within 1c of 1R (it actually did hit 1.93, but nothing was filled). I did set my stop to BE and a bar later we got stopped out. A BE trade with the loss of commissions. Obviously in hindsight, shouldn’t have moved that stop, but I find it difficult to have knocked on the 1R door to then go into negative territory.
Total loss -0.05R (BE trade, loss is commissions)

NDAQ (Gap Down)

Not a smart trade, never taken such a set up before. The stock formed a double bottom, which is supposed to be very bullish. The pattern is not that greatly evident, but it is on a five minute chart. Because I had never traded this set up before, I was only willing to risk 1/3 R. I should have bought a third of the number of stocks I normally buy, but what I did, I bought the regular size I and set the stop at 1/3R. Not the brightest idea. The price blew right through the stop and the loss came to -0.73R

Total on the day 0.24R

Chart & Trades April 14, 2009

2009-04-14T14:05:00.001-07:00

Watch list:
AMGN, ANF, BBBY, BP, CI, COST, DKS, FDO, FPL, GIS, HUM, JNPR, KSS, LFC, LOW, MCD, NVS, ORCL, PBCT, PCU, PEP, PHG, PM, QGEN, RDS.A, RSX, SNY, TOT, UN, URBN, VZ, XOM, YUM.

I had some software problems this morning, so I didn’t get to see anything until forty five minutes after the market opened. Maybe that works for me, no loosing trades today. Could have stayed in bed a little longer too, the market opens awfully early for us here on the west coast. The DOW wasn’t too happy today, the trend was down. I shorted three stocks, two wins, one break even.

LFC (Gap Down)

Big opening gap, after the stock started to recover a bit, four green bars in a row, the last one being a NR7. This bar came off the EMA 5 and although green, closed in the bottom half of the bar. That’s our trigger. Entered on the break of the NR7, took partial at 1R, it then came back to BE and we got stopped out. This was highly regrettable, as I had not actually set the stop loss at BE, but at BE - 5c, to make up for slippage and commissions. Had I not done that we would not have been stopped out and we could have gone a long way for a much higher profit. Total profit 0.55R

PEP (Gap Down)

Same idea as last trade, gap down, followed by a bit of an upswing. Fifth bar is an NR4 off the EMA 5. I put in a short order, but only got a small partial fill. I lost interest in the trade because of that and closed it out when it started to go in the wrong direction. I obviously should have stayed in for a better result. Closed it out for a profit of 1c
That would be about 0.0R

MCD (Gap Down)

I set the OR at the 30 minute level. That’s very arbitrary, sometimes its 15 min sometimes its 30 min. It really depends on the price action. The sixth bar went through the OR in a very convincing way, but the price started to creep back to the OR. The ninth bar is off the OR and closes in the bottom half of the bar. It’s also an NR7 and is our trigger, but it did not get filled until the 11th bar. Took partial at 1R and chickened out of the trade a few minutes later. Not a bad chickening out as we closed out 8c from today’s low. Total 1.23R

Total on the day 1.78R