Overview
Found myself trying to catch a few too many knifes this week. Although I still think a lot of company lows were set (at least for the next month or two) my lack of focus probably cost me taking a few low quality trades. The market is still very fragile but it does feel like close to peak fear. A lot of companies are now right down near or below their Covid lows.
I am going overseas for 10 days next week so was actively trying to get set in positions that could really bounce hard over the next few weeks. I caught a few solid movers, but the second day they seem to sell back down pretty hard.
Both accounts ended up in the red on closed trades this week, but there are a few new positions that were in the green very quickly. My overall net long exposure is only $1800 so that should be fine for holding on to a few positions.
Goals from last week
- Patience – Stops need room to allow choppiness– I did keep this in mind with IMU and IDT. They both were up over 10% but have now come back to near my entry prices. Hopefully this was a good decision to give them room
- Don’t Average Down – I don’t think I did average down ,so that is a plus. But I did have one or two trades that lost more than my Risk allowance.
Numbers
Trade Analysis
A Trade: BRN – Flag Breakout failure. I had an alerd go off for BRN and it quickly ran hard in the opening hour. I deliberately ignored taking the trade because I have noticed a lot of flags have been failing lately. I started paying close attention at around 10.40am for a Short. My entry ended up being very close to the top and I held the short for a few hours with a take half profit limit order set at 2-3 X R. As it triggered, I then set the remaining stop to my entry price and am expecting it to slowly grind lower as the breakout failed and people might be trapped.
Update/Closed Trade Review:
None This Week.
Other Trades:
- CXO – I was stopped out of my short in an opening pop, but jumped back in very quickly as I saw it rolling over right after stopping me out. It quickly dropped but has since had a bit of strength in the range
- NUF – After a big gap down day the day before, I got in for a bit of a mean reversion. The first trade was stopped out for a paper cut but the second one it started running straight away.
- PBH – I had an alert set for a bottoming range. It gapped up above my level and looked strong, so I got in with pretty small size. It ended up 16% on the day!
Mistakes
- Trying to catch too many knifes
- Not putting full size on PBH
- Having too strong of an opinion on CXO
Goals for the week:
- Trade less names
- Set and forget at least 3 or 4 positions
What does a Trading Journal have to do with Automating Tedious Tasks?
I have been casually trading for 4 or 5 years now. Throughout those years, I have lacked discipline and a repeatable process. Many great traders talk about the review process being equally or even more important that market open hours. It is a tedious task that I had been neglecting due to laziness. This Blog is to help me hold myself accountable and genuinely review the decisions made throughout the prior week. The ultimate goal is to uncover my most profitable setups and market conditions so I can begin to optimize or automate some parts of My Trading Process.
Main tools I use for Trading
Charting Software: Trading View – Easy to navigate, Volume Profile indicator is major bonus and the alerts are easy to set.
Broker: Invast with IRESS Viewpoint execution
Trading Journal: Someka Trade Journal