Eighteenth: No Deposits

Summary

I rushed a purchase today when I should have been patient. The reason is probably because I was too excited to be back in the game. I am waiting to re-fund my account so that is why I have been purchasing lower price stocks. 

Suretrader has not allowed me to deposit money into my account because they are reworking their ACH system. 

Ticker: CIDM

So the bar was above the $0.95 support and I bought it early without being patient. An amateur move and something I hope not to make again.

Note: I was too anxious too trade and rushed. Given that this was a lower volume stock and it was not a clear breakout with volume, I should have known that it was weak. 

Ticker: CLRX

This chart was following a upwards trend. It is making higher highs and higher lows, so I thought I would buy in. This time I was a bit more patient and purchased when support came in. 

Note: The stop is low of day and I will be patient for this to go towards $1.00. 

Please let me know if you have any comments or opinions. I would like to know if you have spotted any mistakes in my logic.

First: Bad Trade

Summary

I lost internet for a few days which resulted in me not being able to trade effectively. I made a bad trade in the first place so there should be no excuses for it. Today, I sold out feeling more terrible than ever.

I don't know if  I can continue trading like this. There is definitely something fundamentally wrong about my trading. Every loss is taking a slash through my chest. The pain is there, but I need to keep pushing forward to succeed. I might have to carefully review again before coming back.

News even came out for the company, but it was not enough for it to carry through.

Ticker: ASTI

The trade was not worth it. I thought it might have based yesterday and continue an upwards trend today, but it didn't happen.

Note: The risk vs. reward was bad. This was a bad trade overall.

Please let me know if you have any comments or opinions. I would like to know if you have spotted any mistakes in my logic.

The Fourth: Another Fakeout

Summary

I should really review my own blog before I trade. I made a mistake purchasing a fakeout even after clear red flags. Shit like this is really going to take me out of the game for good. The only positive to take from this was I had a clear stop and I was patient. Everything else was just reading the chart incorrectly.

Take a look at Breakouts Vs. Fakeouts to see what I mean.

Ticker: GSS

This is the right way to play a swing. Buy early while it is consolidation. Have a clear stop and be patient for the breakout.

Note: Since today was a red day, I should have just set my limit lower and wait for it to get filled. I rushed to buy and bought it a little higher than I should have. 

Note: I think I am more comfortable with these types of stocks because they are nice and steady. When they breakout, they breakout. 

Ticker: TVIX 

I was impatient and bought in because I was reckless. This is not the way to trade. 

Not really a clear breakout, but after the fact. I just wanted to say that it looks like I was chasing here. I should have just told myself that I was chasing and waited for a better entry. $2.02 was a good entry for this stock. Not $2.12.The only way I wouldn't be chasing would be if I was buying on dips and this was really a breakout.

 

So I bought in and ignored the first red flag because I was long biased with this stock. I should have been short because it did hit resistance and it did NOT have a clear breakout. I should have let it test it out further before diving in.

Where did I see this type of move before? Oh right, here. This stock and ZNGA had similar volume and I just fucking ignored it. I must be an idiot for buying in. 

Note: The only positive here was I tested my patience. I should have killed the trader sooner after I recognized the descending triangle. Fuck me though, this was an amateur mistake. Another thing is my risk management got a little better which is good.

Please let me know if you have any comments or opinions. I would like to know if you have spotted any mistakes in my logic.

Breakouts or Fakeouts

Breakouts

I wanted to take the time to analyze how intra-day breakout charts should look like compared to how intra-day fakeout charts look like. These seem to be the signs I tend to notice before the big move and what I should look out for in the future so I don't miss out. 

Ticker: DSCO

So I chose this chart because it was clearly in a ascending triangle. Today was the day it broke out, but I did not play it since I was focused elsewhere. I think an ideal breakout chart should look something like this. At the end, I didn't want to chase so I just let it be.

I noticed that the range got a little tighter and an ABCD type pattern forming. When the pattern grew a bit steeper, I should have known that a big move was coming. The volume was solid and I should have looked at this as a positive sign. 

Intraday looked perfect. It broke previous resistance with great volume. I dipped and this is where I should have bouggt. I was where I got alerted too. I was blinded and did not even take it. An ideal breakout is one like this, great volume and good patterns. No problems!

Note: It seems like a good break of the previous resistance plus insane volume indicates a good chart. I could have even seen an ABCD pattern here and purchased. It was great throughout the rest of the day.

Ticker: PPP

So yesterday, this chart broke out completely and I missed the initial move. I just got in today @ $3.54. This chart looks pretty good for a nice pop.

I actually missed the ascending triangle forming for this chart because I did not look at the 15 minutes. Look how similar this breakout looks like to DSCO. It was a clear breakout plus the bars were near the upperend of the pattern.

Note: I don't think it matters that much where the bars were before the breakout, but I think there needs to be either a clear breakout or descent breakout with great volume. Anything else could be just a fake.

The volumes here aren't very clear, but the chart tells a different story. Again, volume is just a tool to aid the charts so the charts is the end factor. If there is a clear breakout, then I would have to play it regardless. Any previous days volume seem to affect the performance of the beginning of the next day. For example, the volume seemed to have done well, but it was a grind upwards because it slammed down the first clear break. This seems like an opportunity to purchase the stock at a better price.

Note: Remember, these signals work best for charts that have taken a beating. Not charts that look too overextended.

Fakeouts

Ticker: ZNGA

In the beginning, it looked like it was ready, but there was no clear breakout. I tried to follow the volume, but got burned because of it.

The volume looked decent, yes, but it did not reflect how the chart was doing. For stocks that have a lot of volume, it is better for the breakout to occur than to count on any volume. However, the volume indicated when I should get out which saved my ass.

Note: These are all similar charts, but the ones that broke out was obvious because it did straight out of the gate. The ones that don't are most likely fakeouts.

Recovery - Update 03/04/2015

After a failed breakout, I immediately took this off my watchlist. However, looking back, I should have noticed that it did hold the channel and that was the safest time to buy.

I need to remember that charts could hold multiple patterns and can operate on multiple time frames. Since these charts are hard to find, I need to be aware that a chart could still breakout after the first failure.

Check this out to see what I mean: WEN

Sidenotes

I don't  know how many times I have to tell myself this, but the chart is always right. Volume is only a tool used to gauge the chart. Volume cannot be depended upon. A clear breakout with good volume is great while a clear breakout with low volume means that it can still grind back up. No breakout with good volume just means that it hit resistance.

Breakouts don't usually last unless they look good on the daily as well. You should sell the day of the breakout or a specified time of when you think you should sell. 

Please let me know if you have any comments or opinions. I would like to know if you have spotted any mistakes in my logic.