Piss Poor Trades #4

The Road 

I made a series of disastrous trades that have led me to a dark path. I didn't report them because I just felt ashamed of these trades. I tried to do an internal review, but I realized that's just half-assed and isn't good enough. I must post a full review so I UNDERSTAND what I did wrong and to never do it again. These are career ending trades.

There are times when traders lose big and it is how they bounce back that shows whether they have improved. It is now my time to see if I can really make it in this business. 

My Problems

Problem #1: I missed many trades and I grew angry how I keep missing them. This is because I am unprepared in the morning when I have my morning charts set on 15m instead of 1m or 2m. This is because I am unprepared by scanning charts instead of planning for the trade.

Solution: I have to realize that this is my business. I must be a professional.

Problem #2: I have played charts with no edge and enter them at the worst times. I have no plans on some of my trades. This is because I've grown impatient and desperate. I know I am running out of time and am forcing trades.

Solution: The market is a bitch and I should treat it as such. I must be a professional.

Problem #3: My execution has become sloppy. I exit a stock even when I am winning. This is because I do not believe in myself and get scared when the markets move one way or another. I have become scared of the price movement.

Solution: I will believe in myself from now on even if I am wrong. I must be a professional.

Problem #4: I have become angry, frustrated, and play too much size.

Solution: I must chill and take one trade at a time. I must be a professional.

Ticker: GBSN

I should recognize the situation that this was not an unexpected parabolic move and the consolidation would take much longer to form.

Note: I must be focused on my trades and make sure all my tools are in working order.
Note: I should not play the a rebound off a non-parabolic stock after a huge flush.  
Note: I should not short randomly especially towards power hour. 

Ticker: LSTR

I should have recognized the recovery and the pattern and stayed away from the short.

Note: I should be away during these times or at least more focused. I should not be fucking around during trading.

 

Ticker: RPTP

Just a random trade from an unexpected parabolic.

Note: I gotta take a step back and understand the full picture. This was towards the end of the day and power "fucking" hour. I should not be fucking shorting because there was no more time.

Ticker: MOMO

These trades were a disgrace.

Note: There was no volume and no trend. I should have stayed fucking away. I did even worse because I shorted on weakness and covered tops!  

Note: If I have to hope for something in the market, then I already lost!

Ticker: VZ

Random trade on fucking Verizon

Note: If I traded this, then I know I am fucking desperate. There was no trade here at this fucking time. At this point, it was my emotions controlling me.

Ticker: UA

I need to recognize this pattern quick cause it fooled me so many times.

Note: I should not be scared of price movement and be objective when I exit a trade. There was no reason to sell that early because it didn't even test $44 which I wanted it to.

Note: The second trade didn't even breakout when I bought it. Another sign of desperation.

Ticker: SRPT

I shorted on weakness and was stubborn.

 Note: I must follow my plan or else I will just be giving money away.

Ticker: VSLR 

If I have a plan for my risk when I leave, I should also have a plan for my potential profit.

Note: I shouldn't be leaving when I have a lot of size in play. I should have a plan for if it succeeds when I leave. At least get out partial if it does what I want.

Lesson #1: SHORT POPS; BUY DIPS!
Lesson #2: DON'T PLAY TOO MUCH SIZE!
Lesson #3: DON'T ADD IN UNLESS YOU ARE WINNING!
Lesson #4: IT'S OKAY TO LEAVE EVEN IF YOU LOSE!
Lesson #5: UNDERSTAND THE BIGGER PICTURE!
Lesson #6: FOLLOW MY OWN FUCKING ADVICE!

Notice a mistake? Let me know below!

My Trading Journey Thus Far

My $2500 account I started in June dwindled to nothing in three short months. I didn't stand a chance. Thus I took a long break to grind up a new account. In the process, I realized I was earning $6 an hour instead of losing $100 in a few minutes which was refreshing. I started to lose interest in trading because I never won. I earned more money busting ass for a few months than the whole two years I traded. Knowing that, I thought I was just a shit trader and no amount of studying would get me to a level where I could make at least $10 a day. I always lost money trading and it was so fucking irritating.

When I made more than enough to refill my account,  I didn't even know if I wanted to to add it into my account. I didn't know if I even wanted to trade anymore. I grew tired, scared, and directionless.

Then I was reminded that I had a choice to make. I have a choice of doing things on my own terms or I could waste 2 more years of my life at some place that sucks my soul dry and takes at least $20,000 from me. My time is limited and I have to run towards the light before it's too late.

I refilled my account with $1500. Let's see what I'm made of.

Piss Poor Trades #3

Death

Since my last loss, I found a job to fund my next account and decided to trade less because my account is so low. This isn't enough and it shows in my recent trading. I have not been practicing and have been forgetting important concepts. The game seems to be over and I feel like shit. However, it doesn't mean I quit. It just means that I gotta go over old material and review. 

Ticker: XOMA

Date: 10/01/15

The Daily Chart. 

I went long after a higher low. It did not work.

Lesson #1: I did not pay attention to the resistance and how it peaked there the first time. I should be more aware of the surroundings so I can find better signals to short or long. 

Ticker: FOLD

Date: 10/02/15

The five minute chart would have been perfect. I just didn't look, like an idiot.

I wanted to long, but then I saw a few bars that looked weak. Once I saw these bars, I just thought shorting was the way to go. Boy was I wrong because the main setup was for a long. This is something I thought I was good at, but I guess not.

Lesson #1: I seem to have forgotten the setups. 

Lesson #2: My bias seems to have come back. STOP IT

Lesson #3: I have not been looking at different charts. 

See something I did wrong today? Let me know by commenting below.

Piss Poor Trades #2

The Laydown

My trading seems to have gone to shit recently. This coupled with revenge trading, my $2500 account dwindled to $1600. This is pretty bad. However, I will keep improving by discovering mistakes I have made while trading.

Here are my trades.

Ticker: RMTI

Date: 06/25/2015

This is how the daily chart looked like. It gapped up that day and popped before going down.

 

I started too early because I expected a failed follow through. I did not give it enough time and started with a bad note. Afterwards, I was just too scared of the trade and got out once it didn't work. I did not respect my stop and paid for it.

Lesson #1: I should be more patient on plays, especially with a smaller account. I need to let the chart play out and make sure it is set up before going in.

Lesson #2: I should respect my stop and let it do its thing. If I cannot respect my stop, I should not be in it in the first place because it is too risky to play.

Ticker: NVAX

Date: 06/25/2015

I played this chart okay, but I could have done better. My entries were a bit off and I could have sized in more.

Lesson #1: I need to give a stock more room to play out. Again, if the range is too much, then the stock is too risky to play. I need to remember that given my account size now. 

Lesson #2: I cannot be afraid to size in if I am right.

Ticker: EXEL

Date: 07/24/2015

I shorted because it broke the trend to the downside. Unfortunately, the bigger picture was a long. I just played a short term technical thing. I need to get it in my head that there is always a bigger picture and I should catch it before I lose anymore money. 

Lesson #1: I need to realize the bigger picture. If a setup looks like a long, then I should follow it long. I should not short it because of small technical moves. Those moves can be set up for the bigger picture.

Lesson #2: I should not add in unless I was right about the trade. I added in too much size without knowing I was right or not. This is how I can lose big money. 

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.

Piss Poor Trades #1

What's up folks?

I'm have been trading everyday for the summer, but have been too lazy to make a post everyday. This has slowed down my progress greatly and does not help me learn as effectively as possible. I decided to change this and do a series on the worst trades I took and how I could have prevented it. This should help me review these charts and let me know how to avoid them in the future.

So here goes nothing.

Ticker: ACAD
Date: 07/15/15

The chart was overextended on the daily so I decided to give it a try. My first attempt was was @ $51.07 because I saw a higher low and thought it was done. It quickly trended up which was a sign I missed and went higher. I covered @ $51.65 which was bad. I tried again at $51.60, but it came back before it came back down.   My stop should have been @ $52, but I just decided to say fuck it because it didn't look like it was going down anytime soon.

Lesson #1: I need to set stops quickly on fast moving charts or I will get run over if it goes against me. 

Lesson #2: I should play smaller size because it was the front side of the move. Playing with smaller size would allow me to be patient on the play and set my stop to the appropriate amount. I can even add in once the chart looks weak.

Lesson #3: I need to recognize long consolidations faster so I can get out more quickly without losing.

Ticker: NCR

Date: 07/20/15

I tried to play this chart because of the quick parabolic upwards. I again played the front side and did not get out when I saw the consolidation pattern. I re-shorted, but got out. It eventually worked, but it's not how I want to play these types of stocks.

Lesson #1: I should remember to look at previous days that had similar action. The day before did the same thing and I did not heed its warning of a second leg. 

Lesson #2: I was thinking about holding it for a swing, but I realized that this was stupid because I didn't even know the news. I need to stop thinking about swinging things if the chart doesn't go my way. 

Lesson #3: Since this is still the front side, I need to use smaller size to limit my risk. Then, I could add in if it went a little higher instead of stopping out. 

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.

Fuck Suretrader

The Story

This is what I have been going through the past month. I have wasted a month's worth of my time because I wanted to save a measly $25. This was a stupid idea and a huge lesson for me. Time is important and this is how money can literally buy time. Don't fall into the same mistake I did. 

In other news, Suretrader's ACH system has been down for a month. It is completely ridiculous because it simply shouldn't take this long.They have been fucking around dodging questions while sending canned responses.

This message was directed to Guy Gentile. However, it doesn't seem like he checks anything personally. 

I was given some canned response and that was that. SureTrader doesn't care about anything it seems. If you guys want to trade, then trade. Don't waste your time arguing for a cheaper way to deposit money into your account. Your time is valuable and you can probably make everything back faster than waiting for some bullshit support team. 

Lessons Learned

Compilation

I haven't posted anything about my trading for a while because of the ridiculous trades I have done in a short time span. It is simply too much to keep track of and I was also a bit busy with other things like negotiating rates with TDAmeritrade. So I decided to make a compilation of trading lessons I learned from the those ridiculous trades. I hope this helps me review some of the mistakes I made and how to become better. After this, I will continue posting my daily trades. 

Big Picture

Always take a look at the big picture or previous patterns before taking a position. This will let you know how the chart could behave. It will also better help you determine if there is a bear or bull trap coming. It will keep you prepared for the worst.

I wanted to short overnight on the second of February because it looked like it made its move and ready to drop. The trend was a channel and I wanted it to break to the downside for its breakdown. This did not happen so I stopped out. The last bar was the third of February and this was when I wanted to short. What I should have known was that it was bullish and I should be wary of any bearish traps. 

I missed the first half of the day because I was out and came back looking at a descending triangle. I did not notice the previous descending triangle forming and just having it breakout to the upside. I just played where I played without doing homework and was just squeezed out. I later switched to longs, but was just too late. 

Note: The bullish flag you see was something I drew after I got squeezed. This was the second thing I should have noticed before shorting. I forget that the bars could form two different patterns at the same time. However, if I had done my homework before that this chart was bullish, I might have just saved my money and waited for a better confirmation. 

Testing Resistance

During these trades, I have noticed that I have added in my positions too fast without it letting it test the resistances. I also learned about the over/under idea mentioned here by VinnyB.

Here is an example of what I did wrong:

Added so you can track my mistakes if you wanted to yourself.

I added too confident and added to fast without allowing it to test its resistance. Sure, I did reduce risk on the way up, but I should have just killed it when it held the support. 

Note: I should have waited for a better confirmation and added in too quickly. 

Note: I have to again, remember that the bars could form two different things and that the overall picture dictates if the chart will be bullish or bearish. I did reduce risk, but I also added on the way up because I was too short bias. If it goes over and not under, then it's time to get out. 

Don't Overtrade

Take a look at all the commission that piled up on me. 

01/30/2015

02/02/2015

02/03/2015

The fees do definitely add up and if you are in a losing position, then the last picture is the result of overtrading. I definitely fucked up by trading too much and did not wisely add into stocks. The trades I should be making should look like Gene from the 02/02/2015 picture. 

Note: I need to limit my trades to at least 5 a ticker. Anything more than 5 should not be entertained and should be viewed as emotional trading.  

Don't Trade Under Pressure

I noticed myself under time constraints at times and forcing trades due to outside pressures. This has caused me to mistime buys and sells which in turn lost me money. If you do not have the time to trade, then don't. 

Trading under these conditions will lead to mistakes! 

These are some of the things I learned with my new broker SureTrader. I have already been trading for a while, but there is still so much to learn. I will share more mistakes I make as soon as I make them.