Dear diary...

 

The end of July has come, together with the end of vacations from my dayjob (and kind-of vacation from trading). June and July have definitely seemed slower based on twitter action and volume/rotation on relatively hyped stocks. Since I have been not too active I still feel that the result has been good. Last weeks of my dayjob were hectic (in end of June), so didn't do too much then. What I did failed miserably, and I was down to below my input to my account (mostly because of broker fees, the profit has never been negative according to profit.ly). 

 

The key was when I started taking it more lightly, trading more relaxed and comfortably, when I had the time to do my research, but without spending the whole day watching the stock once I had made my choice. I have made a lot of money the last couple of weeks when my mood has been good, I have been feeling stress-free and have been working out, payed all bills, washed all dishes et cetera. That is when I don't make rash decisions, when I feel I can wait an hour or two into market open before deciding (if necessary) and when I feel informed about the trend before going in. I also enter with small size before full conviction, and then add when I should and don't when I shouldn't. I have gained a good understanding of the different timelines adding up (1,5,15,30,60 min charts as well as daily). I also stick with one stock or two, often over several days, not jumping from one to the next - that has almost never worked for me.

 

I have had success both long and short and feel very comfortable with ABCD both ways, as well as strong trends for scalps either way. However, now is the time to get more and more knowledgable with the details - why scan in the way I do, what are some fundamentals that will affect the chart patterns, float rotation, offerings et cetera. What are good entry points based on previous action/volume, what are good exit points and so on. I also need to learn the broker platforms more in detail.

 

My scans have almost only been twitter based action stocks, which of course is working, but it is not making me a self supporting trader. Either way, if it keeps on proving to be a reliable method I will use it, because I would rather be a rich, successful trader than a self-supporting but unsuccessful trader. There will always be chatter on twitter providing some sort of overall view (I don't only go with ONE guru's advice and idea for the day, only look for what stocks seem to be in play from the big mass). But eventually, I will need to understand better what scans will work because of what.

 

Lastly, I have been trading entirely from my phone, and have cancelled my tc2000 platinum account for now. I am mostly on the move without access to even my laptop (especially from work), and I don't need to pay 100 bucks for platinum righ now. Still keeping gold just in case, but I am more and more familiar with Interactive Broker's mobile app (even though it lacks some necessary data like level II). 

 

In general - will stop doing what doesn't work, will keep doing what does work.