Just finished the Short Stocking video series. I was most interested in the section of charts not to short because I'm in a cash account which prevents me from shorting stocks. Once I hit 10k in profits I'll open a second account focused on short stocking. ...I missed CLSN this am...would have been a nice chunk towards that goal. I quibbled over $0.10 with my planned entry and missed out on $1.40 a share profit. Oh well, more plays in the am.
I'm so happy to put May behind me! Long SGYP on news/market sector trend. Got in pre-market at $3.85 and sold during first pull back at 3.98. It dropped 0.17 in seconds and fell below $4 ... I got shook out. It quickly recovered and tried to break $4.30 twice during morning trading. Overall this trade increased my account by 2.6%.
May has come and gone and it was a painful month for me. My profit/loss doesn't show the extremely valuable lessons I've learned this month. I'm only down $70 on my trades, but that doesn't count the $201.91 in brokerage fees on the 7 stocks I traded this month with a $5k account...what a hot mess!
I also followed Tim into a trade which wasn't my brightest moment. This was the first time I followed blindly (w/o research first) and it didn't turn out well. It pulled back immediately and I didn't like the price action..., so I gout out at a loss. Fortunately it was a small position.
My biggest loss for the month was SINO for $183. I fell for another classic fake-out/break-out, but I scaled out as the position until it broke key support.
Overall I'm disappointed with my performance, but it could have been worse....like -$800 (20% of my account) if I'd made different choices with VSTM and SRNE. The only way I made it out was Tim's vodeo lessons and the paper trading I did (FREE) with thinkorswim during Apr/May. I got into some crazy upside down positions during that period and learned some expensive lessons that didn't cost a penny. These saved me $800 in market tuition fees.
My biggest win was CLNT for $164. It was an earnings winner that ran...took profits when it was up 15%+ and exited the rest at 23%+. This increased my account size by 3% in a single morning. I got out too early, but I'm not trying to guess the top. I was happy to take solid profits.
VSTM got stuffed three times last week in the low 2.50s. It also took a little hit when the entire market pulled back on 5/17, but it recovered nicely during the next two trading days and it's poised again to begin filling that gap. I got in on the 2.54 fake out/break out, averaged down after the 5/17 drop, and sold the majority of my position when it gap'd up this morning at open. I still have a small position.
20+ days later....VSTM is a bust, but it taught me a valuable lesson. This stock broke through resistance several times over the last three weeks, but it went nowhere. The lesson is simple, Technicals are nothing without volume...VOLUME is KING, LONG LIVE THE KING!
IMMU - I also traded this last week. I ectered with an increase in price/vol, but it dried up 0.12 later. It was still early, so I gave it a little time. It started looking even weaker, so I tried to sell half my position at+0.10. 20% sold before it pulled back. It fell to my mental stop and I sold half my position at -0.10 and let the last 30% ride. It perked up eod and I sold the last +0.05.
Lesson: Don't force a trade. I came into the day saying today is going to be the day for a win on a big position. I missed the first .10 of the run and struggled to complete a limit order with the price action. I ended up using a market order and got in.08 above the ask. ...0.20 above the open... At this point I was effectively chasing this with 60% of my account invested. Terrible entry!
Good pick, good plan, terrible execution.
CCCR - traded this last week...I got sucked into a f/o b/o and lost 0.19 a share. It initially moved up a little, but I didn't get out. Instead I lost bit by bit until my mental stop hit and I got out. It was a runner, but the timing of my entry was very poor.
CLNT - entered below open at 4.26 and rode it to 5. sold half of my position at 4.91 and the rest at 5.25. It had a major investor buy out all shares from current CEO. I'd like to say that I took the meat of the move, but it hit $7 while I updated this log. Happy to take 0.80+ a share profit on a solid trade.
$CLNT broke below my trend line around 9:50, and it shook me out even though I already took profits on half my position. lol Five minutes later it blew through my mental exit without hesitation and is up another $1 past my exit (and then it halted). After it resumed trading it continued to 7 then began to slow down a little.
What's your source for the FNCX 1:10 reverse split news - can't find it anywhere.
REXX is the 10-1 split not FNCX
Thx for the clarification.
NADL was my last trade for April. I got 1000 at 2.49 with rising price/vol risking off of support at 2.46. The action stalled at 2.61. I tried to sell half my position at 2.59 but only 200 sold. The price declined below my mental stop and I sold 500 shares at 2.45, sold the rest at 2.52 eod. It didn't seem strong enough at eod to risk holding over the weekend. It did go up to 2.64 at Monday open, but it was quick... then it fell back to support. .
Lesson: Sell into strength. I was watching lvl2 data and noticed the transition, but I wanted to give it a little time to consolidate and move higher. Unfortunately this delay prevented me from clearing half my position at a higher profit. I had the right idea, but waited a minute or two too long. Trading Lvl 2 and Trading Tickers helped me focus on the right things in lvl 2 at the right time. Thanks Tim S/Tim G!
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