A day in the life of a rookie trader.
I've been trading on my own since May 1, 2004, and decided to start this blog as a log for all my trades. This way I can reflect on what I've done and how I can improve my trading skills. I'm sort of a discretionary trader without any mechanical trading system, but do have a few trading rules and a risk management system to keep me in place.
Well it wasn't a spooky day after all, but the bulls sure came out to ring in the last day of October. I'm partial on this rally , while it benefits my vmw, I'm just getting kill on goog moving higher. I sold out of the remaining of slb for -5/share, this stock was under pressure since yesterday's Goldman Sach's call on the oil sector. So let see will there be follow through for tomorrow.
posted by wb @ 8:49 PM
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Well everyone is waiting for the Fed and it was another volatile whipsaw day. Started with a down day then some upward movement, then side way, and finally down in the last 30 minutes. Today was just terrible, shorted goog too early at 90 and covered a quarter of my position for -5/share. GOOG is just one amazing upward momentum stock, just didn't wait for the retracement or signs of retracement before I entered the short. I tend to always jump in too early and it is very frustrating. Also sold partial position on slb for -5.42/share, broke below the 97 level which was one of my stops. If it closes below 96 tomorrow I'll close out the remaining position. Basically I'm just taking the lost and building up cash for either a huge shift up or a tremendous down wind. It will all depends on the 1315 hour tomorrow.
posted by wb @ 7:47 PM
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Another wild and crazy roller coaster ride. I sold out of vsea when it came back down for a pity .10/share. It seems like a waste, but it dropped another 6 points after hour, so not that bad after all. I think everyone is just waiting till the Fed's announce on Halloween before they commit further cash, thus for the market volatility. So onward to next week.
posted by wb @ 11:11 PM
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Wow what a day the final tally doesn't even show how volatile the indices were today. I believe it rally due to rumors of a possible Fed's emergency rate cut. But whatever it was there will certainly be more of it until the end of the month. The past 3 days has been frustrating trying to trade these earning number, basically I was breaking all the rules of trading and gambled on many trades. I hate to gamble because I usually end up losing, which I did on amzn and ffiv. Today took a loss -3/share on ffiv bought amzn at 94 will take loss when it hits 91. Both were bad trades I should not have bought, instead I didn't follow the down trend and bought it anyway. Thus, I won't be trading for the rest of the week due to these 2 losses and a haphazard trading style. Very frustrated and disgusted.
posted by wb @ 9:48 PM
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The sellers were all over today. No one really knows what cause this small correction, it could be many factors such as, option expiration, 20th anniversary of the '87 crash, caterpillar's terrible earnings, weak dollar, record high oil, or mutual fund window dressing for the Oct's year end reporting. I believe it is just a combination of all of the above that just spooked the market. I basically gave up all my gains for the whole month in one day. But, I'm not fearful the market will continue to rally till year end. Bought slb after their decent earning it went down because of slower projects going forward. Bought at 101.42, it should come back next week, Wall Street just loves this darling stock. Covered all of isrg for -20/share lost, got slammed on this and was not a good gamble on my part. I still do not know why this stock is so very high in valuation, but I'm not going to challenge the momentum. Well onward to next week, the heavy earnings numbers( aapl, bidu) will continue next week.
posted by wb @ 5:40 PM
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Another mixed day in the market, oils at record highs and the dollar is very very weak. Today basically played all the internet names that was announcing this evening. Daytraded sndk for +1/share, bidu for +2/share, and shorted isrg going into earnings and got burned with -20/share. Thank goodness I only had a very small position, I haven't covered yet will see how tomorrow turns out. I've noticed recently that there are many opportunities in the after hour market when a stock is announcing earnings. The stock don't just move straight up or down, but many waves, thus many opportunities to scalp. Tomorrow the bulls should come out with goog's fantastic earnings, but option expiration should throw a spin into it.
posted by wb @ 9:23 PM
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Well the bulls certainly showed up afer Intl and Yhoo's spectacular earnings, and then during midday it gave it all up because of the Fed's Beige book's doom and gloom economy report. But at the end it rally again to finished strong. Good day but made one terrible simple mistake. The goods are: covered slb after the oil inventory number for +1.85/share; covered the rest of my isrg for +8/share, the market gods brought it down before earnings I'm guessing to get in cheap for tomorrows earnings. So since they brought it down near my target price covered I did. Now the bad, I gambled and shorted ebay going into the final moments of earnings. Usually I do not gamble like this, but this time my reasoning was since it has a nice run up all month, even if it blows through earnings the sellers will sell on the news. Well they did blow through earnings and moved higher in after hour and then it retraced it all back. But, by then I covered for a -2/share loss. Lesson learned is I will never play the earnings number again, only play after earnings are announced . Tomorrow I'll watch isrg and goog for either long/short , it all depends how they announce.
posted by wb @ 8:16 PM
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The sellers are out again, but this time it was due to high oil prices and profit taking before IBM, INTC, and YHOO announce their earnings. These company all announced very good earnings and should bring the bulls back into the game tomorrow. Today, initiated a short on SLB at 111.85, oil prices has ran up 12 dollar in the past 2 weeks and there is no fundamental justification for this run up. So that is the reason for this short, will add to position if it moves higher. Covered another portion of my ISRG for +5/share, this stock is starting to come down before earnings, may hold the remaining till Thursday. I might even go long if it goes below 240, however, must stay cautious of this very volatile stock. Sold all my GOOG for +2.5/share, this helped offset my loss from yesterdays terrible entry. A decent day, lets see will the bulls come back tomorrow.
posted by wb @ 8:41 PM
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The sellers are out, I don't know why maybe positioning there trades for the earnings numbers out this week. Or maybe the 20th anniversary of the 87 crash is spooking everyone. Whatever it is, this week will be a volatile week. Today loss -2 on GOOG, again, but this time I only sold half of my position. I thought it was heading back up after selling off all morning, so I pulled the trigger. However, the bears just continues to pushed it further down, it did rally in the final 30 minutes. Also, bought VSEA at 48.6, this stock is making a great base at this level and will move toward 50. VMW continues to retrace majority of its gains, but I'm not worry yet, with outstanding earnings coming. ISRG continues to hop around with earnings on Thurs it would be interesting where it moves to till then.
posted by wb @ 9:45 PM
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Decent retail numbers and ok Michigan sentiment number. But, the big thing was that the Tech came back. A bit surprised it rally , but this time I was able to profit from it. In the morning sold all my vsea for +1/share, could have gotten more, but hesitated because this stock can reverse in a snap. Vsea still has lots of potential if it closes above 49. Twice daytraded bidu , the first time bought at 308 during the run up and sold out at 315 for +7/share. As it came back down, re bought at 307 and out at 312 for +5/share. Not bad, should have hang on til the close, but I was just too nervous. The quick ups and downs are too much for me and my ulcer. Overall, the market had a decent week, reaching record highs intraday and recuperated from yesterdays profit taking. Next week the heavy tech bell weathers are coming out with earnings ( ibm, goog, sndk) and my long awaited ISRG will announce on Thurs.
posted by wb @ 3:12 PM
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Well the Tech finally consolidated today. The question is will the boys try to rally tomorrow or take it down more, I'm guessing the latter. It was about time anyway, with this overbought territory it was not healthy going into next weeks heavy Tech earning. So today before the sell off, I day traded slb for +.75/share, during the sell off bought vsea at 47, and cover half of isrg for +2/share. All and all it was a good day. For tomorrow we have PPI , which could move the market again. The good thing is that volatility is back and we all love volatility.
posted by wb @ 9:24 PM
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Wow the Techs are just having a field day. I wonder when will all the fun stop. I'm not complaining it is definitely helping my vmw, but not my short on isrg. ISRG is starting to show signs of breaking down, this is the second day where it rally in the morning and reversed at days end. Also, these Tech run up is bound to consolidate soon, maybe on Friday. Day traded vsea for +.75/share this time was much more patient and waited for the retracement to 47.75 and out at 47.50 in after hours. I'll watch this stock again tomorrow it is starting to base and will probably try the 50 dollar level. Retail sales and oil inventory ( I thought it was today , forgot about Columbus day) for tomorrow, will watch the refiners ( tso, vlo, sun).
posted by wb @ 9:45 PM
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Well the bull took charge after theFOMC minutes were announced. I wasn't surprised about the the run because in the morning session there were heavy bids on the S& p 500 from the big boys. With the run up, I sold all my rimm at 116 for +19.50, not bad this baby definitely helped my shorts on isrg. I lost 2 points on Goog today, bought toooooo early and and was stopped out later in the day. It was a terrible trade on my part, I was not patient enough to wait for the pullback. Definitely got faked out on the initial jump before it reversed quickly. :-(
posted by wb @ 10:31 PM
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Small consolidating session today, with light volume due to Columbus Day. But what the heck is going on with the Techs ( Goog, Rimm, Grmn, Isrg, Bidu, Appl) all of these are at or near their all time highs. I just don't know whom is buying these Techs, maybe the Chinese or sideline money coming into the new quarter. If that is the truth, why would they buy just days before earnings, wouldn't these Big boys be more risk averse and just save there capital till next week. Added to my short position in isrg today to average up to 247.16. I just don't like how this stock moved so quickly within 5 days of the Oppenheimer analyst's comment. Will wait and see if the MM will try to squeeze me. But, thank goodness vmw and rimm are able to stabilize my account.
posted by wb @ 4:07 PM
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Well, back to my trading diary from now on. It was quite a bit of work to write in the diary everyday, that was the reason for the break. But, I will continue again because I think it is very therapeutic and will help in the trading in the long run. Third quarter earning season is upon us and it will get wild and volatile. If your company missed earnings you will pay dearly, however, there will be upside if it meets or beats the estimated number ( eig, rimm for the upside and ntri for the downside). Not that much tech stock reporting this coming week. On the economic data front, there will be the FOMC minutes (Tues), retail sales, and PPI(Fri). This should give the market more legs to run. So far, the bulls are still in control and the earnings will either give them more catalyst or the bears will take charge.
posted by wb @ 4:57 PM
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