Did not really think, that I would. Got the scans ready, pulled the watch-lists up.
I thought that I would only trade, if the perfect opportunity comes up. I liked that approach, seemed quite effective.
I've had three or four bearish plays coming, but E*TRADE did not allow me to short sell. Screw E*TRADE.
So I was just hanging out, looking at three watch-lists: Deadly, Bullish, Bearish and Russell 2000 for some price action of course.
TRADE#1
I looked at deadly and PLUG came up. I knew how everyone on NASDAQ traded that stock, Russell was going up. I just decided to take a shot. Because, why not? It seemed reasonable, up-trending, indicators, trend and HUGE volume. Now I know, why there was huge volume. Here's the chart intra-day:
What I liked is liquidity, low bottom tails (sign of strength and buyers) and I also knew it would definitely follow the market.
I did not get in immediately (which I really should, risk/reward was on my side), but hey - it was my first trade ever and I wanted to play it safe. Watched the retracement and as soon as the green candle got over the top of the last red one - I pulled the trigger, filled @6.06 with a position worth of $1750.
I saw the very-very top and stochastics being overbought, but I really thought it would run much higher. Well, I gave it some time and "let my profits run", as the golden trading rule says. 2.55% profit. BAM!
I've already said about the ridiculously high volume at the open. Without further advancement. In a falling stock. Clear sign of accumulation. But it was just way too much for me to think of, honestly.
PLUG ran 42% today. I won't count, how much money I would have made, if I did not exit the trade. Here's the total chart:
How tiny of a swing I was trading compared to the late day action....oh well.
THINGS TO IMPROVE:
- Never end your trading day until the close. I finished trading and went for a run - at the same time, as PLUG soared on the news.
- Be fully prepared. I wanted to sign up for Investors Underground live-chat for a long time, but still did not do it. Maybe if I had it, I would have caught at least a little piece of that move.
TRADE#2
To be honest, the first trade was a little bit nervous and I really-really did not want to overtrade, so I was just flipping stocks/watchlists/charts as the market headed lower. Terrible volatility today.
Then I looked at the chart of GPRE, one of those stocks from a special scan. It was falling with an early 10/60 SMA cross (there are so many opportunities to trade, I just can't do them all...)...
I paid close attention to it....as it was falling, and falling, and falling.
It had strong support @29. Should have put a LIMIT order there, oh well...
It dipped over $29 for a second and start going back right after. "Bounced".
I got some confidence and got in. In case with this stock, I did pretty much all I could. Did not leave any money on the table. Here's the chart.
I regret not buying at 29 or even below. Would have been a much better trade all around.
The stock did not reply to a quick Russell 2000 rebound and that just felt wrong. I sold. That felt wrong for a reason now, I guess. Just a tiny 1.5%, but it's okay.
What I learned today:
- Placing limit orders at significant support level can improve your effectiveness significantly.
- Trading is 7:00 AM - 4:30 PM at least. No exceptions.
- I really need a trading chat. Should improve my effectiveness dramatically.
- E*TRADE sucks. BLOODY commissions. And I have only one day-trade left with this stupid Pattern Day Trader rule. And I can't even short stocks.
- $3000 is too small to be effective, even with tiny commissions. Definitely under-capitalized.
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