Tuesday, May 31, 2011

same

set stop too tight on TNA -- missed 1.80 upside

PBR -- caught excellent entry....  right on established trendline -- took .10 heat.   exited too early -- gave up .20 upside for .10 profit -- total waste. 


got killed on NOK -- value trap. 


 did not enter EZPW -- showed early strength... missed 1.00 upside.   Should enter strong names.

Need to take losses and hold the winners longer.   Need to focus morning and last hour.

Friday, May 27, 2011

setups:

the basics of a set up:

market drops... it falls... settles... but no, breaks support keeps going...    now oversold... but STILL dropping... 

Then:  we see a reversal candle... a first push... but it fails... drops back... but turns again -- this time making a higher low.  now we see a base.

Next day: yep, there's a rally and it too falls back  ... marking 3rd higher low where it bases.....  and NOW:  NOW -- on the next push we often see a sustained rally, if not multi-day to top of channel and maybe beyond as sentiment shifts.      <--- goal is to enter around this area and not participate in the consolidation phase.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

missing:

UCO :  stop was TOO TIGHT -- stopped out 3 cent from lod....   ran .60 after that.

TSL - entered and sold for gain too soon -- had target which it hit (missing .35 upside)

MSFT: sold in morning... gave up .20 upside  --- at target...




     SAME STORY  -- no patience... too tight on stops.    

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

fear:

entered TNA -- set  $100 loss.

but when it ran  -- took $100  - instead of raising stop as per my plan.   Trade would have paid out over $500 with patience.  On SMALL size.    

There is only one plan that works and it involves letting go of fear.

Monday, May 23, 2011

lost on winners:

USO -- bought too early -- hit support 20 min. later -- then moved .50 -- small winner but lost.

MOS:  noticed strength -- bought it but sold for tiny gain instead of waiting -- would have had another 1.00 upside -- too much fear on one that was working. 

Both of these ideas finished higher from my entry on a weak day.  Respect you intution.  Don't cut yourself off (raise the stop instead). 

Key for the small pop was the standard 3-test touch on IWM -- a small rally fizzled but the entry would have been right on.  Confirmed within 15 min. of 3rd touch by vol. increase.

Monday, May 16, 2011

ideas:

ZSL  -- on 3 bump support -- was correct.

SCO -- deep pullback  --  ran .60

IWM -- topped out after cutting above relative high (stop orders) -- reversed fast.  TZA  was correct.   All trades had less than .20 heat.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

GDX trade:

broke downtrend... but retested to gap fill -- from there... 3 bump trendline formed and it was possible to enter with tight stop as new line held and gapped up next day.  

Key was to wait for downtrend to break AND trendline to form.  -- Once uptrend is established -- about a point above the lows from 2 days ago.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

right trades:

MCP - heavy vol. from open -- ran multi-points... easy trade

INCY - heavy vol on ER.  Ran hard for 1.50 after consolidation.

USO - 3 bump weakness... finally tanked...   SCO ran 1.30

First two - heavily shorted names, highly extended charts.... show strength early on (gap up opens)

Monday, May 2, 2011

trendline breaks:

TSL  - broke -- ran  1.70  then faded

IWM broke line --   TZA ran a point

SLV broke trendline (set up 3 bumps descending) dropped 6% intraday.

These are the best intraday trades to take.  

Also CCJ - ran a point,  ANR   1.50  -- all on trendline breaks.  The stop should be right under as there should be no weakness when entering.   Should take 1/2 position then add. 

Market is now broken and all swings are traps.