A played a dip below 49 on Biogen Idec Inc (Nasdaq: BIIB). As you can see, I got out at the bottom of the move, which is very satisfying. :-)
(1-minute chart)
Unfortunately, because of the uptick rule, I only got filled for 1/3 of the shares I wanted. Oh well. I was on the fence about whether to try to make a full trade out of this play. I know biotech in general is very choppy and tricky. With only a partial fill, I decided it should definitely be a scalp, and I hopped back out at first sign of reversal. Commissions are a larger drag on profits when I trade 1/3 size, and 1/3 total profits are just not worth the stress of staying in a trade that’s not dropping like a stone. Just my opinion.
This trade was scary at first, because my platform froze right after I clicked the “sell short” button. I didn’t know if I was filled, or not, or what the price was doing for 20 seconds or so. When the connection re-established, I was partially filled, and the price was close to my exit, already.
| Stocks Mentioned In This Article | |
|---|---|
| Stock | Links |
| BIIB |  |  |  |
December 19th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
[...] BIIB Short Scalp [...]
December 19th, 2006 at 2:16 pm
Is your platform Scottrade Elite or just the Scottrader java streamer? I had mucho problemos with Scottrader connectivity, and that’s why I left Scottrade (other than commissions, of course).
December 19th, 2006 at 2:20 pm
I use Elite, and really don’t have connectivity problems to speak of. This was an unusual case for me, and was just a few second hiccup at that. It just so happened to correspond with my order, so I wasn’t sure if my order went through. Sucked!