This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com
Not much time now, but here’s two trades I took over the last two days.
Trade 1: Nuvelo, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUVO)
My timing was off, but it would have turned out okay (breakeven) if not for my position size. I placed a stop that was okay for intraday, but was way too tight for overnight, so I was good for a daytrade, but way too large for an overnight trade. You can see the aftermarket action in between the two gray lines. I went in to this knowing I might hold it overnight, and I should have placed the stop appropriately. This is a real beginner mistake, and I should have known better.
Trade Summary:
NUVO Short 58 Shares
Entry: $5.63, Stop: $5.90, Target: $4.00
R: $15.66, Exit: $6.42
P/L: -2.93R, or ($45.82)
Trade Grade:
Trade 2: Seagate Technology (NYSE: STX)
This was a base breakout that I traded off of a 5-minute chart:
With my profit target from a 15 minute chart with fibs (shooting for 119%):
And support identified on a daily chart:
Those three shouldn’t go together. The 5 minute chart pattern should have given me a target. Once in, I managed the trade reasonably well, and I pulled off a breakeven trade despite this mistake. Oh, and it’s an NYSE stock, so that should have clued me in to just take the 1R and run.
Trade Summary:
STX Short 185 Shares
Entry: $21.46, Stop: $21.62, Target: $21.00
R: $29.60, Exit: $21.46
P/L: 0.00R, or $0.00
Trade Grade:
Still in a slump. :( I keep mixing up timeframes it seems, and my expectations are off. My targets are too aggressive for the timeframe I’m planning the trade in. Even though the losses are painful, losses are a part of trading even with a good system. the trouble is, I just don’t have a system, really. I’m discretionary, with a few loose setups that I prefer. So when I start losing, it’s not the system, it’s me. I need system help!!
Does anybody have a TD Ameritrade account? Have you used the new Strategy Desk backtesting tool? I can’t seem to get it to work right and could use some pointers if you have.
| Stocks Mentioned In This Article | |
|---|---|
| Stock | Links |
| NUVO |  |  |  |
| STX | | | |
This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com
April 10th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
I was hoping you’d say more about what the setup was on NUVO? That seemed like an unusual time to go short, other than to scalp a dip off the highs.
April 10th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
No setup. Just a biotech skyrocket that seemed overextended, and was starting to roll over intraday. It was all based on a rumor, and had turned the float over 1.5 times. I’ve been on the long side of these in the past, and I wanted to stick it to ‘em on the short side this time. Not a good enough reason to trade…
I have no excuses–I’m really trading poorly.
April 10th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Prospectus, why not join us for a day or two in my trading room. Watch others, learn, ask, hang. (not pumping, just want to help)
April 11th, 2007 at 5:36 am
Thanks, Glenn. I’ll stop by if I can.
April 11th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
I couldn’t get your chatroom to load at work, Glenn. :( Firewall blocks some things. Thank goodness for TD Ameritrade, who streams their data through port 80 :)