This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

I started out today like yesterday, trading well and making my little bits of money. Then I did something dumb and it all went to hell after that. First my good trades:

AMZN Short. After the big upper tail, I thought it would fall back to the 5-ema, and it worked out as I expected:

Here’s a Heikin-Ashi Tick Chart. I thought it did a good job of showing trends and I watched a 100-tick chart alongside my 15 min today to help me see trend changes. I’ll keep watching them in the future:

MA Long. This set up as a good Trader-X “beyond the fib extension” trade, though I got stopped out at breakeven and scratched the trade:

Then, I got the bright idea to go long RIMM and hold into the Fed. WTF was I thinking? I thought I could get out quick if I was wrong. Think again:

A quick -4R. So much for my good trading these last few days!

I scalped AAPL long after that and made about a third of that loss back. We bounced, printed a green candle, and I went long when the tape started to surge at 191.50:

Then I took a shot on scalping GS Long, small position, but top-ticked it and lost -1R:

Then I went crazy! I went long VMW for a swing overnight at 96.01, got scared and sold it at 95.60 when SPY broke support. Then I went absolutely out of my skull and bought FXP at 73.85 and I’m holding it overnight.

All in all, I was down about -2.5R on the day. It was so easy to trade AAPL after the Fed, when people were dumping shares! I think it was Teresa Lo who said it’s less risky to trade in crazy circumstances like this than in calm markets, and I think that’s true. I just had to walk in and pick up the money. People getting out at all costs (like I did in RIMM) created an opportunity. There is a huge edge there–it’s like waiting until all the cards are out on the table before deciding whether or not to bet! This is the best way to play the Fed, and the only way I will play it from now on. It makes no sense to gamble on the news like I did. When you have no idea how the coin toss will come out, you might as well just flip the coin and give the money to someone else if it falls against you. There is no edge there, and it shouldn’t be traded. This is a new rule for me now. I will always be flat going into Fed announcements or other big news events.

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

I traded three times today, one loss, one scratch and one more loss. Down -2R for the day, so I quit, like I was supposed to. My trades were seat-of-the-pants, and not from good setups. Bad form. I would have been better off trying to trade Renko trends or working on my automated front end to Remata’s web servers.

Anyway, one thought I’ve had lately about tick charts is this: My TD feed sends roughly one “tick” per second. So if I watch a 120 tick chart, it will serve as a 2 minute chart during the fastest trading times, but during slow times there will be considerably less printed to the chart. Here’s a comparison in RIMM from today, first, 2 min and then 120 tick:

As I stare at those, I get the following observations:

1. Either my charts are too big, or Richard’s web page is too small.

2. The tick chart also condenses the lunchtime chop into fewer candles, as I wanted.

3. It’s easier to see the bull / bear battles on the tick chart. There are huge candles with wide swings on high volume, where the markets are out of balance. When things calm down, and a trend emerges, that seems to be a safer time to get involved.

Anyway, those are my simple thoughts. If you have any, simple or otherwise, leave a comment.

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

Over the last few days, I’ve taken a few trades from Renko charts, trying to follow some intraday trends on high-volume volatile stocks. I like that Renko charts define the trend for me, once I pick a box size. A retrace is also clearly defined, as a two brick reversal will reverse the trend. the problem is whipsaws, but so far I’ve been lucky and haven’t hit any to speak of. The idea is to go long on the first green bar, close the long and go short at the first red bar. The red / green lines on my chart are just visualizations of the trailing stop for me. Just playing small, pseudo-paper-trading this system–without $ on the line, even a tiny amount, I just can’t get interested in paper trading, so that’s why I’ve been trading. I’ve made about 4R so far with these, and even trades that reverse tend to let me get out at breakeven for the most part. Here’s the charts–sorry that they’re not more annotated-I’m in a hurry right now:

As part of working on my discipline and psychology, I’ve been focusing on reasonable trading goals and personal expectations over these past few weeks. Working on my self-image and success criteria. I have discipline, because I can force myself to look at the screen all day forcing trades, even when it’s painful. I’m driven by my goals for myself, and in the past, I have been racing. I’ve been too greedy. I want a fortune, and I want it now! Bad idea. Leads me to trade in the noise with positions that are too large, and force a trade that’s not really there, and overtrade.

After much soul searching and reading, I’ve come to a more reasonable expectation and goal. For me, right now, I have the goal to make +1R each day that I choose to trade. I think that is an achievable goal. Then if I make +2R on the first trade, I have one more opportunity to trade, knowing that even a 1R loss will keep me at my goal. Nice peace of mind! Only 1R doesn’t seem like much, but only +1R per day, if that’s 1% of my equity, over roughly a year (250 trading days) I will return over 200% on my account. Word.

Well, I took one discretionary trade (not Renko) in AKAM. Ragin Cajun called it on Wallstreak. Go to madstocks.com and read his blog–he’s been minting coin at a criminal rate lately. He saw the daily, and so did I. The 38 level was key–if it broke we’d go to 36:

Well, it did but I didn’t quite make it:

Traded on the 15′ with a wide stop felt good. My size was small, and even though I didn’t get the whole move I pulled out +2R without too much trauma. Exceeded my goal! Showed discipline, it’s all goodness. I accept where I am, and it feels good.

I need to work a bit longer on this mindset and discipline to make it stick, and then I’ll move on to Step 3 in my plan–laying out my trading roadmap.

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

GM fell out of my scan on Thursday. Bummer, as it set up perfectly at daily PP.

RIMM:

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

I traded RIMM like every other daytrader on the planet today for break-even. I missed the basing setup in the afternoon. I also played CFC today. I was in and out 3 times for a total of a few pennies loss. I didn’t post it. I hope to never trade like that again ;).

RIMM:

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

Here’s a Pile ‘O Charts from my trades today. I took seven trades, 3 losers for -2.2R, two breakeven, and two winners for +4.6R, leaving me at +2.4R for the day. My prop account overall PnL is up about +1.5R from my starting balance. I’m happy with those results for now, especially on the last few days we’ve had! I need to be quicker to cut a loser–I still have some of that bias left over from all of my retail trades, trying to save that daytrade!

Here’s the charts. As always, Red is my stop, orange my entry, green lines are for targets, and blue lines mark exits. On my trade in Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL), I partialed out successfully, taking some profits and letting the rest run, giving the one big win of 3.53R.

CAL Short (My good trade for the day)

AAPL Short (Quick -1R that afterward turned and went way beyond my target! DOH!)

CFC Short

BIDU Short

ISRG Long

RIMM Long

CROX Long

Stocks Mentioned In This Article
Stock	Links
CAL	| |

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

I traded Research In Motion Limited (USA) (NASDAQ: RIMM) short today, based on what I thought was a compelling setup. All the elements were there, it just so happens that the nature of the market changed just after my entry, proving that even an ironclad setup can turn on a dime. You can’t predict what the crowd of traders will do, you can only put the odds in your favor. Today, I got nailed by the short odds on probability.

The Setup

I wanted to do a very short term trade, and I saw RIMM making this shallow retracement and flag setup on the 1-min:

A wide range move, and then a break of the support on high volume. A shallow retrace (less than 38%) on declining volume. Bearish setup! I decided to get in early (before a breakdown of the flag) to get a better fill, as the slippage can be nasty on RIMM. I took on the additional risk voluntarily.

The Trade

You can see how the trade turned out:

I entered early for the downside break, and put my stop above the 38% retracement (invalidating my setup if hit). Right after my entry, the market bias changed from bearish to bullish (at least, that’s my perception–maybe it never really was bearish??). Buyers came in, and I was stopped out quickly. Either way, whether my fault or theirs, I was wrongly positioned.

The Takeaway

In retrospect, I was shorting right into an uptrend on the higher timeframes (5 min, 15 min) even though my read of the 1 minute trend was correct. That would be the only mistake I see here, and I should revisit how I use multiple timeframes in my trading process. The 1 min setup was solid, but nothing is guaranteed. A setup can always go south, since there’s always a chance that market participants can choose to change their leanings.

There’s a nagging feeling that I just got suckered into shorting the bottom of the stock, though I’m mostly tending to think it was just a twist of fate rather than a big miss on my part. If I’m not seeing this clearly, I’d appreciate any feedback!

Trade Summary:

RIMM Short
Entry: $232.54, Stop: $233.20, Target: $231.00
Exit: $233.25, P/L: -1.06R

Trade Grade:

Stocks Mentioned In This Article
Stock	Links
RIMM	| |

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

In my earlier post about my RIMM trade today, I gave my analysis of the situation as it was unfolding at the time. My thoughts ranged from a conspiracy against me (mostly tongue-in-cheek and said out of spite) to flaws in the trading information system. It turns out that the entire problem was mine alone.

When this happened, and the loss wasn’t my fault, I mentally lost it. I was fuming–so angry at the circumstances that took me out of a trade at a loss that would have been a win for me. Plus, it burned up my one daytrade for the day!

Notice anything about the italicized phrases above? They are all excuses–attempts to put the blame for my loss on something else. After I’ve been able to cool down, I can see much more rationally. Price was already at -0.98R when the scandal erupted, which means my trade was already wrong and I should have exited. If RIMM turned around 1 tick below my stop instead of above, I wouldn’t have called it luck; it would have been my incredible stop-picking skill, undoubtedly.

Bottom line: Price really traded where TD said it did; My TD T&S feed just didn’t reflect all of the data at the time. I should have been stopped out.

I find this very interesting for three reasons. First, I was talking about this exact phenomenon on Wallstreak this morning–ranting your feelings in type. And then it happened!

The second reason is that there is now captured, in gory detail, an actual live attack of a trader’s bad psychology–the exact type of thoughts and feelings that can lead you to blow up your account through revenge trading, stop-pulling, or other financially lethal actions. Luckily, I type as fast as I think! (I don’t know which is the slow one…)

The final reason this is interesting to me is that writing my earlier post, responding to the comments, and then re-reading my post under a different emotional state, I was given quite a revelation about myself that I would not have if I didn’t blog about trading. Imagine flying off the handle about something stupid while being videotaped, and then watching it a while later when the feelings were dimmed, and you could plainly see you were being an ass. Welcome to the world of Prospectus! Had I not blogged this, the whole episode could have faded from my memory without my ever realizing what I was doing. This 1R loss will probably save me tons of money in the future.

What I need to learn from this episode today is that I am responsible for all of my trading results. Period. That is what will keep my psychology right, and also what will serve me best in my trading. I’ll continue to blog as long as it helps my trading, and I hope that along the way I can help yours, too, even if it is by showing you what not to do. Thank you all for reading, and thanks to all those who offered condolences and suggestions. What a great trading community we have! Thanks especially to Richard, who can always be counted on to whack someone who is delusional upside the head. :)

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

I traded Research In Motion Limited (USA) (NASDAQ: RIMM) today and got jacked by my stop order. There are a few things that I learned from this experience that I want to pass on to help others avoid getting burned by this in the future.

A bit of background: I’m working out an alternate trading arrangement with my Zecco account money, so today I traded through my TD Ameritrade account. TD offers “streaming” data, and this data and my stop order are the subject of my wrath today.

The Setup

I wanted to scalp RIMM as it broke yesterday’s swing low. It broke through quickly, without giving me a good entry spot. Price rebounded, and then went down again, so I now had an area for my stop:

The Trigger

Went short as price made a new low, filled at $208.52, and I placed my stop at $209.10, safely(?) above the prior swing high at $209.04.

Trade Management

Price retraced after my entry, and I was watching the Time and Sales, but price never hit my stop. Then it moved in my favor and went down big, about 2R:

I noticed my P&L indicator wasn’t changing, and then realized that they had sent through my stop order, and I was filled back at $209.0894 for a 1R loss. Here’s a closeup of the price chart (supplied by TD Ameritrade streaming data:)

The Screwing

I tried to figure out WTF was going on. They said I was filled at 09:48:52 ET. I looked back over the TD Ameritrade Time and Sales, and found the place in question:

Only two transactions show during that second, and the highest ask at the time was $209.09, while the best print was $209.05, as my chart showed. I called TD and related what had happened. Their trade resolution department told me that there were “pages and pages” of trades that went through during that second alone. They sent me an excerpt from their records, as follows (only the names have been changed to protect the innocent and shame the guilty):

Mr. Prospectus,

Enclosed is a part of time and sales for this second.

Symbol RIMM-US Display Date
Start Time 09:49AM End Time Buyer Op Seller
Size Price Price2 News
Use Page Up, Page Down, +, -
——————————————————————————–
Ex Size Price Best Bid Best Ask Size Condition
7/11 9:48:52A O 208.9800 209.1000 1×1
7/11 9:48:52A O 208.9000 209.1000 3×1
7/11 9:48:52A O 209.0300 209.1000 1×1
7/11 9:48:52A P 209.0300 O 209.1000 2×1 BBO
7/11 9:48:52A O 208.9700 209.1000 1×1
7/11 9:48:52A P 209.0300 C 209.1100 2×2 BBO
7/11 9:48:52A O 208.9000 209.1500 1×11
7/11 9:48:52A O 209.0400 209.1500 1×11
7/11 9:48:52A O 209.0400 C 209.1100 1×2 BBO
7/11 9:48:52A O 209.0400 209.1400 1×2
7/11 9:48:52A P 209.0300 209.1800 2×8
7/11 9:48:52A O 209.0400 O 209.1100 1×2 BBO
7/11 9:48:52A C 209.0200 209.1100 1×2
7/11 9:48:52A O 209.0400 C 209.1100 1×4 BBO
7/11 9:48:52A C 209.0200 209.1100 1×4
7/11 9:48:52A O 209.0400 C 209.0700 1×2 BBO
7/11 9:48:52A C 209.0200 209.0700 1×2
7/11 9:48:52A O 209.0400 C 209.0800 1×1 BBO
7/11 9:48:52A C 209.0200 209.0800 1×1
7/11 9:48:52A O 209.0400 C 209.0900 1×2 BBO

Thank you,

I. Stoleurmoney
APEX Trade Resolution
Division of TD AMERITRADE, Inc.

So based on this information alone, I was indeed stopped out, as the national BBO (best bid / offer) did tick to $209.11. Once that happened, my order was sent to the market as a market order, and was filled. If this is all true, then they filled my order as requested, though it still never showed that on the tape or the charts! There is no public record that my buy-to-close order ever took place. That’s what’s got me so steamed. If the chart moved, and I got stopped out on the top tick, then so be it. It happens. But I got taken out “off the record”, or at least the record they publish in the public arena is incomplete.

The Lessons Learned

The first big lesson is that your time and sales, even if it is streaming, does NOT contain all of the transactions that occur out in the marketplace! You don’t have anywhere near all of the data, nor do you have any idea where the BBO really is now or where it has been. Your chart is also incomplete. There is a quoted market, but there are a lot of transactions that take place outside or inside of what prints on a chart or on the tape. So when you see a big block go through on your T&S? Could have been 1000 small orders all taking place within a second, just like this print was for me today. I also have no way of knowing if TD themselves bumped up the offer momentarily, using it as an excuse to “sell” me the shares, and then buying them back off the open market at a lower price. Was there a broker physically sitting there screwing me on purpose? No way–my order doesn’t matter. Could they have computer algorithms programmed to do this kind of thing automatically? Absolutely possible, and easy arbitrage money. Don’t treat your data or your chart as gospel!

Lesson two is that your stop order will be sent to market if the National bid (or offer if you are short) hits your level. It’s not if price trades there, it’s not even if the “bid” or “ask” that you see streamed hits there. The stop is sent if a number you can’t see hits your level, according to your broker’s word alone. I don’t even trust my own mother that much! They can’t get too far off from the publicly quoted numbers, or a lot of people will get really mad. But there are bids, offers, trades, and even probably volume that takes place off the books, so to speak. Beware! Place physical stop orders with your broker at your own peril!

The final lesson is that I should have avoided the $209.10 round number. This is the one thing I could have controlled, and the one area where I made a mistake. I’ll put in my stops away from any even levels from now on, if I use physical stop orders again. I wouldn’t at all, except that I’m afraid that I’d get screwed if I lost my data connection just as I was going to exit a position manually. I guess the problem I had today is a byproduct of having that insurance in place. I suppose it’s better to lose 1R as a fluke than 4R or more. Either way, avoid any kind of round number for your stop!

Trade Summary:

RIMM Short
Entry: $208.52, Stop: $209.10, Target: Scalp (point or two)
Exit: $209.0894, P/L: -0.99R

Trade Grade:

UPDATE: The tick seems real, and my stop order should have filled as it did. The only thing that didn’t perform up to standards was my stop selection and TD’s lousy LI quote feed, which only passes on some of the info in real time.

Stocks Mentioned In This Article
Stock	Links
RIMM	| |

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

I traded Research In Motion Limited (USA) (NASDAQ: RIMM) today as a Trader-X inspired gap play. I say inspired because I used tape reading principles to gauge the entry rather than just following prints of the candlesticks, as Trader-X does / did.

The Setup

I had a bearish bias this morning, and wanted to short AAPL given the hanging man on the daily yesterday, pointed out by Jamie. It shot up like a green rocket and never looked back, so I was looking for something else. I saw this setup forming in RIMM:

A selloff on increasing volume yesterday, followed by a gap down, a weak bounce and 5-ema overhead resistance. I traded on the 5 minute timeframe, because that is where the setup occurred for me, though my entry was assisted by the 1 minute chart. The 138% fib was my initial target at $210.85.

The Trigger

the 5 minute gave me my entry level at the OR low, but I entered by watching the 1 minute chart for confirming signs of a good breakdown:

As price leaned on the OR low, bigger volume came in and I went short at market. I got a crappy fill–about $0.30 slippage from the price when I sent the order. Just as Richard discussed in his article, the MM’s dropped the bid big and I jumped right into it. Trader-X would only enter on a completed candle, and so he would have missed my entry on the 5 minute (it was worse on the 15′–huge wide range bar) and went on to look for another opportunity. Who am I kidding? More likely he would have entered on a break of the 5′ 4th candle low and banked coin. For a minute or two, RIMM looked like it would reverse, and I would have sold the bottom tick. But price decayed, and then more volume came in, carrying the trade down.

Trade Managment

There wasn’t much to manage on this one. It dropped solidly in my favor after the first couple of minutes, and by the time I was ready to move my stop to breakeven, we were crossing the target threshold. I goofed on my cover order (I wanted to cover when price overshot the target and was near $210.50, but I forgot to enter my password), but I still managed to get filled at the target of $210.85:

Takeaway

Notwithstanding some MM games and my minor screwups, I still managed to pull out 1R profit. I’m just glad to be consistently winning! The R’s will add up if the losses are small, which is where I need to focus. I’ll have a trade go awry sometime in the near future, I’m sure, and I really need to manage it closely to keep the loss small.

Trade Summary:

RIMM Short
Entry: $212.36, Stop: $213.36, Target: $210.85
Exit: $210.85, P/L: 1.08R

Trade Grade:

Stocks Mentioned In This Article
Stock	Links
RIMM	| |

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

WallStreak user Stewie submits the following two annotated charts. They are trades on Baidu.com Inc (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Research in Motion Limited (Nasdaq: RIMM). Enjoy!

Stocks Mentioned In This Article
Stock	Links
BIDU	| |
RIMM	| |

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

Research In Motion Limited (USA) (NASDAQ: RIMM) blew out their earnings last Thursday, and had a great day Friday, making a new all time high:

This morning, it ran up hard in the first 30 minutes or so, and then retraced to form a base near $209. That’s where I come in.

The Setup

This is the setup that caught my interest–a Jamie-style shallow retrace / base and break. I plotted fib retraces from the low of the day so far to the swing high at $212.80:

I liked the consolidation on lower volume, and the volume upticks as price approached the $210 resistance level. The retrace was shallow, less than 38%.

The Trigger

I went long when the $210 level was broken and was filled at $210.10, with my initial stop at about $209.30, back inside the base. My (aggressive) target was the 38% extension at $218, but I would watch for a high volume capitulation spike to exit, or if price stalled near the high of the day near $212.80.

The Trade

I managed the trade as annotated on this chart:

The advances came on above average volume, and the consolidations / retraces came on declining below average volume–just what I wanted to see. Stewie called out the flags on Wallstreak, and his mention early in the morning got me looking at the setup in the first place. Note: I did not blindly enter on his recommendation! That’s not what Wallstreak is for! I did take a look at RIMM to see if there was a setup there that I was interested in that fit my trading plan, and there was. That’s what Wallstreak is for. :)

I exited where I did because I was going to be away from my computer for an hour or so, and didn’t want to leave it open. After I was out, RIMM went on to print a capitulation-esque advance to $214.82, which you can watch later to see if I was correct in that call.

A good trade, and I’m happy with how I managed it, plus the R’s are nice too. Trade well, and the R’s will follow. Try to chase them and you’ll fall flat on your face. Trader-X (RIP) once told me to focus on one setup and just take high quality trades. I’m doing well with this one lately, and I’ll keep focusing on it in the near future.

Trade Summary:

RIMM Long
Entry: $210.10, Stop: $209.30, Target: $218
Exit: $213.44, P/L: 3.10R

Trade Grade:

Stocks Mentioned In This Article
Stock	Links
RIMM	| |

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

If I gave myself an “F” yesterday, I’ll give myself maybe a “B” today. Let’s see why….

First, the stats: I made three trades for 3 R. That was 2 winners and 1 loser. Not bad, especially for an under-trader like me.

The first two trades were on Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM). On the first entry, which was earlier in the day than I like to trade, I sensed weakness, and feared a big drop. I didn’t wait for my stop and got out for -0.45R. It’s always ironic when your blackberry beeps to confirm that you lost money on RIMM! :-) So, that’s the first reason I can’t give myself an “A” today. I didn’t trust my own stop, which was a pretty tight stop in the first place.

Then, a few minutes later, things looked rosier and I jumped back in with an aggressive stop (click to enlarge):

Even though I made 2 R this time, this was the heartbreaking trade of the day. Just look at the other 10 R I didn’t make! :-( I was watching the Qs, and the TICK when I got out, and I thought they looked weak. But, RIMM didn’t skip much of a beat, and kept on rolling. I could’ve gotten back in, but a third trade on the same stock felt too much like revenge. (Yes, you can take revenge on a stock even after winning).

Later in the day, I traded Trimble Navigation (Nasdaq: TRMB) for 1.45 R. First the chart, then the story (click to enlarge):

So, after seeing what I had done on RIMM, I was determined to be a “hold-to-the-close” guy on my next trade. When TRMB set up, I bought in. I put a stop in the market (which I almost never do… I’m a mental stops man). I set an email alert for my target of 49.50, and I just walked away. (If you must know, I watched a couple episodes of Alias on DVD).

At the time, I imagined I’d be writing a blog entry like this:

I really love this new trading style. Is there anything better than making money while relaxing? I’ve done my job, getting into the trade, and now it’s just carefree money-making time.

… but what I really felt like was more like this:

Any second, my blackberry’s going to beep. Aaaaany second. And it will either be my stop executing, or my target getting hit. Yep, should be soon. Maybe I should check that the alerts are set properly. No, that’s silly. Sure has been a while, though. I hope the markets are holding up. Geez, this is nerve-wracking. In a minute, I think I better check on it.

I was far from relaxed! But, I may keep at it, and try to get used to it. Anyway, eventually I did get the email, and I had managed to pick the exact top as my target. I was able to get out for just a few cents less than that. If my platform had order-cancels-order options available, I wouldn’t have even had to do anything to get out of the trade, but it doesn’t.

Highchartpatterns.com
Both stocks I traded today were from Highchartpatterns.com. Last night I had someone send me email saying “If your watchlists work, why do you need to use a stock picking service?” Well, I don’t need to, but today is a good example of why I might want to.

Yeah, I have lots of setups I’m watching for at all times (right now there’s 25 or so active on my StockTickr watchlist, and I’ve started posting my most useful nightly scan here on the blog every day). But, those setups can take days to materialize. So, even with 25 stocks on my screen, some days none of them are tradeable by my standards. Today was one of those days, with only Time Warner Inc. (Nasdaq: TWTC) hitting my price at the end of the day.

So, on days like this, it’s really nice to have access to some ideas by another set of traders. Since their style is similar to mine, I find their picks natural to trade. Since their style is a little different than mine, they tend to find different stocks than I do. Perfect!

So, this isn’t the first newsletter I’ve subscribed to, and it won’t be the last, I’m sure. You can never have too many ideas to work with!

Stocks Mentioned In This Article
Stock	Links
RIMM	| |
TRMB	| |
TWTC	| |