True to form

Is this a psychological pattern in myself, or a market pattern? When I'm feeling really self-confident, like I can just pluck dollars out of the market at will, then I'm due for a losing day?

Today I kept the loss small, but I didn't manage to dig out of it. Probably overtraded. Possibly traded scared. And/or maybe, the action wasn't there. Today has been inside yesterday, which was inside Wednesday...going into a 3 day weekend (mkt closed Monday for President's Day). And that was really the feeling, breaks not following through.

My loss today of $600 seems tiny, in context of a huge day and huge ytd gains. But not very long ago a loss of $600 would have been a big deal. And not long before that, $600 loss would have been devastating. I've come a long way.

No trading Monday, and Tuesday T is getting wisdom teeth removed, so out again Tuesday. 

New round number account balance will have to wait for later next week.

More money makes more money

As I grow my account, I am experiencing the idea that money breeds more money, or that it takes money to make money. 

Though I have been offered more trading funds, I have declined in favor of organic account growth. Where $100 gain was once upon a time a huge triumph, now it might be just the spread on my trade. A 2% gain on my account is a lot more $$ than it used to be. I want to get used to increasing size as I go, so I don't freak out by the swings.

Will I hit liquidity problems... maybe eventually. I already have long ago discovered that it's a bad idea to trade thin options, whether it's 1 contract or several. Otoh, I can't imagine a time I might be taking 100 contracts... but maybe! I want to scale into that "problem" as I grow.

I acknowledge that the market has been SUPER hot lately. My premkt gap scan used to bring 2-5% moves on 3x volume (was juicy!). Now I'm routinely seeing 10-30% gaps on 20x volume at the top of my scan. Not always tradable by my rules, but volatility is here! Isn't it my job to capitalize on a hot market?!

I feel I've found a way to manage my impulse/discipline. That feels like how I really turned the corner. First of all, I have a cash account. I have enough leverage by trading options, I don't want to be able to get in over my head (see organic growth). I keep some proportion of my money in a linked checking account and only some of my money in the trading account. If I need more trading cash, I need to transfer the money. Even though the money transfers instantly, this act of logging in and doling out my money to myself in increments puts up enough of a hurdle that I have time to blink and rationalize before dumping/jumping in over and over again.

And of course, clockwork trading rules: small size, pay myself first, tight stop is the right stop. Fast in and out. Have freedom during the day and sleep well at night.

I used to say: I won't get rich quickly, but I might get rich slowly.

It's happening! My account is growing (though I'm far from "rich") and I feel like things are clicking. 

I keep wondering, how will my skills serve me when the market cools off? I'll need to stick to clockwork. And I'll need to stop trading when my edge isn't there. 

Today's trades: I went slow into the open. Even though there was a lot of action. I started with just 1 BTBT call, waited for it to fill and appear. Then another. I traded exceedingly small until I was convinced that trades would fill smoothly. 

TOO MAD to continue today

I'm having terrible order problems with Schwab today. No customer support. My money in my linked Schwab checking account is entirely not showing in the interface (not the first time!). 

I'm incredibly too mad and emotional to continue trading right now. And I'm simultaneously so pissed to be missing this beautiful volatile day.

UPDATE: I spoke with Schwab midday (after 40+ min on hold). He said they have a known issue with latency (to put it mildly) in options trades around the open. Well, YES! At least, some acknowledgement. He also said there is no known timeframe for resolution. 

So... I'm looking for a new broker? I'm really dreading that. New platform, new learning curve, different order types and other nuances. UGH! 

I used to really like Schwab until it has become so difficult to execute my bread and butter strategy there. Are other brokers actually going to be any better?

Churned all day for 1% on account

Frustrating day. Partly bc market, partly my own actions. I used all my buying power and made 1%. It's better than red, but feels exhausting. Churning.

I should come back with charts, especially on a day like today, but I'm not sure I will.

I talked to Schwab last night about problems filling orders in the first ~10 min of trading in the morning. The guy seemed completely surprised and didn't seem to even understand what I was describing, yesterday's example:

At 9:32 (I think even 30-45 seconds earlier before the notification even registered) I put in a market order with a profit bracket attached.

No position showed up in my account. I could not cancel the order (cancel returned an error)
At 9:34 the profit bracket triggered, but the position still wasn't open in my account. Now I suspect that the initial buy order didn't go through properly

At 9:35:15 I entered an additional order (omg?!), bc I thought the first one just disappeared! These shares showed up reasonably quickly.

At 9:35:29 The shares from the original 9:32 order showed up (I can tell bc the price).

Now I'm in DOUBLE the size I wanted. 

Thankfully I was nicely profitable and able to get out without further problems. 

This could have easily gone huge against me too. 

What the heck, Schwab?! This has been going on for weeks. It used to be a small problem, like shares not appearing for a few seconds, and I attributed it to general slippage. But a few minutes?!!! Not acceptable.

Huge day. Just 2 symbols

 Beautiful huge day today, despite order execution problems on the open.

SQ runaway blue sky breakout. My position was double what I intended, due to the order execution problems. Thankfully, I gained on the front third and the back third. That could have also really burned!!

MARA first try was a fakeout/loser. I got it on the second try. Second trade was quite small, but nice result and I didn't compromise my opening gains.

Friday losing day.

I lost on Friday. It looks like a small loss, but it was initially another BIG loss. Started by trying to meddle in TSLA on a Friday (same day exp), without any particular setup. I went short, then long, then short again... and then missed the big move up (which wasn't my kind of setup anyway).
I had a lucky setup in SNAP to recover what I did. 

That is not how I want to trade. That was emotional. And trying to be "too smart" while spinning my wheels in TSLA. That's not my best trading. I need to stick to clockwork. My kind of setups. Reasonable position size. Pay myself first.

I'm also having a "good dilemma" in that as my account grows, I can take a lot more trades and/or a lot more size. I have a lot of confidence right now which could also be dangerous. At the same time, I feel I am a more mature trader in that I am taking reasonable size. I am taking my stops. I need to stop trading "just any old anything" that's not my best setup. On the surface, I'm doing better than ever. But I know there are still bad habits that are restricting my best results.

When I used to stab at nms (not my setup) trades, it would often be devastating because I would go in too big and lose too much. I haven't eradicated the behavior, but I'm suffering less damage from it. And sometimes I win, which is a sort of destructive-reward in that it reinforces bad behavior.

If I want to develop other setups, I should do that consciously. Not just stab around.

Meanwhile, my best setups are the utter classics: 

Gap and go (one day maybe the license plate: GAPNGO)

Breakout from midday consolidation. 

For the week: 

account +11%. 

3 green, 2 red days.