$STUDY study study!

Paper trading Z long. 

Market is inside day and really choppy. 

Z earnings I wanted a bullish play but it didn't work, the initial hammer off 54 (level I wanted to hold). When it couldn't push above 55, I stopped for a loss then tried the short. It went to +20% but I passed on the partial, then stopped for another loss. I don't regret those trades (well, except passing on the partial), esp in light of market action at the time.

However... later around 10:25 I saw it looking like the uptrend I hoped for. But this time it would be a trade above the vwap. I paper traded it and haval! that would have been a really nice winner.

Trying to deduce a lesson. For a long/calls trade, I need that pullback/resume, but maybe I should be more careful to get back above the vwap first. 

chop for red day

Bigger down day than I would have liked, but still super green week. Most important is self-discipline and clockwork, and I was about a B+ on that today.

AFRM. Gap down, for continuation but still within massive range. Waited for the sellers to exhaust and then got puts. Didn't follow through where I hoped, but hope doesn't matter. Just technique. Took my target, took my stop. Disappointed but green, and after that it reversed hard so I don't regret it.

Z... ugh. Big gap up on earnings, above box, but right into the 50mas. Waited for sellers to exhaust and entered on hammer off a decent pb level. Held through a lower low. While the market was surging Z was struggling. I actually said to myself, "Why it this having such a hard time?" Obv, that's bc there are overwhelming amt of sellers. It got above 55, I tightened my stop and planned to reverse. The reverse also didn't follow though well.

$STUDY Maybe I should have only gone long if it not only bounced off the level I liked, but also got back above vwap?

So that's a wrap. A bit oversized total loss on day. Is that bc Friday? I don't think I was undisciplined. Also the trades I passed on wouldn't have been winners. Just not a day for my type of trading.

FOLLOW UP MUCH LATER, UGH... (that's not my money. too bad. peace)

Ba-BAM!!

Stellar trading day today. Waiting for entries with lvl2. Tight stop is the right stop. Pay myself first. 

2 trades, but also showing one I passed on.

DDOG is a wild mover, but making a great gap this morning to downtrend resistance. Need to let it prove itself first, develop a level to stop against, not just a bar to stop against ($STUDY). Trade was volatile and option spread was really volatile so took only the smallest position. Need to get out with limit order on this, so when it started stalling, I put a reasonable limit in and filled pretty quickly. BH

DIS big gap up, back above a daily level I watched before. Opening low pennant that I tried to short. Stopped on 2 bar reversal and ...if I've learned anything... that's a reversal pattern: bullish setup looks like it's going to fail, but instead it flushes and comes back. Failed intraday breakdown on a bullish daily setup... go long! Grabbed the long and again, when it starts stalling, yank. 

Zigs no zags! Hit and run was definitely the trade of the day today. So much sheket nafshi to lock gains and go have a day. 

After DDOG I even debated quitting then with such nice gain. Definitely "old me" DIS initial loss would have triggered me to tilt. But knowing that about myself, after DDOG huge win, all future positions are small, timing, tight.

This is one I passed on MAT. Daily breakout above long term box. It ran up then really narrow range above vwap. The option spread was pretty big, and it's already up close to 10%. How much does it have left in it? Watched lvl2 and didn't look like there was a play there for me, esp the way tight ranges like that are prone to spike. Glad I avoided.

3 losers, -5% day

Today looked like a followthrough day. There were a few pretty good looking setups. Used good waiting, lvl2 for entries. Tight stops, which absolutely saved me today. 

Even if UBER looks like it's shaping back up, it got way worse first. That's a re-enter situation, not a hold-against-hope situation.

So, 3 losers and I'm done. 5% losing day which I certainly don't like, but in light of recent days I can absorb it. Helps to know that I would have been much worse if I hadn't cut small losses. 

Mama said there'd be days like this.

good gains but fomo

First: Peace! I had another +11% day. Peace.

Another sentiment to remember is, even though there was more money... it's only clear in retrospect. I got my money. Peace. 

If I try to hold for more, it's a recipe to get burned. 

Burn of the day was NVAX, which I held through a spike to ndh, but then didn't give it subsequent room to fall apart which it did. However, I have learned over and over, despite Meir Barak and his "I trusted it to go down" schtick, for my own purpose, I prefer tight stop is the right stop. I already held the spike and set my stop above there. Then squeezed it down. Don't want to go to the worst case scenario again. Take a small loss vs a big loss and call myself lucky. I could have re-entered, but it would not have been right to hold. 

MRNA in contrast, no regrets taking what I took. Could have entered that again potentially, but was not right to try to hold.

PTON. Here we go again. I got my piece. The fact that it pulled back then continued more should not change the fact that I traded CLOCKWORK. I traded my rules. I got my money. Peace.

The impulse to try to hold for more is sheer greed and I need to resist that. Just trade my clockwork trade.

SPY... I know what that's about... that's the edge of tilt. Not a bad premise, and I traded my rules, but also I know that my picks were played out (9:45am) and I was grabbing after the fomo on NVAX. Lucky few bucks on a very small position. 

The Kabbalah of Making Money

Rabbi Manis Friedman

Hit and run / yank theory

I like how I traded today. 

Hit and run, +11% and done before 9:50. This is literally my motto:

 Fast in/out. Apply trading rules like clockwork. Have a day. Sleep at night.

I like how I waited for my entries, esp on DWAC, including watching the level 2, otherwise I would have taken the 9:32 ride down (toxic!). I like how I yanked off my gains by squeezing my stop at the stall and didn't take the ride down. Zigs no zags! 

BABA disappointed in that it didn't fall apart on the new low, but that makes me even more incredibly glad how I managed it. 

Zigs no zags! Take my piece and peace.

The stop theory for both is.. where it's supposed to run, I need to protect that surge and squeeze down along the way. DWAC was so volatile and spready that when it barely started to lose steam, I got out fast with an "easy" limit order. BABA was supposed to fall apart so when it minimally didn't, I yanked it. Read both those sentences... "where it was supposed to ____, and it didn't, I yanked it". YES.

Sometimes yanking will lead to fomo. But also... I'm up 11% 20 minutes into the day? shut up! and go enjoy life! 

My trades played out. I got my money. Peace. 

Have I not learned one million times, that when I start jabbing around I get burned? That is toxic.

Live with peace!!