rainbow day

 Market rainbow arch day. The opening part of the day felt like up is down and down is up, even though the market was steadily trending up. 

I fixated on META and TSLA. They were not moving up in the way the market was. I traded too scattered. 

Also a COIN trade. 

I wish I made more of the META trade, that was the best setup this morning.

Was notably down until about 11:30. I don't like spending the day battling back. I don't even like still being at my desk at 11:30!

Frustrating that the meta and tsla moves went almost right after I gave up. Market seemed to be rolling over and I wasn't expecting them to bump like that. 

I spent almost the whole day underwater, and finished down just $50. But it was a frustrating day.

Thinking about whether I like myself trading like this - small pieces in and out instead of massive hit and run. It's a little more calm in some ways but a little more frustrating in other ways. In general, it gives better risk control and I'll probably do it more. It's a real "pita" for annotating, though!

small size ftw

Wow I had a great day today. I took a lot of trades, but all with small size and that adds up! It's smaller-than-ever size for me, proportional to my account. I really didn't think it was going to pay. But it really helps me control my losses better and that's the road to the gains!

Market is nuts lately with new bank panic/fears in play, govt to backstop or not to backstop... Not sure I understand everything, certainly not all the macroeconomic stuff. 

I had 2 picks before the open, USO for a breakdown and NET was an iffy one for continuation down. I played those for a real decent start on the day. Then started scalping 0dte on indexes (where I tend to go for lack of stock plays). That put me at first back underwater, and then wayyy in the green on the day.

I used to watch just SPY and QQQ on the 5 min for market trend/sentiment/feel. I recently started watching SPY, QQQ, IWM, DIA on 60 (sometimes 15), and it has been much more insightful.

Some of thee charts.

These are the first clockwork trades I took: USO, NET. 

Then QQQ for bottom picking, got a terrific pop.

Other trades today were micro scalping around indexes.

hit and run

Market is extended down. Not my best climate bc usually my setups are pretty played out and I'm not good at reversals. Plus, Friday and I'm getting ready for sheva brachot, can't get stuck at my computer today.

These options were spready and moved really fast. Got my piece by 9:50 and not going to put on any more risk. 

A day to take notice

I think the uptrend is cancelled. I think today was "a day to take notice" in the indexes to the downside. 

Other recent days to take notice:

Oct 13, 2022 Bottom reversal bar in SPY. 

Jan 6, 2023 Ignite back up out of higher-low base.

Feb 1, 2023 Above (all but one) trendlines and Nov pivot high.

At that point I declared a new major uptrend. 

Perhaps today it died.

Today was a high volume strong selling day in which we let out levels in SPY, IWM, DIA (major 325 level is gone). Recent relevant bar was March 2, and that is taken out.

Only QQQ didn't give up the ghost today.

I did a lot of trading today. Very nice green day on account in morning trading with notably 2 big wins in JD and with SPY 0dte puts into the close for icing on the cake.

	net % g/l
spy	112.28
jd	89.60
baba	50.12
jd	46.45
coin	21.61
spy	7.73
asan	-8.87
baba	-18.93
asan	-24.86
baba	-30.12
qqq	-55.57

Sampling of the trades...

Neutral day

 Maybe I overtraded today, but I didn't oversize. Took a few small gains. Got a good ride on the morning NVDA bump. Also had several small losers. 

Debating whether it's better to just size up and take what I get, or size down and have lots of chances. 

Heartbreak of the day was I had a target on TSLA short to close when TSLA went to 192.28. Then I had a sick kid and had to run off for an hour+. TSLA traded down to 192.3 then bounced. Reduced my stop when I came back, but only managed to get +4% out of that trade vs much more. That's assuming I would have played it right if I was watching, which also isn't a sure thing. 

I'll call it a neutral day, though it is slightly red on the account.

Tomorrow and Wednesday, Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at 10am. Not bad tomorrow, it reduces the desire to be at my desk and I can go hear Megilla at a decent time.  

economic numbers, to trade or wait?

Still trading really small size. Esp today 0dte, even though I thought I would trade next week, there was not a lot of liquidity one week out, so I just had to trade it tight today.

Economic numbers today at 9:45 and 10:00 added volatility. Should I have waited until after that time to trade at all? Should I have gotten out in front of it? I don't have good answers. Maybe hold small size to see if I can get through it, then add?

WOW.... I left a lot on the table w META, but got MY trade. If I wanted to hold longer I should have had next week option instead of 0dte

A lot of little trades

The market has been tough lately, and/or I haven't been trading well lately. So it's back to basics: smaller size, tight stop is the right stop, pay myself/lock gains. Today there were a lot of setups compared to previous days. Not that the trade was easy.

No trade day.

Can't remember the last time I had a no trade day. 

A few gaps up into resistance, and the gaps down were all doing the thing where it drops a ton in one bar in after/pre market and then just churns back up all day. Very "up is down and down is up" day. Profit taking. 

SPY and QQQ both re/tested the 200dma today. Has not been fun to trade lately. It's a relief to just be out today. This screenshot as of ~2:20 midday

Nice Monday hit and run

 That's how I like to trade!! Grabbed a half-size position on opening strength. Didn't add. It launched, went strongly through a few levels I had marked. When it did a big green 1 min bar at 9:40 into 121.50 level and couldn't directly continue, I yanked the whole position. Not sorry to be out for the ensuing wide range chop. Hit and run! Heading out to have a great day doing other things.

lost twice on ndh fakeout

Premkt I pondered whether today would be a chop day. We've had 3 in a row selloff days, and maybe today would be a price discovery (chop) day. 

I shorted TSLA. Got stop/dropped on ndh for a loss, then it dropped straight to my target.

I went long PANW. It pop/dropped at ndh and I yanked stop after stop after stop. Currently holding on at a pretty big loss, somewhat recovered off the bottom, and going sideways (while losing time / Wednesday).

Greed got me today. TSLA went up, so I didn't want to stop my long... market was going up. But the market did a sharp pivot at the top (price discovery... chop...). 

My monkey brain is still trying to reconcile that topping action and how I could have done better. It's frustrating me, that feeling when TSLA popped/stopped me so I wanted to have faith in the other long. Then TSLA dropped... the move I wanted but I couldn't take it again because PANW was making a new high so bull sentiment. Then TSLA sunk and PANW sunk. Didn't refresh TSLA short, didn't stop PANW short. That means I was stuck on bull. Did I not map levels well enough? Did I get manipulated as a retail trader? 😳

good gains, but coulda-shoulda

 Not too shabby a day. But I left a lot on the table in the HD trade by cutting profits. Left a lot on the table with PDD by chickening out with too tight a stop. QCOM I traded not bad. Really coulda shoulda had so much more today. But still a B+ green day on account.

barely green

Had a half decent green day. Then I hacked for more. Then lost it and made it back. Should have just cut and run with my basic green day and not spent my mental powers on it all afternoon. 

This pennant or whatever is going on up here is annoying!

backed the wrong horse

 Two nice setups today: TTD and ADI. Both big gaps on earnings, all the beautiful levels, etc. Both too spready to trade 🚩

TTD I thought I did ok, got pltgt. Raised the stop too tight and if I would have given it a little more room and resolved to hold for price targets I could have really raked it in. fomo.

ADI, first try stopped for too-big loss (what to do? spready option, still have to use stops... as I well know). Reversed right away and I got back in. Raked in 2 good partials and then it chopped and chopped. I took another partial. Then I rode the last stupid piece for "hard work" all day long (actually, I was away but checked and raised my stop every so often). 

Meanwhile, while I'm sweating ADI, TTD is launching without me. I backed the wrong horse today! Still got a small green (shoulda' been bigger green)

how many ways to trade wrong

LESSON! I have a consistently profitable system. When I trade like clockwork I rake it in. When I get "too smart" I get whacked. 

Friday I had a losing day, also being "too smart". This is a cycle I need to break. It feels like I need to make it back right away. But it is futile to fight a market that is not conducive to my system. I can't make MY money if I don't get MY setups. 

So today I preempted on GOOGL and didn't take +10% when I had it, a few times, and then going to a loss. 

TSLA was a sort of desperation trade. 

All serves only to f* my mentality even worse. 

That's what should be the most dear to me, even more than 1 day's gains or losses. I need to protect my psychological capital. I improve my mentality by following my rules and raking in my corresponding gains. 

And probably I should get back to reading The Mental Game of Trading book. Am I self-sabotoging? Am I working with an inflated ego?

Friday... why?

Overdid it on a Friday. JD was a proper setup and worked great for terrific gains. 

CRM was not a proper setup. It didn't work and I hacked at it both ways (against logic/rules) for 2 losers and a max loss day, which turned my week from slim green to slim red. If it wasn't 0dte this wouldn't have been so bad, I believe. Why would I take full size here? nms... both ways... I deserved the loss. I can't trade "just anything". I need to stick to my proper setups and not imagine setups.

Next week I'm trading with the brakes on. No goals, just to turn the boat around.

small size saves the day

All small trades this morning. No great setups. Inside open. Should have just *not*.

I tried LI long. A medium setup. It failed. -18% on small size.

I tried WYNN long. That may have been the only +/- valid setup today, got chopped. -6% on small size.

I tried CRWD long. That was not a confirmed setup, had not crossed my level, but I got over-excited when it ran off a bottom. Should never have been in it. -21% starter size

When the market really weakened, I tried TSLA short. Why short the strongest stock on earth? UGH.
Short was right idea, wrong time. When it got me back green for the day I took only a partial instead of all, then gave too much room on a stop. Closed the day with green trade +3%. 

Red day overall. I did right by trading small. Would have been "right-er" to stand back.

Will I trade tomorrow? Maybe. Today brought me down to just below goal green week. Tomorrow will have to be very compelling to trade, even though I'm itching to get back up to at least goal number.

Charts maybe later. 

overconfident again?

 I had an A-MA-ZING trading day today. Made back yesterday's loss and much more. Thrilled from this huge account up day. Maybe I should make a withdrawal from my account, even though I'm not yet to the balance where I thought I might start doing that.

I've been thinking a lot about my trades yesterday. Today's setups were +/- the same. The market was/is inside. Yesterday it didn't work. Today it did. That's not the root of my pondering, though. It's how I psychologically handle losses....

I know I am prone to tilting and I have build a lot of hard and soft rules around myself to try to staunch that, ex: trading in a cash account, trading just the open

I "simply" had 3 losing trades in a row (rule to stop there), but it added up to a surprising loss, and that threw me. Am I always that exposed? Am I usually lucky (skilled?) that it doesn't burn me like that every day? Can I really handle the size I trade with? Why didn't I use tighter stops...

On the other hand, in one really good day/today, I made it back and much more. 

So, is yesterday just what I should consider a "normal max loss" day? I don't think I've had a normal max loss day for a while. Usually a max loss day is because I'm trading foolishly. New trading pod is helping me stay on my toes.

I think I just need to keep trading small for a while. Stay sane. Trade like clockwork!

The inevitable red day

"Still inside. be skeptical" is what I should have told myself premkt. I had 3 losing trades this morning and that's a wrap. I keep looking at it and I think the picks are good setups for me. I think I traded them ok (mostly). They just didn't work. Really really didn't work. And I gave too much room for stops, too much wishful thinking given market condition. 

Still pondering my technique. Maybe when under yellow light "still inside. be skeptical" conditions, I should go for 10-15% pl tgt instead of 15-20%. Definitely I should wait for best entries instead of aggressive entries. Probably use tighter stop tolerances instead of letting these go to "worst scenario". Consider smaller size! 

Yesterday afternoon I was thinking... "This is how I feel when I've become overconfident. I usually have a big losing day when I feel like this." And so it goes....

Despite inside market open, I went into my normal setups and (of course...) nothing worked. By 10:10, 3 losing trades and I'm done. UGH!!

Tomorrow is another day. At least I'm not overconfident anymore? 🤷

restraint

I had a great first trade this morning on TSN. Then I had a little bit of a trade on BILI, but much smaller and very low tolerance for it to go against me (also bc I got in a bit late). I feel excellent about both trades. 

By 9:40 I was done with those. Looked at my other picks and didn't like anything much. Passed on another BILI trade. Maybe(?) if I had entered BILI one bar earlier, would I have held for the vwap test/s and the next push down? Really not sure I would have played that right, even though obv in retrospect.

I was still "hyped up" at that point and have a LOT of capital left to trade with, but decided I should take a breather before new risk. Restraint!

I love how I'm trading lately. I love how my account looks lately. I feel very synced and at peace about the market. How do I bottle this feeling?!

I've found a little trading pod that I like. I'm so happy about that! Some different trading styles, but interesting and compatible for discussions.

hot market is back

Yesterday fed announcement fueled an important technical move.

Today premarket felt really hot, like the old days in 2021.

Lots of good looking gap up picks. All the gaps down were either inverse etfs or not meaningful.

Of my 7 premarket watch list I think I picked the 2 worst to trade. Everything else moved when these guys stuttered. Took a long time to get "eh" gains. The second daily high was sold strongly and I got stuck while these based out. Didn't help that I chased the first bit of GOOGL. 

nice green day

Nice green day today.  Market inside. Fed day this afternoon. Opening market action was chop shop!

BIDU gap above LT level. Looked so good, but option very spready. When it got stuck below 147.8 I yanked the rest. When it pop/dropped I was glad, though next level below did hold. and then it ran pretty straight to my ~152 target. On one hand, a little FOMO bc I could have really had a big winner (realistically, I wouldn't have really held to that top). Otoh, that cuts both ways. 

Maybe I should examine how/whether to trade spready options. Currently it's to trade small and use limit orders. Maybe some day if my account is MUCH bigger, and I could trade a micro size, then I could hold a last partial on a lotto basis and capture some of those. For now, I need to book gains like Clockwork!

AMD caught my eye as it was basing above vwap. Market action at the time was iffy. Gave one try and stopped it tight. Next try I had a little more confidence to give it room, but it was really hard work. Eventually I took 10% to relax a little. (Contrast strategically with BIDU when I took some off in hard work zone.) Another shave along the way and then set a bracket to close my eyes for a few minutes. Came back to tighten the stop. 

lucky with a bracket

Market is inside open/morning. Don't expect followthrough. And yet... I chased MU and failed on SPOT in the opening minutes.

Pick of the day was UPS for a level breakout. It was on my gap scanner but wasn't clearing the level ~184. Set an alert. Now buckle in for a saga. First entry was a starter. Waited for the level break. Volume/action looked good but it was pretty extended. After a pb, I added. Meanwhile SPY was chopping in a narrow range and moreso down while UPS pushed. UPS had a mind of its own, though and didn't trend with the market in sync today generally.

Picture: I'm in the hole from MU and SPOT. I'm full+ sized in UPS. I decide I want 20% pltgt on the add, not on the starter, but now the spread is 10%+ on the option so I need limit orders. I hate using stop/market when the spread is so big. Really I shouldn't trade this spready (how often do I say this?). Got the pltgt but only took off 1/4th of the position (bc, why? wanting to make back the opening losses). 

When it started rolling over off the top, I tried to get another limit order for the 40% and it didn't fill. So now I'm up a creek. Didn't want to sell "badly" when the stock isn't really falling apart. I kept giving it another level and another level until the trade went red again. Now I'm sweating it. It held a level just above the vwap for a little bit, then it held a level straddling the vwap. This for more than an hour and I'm wasting my day and psychological capital on this f'er.

I set a stop, 2 limits and walked away for over an hour. I think that's the only choice I had to manage the trade at that point. Got very lucky that finally moved back up. The limit on the option filled while I was out (another 1/4th). In the next several minutes it got very near my price target and failed so I yanked off another 1/4th and tightened my stop. 

Do I regret this trade? Even though in the end I did much better exiting midday than I would have at the point I "should have" stopped much earlier, it was NOT worth the stress. I should have taken that early stop, taken the ~flat day and closed my screens. I don't like sweating a trade all day. That's why I'm a scalper. I like to have my day!

big win, small losses

BABA big win off the open. AMD small loss. Market became very choppy and didn't want to compromise gains so subsequent trades were extremely small. Maybe what I should have done instead was wait for more clarity. Or just shut down and go enjoy my day. Clear in retrospect. In the moment, small size was the move.

SOFI I got sucked into some buzz and traded $6 stock. Meanwhile I passed on CVNA for being too cheap. Should have passed on both. Need to make sure I don't get sucked into buzz. Just stick with my best setups.

GDS was on my gap down screener. Didn't work in the morning bump/churn.

In general, I love how I kept my losers small today, and how I sized down after a big win to not give it back.