midday Friday

 Overambitious. I should watch out for that after a big green day. In too big and as of midday I'm red. Setting orders and need to walk away for a bit. Barring a big up move, I close red today.

vacation

 We were away all last week on vacation. I took a few small trades, against my intention not to trade on vacation 🚩. Losers, which is what I deserved for my indiscipline. 

This week, Mon and Tues were +/- tiny days. Yesterday I caught a really juicy trade on LULU. I feel like the lesson there is to keep trading clockwork. There will be some small red days, some small green days, but when the market does my thing, I will have those big green days!

Today, I traded AMD for a nice winner. TSLA a loser, then a second try where I took a loser on the first half and a big winner on the second half (net loser overall). Have to manage trades. Have to take the small losses so I don't defeat the winners, which do come.

Steady clockwork

 Clockwork trading going along steadily this week. No wild swings emotionally or in the account. 

I like it like the old days, where I grab gains and get away from my desk. 

So while today I left some on the table, I had close to zero stress and was done before 10am. I'm here for that!

small green

 Was down small, and then the SPY trade got me up small. 

I didn't hold UPST long enough. I was in for only 1 contract, to make 20%. Could have had a lot more easily there.

I traded TSM ok. It bounced against me a little too much but I held ("trust" in my setup?) and was able to get out of half well and half flat.

TSLA I didn't wait for a good enough entry and/or didn't give my entry enough room. It did my thing without me. Entries matter.

MSFT nms I got in too early, rode up to ndh and thankfully got out green.

META nms negated it all (and then it did my thing without me)

I need to dig in to why I let myself trade nms. Especially, it should be plain and simple that inside bars will be chop shop.

SPY, one single call and an excellent run off my rare bottom pick, made the small red loss back and almost equal amount into green.

option sweeps "information"

Today is the second time in a few days that someone in "the other discord" (not my main pod) has tried to make a case that a stock will move based on some option sweep they saw. I don't understand the importance of an options sweep vs focusing on the normal price/volume information of the stock. The people who tout the options sweep can not sufficiently explain what might be actionable about it. I continue to ignore it.

Today's person was funny because, though he couldn't explain why I should care about an options sweep, he did go a long way to telling me that people pay for his mentorship and he doesn't need to give away information for free...and that someday I'll come crying (!) to him wanting him to mentor me.  L-O-fking-L!

Amusement of the day and a reminder if I ever needed yet another reason I hope to never have to work in an office and have coworkers ever again! Motivation!

This morning I started with a loss on DDOG. In retrospect I held it too long against hope, but on the other hand, I *had to* get out there or else tragedy. 

Simultaneously OXY wasn't doing much to help my situation. The spread there was wide and I didn't want to take a stop. I had a stop at 57.18 bc premarket level. Thankfully I was able to get 3/4 of the position off at b/e and lose the spread on the rest. It continued to my pl target and beyond not much later, but [STUDY] what should I do in that situation? I was in a bad situation and I had a chance to get out b/e. But if it was shaping up in my direction again, should I not hold it just in case? Where would my stop have been. I don't really regret taking off half at b/e, stopping another 25% and trying to ride the last 25% for more. It didn't work. I was focusing my attention elsewhere (AMZN) anyway.

ABNB - not much to say here. I got an alert to "go check" but I saw it moving so strongly I jumped on the 1min without looking carefully at the daily. Of course it dropped against me immediately after chasing a nms. Lucky to get 90% out ~b/e. Ate it on the last bit, and of course it ran back up immediately, but I didn't look back. Deserved that burn.

AMZN made my day. I anticipated a big move and went farther otm to get more contracts for same $. That worked great here and I was able to get partials off very well. The add was ill-advised. And most of all, esp on a Thursday, I should have just taken more off at the 100%+ and not tried to go for the next target as aggressively in an "eh" market environment. I went back almost to b/e on the remaining contracts before it perked up again into the close -- but I lost time. In retrospect, of course, I should have captured early gains and gotten my personal time back instead of sweating it all afternoon.

multiple strikes for same position

 Was up nicely on my account today at one point. Then got "cute" and tried nms on (guess...?) 0dte SPY. Gave half back. Worth it? Maybe, for the potential it had? Update: it did play out later for coulda shoulda.

Let's focus on GOOGL. It was gapping down below trendline, but still in the base, arguably. So when the market was holding on at the open and GOOGL did that big reversal I tried a long. I think it was a decent case, but that was not my intended trade. Took the loss, then did enter my intended trade for a winner. 

Here's today's experiment and thoughts. I took the 122 puts and the 121 puts. I took 10 of each, so the 121 position had less starting capital in it. In the "normal" profit range (see here, 20-40%), the gains were similar. If I put the same $ in each, I'd have similar $ gains. If I can take more contracts at a farther otm strike, I have more options for scaling/holding, and if it goes really far the % gain will amplify. 

That's great if I get a big move. What about last week in LEN. I thought it was going to be a big breakout. I got 118s to start with and 120s later. A little hard to compare, but over there the 118s went well into the money and the 120s barely. So the 118s paid well, and if I had only had the 120s it wouldn't have been a great trade.

My conclusion from those 2 trades is that it is a good idea to take 2 strikes in some shape or form. Should I combine with multiple expirations? I don't really want to be holding/swinging anything (at this point in my career) so should I do equal number or equal dollar allocation? And, I'm going to have to really be decisive about levels. Today I panicked and tried to take off partials of both the GOOGL calls, but I couldn't get the order to execute like I thought it should have. I think I had done the same thing for the LEN calls, and it did work. I'll go back and see what I overlooked in a panic that didn't execute. 

I have a learning curve for this, but it has some promise!

just flat

Start from the end... in retrospect on this day, it was only somewhat a clockwork day. I took those 20% targets. I took stops (vs yanking them, but need to work on placement/philo). I quit when I should without going on tilt... is that the consolation of the day? ... well, at least I didn't tilt?

I had a decent pick PDD. I don't mind the first trade I took. I don't mind I stopped where I did. I like that I reentered. But I took the second trade scared. I need to either hold for targets or take very tight stops. That last exit was wishy-washy. I shouldn't stop in the middle. I should take the extreme, or give it reasonable (if painful?) room. The halfway stop is just a waste.

AMZN was off plan, inside day, I chased (while inside!! cardinal sin). That's actually the one I should be regretting. 

Trading SPY 0dte is also not usually my best move. It's a lazy trade. I should be looking for relative weakness. That trade was 20% my usual size, but helped me recover.

Why would I spit at this day? I went into the first PDD trade too big(bottom row), and all the subsequent gains only almost recovered that. I'm down $9 on the day, I'm calling it flat. Seems tempting to try to jump back into something and go green, but I need to focus on trading my plan, which I have already strayed from. My pick/s are played out. I already had one lapse in reason. Calling it a day.

return to clockwork

I have strayed. I have looked left and right and seen other traders seemingly making more money. I ignored clockwork trading rules this week to try to make more. I had a red week.

Today I closed the overnight hold of LEN for a little more gains. Lost huge on MRVL. Won big on U. Net red day.

I think partly I've let myself get obsessed with https://www.instagram.com/raketrades/ who trades a similar style to me but somehow manages to get outrageous gains. I keep thinking I'm going to do that too... not all the time, just on the real great setups. (Maybe I need to go further otm to get the returns he gets.) MOST OF ALL, I need to stick to MY style. The style that suits me and makes me money. 

This week contrasted with last week (stellar gains), should make it very obvious that I should stay in my lane.

So next week, back to "clockwork trading". Why do I ever stray? That's how I've made the money that I have, why do I try anything else? This refers to trading like clockwork. Systematic picks. Systematic entries. Systematic trade management. This is my thing. I'm going to make my money my way, in my time. 

-small position size to reduce emotional decision making

-tight stop is the right stop

-pay myself first (take profits along the way)

-zigs no zags. I need to trade the one power surge of the move and then go enjoy the rest of my day.

I need to remind myself of this more. 

I won't get rich quickly, but I might get rich slowly.

will I never learn?

Psychologically toxic day for me today.

Main trade was LEN. Breakout to ath on earnings. I waited for the sellers to clear (should there have been sellers?) then bought, and added out of the consolidation. Should the open have been so cumbersome on new ath? after a daily pullback and consolidation (cup/handle type situation)? The volume was there. 

So whatever. I got in, took far less than half off for stellar gains, but not before enduring a pullback to my ~breakeven/vwap. Should that have happened? Why wasn't I asking myself, "is this what an incredibly strong breakout looks like?" [NO!] That should have told me to capture much more gains there when I did.

Then I f'ing sat in it all day long. Going pretty deep red, then it couldn't cross 120 in the afternoon... is that the behavior of an incredibly strong breakout? [NO!]

And then, for the... why? ... I took a tiny position home overnight. For tomorrow's expiration... Why? It's just AT the money and it it currently at the close tonight about 1% in the red (flat) so tomorrow barring a big move into the money, these go to zero. 

One of the most frustrating parts is that the market defied all laws of gravity. The market is sooo extended, but look at SPY nonstop uptrend all day. While this fker just grinded. 

Good luck tomorrow to save my week which is currently red.

not a day to press

 Today was not a day to press. Market is extended. Indexes didn't trend. I tried to press. Red day.

The second try in CRWD was punishment I deserved. When I stopped the first half, I briefly thought to flip short (failed breakout). But instead of short, or just passing, I did this asinine thing. Waste of money.

surprise great day

 This morning while prepping, I realized I needed to help my parents and wouldn't really be able to trade the open.

I did a literal hit and run on COIN, in 5 min made a decent gain on COIN and then tore myself away. 

By the time I got back home it was after 2:30. Picked through the rvol screener and tried NVDA (which worked later) and TSLA (which didn't give either direction particularly).

QQQ caught my eye as making new high and I was able to catch SPY making ndh and move above yesterday high for continuation. Took 1dte, esp since it was already 2:45. Raked it in!

Small quick trading day to close a stellar week

 Learned this morning and came in 9:40. Used the TradingView rvol screener in real time (5min) to see what was moving. Caught a few quick moves. Left a lot on the table, but also had close to zero stress. Quit with cash still cold. Shabbat shalom!

siiiiick!!

Beautiful 2 days trading on vacation! B"H! In addition to a really nice time away (despite smoke from fires in Canada).

I'm up 42% on the week. I'm way too hyped up to journal now. This will have to suffice...

hit and run!!

Vacation trading. Hit and run. I executed, raked it in, and I'm off to have a great day with A.

basic green day

Opening pick was AMAT, gap down on volume, breaking levels.

When AMAT failed to drop out, I went long AMD for relative strength, and it was a great trade. If anything I didn't hold it well enough, but at the same time as AMD was getting started, SPY and QQQ were below yesterday's low. In that condition I should not be aggressively long. I scaled down at every stall, including as it got to Thurs/Fri highs. I wonder if I was too tight with some stops, if I could have stayed in with more size a little longer. 

It was not a "full bull" day, so I don't regret locking profits.

What I do regret is the trade I took in MBLY. I was thinking of the pattern where I got so burned a few days ago where a stock gapped down below a strong uptrend, found support on nearby tangle of ma's and ran up. I saw MBLY hammer and start to surge, and I lept in. The option was too thin, too spready, and it was monthly(next week) expiration. NO good all around. And then it didn't fill me out, didn't follow through and I sweated it for an hour before finally getting ~breakeven on a market order (limit wouldn't fill). And the last bit for a gain. It was a waste of mental capital.

Hacked up on a day I should have passed

 No surprise that when I trade on a day with zero great setups that I get hacked up (at best!). I'm lucky I didn't get totally smacked down. 

Only "obvious" setup was PANW, gapping up on news Friday of being added to SP500. It didn't move me at the open and I passed (beneficially, bc it trded way down)

AMD and NVDA both had my eye for breakdowns. AMD barely/questionably triggered. I like how I waited for an entry, though maybe I should have waited for vwap break. When it "should have" fallen apart and didn't, I scaled out of 25% for the tiniest gain. Then it did indeed go against me hard. Got out for not-bad % loss, but was big $ loss on big-ish position. 

Then I reversed AMD long, and I can only say I got lucky to get out green on the long, bc I went to a pretty big drawdown in the interim. 

Story ends where it started, I would have been better off just completely passing on the trade this morning.  No great setups, no trading. Why isn't that extremely obvious. 

AMD short setup: Volume gap below trendline, looking for failure into gap.

Entry: I thought it was a failure off the second high of day. I think this was a decent entry, though it failed.

Management: Yank partial on the first stall. Gave the rest too much room and bad exit on xlarge position. 

AMD long setup: Failure to fail

Entry: Overeager entry after my short stopped. 

Management: Trim on first stall .Gave it too much room and took a loss on next partial. Was lucky to get the next surge so took some off on the stall again, but still held more which I tightened up on when I had green.

Psychology: medium.

I could have saved myself a lot of grief and prevented losses by sitting out today. Given that I did trade, I held to my stops and was aware of shifting momentum. 

But I shouldn't expect my techniques to work on nms, and therefore, it is futile for me to trade nms.

Stops matter

CRWD stops matter.

QQQ should have tried again.

COIN saved my day, but again, stops matter.

premkt questions

 Here's what I should have asked myself in the premkt this morning... 

What are the chances we need to rest?

What are the chances we have another big bull day?

What are the market leaders doing premkt?

RAKED it in!

Last night NVDA announced some sort of stellar earnings with all the right buzzwords. Stock opened up about 30% -- on a megacap! Unbelievable. 

This morning the QQQ was set to gap up 2.3% and lots of things were absolutely raging premkt. 

I knew to stay away from NVDA and wanted to avoid the other semis too. Though TSM was on my watchlist for a new breakout of a huge pattern, and I didn't play it well for a loser on small size.

My A+ pick was ADBE, which I've been watching in a base. I f*king KILLED IT!!! in 2 trades. B"H

And I am done for the long weekend. Shavuot Friday and Memorial Day Monday. It's going to take me at least that long to cool my jets from this amazing trade. Today I'm +94% on the capital I traded. 🤯

What an amazing boost to my account!

textbook

Great green day today. I made back about 3/4 of what I lost yesterday, with smaller exposure. 

I had 2 lovely picks this morning and allocated myself only enough money to trade those 2. 

(yesterday) overtrading a no trend day

 The market stayed in a tight range all morning 

While I tried to trade trend. I should not have expected followthrough, and should have been quicker to take profits. I took 3 full losses as AI and COIN didn't hold up, and FSLR didn't hold down. That's max loss day. 

I really didn't read the premarket right. In retrospect, it was obvious not a bull open. 

Also, not good for me to be in 3 positions at the same time. I don't manage well. Stick to 1-2.

new thinking on taking profits

 I'm moving away from the 20% p/l target. And I'm moving away from taking off half at the first target. 

My trouble has persistently been that big losing days take a bite out of my progress.

New thinking: I need to keep my same loss controls, and build confidence to ride gains longer. I simply need more gains!

Today's approach was smaller size, and go a little farther otm for easier holds, smaller loss potential, bigger gains for successful moves. Today there was a power move on the open that helped me a lot. So I will continue to monitor over time how this is going.

Stellar day!

$44 (thursday)

 Today I made $44 for my trouble. Better than red, but not the best hourly rate! I would have done better leaving after the open. 

I would have done better setting orders and walking away--if only because I wouldn't have taken "one more trade" and "one more trade."

Charts maybe later, but it's nothing to write home about. Try/stop/try/target/stop/etc. 

gorgeous trend day

 The market opened up and I jumped the gun. Initial losses. When the market turned, it TURNED. We had a practically non stop trend from 10-2:00. 

I was able to really ride my trades and take multiple partials with terrific gains, even including taking ~50% losses in APP. I had most of my winning partials above +200%

I took home very tiny long positions in MA and ISRG, hoping for followthough. Sized for zero, but I hope for $$

APP. Setup: daily continuation gap above few day consolidation.
Entry: resume up after pb
Management: didn't reach target. Ran all the way back down. Tried to hold but it didn't budge enough. Was too spready, but eventually I had to dump it when it was oblivious to todays monster rally.

QQQ. Setup: continuation run. Picked index with relative strength at the time, though IWM outperformed.
Entry: vwap bounce. dumped some. readded on recovery. 
Management: Had to trim half when it went against me. In retrospect I should have trimmed more/all, much earlier. But would I have reentered if I didn't have a partial on? Anyway, I couldn't hold full size for what was happening. Held without a stop through news (!). Skimmed off at targets.

MA. Setup: continuation out of consolidation.
Entry: ndh. 3rd otm calls. 
Management: Holding for the breakout move. One Target along the way, then shaved off in the eod consolidation. Took home 25% size.

ISRG Anticipating breakout, I bought 15% size starter into the close, for hopeful market continuation tomorrow and further upside here.

prep matters!

 Yesterday I had 3 losing trades. While it was a choppy day, I also was aware that I came in after a poor night of sleep, and hectic market prep. I think the hectic market prep affects me more. 

Yesterday's prep was not systematic. I had a lot of picks and hadn't honed it down or done the detail work. That's just sloppy. I guess I deserved those losses.

I can't just trade anything at any time. Maybe most of the days I feel like it's easy, but I need to remember that's because of my physical and mental prep!

total chop city!

 Market has been very hard to trade. Maybe I could figure out how to just stay out of these messy things.