Rob C

Great stats Mike. Your win% for your 3 setups is amazing!!

Swing trade journal 12/31/2019 I know it will be a couple of months before I know where to set my stops for my swing trades. I know they should be looser than my day trades due to the overnight volatility. I usually set it to the next major tech level or whole dollar. But today I was stopped out on 3 out of my 4 positions and each one rebounded back after my stop was reached. So I definitely need to keep re-evaluating where to place my stops. Long STX at 59.95. First target 61. Stop 59. Sideways again today. Still holding. Long yesterday UBER at 29.89. Stopped out at the open then price rebounded quickly back to PDC. Long yesterday CRWD (again) at 49.13. First partial at 49.97. Stop moved to B/E. Stopped out at the open, then price rebounded quickly to PDC. Long yesterday BE at 6.47. First partial at 6.75. Second partial at 7.05. Third partial at PM today at 7.57. I set a limit order for 7.80. The price was reached but my order wasn’t filled. I moved my stop up to 2c below PDC. The stock dropped 8% to my S/O. Then of course the price rebounded nicely. On the good side I wasn’t planning on day/swing trading the next few days so only keeping an eye one position will help me not think of the markets. I wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Tuesday 12/31/2019 I had a well-being score of 5.5/10 this morning. I took 2 live trades this morning with RAD and ROKU. My watchlist: RAD, TSLA, NIO, NVDA and AMD. Busy in the PM taking a partial on one of my swing trades BE. I thought it possible I will get stopped out on my other 3 swing trades at the open. RAD was my primary watch. But I did not have shares for short. Without short shares I sometimes force long setups though they don’t exist. So I had to be careful. L2 looked good at the open with two large asks (5c and 20c above the current ask). I almost went long on that signal, but I needed at least a second signal for confirmation. The huge print arrived (175k) so at least I was waiting for the next big print for direction or a bullish 1min candle or the break of HOPM. 35 seconds after the open I got the next big brint which was bullish (but not overly), the 1min candle looking bullish (but also not overly) and a bullish L2 signal (though not that large). So three mild signals. Honestly, it was the order flow that got me to pull the trigger. It was really moving. Target was the daily level at 15.63 and my stop was 15.04. What it looked like when I took the trade: I took three partials and I stopped out a little above B/E. The next trade was ROKU. I actually liked the setup for a 2min ORB but the price was really jumping. Then the price movement calmed down for a 3min ORB. I went long when a white hammer was created with the 4th 1min candle and the break of 130.50. Target was 132.63 level with 130 as my stop. I took 2 quick partials then S/O at B/E by a penny (again) and I missed the run to my target. It’s funny I moved my B/E stop hotkey to 2c lower because I keep getting S/O by a penny and I still got S/O by a penny. What did I do good today? During the RAD trade I got notifications that two of my swing trades were stopped out (Etrade) and It did not distract me. What I am grateful from today? Traded ROKU live without getting chopped up. What I should improve on: It’s the last day of the year and I like my trades I am not going to be negative today. So no more day trading for me until next Monday. Wish everyone a Happy New Year and be green rest of the week!!

Swing trade journal 12/30/2019 I started the morning thinking I wasn’t going to enter any new trades with SPY dumping. But once it hit bottom and reversing I did pick up 3 stocks. Long STX at 59.95. First target 61. Stop 59. Almost hit my stop this morning and bounced. I have been holding for a week now. Price hasn’t hit my stop or first target. The sideways movement has lowered RSI to the middle range. MACD is still bullish, but two down days will cause it to recross. Still holding. Long today UBER at 29.89. Since this was not the plan I went half shares. Stop 29.30. First target at least $31. The plan was to go long at the break of $31.06. But today the price dropped hard and took a strong bounce off of the 29.34 daily level. When the price recovered and broke VWAP, two 60min chart levels and the 50MA-5min I went long. After my entrance the price took a slow drop following the 50MA-5min down. This is the most concerning of my current positions. Long today CRWD (again) at 49.13. First partial at 49.97. Stop moved to B/E. Next target $51 or 50MA-1D. Long today BE at 6.47. I got this one from Brian’s watchlist (thanks Brian!). I liked that it was staying positive while SPY was dropping hard. I went long when the price broke the 200MA-5min. I have no idea how to trade a low price stock so I went half shares. First partial at 6.75. Second partial at 7.05. Stop moved to B/E. Next target 7.25 which it almost reached by the close today.

Monday 12/30/2019 I had a well-being score of 4.5/10 this morning. I have increased the lower well-being limit to trade live. So I traded SIM today. Actually I took a nice ROKU 5min ORB SIM trade. But SPY was really tanking so I guess it didn't really matter what you traded this morning as long as you were short. I hope everyone stayed green.

December 2019 Swing Trading Summary (I always end the month on a Friday) It was kinda cool having a +12R month on my first month of swing trading. I know it had much less to do with skill and more due to the bull market. It seemed if you were long you would have made money. I had 6 winners and 6 losers, so 50% win rate seems to be just fine with swing trading. Some things I learned: I have heard that one trade in the month makes your month. I never saw that it day trading but it sure makes sense in swing trading. Letting you winners run is even more vital since that trade could be the one that makes your month. WDC was my trade that could have made my whole month. I thought I was quite happy catching an 11% move. But, I ended up not even catching half the move. Check all your positions minutes before the close. Even though they are still above your stop make sure you want to hold them over night. Have a trailing stop. I had two stocks make a 4% drop without reaching my stop. They popped and dropped while I wasn’t watching. Going to try and keep a 2% stop on my positions.

December 2019 Summary (I always end the month on a Friday) I have stopped looking at my P/L for day trading so I don’t know where I stand on a profit stance this month. I feel like it was another flat month. The opening scalp on BABA worked out very well this month. I wait for the huge print and if large enough I use the next big print to help determine direction. The 1min forming candle has to coincide with the direction and breaking a tech level is ideal. I had 9 winning trades, 3 losing and 2 B/E. My ORBs win% really dropped the first 3 weeks of December. Essentially, I would give all the BABA profit back. The last week I took BABA off my watchlist and focused on other stocks and my win% improved. I started swing trading in December so some days I was not able to trade if managing the swing trades was too demanding at the open. It was kinda cool having a +12R month on my first month of swing trading. I know it had much less to do with skill and more due to the bull market. It seemed if you were long you would have made money. My swing trade journal as at the link below if you are curious: https://forums.bearbulltraders.com/topic/1536-rob-cs-swing-trading-journal/page/2/#comments

Thanks! And I thought your RAD trade on Friday was dead-on perfect.

Swing Trade watchlist for week of 12/30/19 GE. I like the double bottom on the daily chart and one more positive day MACD will cross. But you can see a double top and head and shoulders pattern as well. The weekly chart shows a nice bull flag finding support. The last hour of trading GE did break an 11.20 resistance level it has been struggling for 2 days and the 200MA-60min. But it couldn’t stay above it so GE is still on the watch list. Looking for a break and hold of the 200MA-60min to go long. I am worried there is a daily level at 11.26 that it may find resistance. But if it clears it could run to the next level at $11.60. UBER if it breaks and holds 31.06 SBUX if it breaks 89.36. But one more down day and MACD cross the wrong way. W (again) breaking out of range. Will go long if it breaks $93 or if it holds solid above $92. FDX breaking back into its old channel. I may go long if it holds above $153.

Swing trade journal 12/27/2019 Stopped out of CRWD and BIDU shortly after opening this morning. Luckily I had half shares (starter position) in both positions. Long CRWD at 49.58 from Brian’s watchlist. First target at 50.50. Stop at $49. Stopped out this morning. Long BIDU on 12/20 at 128.03. Stop 126.80. First target $130 (also VWAP-1D). Stopped out this morning. Long STX at 59.95. First target 61. Stop 59. Down today. Still holding.

Friday 12/27/2019 I had a well-being score of 4.5/10 this morning. I still have my prolonged headache and the last remnants of the flu. My well-being score is borderline, but since I did OK yesterday I decided to trade live as well today which was a mistake since I broke some rules, first time this month. I took 2 live and 2 SIM trades this morning with RAD. My watchlist: RAD and FLXN. I kept the watchlist small due to low wellbeing score. An interesting day. Its good that I write the journal entry many hours from this morning. It gives prespective. This morning I was angry at myself, now I just think of it as good learning. Its funny (and productive) how the market really punishes me for breaking rules. If it didn’t I would keep on breaking them. I used up way too much time trying to get the audio on the chat to work. I tried clearing the cache but the best I will get is about 1 minute of sound then it cuts out. Resfreshing once or twice will get audio back for about 1 minute again. Anyone else having this issue? Due to that I did not finish my checklist which I have a rule that forces me to SIM. I was very long bias on RAD so much I broke a rule and entered into a day trade in the PM. Worse there was no confirmation signal. Price was holding VWAP so I went long. But I need a second signal to verify, but I went long anway (half share size). After the open the price dropped below VWAP and I was stopped out. I have been getting better about staying with the stock and re-entering if there is a good detup. Usually I just went to bail on a stock that stopped me out. I have been getting better recently about re-entering, but not today. Instead I switched over FLXN. FLXN looked like it was setting up for a short. I needed to be patient and wait for the setup. I waited a couple of minutes and the setup was there. I tried to enetr the trade but my short was not filled. I went backed to RAD to discover I missed a huge move. I relaxed and noticed a nice billflag was setting up. I enetred the trade when I saw a L2 signal. I got one partial then S/O at B/E. I switched to SIM since I am at my max trades per day and tried a long again. Same thing, I got one partial and out at B/E. 10 minutes later RAD dropped below VWAP and was heading back up. When it broke and held VWAP I went long with the bottom of the candle as the stop and HOTD as the target. Price made a nice move. What did I do good today? During the RAD trade I got notifications that two of my swing trades were stopped out (Etrade) and It did not distract me. Swing trade journal link if you are curious: https://forums.bearbulltraders.com/topic/1536-rob-cs-swing-trading-journal/page/2/#comments What I am grateful from today? Traded something besides BABA. Traded a bullflag. What I should improve on: Not just a rule breaking day but I was deciding if I feel well enough to trade live today. If you have to decide then you are not ready.

Thanks Mike.

Swing trade journal 12/26/2019 Long CRWD at 49.58 from Brian’s watchlist. First target at 50.50 (blue line) which is also 1.5R. Stop at $49. I only took half shares so I may take a second entrance if it holds $50 and then I would move my target. I like the bull flag on the 60min chart. Exited SLB today. Long at 35.74. First partial at 37.25. Second/third partial at 37.81 and 38.32. Fourth/fifth partial at 38.78 and 39.33. Sixth partial at 40.48. SLB weak today. The price dipped below $40 a few pennies triggering the exit. It was still a very good swing trade. Long BIDU on 12/20 at 128.03. Stop 126.80. First target $130 (also VWAP-1D). BIDU down a little today. Still above stop. I don’t see a reason to exit yet. Still holding. Long STX at 59.95. First target 61. Stop 59. Up slightly today. Still holding.

Thursday 12/26/2019 I had a well-being score of 4.5/10 this morning. A splitting headache. No I don’t drink so it’s not the aftermath of all the Christmas cheer. Still recovering from the flu, but mentally OK. I took 2 live trades this morning with RAD. My watchlist: RAD. With my headache I thought either trade SIM or trade live but only look at one stock. RAD is what I liked the most, though I do not have shares for short. My platform worked fine today, my chat did not. Though it is nice hearing Carlos positive energy in the morning, Brian’s calming voice and Norm’s humor and market updates, scilence was golden this morning. Th sound of my typing even hurt my head. I think my 5th refresh finally got the chat to work after I was done trading for the day. RAD still on a tear. I had a couple of levels to work with this morning. The plan was to go long if the price broke 16.94 with another signal (prefferably volume). I watched my recording and I did enter the trade right at the break of 16.94 but got a horrible fill and I am not happy I took the trade without confirmation. The price popped and I took a partial and got stopped out at at B/E with another bad fill. Not happy with my first trade. My second trade was better. I took an 1min ORB on the break of the 17.16 daily level with a moderate L2 signal. My target was $18 with a stop of the 16.94 PM level. Stock didn’t move much until a huge >300K print hit the ask at 9:32. This print was not on L2 so it was one of those hidden prints that may be from an old transaction. But I was curious if it would move like I see with BABA after the huge print. It did. I took partials at 1min highs. Then all out on a bearish L2 signal. What did I do good today? Traded the same stock twice. If the first time doesn’t succeed I usually don’t try again. What I am grateful from today? Traded something besides BABA. What I should improve on: Need to wait for a second signal for confirmation.

You described exactly the same issue. My L2 was active but not my charts or priceline. I guess we have the same internet provider. I did a speed check later in the day and it was normal. I find out tomorrow if it was a fluke. Congrats on your retirement. Will you be trading full time? HH2U2!!

Swing trade journal 12/24/2019 Not much occurring today. All three swing trades were down slightly today on low volume so no actions today. Happy Holidays to everyone!!! Long STX at 59.95. First target 61. Stop 59. Still holding. SLB Long at 35.74. First partial at 37.25. Second/third partial at 37.81 and 38.32. Fourth/fifth partial at 38.78 and 39.33. Sixth partial at 40.48. Stop moved up to 40. Still holding. Long BIDU on 12/20 at 128.03. Stop 126.80. First target $130 (also VWAP-1D). Still holding.

Tuesday 12/24/2019 I had a well-being score of 5.5/10 this morning. Battling the flu but winning, Exactly at the open my platform freezes. Restarting didn't help so it may be the feed so I just waited it out. While waiting I switched to SIM since I don't really trust the feed anymore. The feed came back about 3 minutes after the open. I made three similar trades. Entered the trade, got stopped out and then watch the stock run (in my direction) without me. I have an issue of not wanting to trade a stock that stops me out. I need to learn to watch it for a re-entry. Everyone enjoy the holidays and your time off!!

Swing trade journal 12/23/2019 Long STX at 59.95. First target 61 (thought there is a strong level at 60.80 to punch through first). Stop 59. The trigger was a break of $60 but STX gave an L2 signal and I went long a few cents early confident it will break through $60. The price moved in my favor a bit today but not enough to take a partial profit. I am a little worried since the ex-dividend date is tomorrow. But looking at the previous ex-dividend days for STX, I don’t see any negative pattern. SLB Long at 35.74. First partial at 37.25. Second/third partial at 37.81 and 38.32. Fourth/fifth partial at 38.78 and 39.33. Sixth partial at 40.48. Stop moved up to 40. SLB finally broke $40 today. When the price bounced a level at $40.60 today I took another partial profit. Long LK at 30.54. First partial at 31.45. Second partial at 32.12. Third partial at 32.76. Fourth partial –today at 33.05. Exit –today at 33.91. I probably should have kept a few shares for my kid’s college fund. Taking profits too early is an issue I am working on. Long BIDU on 12/20 at 128.03. Stop 126.80. First target $130 (also VWAP-1D). The price moved in my favor a bit today but not enough to take a partial profit. Still holding.

Monday 12/23/2019 I had a well-being score of 5/10 this morning. Actually, it seems like I caught the flu, but mentally OK. I took 1 live trade this morning with JD. My watchlist: JD, MU, TSLA, BA, ITCI and SRPT. I am getting a bit bored trading BABA every morning so it was not on my watchlist. Someone called out JD in PM and I liked it so made my list. It open strong then about 30 sec after the open it had both a big print (13k) at the ask and two L2 signals see image: I went long, but instinctively gave it some give knowing my fill would be bad. Which it was and lost 10 cents on the fill. But since my stop was the bottom of the candle my share size was right on. I was feeling a little uncomfortable since I had no levels to choose a target, so I chose $37 I checked my recording and I did enter the trade before Brian called it. I am always worried I will start mirroring trades. I was definitely bad with the partial profit taking. I should have set a limit order which has been working for me recently. What did I do good today? Traded off the tape. What I am grateful from today? Trading something besides BABA. What I should improve on: Stick with the limit orders for partial profit taking, when ever possible.

Swing Trading Watch list for Christmas week. I am really not in the mood to enter any new trades during the holidays, but there were some interesting stocks to watch. GE has been consolidating for 6 weeks after its big run up. So do you see a double top or double bottom? I don’t know, but if it is a double bottom there are some interesting levels to work with. The price has been bouncing between 10.90 and 11:15. There is also a level at 11.22. That level is over a year old but it was a strong support level. If it breaks that level there isn’t much for the next 30 cents which makes a break out interesting. Even if it is only to the top of the channel. STX has been also consolidating for weeks after its big run. Its biggest competitor WDC is currently on a tear so it makes you wonder if STX will soon follow. It had a big day Friday. If there is follow through it may make things interesting. I may go long if it breaks $60. There was a MACD intersection on Friday. INTC is approaching levels it hasn’t seen since the dotcom era. I may go long if it breaks and holds above 59.50. MACD just had a cross over on Friday. Not a signal I actually know how to use, but I am trying to learn.

I emailed DAS on 11/25/19. this was their response: Yes, we are currently working on our Beta version there is no ETA at this time as we are still working to perfect it.

Swing trade journal 12/20/2019 I learned a lot in swing trading management in the last 24 hours. I usually set my stop order and an alert for my next target since I can’t watch my swing trades all day. So when I took a look at my holdings before the close yesterday I was surprised to see W drop 4% in a few hours just hovering above my stop. Since it was weak and went green to red I was uncomfortable holding over night so I exited. I was unsure if that was a fluke until this morning LK dropped more than 4% in 2 hours. Again just hovering above my stop. The last 24 hours I have given away a lot of unrealized gain back to the market. Thus this is not a fluke. So if an experienced swing trader is reading this I would like to ask if you use trailing stops on your holdings when you can’t continuously watch. I was thinking of a 2% trailing stop. Is that a bad idea? Is it too tight of a stop? Should I stop out with all or some of my shares when triggered? SLB Long at 35.74. First partial at 37.25. Second/third partial at 37.81 and 38.32. Fourth/fifth partial at 38.78 and 39.33. Stop at 38.30 SLB going sideways which is OK, gives it some time for the RSI to drop. Still waiting for the price to break $40 Long W at 83.58. Took first partial at 85.44. Second partial at 87.19. Out -today at 85.51. Dropped 4% in one day and went green to red. Felt uncomfortable holding overnight. Long LK at 30.54. First partial at 31.45. Second partial at 32.12. Third partial at 32.76. Stop moved to $31.48 Next target 33.50. Saw it drop over 4% in about 1 hour today. Not feeling comfortable. Plus there seems to be too many reverse hammers on the daily chart. Still holding. Long BIDU today at 128.03. Stop 126.80. First target $130 (also VWAP-1D) Heard Norm talk about it and I liked the chart, especially after the BABA run. BIDU just broke a strong level set in early November and it is reaching the huge gap created in May. But I am not too crazy about entering a new trade this close to Christmas so I took half share size. There was a big bearish level 2 signal this morning. I waited for those shares to get eaten then went long. I didn’t place a hard stop and drove to work. When I got there I saw there was a big drop and went through my stop and bounced back. Then it took a dive at the end of the day barely not stopping me out again. My first instinct is to bail on the trade instead of holding a weak stock over the weekend near my stop. But it was triple witching day, which may have caused some unusual behavior. Plus the last few minutes the stock was very strong and I took half share size. So I am holding over the weekend.

Friday 12/20/2019 I had a well-being score of 5.5/10 this morning. Caught a cold from my daughter, but mentally OK. I took 2 live trade this morning with BABA and X. My watchlist: BABA, MU, X, NVDA, ROKU and KMX. I am getting a bit bored trading BABA every morning so I was hoping to trade something else. But I did like how it was selling off into the premarket. The 5min chart looked bearish before the open. Instantly after the open there was a mild bearish signal in the prints and L2 (10k below the bid see image below). Plus, a bearish candle so I went short just 5 seconds after the open. My target was PDC with my stop at 211.60. The R/R was too big and I usually don’t do too well with large R/R at the open. The chart when I went long. Note the bearish L2, prints and 5min chart. After touching my stop and 2 minutes had passed I started losing faith and covered a few shares to lower my risk. Then I placed a limit order at 1R and waited. Soon after my order was filled. 2 minutes later I was all out at B/E. My next trade was X. X gapped down in the PM and the 3rd 1min candle was large and bearish. I liked that the price respected the PM level of 12.10. The price went back up to VWAP and bounced lower and I went short. I thought if it could break the 12.10 level it may run. My target was the next daily level at 11.75 with VWAP and my stop. I knew again the R/R was too big. I was able to take a couple of partial profits but it never ran. I exited the trade when it made a double bottom. What did I do good today? Covered some shares to reduce risk and exited trade early. What I am grateful from today? Trading something besides BABA. What I should improve on: It may be time to remove BABA from my watch list. I think I have learned all I can from it. Yes, I am consistently earning about 0.5R every morning from it, but it will inhibit me from becoming a better trader. Unless it is heavily in play that morning or slim pickings on the watchlist, I will not have it on my watchlist.

Swing trade journal 12/19/2019 SLB Long at 35.74. First partial at 37.25. Second/third partial at 37.81 and 38.32. Fourth/fifth partial at 38.78 and 39.33. Stop at 38.30 SLB going sideways which is OK, gives it some time for the RSI to drop. Still waiting for the price to break $40 Long CVS at 73.40 – on 12/17/19. I took Brian’s recommendation. My stop was a little wider than Brian’s at 72.80 and it held (touching my stop 4 times). All out –today at 74.23. OOPS a hotkey mistake. I wanted only to sell 25%. I don't feel like getting back in since Brian is already out of the trade. So trade is over. Long W at 83.58. Took first partial at 85.44. Second partial –today at 87.19. Stop moved to $85. The next target is 89.30. Long LK at 30.54. First partial at 31.45. Second partial –today at 32.12. Third partial –today at 32.76. Stop moved to $31. Next target 33.50. Watchlist PLAY. Price took a strong bounce and created a hammer. If it breaks 39.40 tomorrow I may go long. The problem is the stop level. Ideally it would be at $38, but that is a wide stop. Since there is a very strong level at $42, I don’t even have a R/R of 2. So I don’t think it is worth it. Again will have to wait and see if a setup occurs.

Thursday 12/19/2019 I had a well-being score of 7.5/10 this morning. I took 1 live trade this morning with BABA. Didn’t have much time to intraday trade this morning as I needed to manage swing trades. My watchlist: BABA, MU, RAD, CAG and AMRN. BABA had good PM volume but it was really a block trade. I waited for the big print and it arrived right after the open at 149K which is right on the limit of go/no go. Then 2 or 3 seconds later a sizeable bearish print which is also right on the crux of useful since I like to see 3 seconds or more after the big print. Thus two borderline signals. Then a bearish candle was created and I went short when the price broke the 200MA-5min. My target was the 208.87 level with the 200MA-1min as my stop. The chart when I went long: Price immediately reversed and a bullish L2 signal appeared. The price did drop back to my B/E where I covered some shares to reduce my risk. The price bounced around for 2 more minutes. I saw SPY was strong and had enough and exited for small loss. What did I do good today? Covered some shares to reduce risk and exited trade early. What I am grateful from today? Finding that I need to see a larger print size without losing much in the trade. What I should improve on: Will increase opening print size on BABA to 170K.