Vikramaditya Trading Journal - Live 08Apr2019

[IamKarthi 342]

My Plan to Trading Success:

Background:

One of my friends from German language class recommended Andrew’s book on ‘How to Day Trade for a Living’. After reading the book, I joined the BBT community in Oct’2018. I was on SIM for 3 months, completed the first BBT challenge. And finally I went live on 8^thApr’19. I am new to Trading and hoping my journaling and feedback from fellow members will help me improve.

My preparation before going Live:

These are the books I read before going Live, apart from the BBT classes. It was very important for me to learn as much before going Live. Also, I read these books in the order mentioned below. I also listened to the Youtube audio version of Trading in the zone, the week before going Live and I must say that it helped calm my nerves a bit during the Live week.

-How to Day Trade for a Living by Andrew Aziz

- A Complete Guide to Volume Price Analysis by Anna Coulling

- Advanced Techniques in Day Trading by Andrew Aziz

-Trading in the zone by Mark Douglas

-The 1 Hour Trade by Brian Anderson

Strategy & Goal:

During the first year(or 9 months) in 2019, I don’t have any target to make. My primary goal is to gain experience Live trading, to be emotionally stable when things don’t go my way and manage positions to my plan. And achieve all this limiting my loss. Good thing, I have control over how much I can lose, so I have decided to keep 100$ per week that I can lose (ie. 4000$ till end of the year). This is the max amount I will lose to the market, nothing more. This is not ‘Scarred Money’.  It is something that I am paying for my experience. If I make any money along the way, then it’s good. It doesn't mean I dont want to make money, it just means, I am not in a hurry to make money. But I do plan to make a lot of money from trading may be a million $ some day.

I also have the following measures to limit myself at the beginning of my Trading.

• Funding Account: I am not funding my IB account fully. I am doing it in 5 small transfers (roughly one each month). This limits my buying power during the initial months. Even if I make a DAS mistake I can’t buy more shares. As I improve my trading I start funding more.
• Under PDT rule: This also means, I am under PDT rule, and can make only 3 trades/5 days. This prevents me from overtrading. I am also extremely picky as my trades are limited. I think being picky is a very good habit in Trading. 
• Stocks to trade: I don’t trade $TSLA, $NFLX which are very volatile. I trade $AMD, $MU and other Stocks in Play on a particular day within my price range ($15-$30) and not very volatile. I trade high priced, volatile stocks in DAS simulator or TradingSIM to feed my FOMO.
• Share size: I trade 50-100 shares per trade, depending on the Stoploss and volatility of the stock. I am not using my Margin from IB, but only Cash that I have funded. As I improve my trading skills, I will slowly increase the share size. 
• Risk Control: Within my 3 Trades a week, first one I give it $50 Loss, 2^nd and 3^rd one $25 each. But because of my small share size and stoploss, I am well within my allowable losses during initial months. This is second level risk control.

Rules:

•  Only one trade at a time. This was my main issue in SIM. I get into multiple trades in SIM and end up in huge losses. Even if the action goes my way, I am unable to exploit it to my advantage as I am unable to follow my profit plan.
•  Stick to my StopLoss: Many days in SIM, I had ignored my Stoploss and ended up in huge losses. Then I make some good trades and reduce my losses. End of the day, It gives me a feeling ‘If only I had respected my StopLoss I would have been green’
•  Don’t trade within 3 mins: My rule is not to trade within first 3 mins. But if the setup doesn’t exist, then I must wait till 5, 10 or even 15 mins from the open.

Trading Style:

•  I prefer VWAP trading (VWAP pullback during ORB, Reversal & False breakout after 10AM).
•  I also like to trade 50/200 MA bounces especially on higher timeframes.
•  I am not good at MA cross reversals.

Quote I need to remember while Trading: "You will regret more about the STOP you didn't take than the one you took early"

Edited April 30, 2019 by IamKarthi

[Rob C 826]

A well thought out plan. Much better than mine when I went live.

[IamKarthi 342]

April Summary:

I have completed my first month Live trading. Total 6 trading days. 5 Green days and 1 red day. This month I will be posting a consolidated summary. Starting May I will try to post it daily.

08-Apr

My first day. But I decided I will not trade today, if the setup doesn't come to me. Recollected my hotkeys for Panic situation. Backup access thru mobile. Easier said than done. A very nervous day. 

I was negative on the first day(-10$). But happy with my trade management. Was very patient till 9th min and entered short below VWAP. Stoploss above VWAP. less than 10C risk. The price action didn't go my way, I was stopped out. Happy that I respected my stoploss, even happier that I didn't partial out or revenge trade. Overall very good First Day.

Improvement: Consider entry at 200MA (as it is very clear on hindsight) as price struggled to push thru for 4 mins. Also get out of the trade quickly next time if it doesn't go my way (Guerilla trading). 

Edited April 30, 2019 by IamKarthi

[IamKarthi 342]

09-Apr-19

2 Trades today. Another AMD trade at the Open. Took short below VWAP, Got stopped out. After the entry, I just watch the Level 2 and have my mouse over the Montage. If L2 hits my Stoploss, I get out immediately. I don't watch the price action at the Open, it can be deceiving making me believe that it is still going my way, when it is not. Re-entered the trade again, when AMD offered a pullback to VWAP. This time it worked out fine. Couple of early partials, as it is already extended. Held the remaining position thru another pullback to VWAP (missed my Stoploss by 2 cents). Remainining position partialled out. Both trades only 100 shares. 

P.S: I used 'Moving stoploss' - ie) my stoploss is 2 cents above current VWAP and not a fixed price. This gives me flexibilty. My partials are mostly at 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, and sometimes at the technical levels. No constant plans.  

[IamKarthi 342]

16-Apr-19

Another day, another $AMD trade. I am comfortable trading $AMD because it is traded in huge volume everyday, not very volatile, good spread and most of the days trades well. 

I have lost my notes for this day. Apparently I was short $AMD below strong Resistence levels (VWAP, 50, 200 MAs). Partial was at 200MA on 5 min and also the LOD. Final partial close to 9MA. $AMD was bullish and didn't touch $27.5 again that day. I also traded $Roku, but got stopped out because the price didn't go my way. 

[IamKarthi 342]

17-Apr-19

It is becoming too predictable now. Another $AMD trade. I didn't think I took $AMD 4 days in a row. $AMD was choppy at the open. Then I was watching other stocks. Took reversal on AMD at around 10.30. Size 100 shares. Entry was around $27.45, Stoploss 10c, Plan was reversal to VWAP. Partialled out above 9MA on 5min/20MA on 2min. $AMD was very bearish on that day. Going long was a bad idea (Knife catching). Scaled out rest of the postion. Small green, but not happy overall with R:R.

 

[IamKarthi 342]

24-Apr-19

$SNAP was on the watchlist, sold very strong at the open. Had a strong level at 12.2. The price just bulldozed all the levels including 50/200 on the 15 min and 30 mins. I took 5 min Opening Range Break Down (ORBD). Stop was the high of previous 1 min candle. Took partials at the levels $11.2 (YY low) and below. Closed the final position as the price was starting to be bullish with good volume. Share size 300. 

 

[IamKarthi 342]

25-Apr-19

First trade was $MSFT. Gapped up on earnings. Went long above all the tech levels. Took a small partial after 20c move. The price turned against me and I got stopped out. Hindsight, this appears to be a bearish pattern, not sure why I went Long. Good part is I respected my Stop loss again and got out at the right time, price dropped almost 1.5$ in 1 min after my stop.

$MU was on my watchlist. A bit choppy at the open. Took long at the pullback close to VWAP. Entry $44.10 Stoploss below VWAP (10-12c). Target was at a level around 44.84. But move was not so great. I partialed too early and too many times. The price remained bearish throughout the day. Due to limited trades, I am not able to get back into the action again. I trade in SIM after the live trades. As a postmortem, I need to think about my partials. 

 

[IamKarthi 342]

April 2019 Summary:

Postmortem: Overall, My entries are good. Respecting Stoploss. No overtrading or revenge trading. But, my partials are so bad, need to work on that to maximise profit. 

 

Edited May 1, 2019 by IamKarthi

[Sheela 31]

@Vikram.Aditya, Thank You for sharing your trading journal. I am under PDT with TD and limited with 3 trades only. I try to save those for best but it does not always work. If I get 2 trades green then 3rd one has to be red LOL. As I found myself when I get into trade in haste with out knowing basic dynamics of the stock in play for that day is when I am turned into red and giving away what I made in those 2 green days. Keep posting...

[IamKarthi 342]

May 2019

Overall my plan for May''19 is pretty much the same as April except for increased share size.

Share size: Although the share size depends on the Stoploss and volataility of the Stock, I will not go above 300 shares for our buddies $AMD, $MU and $ROKU & not more than 100 shares on High priced stocks $AAPL, $FB and $NVDA. 

Loss $: I have 3 trades this week. Allowable loss, 50$ for the first trade and 25$ each for the 2nd and 3rd Trades. Total 100$/week.

Improvement: I had observed my profit taking needs improvement. I was contemplating taking 2:1 or 3:1 RR with no partials, but I need to try this in SIM first. So my partials will remain the same like last month.

What to remember: What happens today/this month is independent of what happened last week/month. Every event is unrelated. Trading is dealing with probabilities. My edge gives me higher probabily. Anything can happen, like flipping a coin. 

Rules: (Repeat)

•  Only one trade at a time. This was my main issue in SIM. I get into multiple trades in SIM and end up in huge losses. Even if the action goes my way, I am unable to exploit it to my advantage as I am unable to follow my profit plan.
•  Stick to my StopLoss: Many days in SIM, I had ignored my Stoploss and ended up in huge losses. Then I make some good trades and reduce my losses. End of the day, It gives me a feeling ‘If only I had respected my StopLoss I would have been green’
•  Don’t trade within 3 mins: My rule is not to trade within first 3 mins. But if the setup doesn’t exist, then I must wait till 5, 10 or even 15 mins from the open.

 

[IamKarthi 342]

1-May-19

Like most traders today, I had $AMD and $AAPL on watchlist due to their earnings. $ROKU and $NBRV were also in my watchlist. At the open, I was watching $AAPL and $AMD and felt both were choppy. Atleast that's what I saw. I didn't see any pattern in the first 8 mins, so locked my montage and was checking other stocks. I saw $DIS making very nice ORBD, I felt FOMO. Then I checked $MU, it was setting up for ORB up on 5 min. I went long without checking 1 or 2 min charts. Price went against me and I got stopped out.

I made 2 mistakes.

• I didn't check all the charts before entering the trade. There was a Shooting star on 1 min, just before I went long. It was a clear indication for price to go down, but I went against that. 
• $MU was not at all on my watchlist today and I didn't prepare to take it. but I just jumped in due to FOMO. I should have never traded something that I am not watching. I did all the hardwork premarket to prepare my watchlist and completely ignored and entered another stock. This is bigger mistake. 

I should remain patient with the stocks on my watchlist. $AAPL, $AMD, $NBRV all traded beautifully. I missed out. I wasted my one trade for today. 

My share size was 100, and I was down 18$ at the end of the day, including commissions. 

Edited May 1, 2019 by IamKarthi

[IamKarthi 342]

2.May.19

Today I had $SQ, $AMD, $MSFT & $TSLA. $SQ had earnings and $TSLA some news on Funding. I don't trade  $TSLA as it is so voltaile, just watching.

$MSFT had gapped up a little bit. I noticed a gap in the daily (check the daily chart below) sometimes price tends to close the gap during the day. I have seen Andrew, Norm and William trade this setup or atleast mention it in the BBT chat before. There was 9MA on daily and once that is broken the price may come down to close the gap. I was short $MSFT at the breakout of 1min candle. Got stopped out. Price struggled to go higher,  candle closed below VWAP. I was confident and went short again, got stopped out again. I didn't have any more trades left this week. Later in the day at 10.15AM hanging man appeared on 5 min and then the price dumped to the target level of $125.88. 

My setup was correct, I felt my entry was Ok too, but the price bounced off at 9MA level (127.13) twice. Then setup occured later in the day. If I was around and had the option I would have traded this again. 

Good point: Good analysis and follow up.

Improvement: Broke the rule that I won't enter the trade in the first 3 mins. 

Result: another red day. $40 down. 

I think the candles may not be so much relevant on 1 min at the open (as the volume can override the setup - in otherwords choppy).  I should trade ORB quickly and leave the trend setup for mid morning. There is always pullback. 

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2019 by IamKarthi

[Rob C 826]

Great recap. What is your trade limit per week? Is this to stay under the PDT rule?

[IamKarthi 342]

Thanks Rob C.

I have a limit of 3 trades per week to stay under the PDT rule. Yet to fully fund it.