New Trader Journal

[Travis Vayssie 13]

1st Trade with a real money account.  I only have 3500 in my account, so can only make 3 traders a week...which i think is a good thing.  Although, Im practicing with the DAS SIM and making 5-6 traders per day.

 

First Trade on my live account.  FTCH popped up on the Trade Ideas VWAP Breakout Scanner crossing VWAP at 21.68.  I waited to see the 5 minute candle close above VWAP and there was no new low on the 1 minute chart.  Purchase 100 shares at 21.85, sold half at 22.11 which was the first red 1 minute candle and the remaining at 22.20 at the second red candle for a $30.98 profit.   I think I should have stayed in, since those two red candles didn't set a new low, and waited for the resistance at 23.05. I also purchase more on my SIM account, just to make sure i was back on the SIM account, then sold it right after.  lol - newbie move.

(Execute    Buy    FTCH    100    21.85    SMRT    11:16:02)

(Execute    Shrt    FTCH    50    22.1164    SMRT    11:20:19)

(Execute    Shrt    FTCH    50    22.2032    SMRT 11:22:43)

 

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Travis

 

[Travis Vayssie 13]

I see many people ask about commissions..here is the break down for my trade.  

Tickets - 3 (1 buy and 2 sell)

Shares- 200 (100 buy and 50 sell/50 sell)

IB Commission - $3

FINRA Fee - $.01

SEC Fee - $.05

ECN Fee - 0

Total - $3.06

Trade PL - $30.98

Net PL - $27.92

[Travis Vayssie 13]

2nd and 3rd trade with a real money account.  Good news, found out as long as I don't trade on margin I can make multiple trades a week without being subject to the day trading rule.  Bad News, I can only go Long until I fund the account more.

So had a good morning on the SIM and made two trades that worked out well, came back from lunch and really couldn't find much on the scanners.  Started getting late in the day and I started getting antsy.  (problem 1)

Found OTLK on the DAS NASActive scanner and decided to try and catch a reversal. 5 Red candles in a row and saw the 50 SMA underneath as support at 2.06.  Put in a 400 share buy order (problem 2, I told myself 100 only with my live account until Im green for a week, then increase 25%) with a hotkey Buy at ask +.05 (problem 3), since the stock price was 2.07, my purchase price was 2.12.  Should have entered a limit order of 2.07.

Placed a Stop below the 50 SMA at 2.06, stopped out.

Then decided to try again (problem 4), since i wanted revenge I purchased 200 shares at 2.09 and was stopped out at 2.05.

 

Looking back, should have sat on my hands and waited until . 

 

Breakdown

Tickets - 4 (2 buy and 2 sell)

Shares - 1200 (400 buy/400 sell / 200 buy/200 sell)

IB Commission - $4.80

FINRA Fee - $.07

SEC Fee - $.03

ECN Fee - 0

Total - $4.90

Trade PL - $-39.50

Net PL - $-44.40

 

[Robert H 455]

On 5/16/2019 at 4:50 PM, Travis Vayssie said:

I see many people ask about commissions..here is the break down for my trade.  

Tickets - 3 (1 buy and 2 sell)

Shares- 200 (100 buy and 50 sell/50 sell)

IB Commission - $3

FINRA Fee - $.01

SEC Fee - $.05

ECN Fee - 0

Total - $3.06

Trade PL - $30.98

Net PL - $27.92

Your commissions seem rather high. Have you switched the fee structure from Fixed to Tiered?

[Travis Vayssie 13]

Thank You, I switched to Tiered.

I see two options for Margin..Margin and Portfolio Margin.  Do you know the difference or which I would select once I fund the account fully?

[Robert H 455]

2 hours ago, Travis Vayssie said:

Thank You, I switched to Tiered.

I see two options for Margin..Margin and Portfolio Margin.  Do you know the difference or which I would select once I fund the account fully?

I use margin. I believe portfolio margin gives you increased leverage, but you need $110k balance.

[Travis Vayssie 13]

1 Real Trade today

Had PDD pop up on the VWAP scanner, so decided to go long at 21.05, which was a level above the moving average on the 15 minute chart.  (Question, do i wait for the candle to close above the moving average before entering a trade, because it went above - I got in - then turned right around?)  My goal was for it to break through the moving average and get to the next moving average at 21.63.

Placed a STOP just below the last white candle on the 5 minute chart at 20.82.  

Total Commission - 2.05

Net PL - (-25.05)

 

[Travis Vayssie 13]

So I looked at some charts and here is what I came up with as an answer to my question.

 

VWAP 15 Minute Chart

Go LONG if White Candle opens above VWAP

Go SHORT is Red Candle opens below VWAP

Resistance/Support 15 Minute Chart

It breaks resistance if the white candle opens above level

It breaks support if the red candle opens below level

[Travis Vayssie 13]

Had a good day today with 2 live trade wins.  Practiced the strategy of only taking a long if the candle opens above VWAP and short in candle open below VWAP after the first 15 minutes(waited for confirmation from the 15 minute chart).  4 out of 5 in SIM worked out, so figured to try it with real money.

 

1st - MU

Buy 100 shares at 35.43, then took a partial (50 shares) at 35.53 and the remaining at 35.63, should have stayed in it since it was making higher highs and higher lows but had some Dad duties and got out.

2nd - HP

This one I wanted to get in earlier, but wating for the 15 minute white candle to open over the 50SMA.

Buy 100 shares at 55.81 and got out at 56.01

Total Commissions - 5.21

Net PL - (13.79)

 

[Travis Vayssie 13]

Good day today.  2-1 in SIM +43.50

Made two live money trades. 1-1, but finished GREEN

1st.

Bought 100 shares NEO @ 20.96 right as the 15 minute candle opened above VWAP, then is shot down and I got stopped out at 20.85.   The idea was right, but I had my stop too tight, should have given it a .25 buffer. (Im down to lose $25 per trade.)

PL - (-8.85)

Bought 100 shares SE @ 29.92 right as the 15 minute candle opened above VWAP and placed a stop .25 below my entry.  Took a partial at 30.50, wanted to wait longer, but had to take my son to school, so sold the rest at 30.58.  Later looked and saw the stock went to 31.86.

PL - (46.63)

Total Commissions - 5.13 (this is what is on DAS, but Ive switched to the tiered structure, which is less)  Yesterday commissions were 1.84 in IB, not the 5.21 in DAS

Net PL - (37.64)

 

 

[baracuda 8]

On 5/20/2019 at 2:38 PM, Travis Vayssie said:

1 Real Trade today

Had PDD pop up on the VWAP scanner, so decided to go long at 21.05, which was a level above the moving average on the 15 minute chart.  (Question, do i wait for the candle to close above the moving average before entering a trade, because it went above - I got in - then turned right around?)  My goal was for it to break through the moving average and get to the next moving average at 21.63.

Placed a STOP just below the last white candle on the 5 minute chart at 20.82.  

Total Commission - 2.05

Net PL - (-25.05)

 

Full disclosure: I went live on May 16 after almost 4 months in sim.

Here is my 2 cents:
The entry wasn't perfect. By this level you're already late to the game, because your risk is too high. Besides, it already gapped up and was extended from VWAP. At this point I would wait for the the candle to finish and see what the next 5 min looks like. If you did that, then the next candle (where you exited) would have been a perfect for an entry for a short, which I realize you can't take yet.
 

[Travis Vayssie 13]

Yes, I agree.  The entry couldn’t have been at a worse time.  I’m also hitting the 9 EMA resistance 👎.   I looked at a lot of charts after that trade and decided that I needed to wait for the candle to either open above to go long or below for a short.

Wait for the confirmation.

 

Thanks for the reply!

Edited May 23, 2019 by Travis Vayssie
Added 9ema resistance commwnt

[baracuda 8]

V reversals are extremely hard to trade. So if I saw a sharp drop from the high, I would wait for another candle as a confirmation. I can’t tell you how many times I got chopped up trying to reverse my position. Good luck. 

[Travis Vayssie 13]

Good Day today - messed around in SIM during the open getting my hotkeys in order.  Setup a buy with an auto stop and a half sell which changes my stop to breakeven.  I found the code on the forum search, but took a little time to fine turn it.

3 Live trades today and 3 wins

1st Trade

Buy 100 shares SNAP @ 11 which was right as the clock changed to the next 15 minute candle and I noticed it would open above VWAP.  This was really a slow moving stock and had a spread at the time of .01, so I tired really had to be patient.  Sold half and moved my stop to BE @ 11.11, then the rest @ 11.13.  Wanted to wait for the 50SMA @ 11.21, but had to take my son to school.

PL - (10.25)

2nd Trade

Buy 100 shares MUR @ 25.27 which was right as the 15 minute candle opened above VWAP.  Took half @ 25.54 and moved my stop to BE, then the rest at the 9EMA @ 25.68

PL - (28.14)

3rd Trade

Buy 100 shares MRCY @ 68.2 which was right at the 15 minute candle opened above the 20EMA.  I waited an additional 15 minutes to make sure it broke the 20EMA before buying.  Took half at 68.41 and moved my stop to BE, then the rest right as it was getting close to the 50SMA @ 68.77(i thought i got it higher, but used a hotkey and ended with 68.77.  Next time i will put in a limit order at the 50SMA 68.88), which I figured would be resistance.

PL- (39.23)

Total Commissions - (3.22)

Net PL - (74.4)

[Travis Vayssie 13]

Good Learning Day Today

Changed my hotkey STOP percentage from 1% to .5%.  Andrew says in the book to keep the loss at 1%...and I found out today why that is.  Only made 1 trader today, then my live account was rejected for not enough cash available.  Looks like my account will need to settle up before I make some more live trades.

Bought FL @ 43.87 and it immediately hit the stop @ 43.62, if i would have left the stop alone at 1% the stop wouldn't have hit and would have been able to run FL up to VWAP @ 44.79

PL - (-24.50)

Commissions - .78

Net PL - (-25.38)

 

Finished the week with 2 Red days and 3 Green days.  Moving share size up 25% to 125