MarkCB's Journal

[MarkCB 49]

Hi everyone,

My name is Mark and I joined BBT about 5 months ago. I read Andrew's book and was hooked. I am a RN but I realized that the lifestyle that comes with it is not what I want. I am missing too many holidays and weekends and don't want to miss out on those memories with my family. When I first started I decided to try to watch and study all the content that was offered through BBT. My wife was 7 moths pregnant at the time and I knew it was going to be difficult to start once the baby showed up. I also did not have a strong enough computer at the time to trade, so I just kept watching and learning. My beautiful daughter showed up on June 17th and got the keys to our news house on the same day (what were we thinking buying a house so close to the due date) and I was out from BBT for about 3 months. Tried to watch some content when I could but it was difficult. As mentioned in the book, I did not rush to get into trading as I was not able to focus on it 100%. Finally was able to purchase my new comp on month 4 and luckily my wife and I were comfortable being in a new routine with our daughter. Started to recap the content more thoroughly again. Finally, just this past Monday, I started jumping in with DAS simulator - brutal, I thought I knew what I was doing, but man, was I ever wrong! Started with 3 montages but realized, that is too much. I scaled down to 2 montages and it seemed to help today. It felt like I "knew" what I was doing, or maybe not, you be the judge. 

I did 2 trades today: TVIX and SFIX

TVIX - I thought I knew what I was doing but after reviewing it, I think I know where I went wrong. I thought it was a good idea to get into this trade because it because it was following a trend. I was looking at the 1 minute chart. 

After getting stopped out and reviewing my thought process, it was all wrong. Trend trading is not recommended until close of day. I went in long after lower lows, lower highs. There were no levels or indicators on where I should have sold. 

I did have a stop loss in my mind which was at 9 EMA. I was a little late but I was all out.

The other trade I did felt a little better. I waited for a 5 min ORB. When I saw that it cracked the VWAP I went long on the next candle at 17.53. My stop loss was just below the VWAP at around 17.40. I remember seeing two levels at around 18.20. I covered half at 17.83 and another half at 18.11. The remainder, I held in the hopes of it hitting that 100 EMA. However, it didn't go in my favor and I was all out at the break even. 

My position sizing was horrible. Was hoping to only buy about 200 shares. But it populated 1000 shares. I decided to changed my layout config on my montage and now have the hotkeys at the bottom so I move from top to bottom to insure I put in the correct share size.

I have a few questions and would appreciate any help. Any feedback would also be greatly appreciated. 

- How was my trade management for SFIX?

- For position sizing, I am working with $5000 equity. I know on the videos they say to possibly to 50 to 200 shares to start off. But if I bought 50 shares of SFIX I would be at almost 18% of my account. To be in the 2% of my account, I would really only trade about 6 shares, correct?

 

Overall, I feel pretty happy with my trade management as I stayed true to my stop loss. Also, I am glad I made those mistakes today, as I have learned from them. If I am dead wrong about everything, don't hesitate to let me know - any feedback would be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you!

[Rob C 826]

Welcome Mark, great trading for your first day. Actually I like your TVIX setup and entry, though that was a really tight stop you had. Since I would have treated it as a 10min ORB I would have probably used the 5min VWAP as my stop.

Your SFIX partial profit taking looks fine. Actually it's better than mine. You took your first partial at a tech level, and yeah it would have been good to take more profit at the 18.40 tech level, but maybe you were low on shares and wanted to hold for a longer run.

As for position sizing, most of us are big fans of shares calculated by risk R. We determine a fixed risk per trade that we are comfortable with. Mine is currently $30. Then you determine how much risk you have in that trade, say your entry is 10 cents away from VWAP. (your stop). Then to only risk $30 on the trade you would take 300 shares. So with 300 shares, and you sell at your stop, you would lose $30.

This fixed risk per trade is the 2% Andrew describes in his book. Not the entire cost of buying all the shares. So my example above with 2% of your account as your risk and your account is $5000 (account size not buying power). The fixed R you would use, $100 risk per trade. If you your risk on the trade (distance from your entry and stop) is 10 cents, you would purchase 1000 shares. That's too rich for me at the moment.

Andrew, more recently, has recommended 1% risk per trade now.

[MarkCB 49]

10 hours ago, Rob C said:

Welcome Mark, great trading for your first day. Actually I like your TVIX setup and entry, though that was a really tight stop you had. Since I would have treated it as a 10min ORB I would have probably used the 5min VWAP as my stop.

Your SFIX partial profit taking looks fine. Actually it's better than mine. You took your first partial at a tech level, and yeah it would have been good to take more profit at the 18.40 tech level, but maybe you were low on shares and wanted to hold for a longer run.

As for position sizing, most of us are big fans of shares calculated by risk R. We determine a fixed risk per trade that we are comfortable with. Mine is currently $30. Then you determine how much risk you have in that trade, say your entry is 10 cents away from VWAP. (your stop). Then to only risk $30 on the trade you would take 300 shares. So with 300 shares, and you sell at your stop, you would lose $30.

This fixed risk per trade is the 2% Andrew describes in his book. Not the entire cost of buying all the shares. So my example above with 2% of your account as your risk and your account is $5000 (account size not buying power). The fixed R you would use, $100 risk per trade. If you your risk on the trade (distance from your entry and stop) is 10 cents, you would purchase 1000 shares. That's too rich for me at the moment.

Andrew, more recently, has recommended 1% risk per trade now.

Thank you for your feedback. Your explanation of positing sizing and calculating by risk makes so much sense. Thank you! 

[MarkCB 49]

Hello Everyone!

Day 2 into DAS trading and there was some good and some bad. I only took one trade today: ROKU

Was waiting for a 5 min ORB but saw nothing. Finally, on the 1 min chart, I noticed ROKU making lower lows and lower highs so I went short 300 shares. Although, I didn't notice it until the 3rd candle stick. I was a little further from VWAP than I'd liked. What I should have done, is reduced my share size to at least 200 or less for better risk management. Started to scale out when I got closer to some levels. Now, I am thinking that I should have held some of my position a little longer, as techinically, I could have waited if it went lower or if I would have been stopped out at the break even. But I'm glad I got out in this scenario. 

The candle stick with the red circle, I was regretting not holding on longer since it went even lower. However, my cursor was hovering over the buy hotkey and I accidentally bought. Panicked and contemplated since I did not see any indicators for long trend, and sold all my shares. Here comes to bad trading. I went short again. Did not think of my risk:reward, just "felt" it was going down again. tsk tsk. Went above some moving averages, panicked again. Should have gone out but waited. Luckily it went my way and I scaled out eventually stopped out at the break even-ish. 

I am happy with my first trade. Not so much with my second and I really need to work on my risk management. 

 

Again, any feedback is most welcome!

Have a wonderful day!

[MarkCB 49]

3 hours ago, peterB said:

i think you started to scale out too quickly on the first one but ok as a trade. if your risk was 1R then your scaling started before the 1R was reached (you want to start to do that on 2R preferably to maximize profits on working trades)

- thank you, I will definitely work on that

the second trade was a pure bet on reversal which i can not see on the charts 

- the second trade was a mistake, I was hovering over the buy hotkey and accidentally clicked it....will not be doing that again.

the third was a revenge + bet on something which had no clear risk/reward ratio and no strategy - you just got lucky and on the scaling out it is seen that you were quite stressed

do you know on what technical criteria you entered 2nd and 3rd trade? i just cant see that

- I did talk about those 2 trades in my original post. And you are right, I definitely got lucky on the 3rd trade. It was a lot of panicking from the 2nd "trade" with no plan whatsoever.

Thank you for your feedback and discussion. Very much appreciated!

 

 

3 hours ago, peterB said:

 

 

[MarkCB 49]

Hello Everybody

Today was not such a good day. But again, I shall learn from my mistakes

ROKU

Trade 1 

Bought 200 shares at 108.65. Stop loss, just below the VWAP. I know with 200 shares, I got in too late as I now risked more than 2%. Again, I need to focus on my entry for better risk management.  Is there a way I can buy/short at a certain amount and not just by hitting the hot key? I would have loved to get in at 108.30 max in this trade. Scaled out way too early. Will now focus on scaling out around 2R. 

Trade 2

Got in at 109.47. Was thinking that VWAP was going to be a resistance. Also, saw the hammer doji and took that as a sign for long. Please let me know if I am reading these signs all wrong. Stop loss below the VWAP. Close to around 108.90. Was too slow and got all out at 108.53. Almost a whole dollar!! I am debating on using hard stops but I'm worried that during a pullback, I may be stopped out prematurely. What does everyone suggest? 

Trade 3

Please correct if i am wrong, but I thought I saw a double bottom. And I thought I saw a "falling devil" (I have heard Andrew say it a couple times). Therefore decided to go long with a stop loss below that level at around 106.70. Now, after reviewing, my stop loss should have been much closer. I thought I was doing well as it was using the 9 EMA as a resistance. Again, I was too slow to react and was all out, way too late at 106.51.  

I also traded AAPL but that also ate me up

Trade 1

I saw higher highs and higher lows and decided to go long at 226.67 with a stop loss right below VWAP around 226.30 and target of previous day close. Was getting ready to go out on AAPL as it was starting to get close to my stop loss but I pressed cover instead of sell. Panicked and ended up selling all my 400 shares immediately. But then again, I would've have been stopped out regardless. 

Trade 2

Again, saw higher highs and highers lows and thought VWAp to be a resistance. Went long at 226.59 with stop loss at 226.4. Covered some. Was trying to cover at 227 but at that time DAS was acting up. Now, I know I asked this before, but is there a way to scale out at a certain amount, in this case 227? This time I was quicker and stopped out at 226.36. 

 

As always, I need to work on my risk management. Again, any feedback and discussion is most welcome!

Thank you!

 

Edited October 7, 2019 by MarkCB

[MarkCB 49]

On 10/11/2019 at 3:00 AM, peterB said:

first of all please post also 5min charts to your trades for better view (consider also 15min)

ROKU Trade1: you started to scale out before 1R, this means that you are under stress and do not accept the 1R loss you intended. You need to enter the trade with the risk you are absolutely fine to accept if it goes against you. I took the same trade - thank you will keep in mind

ROKU Trade2: shorting a strong stock - i do not understand these trades why are you willing to risk it. I can not see any sign of reversal so it was a 50% chance with no edge in your favor - I did not short the stock. The top left of the screen shot is the end of the 1st trade and the bottom right is the beginning of the 3 rd trade.

ROKU trade3: 106.80 was an obvious level but i can not see a double bottom, you took it long but check the volume column, it looked more like a pullback not a reversa, so better wait for confirmation, it looked like a reversal 4 candles later but it could not break the MAs. So it was a valid reversal trade which just did not work as expected, after being in the trade for 8 minutes you should always reconsider if it is still a valid trade and should have exited on B/E on the drop from the MA to your B/E point. But it is now easy to say  - reviewed what double bottoms are, clearly not what's in this scenario.

AAPL trade1: 400 shares looks like someone went rogue... - i really need to be more careful with which hot key I hit

AAPL trade2: I think all ok, regarding the scale out you can always put a limit order to cover but in chops like this i would not recomend to do it as the first partial and keep it manual because you need to react quickly, if you scaled out already some and you want to reach certain level, then it has more meaning to me to put a profit target order but everybody is different and you need to find out what best suits you - thanks, will definitely consider this and practice putting in a profit target. 

 

 

[MarkCB 49]

Hello Everybody

I apologize that I haven't posted lately as I just went back to work after my paternity leave and found journaling a little time consuming. However, after watching Peter's workshop yesterday, I realized how important journaling is. 

Took a bunch of trades today. Broke a rule, hit the wrong hotkey, but recovered in the end. Mainly used 5 min charts today. 

I would love to trade within the 1st 5 min and make money like Andrew but the one rule I made for myself that I haven't broken yet is to wait 5 mins. Therefore, my favourite has been trading 5 min orbs - except today..lol

Trade 1 - NFLX

Beautiful 5 min ORB. Bought 200 shares but it went south. Had a stop loss below at VWAP but I should've been a lot tighter at the 20 EMA. Here I broke a rule, I was "hoping" for a pullback, even as it went below my over extended stop loss . Finally pulled out. I'm just glad I am in a sim. After a bit of cursing, I reversed my position due to the engulfing pattern at 303.08 with a stop loss at premarket low. Given the price, I should have decreased my share size. Once it hit 2R, I started to scale out. Scaled out again once it hit another low. Brought my stop loss to the B/E and kept the rest for that profit target at the 200 EMA. I would have loved to stay in but my goal was the 200 EMA. 

Trade 2 - CRON

Shorted CRON after the 5 min ORB. Got in an 9.65 with stop loss at VWAP. Waited for 2R and tried to get out as  close as possible to that 9.15 level. Was going to cover, hit the wrong hot key instead and shorted another 400 and then immediately covered those 400 at 9.25. CRON hit that 9.15 level again and I scaled out hitting the right hot key this time. Covered some more at the 100 MA and was eventually stopped out at the B/E.

Trade 3 - ROKU

I'm glad I was busy with NFLX and CRON or I would've have taken ROKU long after the 5 min ORB. However, I saw the engulfing pattern and went short at 131.51. (I would've loved to get in closer to the VWAP right after it engulfed the previous candle but I wasn't watching this stock at the time) I was too stretched from VWAP so i decided to use premarket low as a stop loss. Waited for 2R and I think there was a level there and covered some. covered more. Not sure why I held 50 shares of ROKU for so long but I should've have clearly covered all at the B/E

Trade 4 - ROKU

Saw a huge pop and that's why I covered all my shorts from trade 3. Popped above the VWAP, volume was coming in and saw that hammer doji forming at the end of that 5 min candle. (Also, Andrew was saying he was going long  - that was just a bonus to my analysis) Went long at 132.4 Started to scale out way to early. Should've waited for 2R. Was going to sell all my shares at break even but hit the wrong hot key...again . Not sure why I sold all my shares at the 200 EMA. Should have scaled out to at least 134 profit target. 

All the virtual money I lost on NFLX, I earned back and a little more with the other trades. Lots of mistakes to learn from but I'm happy overall!

Again, any feedback would be appreciated and thank you for all the support. 

[Mike B 624]

On 10/17/2019 at 9:10 AM, MarkCB said:

However, after watching Peter's workshop yesterday, I realized how important journaling is.

Journaling is the hard work we put in to become better traders. Recommend developing a journal that you enjoy doing at the end of each day, then it doesn't seem like work.

[MarkCB 49]

Hello Everyone!

Was finally able to trade Wednesday morning. I tried to trade after my last night shift on Tuesday morning, however, it didn't go well at all. None of my moves made sense. I was too tired, which in turn made me impatient. The lesson at this point is not to trade after my night shift. I figured it wasn't going to go well but I just wanted to see how I would do...

Well Wednesday morning I took 4 trades in total (CAT, 2 trades in IRBT, TXN). For some reason, only took  1 screen shot of one of the trades (IRBT)

The first trade was CAT. Tried to trade right at the open. Was hoping for a short squeeze but I had no idea how to do it but stayed in the green. Wasn't to serious about it, as my trading strategy right now is to wait 5 min after the open. 4th Trade was TXN, noticed an ABCD pattern and went for it. Didn't make much - need to get better at figuring out share size later on. 

Trade 2 and 3 IRBT

Waited for the 5 min ORB. Went long right at the next 5 min candle with a stop loss at the VWAP. Started to look at the 1 min chart. Tried to scale out (too early) but hit the wrong hot keys and sold all my shares. I guess, now it was a good thing. But not good if I want to stay technical. Then noticed an ABCD pattern in the 1 minute chart. I also know that 5 min ORBs are usually ABCD patterns in the 1 min charts. I saw the hammer doji forming and went long. Was I too early? Stop loss just below the 9 MA. Scaled out at at least 2R this time. I then figured it was a good time to practice on how to enter stop ranges. Brought my low range to the B/E and my high range at my target for the high of the day. 

 

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks! 

 

[MarkCB 49]

Hello Everyone

Traded yesterday, did not do well. Did not have time as I was pretty busy yesterday. Today wasn't good either - pretty much the same issues as yesterday. Emotional trading and a bunch of WTFs. LOL...Peter just did a poll and I'm in the 5% of traders today..blah.

Tried to take Roku short after the 5 min ORB. Was waiting for a pull back closer to VWAP but still got in too stretched from VWAP. Didn't go my way and got stopped out. Again, I waited to long as I originally had a stop loss at VWAP, but I was being "hopeful". Thought I got rid of all of my stocks, however I moved my hotkeys around and didn't notice I only got rid of half. I noticed I had short stock left half way into that 1 min chart. I then just tried to partial out with what I had left. Tried to get rid of it all since the whole thing was a mistake anyways but hit the wrong key. 

Once ROKU went through all those MA and popped over the 50 MA, I went long. I also noticed the 9 and 20 MA crossing. Stop loss just below VWAP. I know the partial outs look early. However, I did hit the hotkeys at around 128.95 but it recorded much lower for those partials. I'm guessing, they didn't fill until then. My goal was that 100 MA. 

INTC

Thought I saw a ABCD pattern building so I went long at 55.46 with a stop loss just below the 9 MA. I then pulled all my shares for no reason. I was upset about the ROKU hot keys mess up and hit ESP on all my trades out of frustration. My original plan was to start scaling out at 2R. I need to be patient and not let negative trades affect other trades. 

 

Things to work on:

- STOP BREAKING RULES!!!!!!!!!!!! (should start using hard stops)

- take it one trade at a time. If one trade is bad, move on and focus on the next trade. 

- Patience, patience, patience...

- learn more about trend trading

- study and focus on MAs crossing

- Practice, practice, practice hitting proper hot keys on keyboard

I also need to remember that I am in a sim to practice. It is actually good to make mistakes now and learn from them. 

Well that's that. I will see everyone on Thursday morning as I am back to my nursing job for 4 shifts starting Sunday. I wish I could trade and practice everyday as I definitely want to do this full time. The life style is just amazing. But what can I do....

Thanks everyone and have a wonderful weekend! 

 

[MarkCB 49]

Hello Everyone

Finally back trading from my 4 days work. Tried trading before my night shifts but I'm usually tired and very impatient. Didn't input on my journal for those days as I know the main reason for poor decision was that I was not patient. I went in to this trading day making patience my core principle. I also, learned that I NEED to use hard stops using market orders as I've always said, "I have a feeling it wont drop/rise anymore". And then I shoot myself in the foot.

Did a couple trades. Tried to be part of that falling angel/rising devil with PINS but I put my limit order too high by .01 cents...lol. Ah well. 

AAPL

Took it long after 5 min ORB with stop loss at VWAP. Then I thought I saw higher highs and highers lows with the bullish candles and went long on the next candle and went long. Stop loss at VWAP again and got stopped out. A trend started to form so I waited for a pull back. Again, patience. Once I saw the pull back I waited for more confirmation. I noticed an engulfing candle but still wasn't too happy. I waited for the next candle to form above the engulfing pattern. Once that happened, I went long with stop loss just below VWAP. Waited for 2R and started to partial out while also moving my BE using hard stops. I was down to 50 shares so I decided to pull out before it dropped. I then re-entered again when I saw the new higher highs/lows. I've also been paying attention to MAs and it's added to my confidence in making decisions. 

BABA

Noticed a beautiful trend up on BABA. Once there was a pull back and confirmation for a long, I bought in and started to partial out at 2R with stop loss at VWAP. I think I have been bringing my BE a little to high but it worked out for me this time. 

X

Waited for 5 min ORB and went long with stop loss at VWAP. Started to partial out at 2R. Brought my stop loss to break even and got stopped out. Once the stock reversed and noticed a new candle breaking back over the MAs I went long on the next candle, with a stop loss at VWAP. Sarted to take profit at 2R and eventually got stopped out at BE. Now, I should've have have brought my BE up higher... ah well. Next time...

I've made my goal but I got a little greedy and lost out a little on apple. Lesson learned, do not trade after hitting my goal. 

 

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you and have a wonderful weekend everyone! 

[MarkCB 49]

I apologize. I have not put into my journal recently. I worked most of the week last week but I did try to trade before and after my night shifts. Horrible days. Same as this week. Did not find the motivation to post. Started listening to Robert's rants and I can really relate. Will take it back a notch and figure it all out. Very much became a emotional trader, which in turn made every decision I made even worse. Back to work starting tomorrow. See ya'll next week! 

[MarkCB 49]

Good morning Everybody

Took 2 trades today. I have been very hesitant on taking trades since I've been in the red for the past 2 weeks...overtrading, emotional trading, breaking rules, taking to many trades at one time.....I kind of dreaded coming on today....

Told myself, as long as I'm positive today, I am happy. Took my first trade and was up. Got a little nervous and pulled out way too soon. I then took another trade (broke my only rule for today) and I am back in the negative. But I need to remember that this is for practice. That second trade was a mistake, but I did learn from it. I also told myself that I would post, regardless of how crappy my trading is. 

MU

Waited for 5 min ORB. Took my entry, with stop loss above VWAP. Waited for 2R and scaled out. I now use hard stops. I read the chart wrong and put in the the wrong stop loss for my BE. If I did it correctly, I would have never been stopped out and could've gone down all the way to 46.72. 

Question - When scaling out, I trade 50% of my shares. I see a lot of you guys scale out way more times. Do you scale out with less trades every time? I just do not see how one can scale out multiple times if one trade 50% of their shares. 

 

NFLX

Why did I trade netflix. I don't know, really. I had FOMO from my first trade. I've had FOMO a lot, which lead me to over trading. I really need to stop this bad habit. If I miss the opportunity, then it wasn't meant for me. Other opportunities will arise. 

Anyways, both the 1 and 2 minute charts showed higher highs/lows. I did notice the resistance level on the 1 min but ignored it. Why? I don't know. On the 2 minute however, it popped over the VWAP with the next level at 302.5. I guess I used the 2 min as confirmation to go long. Looking at it now, yes the 2 min chart shows no resistance, but the 1 definitely did. Lesson learned. 

Question - The area circled in blue, is that a bull flag? I did see it but I wasn't sure. It did pop up as you can see but I was hesitant. After I saw that, I was long bias and was probably another reason why I went long when I did. 

 

It would be greatly appreciated if you guys could answer my questions or provide any feedback. I thank you all for your support! See you all tomorrow!

 

[MarkCB 49]

Good morning everybody!

Good day today! It's amazing what a good and positive psychology can do to your trading. Traded TGT and MU today.

TGT 

I think I did well, but not amazing with TGT. Went short after the 2 min orb with stop loss at VWAP. I used both the 1 and 2 min charts for confirmation. I watched it go back towards the VWAp but wanted more confirmation. So when I saw the candle going below the previous low, I went short. Scaled out at the moving average and stopped out at the BE. I know some people went long (falling angel) after that but I just did not feel comfortable with all the moving average on the long side. I know there were tons of higher highs/lows, even after the VWAP. But after the last 2 weeks I needed to get past those MAs. Once that happened, I went long with my stop loss at the 100 MA.  I did however, notice that bull flag and told myself to go long, but lacked the confidence. 

I had, at this point, made well over my daily goal. In the 2 min chart, you see me take another trade due to FOMO. You don't see it here, but I used the 1 min chart for information. I went long but was immediately stopped out. Lesson learned (again), do NOT overtrade!! 

 

MU

The 2nd trade I took was MU. Took a 5 min ORB. Didn't go my way and got stopped out. 

I think it was an average day. Yes I'm in the green today but I lacked confidence. There were opportunities where I could've had much better entries. But like I said, after the last 2 weeks, I have been very hesitant. What I have learned is to be patient, look at the charts and analyze. I think that one thing that has helped me a lot is listening to Robert's Rants on psychology. I also purchased The Daily Trading Coach by Dr. Brett N. Steenbarger - looking forward to reading this book!

Thanks for looking and any feedback would be greatly appreciated.