Day Trading Journal for Robert H

[Robert H 453]

NFLX Reverse ABCD and Double Bottom Reversal - April 17, 2018

 

NFLX gapped up on earnings and hit new all-time highs. Andrew traded it numerous times in the morning until noon. However, I didn't touch it as I had already hit my daily profit goal trading other stocks.

 

At 3 PM, I came back to my desk and saw that NFLX was selling-off badly. I thought to myself 'I'm done for the day, but this looks like a great opportunity.' I ended up taking two trades: one short and one long.

 

1st Trade - Reverse ABCD on the 1-minute chart

From above, NFLX had lost the 9, 20 and 50 MA's on the 5-minute chart with little resistance. I decided to wait for a pullback and see if there was continued weakness. After the pullback I went short on a new 1-min low at 335. My stop was the high of consolidation area at 335.50. I covered at the 334 level and below during the $2 drop.

 

 

2nd Trade - Double Bottom Reversal on the 1-minute chart

After closing my short position, I thought I was done for the day (this time for real). But nope, I saw a double bottom form on the 1-minute chart as it failed to make a new low on the 5-min chart. I went long at 334 with a stop below the second bottom of 333.40. The moving averages on the 5-minute chart looked like potential profit targets. NFLX rebounded and climbed back up to the MA convergence area. I managed to take profit gradually on the series of higher-highs and higher-lows. My final exit was just shy of $337 which was nearly $3 above my entry.

[Robbie Williams 12]

Thanks for sharing the Netflix trade Robert. Such clean trades unlike the morning chop we saw.

[Andrew Aziz 97]

Nice. Robert as you see, you got stopped out too early at 20 EMA. I think it is best to wait until lose of 20 EMA.

[Robert H 453]

DRNA VWAP Trend Trade – April 20, 2018

 

DRNA showed up on the High of the Day Bull Flag Scanner during lunch hour. Andrew and others took the trade long as it popped up $3 on some sort of catalyst. I noticed that the momentum was dying at around 1 PM and checked the float. It was 52m shares, which is far from low. At around 1:30 PM, I saw it lose the VWAP and the 20 EMA in a single candle. The stock looked incredibly weak on rising volume.

 

 

I went short at 12.91 with a stop loss just above VWAP at 13.20. My target was the 50 SMA which was below $12 at the time. The reward-to-risk was greater than 3. Given the time of day and low volume, I ended up scaling out much sooner than the profit target (cautious of a random reversal). I survived the pullback and continued to cover until the 50 MA closed in.

 

This was one of the most stress-free trades I've ever taken as it slowly bled $1 over a 30 minute period.

[Robert H 453]

MU Bear Flag/Reverse ABCD - April 23, 2018

 

MU was a great short today but I missed the initial 5-minute ORB. At around 9:45 AM, I watched it pullback and consolidate. I focused on the 1-minute chart to see if it would make a new low at around 49.5. The stock still looked very weak and the market was also selling off. My target would be the next level down at 49, with a stop at 49.70 (high of previous candle). Reward-to-risk was around 2.5.

 

 

I entered on the new 1-minute low and MU began to plunge. I locked in some profit at 49.25 and covered more at the 49 target. My final portion was covered on the next bullish candle before break-even.

[Robert H 453]

ACAD Bear Flag/Chase - April 25, 2018

 

ACAD showed up on the Turbo Break Down scanner after plunging $3 upon losing the VWAP. The volume was incredible and dragged the VWAP down with it. Considering the time of day (2 PM EST), there must have been a fresh catalyst for the drop.

 

I pulled up the daily chart and saw a level at 15.70. Without further thinking, I shorted at 16.35. My stop was a break of the prior consolidation at 17. The reward-to-risk was a meager 1.0.

 

 

Shortly after I entered, the stock pulled back and consolidated. I stubbornly held my ground despite the risk of a looming reversal. Luckily, it broke 10 minutes after and I began covering quite aggressively. It continued to plunge as low as 14.50 where I was able to take some more profit. My final exit was when it closed back above the 9 EMA.

 

Looking back on this trade, I realize my entry was terrible. This resulted in me having to survive the pullback and much unnecessary stress. A good entry would have been on the previous candle when it made a new 5-min low. Another great entry would have been 5 minutes after it consolidated on a new 5-min low. Despite being a winner, I'm not too proud of this trade.

[Robert H 453]

CASA VWAP Reversal - April 26, 2018

 

Here's a trade where I went against my intuition and missed a huge run. CASA sold off heavily in the first 15 minutes. Then it failed to make a new 5-minute low on a double bottom. I went long at 23.85 with a stop at the loss of the consolidation area on the 1-minute chart at 23.70. My target was the 9 EMA on 5-minute chart and VWAP above that for a reward-to-risk of 2.1.

 

 

Five minutes after having entered the trade I got cold feet. There was a 20-30 second lull in volume which caused me to chicken out and sell at break-even. Almost immediately after the stock shot up past 2 MA's and VWAP to 24.55. I watched the epic short squeeze from the sidelines like a 3rd string quarterback on Super Bowl night :(

[Andrew Aziz 97]

Nice recaps Robert!

[Andrew Aziz 97]

I really like how you look at risk to rewards too. I should work on these more too.

[Robert H 453]

INTC Opening Range Breakdown - April 27, 2018

 

INTC quickly lost the VWAP at the open and looked incredibly weak. At 9:35 AM, I went short at 55. My stop was 0.10 above VWAP at 55.25. The profit target was the MA below at 54.50 and the 54.35 level below that. The reward-to-risk was around 2.0.

 

 

About 5-10 seconds after my entry, Andrew called the same trade. I knew that the odds were in my favour! INTC quickly dropped 0.50 to the MA (where Andrew covered all), and continued down to 54.20. I held the last bit in hopes of surviving the pullback, but it spiked to VWAP and I was all out. The stock continued lower to the PCL before bouncing around.

[Robert H 453]

ARNC Opening Range Breakdown, VWAP Chop, VWAP False Breakout, Moving Average Trend - April 30, 2018

 

I overtraded ARNC today and went 2/4. It was put on SSR after gapping down over the weekend. The Bears took the stock down at the Open, but it pulled back to VWAP and went sideways for about an hour. After it lost VWAP, the bleeding continued well into the afternoon.

 

 

1st Trade - ORB

After the initial dump at the open, I waited for a momentary pullback to VWAP as this is a pretty a common occurrence on ORBs. The spike came at 9:35 AM and I watched to see if it would make a new 1-min low and 5-min low at the same time. My stop would be above VWAP, and my target at 19.27. I caught an entry at 19.86 for a reward-to-risk of 2. I scaled out on the way down with the last bit covered at VWAP. Brian P took the same trade, but had a much better entry in the first few minutes (I probably sold my shares to him for the cover).

 

2nd/3rd Trade - VWAP False Break Outs

After it looked to have rejected VWAP, I went short again. Unfortunately I was stopped out. At this point I believe Andrew had just got out of his long position on ARNC. Immediately after stopping out, I went long hoping to get to the 20 EMA, but again was stopped out below VWAP. Both of these trades were very low reward-to-risk, 0.7 and 1.6, respectively. It was clearly chopping up and down and I was better off not trading it until it found some direction. These weren't the best trades and I ended up giving back 2/3rds of my winnings in just 10 minutes!

 

4th Trade - VWAP False Break Out/Moving Average Trend Trade

I am really proud of this trade because I didn't let the two prior losses deter me. As Mark Douglas says, 'every moment in the market is unique.' I saw that it was clearly losing the VWAP and that volume was coming in. I went short at 19.45 with a stop above VWAP and a target at the low of the day. The reward-to-risk was in the neighbourhood of 2.5. I covered most around the 19 level but let some ride for nearly 3 hours and covered the last bit at 18. It reversed to 18.40 afterward so that whole-dollar level ended up being strong support.

[Brendon 146]

Thanks for posting this journal Rob. I did not screenshot my ARNC trades that day but wish I had. This is great for new traders to review some fairly simple common strategies used by us.

 

I don't have the ARNC daily chart in front of me but I remember the stock gapping down near the 200SMA/EMA area, I think this is where the ORB decided to head and where you placed your levels. It's important to wait a few minutes after open to see if that level will be tested and it did beautifully.

 

Also a possible sign to note would be that last long 5 min wick around 10:50, the final push by the bulls, helped confirm any attempt to start an uptrend was rejected and just general weakness above VWAP.

 

The most important take away is try to scale out as you can see Rob did in many pieces and the trend trade later in the day never even came to test his B/E entry. The morning may be too choppy for this but if you take a trend trade later in the day it can pay off handsomely...just a good habit to work on for new traders.

 

Solid trades with some stopped out chop to shake it up.

[Robert H 453]

JNPR Opening Range Breakdown/Moving Average Trend – May 2, 2018

 

JNPR filled the gap this morning after gaining $2 overnight. I missed the 5-min and 15-min ORBs but noticed that it was still making lower highs and lower lows with little support. At 9:50 AM I saw it lose the 50 SMA and decided to take a stab. My stop would be above the MA, at 26.25, and a target at 25.75. With an entry of 26.15, my reward-to-risk was 3.5.

At 10 AM or so, I thought that a reversal was pending since it failed to make a new low on a doji. I took some profit on the next candle and thereafter. Once the stock broke the 30-minute opening range, the bottom began to fall out. I patiently took profit at the levels I found from the daily chart and was all out once it reversed back to the PCL.

 

As Brendon stated above, keeping the last bit of shares until break-even can be a good habit to develop. It really paid off to let this winner run for over 3 hours!

[Robert H 453]

SQ ABCD - May 3, 2018

 

SQ opened up really strong on some sort of a Bull Flag. I watched it for an ORB but it quickly retraced and consolidated around the 47.80 level. After watching it hold the level, I waited for a new 5-minute high to go long an ABCD pattern. With an entry around 48, my stop would be 47.75 and my target the PCL at 48.65. The reward-to-risk was 2.7.

After it made a new 5-min high, Bulls jumped in and pushed the stock higher towards Y/YY levels. I took some profit there and continued to scale out at the HOD and PCL. My last bit of shares were sold on a new 5-min low right before it dumped to VWAP and below.

 

This was a classic ABCD trade on a bullish stock that was strong above all the moving averages and VWAP. In the first 30 minutes, the success rate of these types of trades seems quite high.

[Robert H 453]

JD Opening Range Breakdown - May 4, 2018

 

I watched JD slowly trend down after bumping it's head on the 50MA at the open. It continued to make lower-highs and lower-lows until it finally lost VWAP. I waited for some sort of a pullback as the 3rd 5-mionute candle was just way too large and quick to trade. At 9:45 AM, I saw that it was a great 15-min ORB down. My profit target would be a level at 37.03 with a stop above VWAP at 37.85. With an entry at 37.65, my reward-to-risk was 3.0.

On the dip I quickly coverred some and continued to take profit on the lower-lows. When the stock reversed, it shot up so quick that I was barely able to cover my last bit of shares at break-even. Looking back on this trade, I should have covered more aggressively near the bottom since it was very extended from VWAP. Live and learn.