Thunder dome

[Michael Sanchez 53]

Stock: BIDU

Strategy: ABCD

Why did you take the trade?: To start, this was one of the stocks that I was watching in the premarket. I noticed that the stock broke down on above average volume. I wanted to take the trade to the short side but I wanted the price action to be close to the 5min 9 ema. I saw that the price action was making a pullback on below average volume. One the stock bounced off of the 5min 9ema I waited for it to break VWAP. As soon as it broke VWAP I took the trade. It may seem like I got out early of the trade, but I got out with 3R. My hotkey calculated a range and while I could have possibly gotten 5 or 6R I am happy that my strategy is working. I am noticing more consistency with my trades. 

Long/Short: Short

Entry: 221.24

Risk: 10 cents or so 

S/L: 221. 14

How did you feel after taking the trade?: I felt GREAT! I followed my plan and stuck to it. I did have minor anxiety but overall I am seeing progress in my trading performance. 

What did you do well?: Overall, I did well managing the trade, being patient, and my entry.

What can you improve on?: GOING TO 4R!!!

Questions?: What is the meaning of life?

 

[Michael Sanchez 53]

Format:

Stock: AAPL

Strategy: ABCD

Why did you take the trade?: I took this trade very quickly with little to no time to think (which is bad). I took it because I saw that the stock was consolidating to the 5min 9ema. 

Long/Short: LONG

Entry: 133.91

Risk: 7 cents  

S/L: 133.84

How did you feel after taking the trade?: So I only got 1 1/2R on this trade for the following reasons. First, I got out early because i saw that APPLE was extended. I also noticed that APPL was unable to make a new high on the 1 min chart. As soon as there was a new 1min low I got out. I did not have confidence in this trade and I should not have taken it. 

What did you do well?: Getting out of the trade because of objective signals. 

What can you improve on?: I need to take my time and not just jump into a trade like I did here. 

Questions?:  How would you have handled this situation? Why wouldn't you have taken this trade? What would you tell me if you were my manager at a prop firm?

 

Edited December 31, 2020 by Michael Sanchez

[Adam Lewis 64]

On 1/1/2021 at 4:04 AM, Michael Sanchez said:

Questions?: What is the meaning of life?

Drink good whisky and swear often.😉 

Great work on these trades Michael, and good stuff putting this thread together! It's good to see some reflections, I'm keeping a similar journal although offline. Maybe I'll add a trade or two of my own here.

Your BIDU trade was very well put together! Don't worry about 'only' getting 3R, I'd bite your hand off for 3R on a good trade! They key is, 'did I have a good reason for entering this trade?' - if you did, then great work! 

For the AAPL trade, I'm not sure the entry was quite right for an ABCD pattern. Is the dark blue line VWAP? If so this would be a nice VWAP break trade, a strategy I use when a stock has broken and then held VWAP ahead of a further move up, VWAP becoming support. Gives you a nice tight stop back below VWAP and so often really good R:R. You've also got this tracking and bouncing off what I guess is a 9EMA below, the purple line? There's nothing wrong with this entry IMO, but looks to me more like a VWAP break than an ABCD (your entry for an ABCD  would be at the breakout of the range, about 3/4s of the way up the green candle to the right of your entry, I think?).

Anyway, keep up the great work, looking forward to reading more! 

[Michael Sanchez 53]

13 hours ago, Adam Lewis said:

Drink good whisky and swear often.😉 

Great work on these trades Michael, and good stuff putting this thread together! It's good to see some reflections, I'm keeping a similar journal although offline. Maybe I'll add a trade or two of my own here.

Your BIDU trade was very well put together! Don't worry about 'only' getting 3R, I'd bite your hand off for 3R on a good trade! They key is, 'did I have a good reason for entering this trade?' - if you did, then great work! 

For the AAPL trade, I'm not sure the entry was quite right for an ABCD pattern. Is the dark blue line VWAP? If so this would be a nice VWAP break trade, a strategy I use when a stock has broken and then held VWAP ahead of a further move up, VWAP becoming support. Gives you a nice tight stop back below VWAP and so often really good R:R. You've also got this tracking and bouncing off what I guess is a 9EMA below, the purple line? There's nothing wrong with this entry IMO, but looks to me more like a VWAP break than an ABCD (your entry for an ABCD  would be at the breakout of the range, about 3/4s of the way up the green candle to the right of your entry, I think?).

Anyway, keep up the great work, looking forward to reading more! 

Good Morning Adam,

Thank you for your post. I Agree!! You have a point. This is more like a VWAP break than an ABCD pattern. I chased the price action and took this trade irrationally. Thank you for your feedback Adam and I hope to hear more from you in the near future. 

[Michael Sanchez 53]

Stock: NIO

Strategy: N/A

Why did you take the trade?: Honestly, I do not know what I was doing. I belive i saw a large lot on the "ASK" and thought that this stock was going to break up. My entry was poor and my R/R was also poor. 

Long/Short: LONG

Entry: 52.43

Risk: 78 cents!!!!!!

S/L: 51.65

How did you feel after taking the trade?: I felt awful after the trade. Honestly, I did not want to report it on the forum but I must hold myself accountable. 

What did you do well?: N/A

What can you improve on?: I recently started a new full-time job and orientation started yesterday. This is my first full time job since leaving the military and I woke up completely exhausted and late. I need to find a better way to manage my time.

Questions?: HOW do you cope with working and trading (Fulltime or partime). How do you manage your time and how do you stop the morning fatigue? Is is something you become accustomed to?

 

[Michael Sanchez 53]

Stock: MU

Strategy: ?

Why did you take the trade?: I took this trade because I lacked discipline. There was no strategy and I paid the price.

Long/Short: LONG

Entry: 78.07

Risk: 25 cents 

S/L: 77.82

How did you feel after taking the trade?: Like garbage because there was no strategy. 

What did you do well?: Journaling afterwards 

What can you improve on?: My resilience 

Questions?: : HOW do you cope with working and trading (Fulltime or partime). How do you manage your time and how do you stop the morning fatigue? Is is something you become accustomed to?

 

[A_aron 27]

Date:  1-5-21
Stock: AMD
Strategy: ABCD
Long/Short: SHORT
Entry: 92.49
S/L: 92.28
Risk:  0.21
Plan of attack:

-          ABCD.[ it was a stretch]
-          Take profit at/ near 1,2, possibly 3 R.

Why did you take the trade?:
-          Consolidation on the 2 and 5 min chart.
-          5 min chart holding VWAP/ 2 min chart tested the 13 EMA.

How did you feel after taking the trade?:
o   Pretty good I took most of my profits at good R:R.
o   Entry was pretty good.
What did you do well?:
- Taking profits
-Waiting for a good entry.  

What can you improve on?:
 - On a stock that isn’t in play or doesn’t have any news, I should not look for a 3R. ( even though some stocks that aren’t in play in the morning can have solid moves.
-5 min and 2 min chart had a decreasing volume , nice shooting star indicating weakness on both charts. Chances of it going higher where not in my favor.
 -     Taking this trade distracted me from making a solid entry on a pull back on MU[ which was a stock in play] 

Question:

- Criticize away!
- How many stocks do you have on your screen at once? Ive found when I practice and I only watch one stock I usually make good decisions and better execution on my trades. However I don't want to miss out on a opportunity elsewhere just because I watching a different stock in play. Any advice/ opinion?

 

Edited January 5, 2021 by A_aron

[A_aron 27]

Date:  1-5-21
Stock: AMD
Strategy: ORB
Long/Short: SHORT
Entry: 91.55
S/L: 91.76
Risk:  0.21
Plan of attack:
-          1min ORB-down.
-          Take profit at/ near low of yesterday. 

Why did you take the trade?:
-          I traded to trade.
How did you feel after taking the trade?:
-          Poor:
                  o   Setup
                 o   Execution

 What did you do well?:
- managing risk. 

What can you improve on?:
-          Print out my play book. Having the patience/ discipline to only trade the correct setup. I was doing fine till this week.
 -          Even if it did break down, my entry was terrible.

 

[Michael Sanchez 53]

10 hours ago, A_aron said:

Date:  1-5-21
Stock: AMD
Strategy: ORB
Long/Short: SHORT
Entry: 91.55
S/L: 91.76
Risk:  0.21
Plan of attack:
-          1min ORB-down.
-          Take profit at/ near low of yesterday. 

Why did you take the trade?:
-          I traded to trade.
How did you feel after taking the trade?:
-          Poor:
                  o   Setup
                 o   Execution

 What did you do well?:
- managing risk. 

What can you improve on?:
-          Print out my play book. Having the patience/ discipline to only trade the correct setup. I was doing fine till this week.
 -          Even if it did break down, my entry was terrible.

 

 

10 hours ago, A_aron said:

Date:  1-5-21
Stock: AMD
Strategy: ABCD
Long/Short: SHORT
Entry: 92.49
S/L: 92.28
Risk:  0.21
Plan of attack:

-          ABCD.[ it was a stretch]
-          Take profit at/ near 1,2, possibly 3 R.

Why did you take the trade?:
-          Consolidation on the 2 and 5 min chart.
-          5 min chart holding VWAP/ 2 min chart tested the 13 EMA.

How did you feel after taking the trade?:
o   Pretty good I took most of my profits at good R:R.
o   Entry was pretty good.
What did you do well?:
- Taking profits
-Waiting for a good entry.  

What can you improve on?:
 - On a stock that isn’t in play or doesn’t have any news, I should not look for a 3R. ( even though some stocks that aren’t in play in the morning can have solid moves.
-5 min and 2 min chart had a decreasing volume , nice shooting star indicating weakness on both charts. Chances of it going higher where not in my favor.
 -     Taking this trade distracted me from making a solid entry on a pull back on MU[ which was a stock in play] 

Question:

- Criticize away!
- How many stocks do you have on your screen at once? Ive found when I practice and I only watch one stock I usually make good decisions and better execution on my trades. However I don't want to miss out on a opportunity elsewhere just because I watching a different stock in play. Any advice/ opinion?

 

Awesome trades man!!! I agree you did great taking profits man especially for the 2nd trade. Great job getting out on the 2nd trade. Risk management is key. I only watch one stock as well bro. While I have 2 or 3 on my watchlist I just tend to have multiple time frames and just switch through the stocks.  I have trouble watching more than one stock because I tend to over trade. Honestly, I do not know if you see it man but you are making some good progress. Also did you think about flipping your position on the first trade? 

[Adam Lewis 64]

Great work guys. I have 6 stocks on a watch list, but once I'm focused on one stock I switch to a tab with a 1 min, 5 min, daily and montage / L2 / T&S. So whenever I'm considering a trade or am in a trade I'm focused on only one stock. You'll always miss opportunities, but the market will still be there tomorrow and you'll find more!

 

[Adam Lewis 64]

Date:  6 January 2021
Stock: DKNG
Strategy: Bottom reversal at the open
Long/Short: Long
Entry: 50.91
S/L: VWAP (I think...) which was at 50.63
Risk:  28c, I guess targeting 51.50 giving me a decent R:R, but this wasn't consciously figured out and honestly I'm backfilling a strategy here, which tells you all you need to know! 
Plan of attack: Scalp the move up as shorts squeeze out, take profit early, partial 50% and 50%.

 

Why did you take the trade?: The stock fell at the open giving me a set up to go long as it reversed off the bottom. This is a set up I look for at the open as stocks often sell off in the first 2 / 3 minutes and then reverse and come back up, I think similar to a Fallen Angel (but not precisely). 
 

How did you feel after taking the trade?: Stressed and lucky. Despite being a profitable trade I didn't feel this was a good trade. Honestly, I wasn't clear when I went in where my stop loss was. Below VWAP? Sure, but I honestly didn't consciously think it at the time. It was also very 'wicky'. I don't feel this was a good trade. I could just as easily have gotten stopped out through natural fluctuations. 

What did you do well?: Waited until I saw my set up before entering a trade. Waited for a confirmation candle before entering a trade.
 

What can you improve on?: Figure out my risk reward much clearer before I go in.
 

Question: How can I manage risk at the open like this? Am I better going in fixed risk (so whatever I enter -15c, for example?) and risk getting stoppped out, because the bottom of the range was a massive 60c away and doesn't give me anything like a good R:R. 

 

Edited January 7, 2021 by Adam Lewis
I pressed enter too soon!

[MattfromNZ 55]

Hey guys, I have been following this thread intermittently, I like seeing the trades good and back here.

I have been finding that with trades close to the open I can only trade 1 stock at a time cause things move so quick. However later when things slow down it seems easier to be in more than 1 trade when things are trending more slowly. I thought I would share my best and my worst trade from today:

First one is MARA $20 Risk, +49.07 profit

Second one is PLUG $20 Risk -$21.70 Loss

These are simulated values of course, but I have just started using fixed risk hotkeys and they are great. Also when I do go live, $20 risk is what I imagine would be good to start with.

[Adam Lewis 64]

Great stuff Matt. The first trade is a picture perfect ABCD, well set up and well traded. Well done! 

RE: The second trade - yeah I'd agree it was very extended, I think PLUG was up 12% by this point or something similar, I'd have been looking more for a roll-over and some profit taking than a continuation. I wonder what sub-criteria would go along with an ABCD, for example if there is a range within which a stock is an A+ set up and anything outside that is A-?

[Adam Lewis 64]

On 1/5/2021 at 11:40 PM, A_aron said:

Why did you take the trade?:
-          I traded to trade.

What can you improve on?:
-          Print out my play book. Having the patience/ discipline to only trade the correct setup. I was doing fine till this week.
 -          Even if it did break down, my entry was terrible.

Hey Aaron - You'll know better than me of course! But are you being a bit tough on yourself saying you traded to trade? This was an ORB which by definition happens at the open, it's not like you've been sat on your hands for an hour and the trade comes through boredom. So was it trading to trade? The set up here looks alright to me, the stock broke down. You've got the red dotted line which I guess is a pre-market support level, looking at the PM candles there. I guess waiting for the price to break and hold below that level before entering might have made more sense, but I'm not totally convinced this was such a terrible trade. I guess ask yourself, if you got resolution and the stock flushed as you hoped it would, would you feel lucky? Or would you feel like you made a good trade that worked out? As I say, only you'll really know for sure 🙂 To me it doesn't look like a total dog's breakfast and I do think your entry is justifiable. 

[A_aron 27]

Adam,

I like the scalp play on a squeeze! It is definitely a constant across stocks.

Your stop loss was not bad. It was just below the VWAP and it was about the length of the body of the previous candle [ more used for ORBs]. In terms of managing your risk using the VWAP/ EMA for a S/L at the open you can trade a smaller share size. This will allow you to have still have some wiggle room for the volatility at the open. If you get stopped out, you won’t lose as much as you would trading your standard share size.

Personally, I don’t use fixed risk amount. A .25 risk on AMD may be suitable and not get stopped out easily. However a .25 risk on BABA or TSLA would get stopped out immediately because they make significant moves quickly. 

Hope I answered your questions.