Journal / Growing a small account (Sim Trades)

[Brandon K 64]

Alright, Folks. This is my attempt at logging my trades and hoping to find some accountability for my trades/growth/etc etc. I journal my trades in Onenote (not faithfully but most of the time), but I'm feeling like that is too anti-community like. So, I'm gonna start posting my journals here. Nothing fancy, just showing my entries/exits. A little background.. been in the chat room since 2017 (I think around January) and still haven't figured this all out yet, lol. Been live twice, lost money. Didn't blow an account up, but lost enough for me to pull out realizing I wasn't ready. These trades are all simulator so my intent is to grow an account in the simulator. If I can grow an account from 4500 to 10k, I can definitely go from 10k to 25k.

*Will update this post when I add all the strategies and stuff, but right now gonna add my first journal*

Okay, today. 2/7/2019

Result:

$CGC - At the open, watched $CGC squeeze up over the VWAP and close. Waited for the ABCD pattern to form and after the first 5 minutes, I went long 200 shares near the 9MA 1-minute. Rode the momentum up and cut it after a few minutes. Trade was cut too early. I've been working on this. I tend to cut my trades short a lot within the first 5 minutes of holding a trade. Sure, I could have scaled out, but with a $4500 account, I don't take as big of size and commissions eat up gains. I've found success with taking profits all at once.

Had I stuck to a part of my strategy, I wouldn't have exited $CGC until the break of the 9MA 1-minute indicated by the arrow. The arrow on the 5-minute is a mark for me showing an entry for a 9MA 5-minute bounce strategy I take frequently.

$TWTR - Twitter didn't play nice today. I tried the 9MA reverse strategy and it didn't work. I was too early by a about 10 minutes. I went short 100 shares the first go round looking for a move back down to low of day. I think the indicator I missed here on my first entry was the engulfing pattern. I covered after the next pattern engulfed my entry candle. I got back in short 200 shares thinking the move would happen this time around and ended up stopping out again. I gave my entry about 10 cents, but VWAP would've been the better stop out spot since the move did happen a few minutes later. I take this play often, but this time I think I was too early.

$TPR - After getting rocked a bit by $TWTR, I came back with a short on TPR 100 shares. I took the trade after the price action closed below the 9MA 5-minute indicated by the arrow. Of course, I cut the trade too short and missed out on profits. I thought the price action would squeeze from here based on the 1-minute so I covered. Price action sold off after my exit.

$GRUB - My savior of the day. This trade wasn't a mistake but my share sizing was. I waited for this move debating on whether to go short/long. If I followed my thoughts on the previous trade with $TPR, I would have shorted before my entry looking for the fade from the 9MA 5-minute. After seeing the price action curl up on the 9MA 1-minute, I thought I went long 50 shares but went 300 shares long on accident. I didn't realize this until 4 minutes in the trade. After the price action stalled and hovered around VWAP, I sold all shares.

I do find it interesting, though.. that had I gotten in later for a long play on $GRUB and followed my strategy of not getting out until the price action closes below the 9MA 1-minute, I wouldn't have covered until around $76. Interesting... Kind of similar to the play on $CGC.

What do you all think?

Gotta work on exits and making sure I'm not taking too much size on a trade. I have a habit of going too big on a trade from greed and not keeping price action range and movement in mind. With a $4500 account, more than 3% before commissions is really good. I'm shooting for 1% and increasing from there, but gotta be A1 at all times because 1 wrong trade with bad sizing will ruin it all. I've seen this so many times from resetting my simulator many times over.

$TPR - Missed the ORBD. I wait for the first 5-minutes regardless of what I see. Good entry there, though from the 9MA 1-minute.

Edited February 8, 2019 by Brandon K

[Willy 25]

Hello Brandon, 

I have been here since 2017 too. At the beginning of the year i started a forum like you 

That was the 2nd time a tried and fail  to grow a small live account (US$ 3,000) now a get back to simulator to try with US$10,000 account.

Here is the thing that i have learned so far.

1. Try to be only in one trade at a time(2  max). (this doesn't apply for Andrew, he is in another level)

2. When you have a small account the ideal is to trade stocks from 3 to 10 dollars in order to buy  400 or more shares. But the case is those one are usually low float. Very difficult to trade for novices. 

3. To trade stocks from 20 to 100 dollars with  a small account is very difficult. For example the trade on CGC was the only one you needed for you daily goal if you have bought 400 shares, sell 200 fo $52 and  with that money in you pocket you can relax and follow to plan for the 9 MA and you could get $200 more.  The same happen on the TPR trade, with more shares you sold half (or a quarter like Andrew) and you would get more money with the others. Your winners can run and your losers get cut quickly (with only 100 shares that does't work)

4. Try to buy next to a level to not get over your max loss per trade.

5. Try to define only one or two strategies and test them.

6. I think you can't no trade more than 4, 5 times. (the commissions are going to hurt you (small account))

7. If you have 3 losing trades in a row, come back tomorrow.

8. It is good to see the big picture, use 5 min chart to see the trend and 1 minute chart to get the best entry.

9. If you trade a stock 2 times in a row you are using one strategy but if you trade it 4, 5 times in a row you are guessing or doing revenge trading.

I hope this can help you. I am open to talk about this topic.

Regards,

Willy

   

Edited February 9, 2019 by Willy

[Brandon K 64]

2/8/2019

Today.. was one of those days. I felt like I was doing majority of things right, but still didn't get the moves. Which is okay, but of course there were some things to work on as always.

Result: On a 4500 account, a $76 loss isn't that bad. The killer part is the amount of commissions I racked up - turning this into a $176 loss.

$SKX - Starting off with this volatile cookie. Plenty of arrows here, but they're important. $SKX was a gap down in the pre-market. Sold off at open so I was thinking a ORBD. Price action was super volatile so I waited longer after the first 5-minutes for an entry. Went short 200 shares at the 9MA 1-minute after the price action came back below VWAP. Gave my stop loss about 10 cents and got stopped out at VWAP. Price action squeezed up and came back down. By this time, I'm thinking.. okay, price action is setting up for the 9MA reject play since it closed below the 9MA 5-minute. I hit again for another short 200 with a better entry. Price action dipped down and I didn't cover anything. The drop happened within a few seconds and caused a lot of panic covers. Price action came back to my break even and I got out thinking it wouldn't hold. Of course... Price action sold off hard afterwards with me missing the big move I was looking for. Came back later for another short after getting a close below both the 9MA 5-minute and VWAP 5-minute with 200 shares. Stopped out once again. By this time, I'm down a good bit and gave up on the short with $SKX. I did take a long trade after getting the close on the 5-minute above the 9MA 5-minute. Went long 200 shares, and didn't cover anything on the pop. I didn't pay attention to the resistance indicated by the arrows on the 5-minute. Lots of selling occurred there and then eventually the price action fell over. Got out with some profits, but could have been better.

I messed up $SKX big time. The opportunity was there with my second round of shorts and even the long play.

$CLF - This was another that just didn't work out. I was looking for a play through VWAP down to the 9MA 5-minute. Shorted 200 shares with about a 10 cent stop loss. After getting stopped out, the price action did sell off through the 9MA 5-minute before bouncing. After getting the close below VWAP and the 9MA 5-minute, I thought this was a sign for a bigger wash down. Went short again 200 shares and got stopped out. I think the second trade had the right idea, but $CLF was already strong so if anything, should've waited a bit for confirmation.

$MU - The market actually gave me a move on $MU and I didn't take profits when it happened. On the first trade, I got in on a pullback, but the price action didn't hold. I covered for a loss with 200 shares. I got back in short 200 shares after the price action closed below the VWAP. Got the move to the downside and I was looking for 37.61, but the price action squeezed before then. I stopped out at the 9MA 5-minute. A few minutes later, the price action rejected the 9MA 5-minute and sold off near LOD.

$MU later rejected the VWAP similar to how it rejects the 9MA 5-minute for a move down to 37.61.

$MAT - This was my last trade and I got the move I was looking for. Price action was toying with VWAP and I found a good opportunity at the 9MA 1-minute for a short entry. Went short 200 shares looking for the 20MA 5-minute (blue line on left chart_ and got the move down. Initially, the price action got close, but pulled back on the 1-minute. I got a bit nervous here thinking the price action would go back the other way since $MAT was strong for the day. After holding, the market gave me the play and I covered everything near the 20 5-minute. It did sell off more through the 20 5-minute after a few more minutes. I could have waited a bit more, but I set a target and wanted to honor that.

Also, on $MAT, a 9MA 5-minute play happened. Price action closed below the 9MA 5-minute twice and finally gave an opportunity for a wash to the LOD.

Reflection:

So, not that bad of I day I don't think. The commissions make this look worse than what it really is. I'd say maybe... 3 of my trades, I'd take back and maybe reduce my share sizing on those because of the uncertainty/risk. I kept my stops close and reasonable, but I felt like my entries on some trades were good.. but too early. The one on $CLF was definitely late, but the rest of the trades have me feeling like I had the right idea.

• Gotta get better with having targets for my trades. Well, I do have targets.. but I don't have mini targets. I need to have ultimate targets and mini targets. I may start covering half again to get some profits at some point, but with a small account I'm looking to grow rather than get as much as possible. That said, when I miss moves like $SKX that could've made my day/week, it compounds the hurt when I'm losing more than winning. Gotta work on that.
• Also, need to understand the price action's volatility better. $SKX was incredibly volatile today so I shouldn't have had the same thoughts about holding versus say.. $MU or $MAT. So, will look at taking profits when moves might be short lived in this case $SKX.
• One more thing.. need to realize when a play is over. When I think about $MU, I didn't cover anything, but I did think that wash down would continue. Gotta realize when the steam is gone. I think I haven't found that balance yet between knowing when to hold and when to dump. That's a struggle when dealing with a small account. Trying not to rack up commissions and at the same time take big enough shares for a trade to make sense. Sure, we shouldn't be focusing on commissions, but at the same time.. I had a 1.5%ish realized loss today, but 3-5% after commissions. Hmm.. Lots to work on.

[Brandon K 64]

@Willy, yeah I'm struggling big time with letting my winners run/taking profits and growing this account. I will need to go back in my trade logs to see how taking big size works for me. I remember some days I went big like that and ended up getting hit hard when the plan didn't work out. I guess the trade off with trading bigger size should be making better entries too, right?Just seems like I can't get my winners to outweigh the losers. My hot keys are set for 50, 100, 200 and the special keys ( I don't use at all unless it's a mistake) are set for 300, 400, 500. I feel like the majority of my entries outweigh my bad entries too. I don't take too heavy of a loss as much either.

[Brandon K 64]

Also, @Willy I've been following your trade journal!

[Brandon K 64]

Thoughts after reviewing my trades for the week:

I'm still having issues with taking profits too early. I get caught up in taking profits to grow the account, but I miss out on the biggest moves which would grow the account. I end up having a few losing streaks which wipe out the small gains I had. So, I'm gonna change it up a bit and start back scaling out at 50%. Locking in gains while also leaving room for potential.

Another thought is thinking in terms of If/Then statements. I got this idea from Cameron Fous. I was listening to a podcast about trading and he mentioned his thought processes when trading. Essentially, keep it simple and don't over complicate trading. Also, think in terms of IF this happens, THEN I will do this. It will help ease other emotional barriers that happen while trading. Right now, I see myself seeing set ups and I may/may not take the trade. Also, this goes in hand with stopping out and taking profits. IF this price or level is touched, THEN I will get out or take profits. The opposite of this would be making a decision without any structure or commitment. Will probably rewatch this to reinforce the mental techniques.

 

Another idea was dealing with indicators. This is expanding on keeping trading simple. People, the chat room, chart indicators, etc. are all considered indicators. They each can influence and make us more biased which can mess with our trading. I will be looking to limit the amount of outside forces that can act on me. I will continue to stick with the 9MA/VWAP only on my charts. Seems to limit my focus and helps me not draw too many thoughts while making decisions.

For charts, will be looking to avoid choppy price actions. I tend to lose more at market open from choppy price action than waiting till everything settles and taking a trade. I think this is me wanting to trade, hit my goal and get on with my day. Also, this is me not wanting to miss the big moves at open. I'm able to resist trading in the first 5-minutes so I will work on be more cautious when trading at open if the price action is volatile.

[Brandon K 64]

2/11/2019

I think I'm slipping back into the over trading bug. Had almost 20 tickets today while my usual is around 10. I had to dig out of a hole this morning trading $SQ/$CRON. Fighting back, I settled with a realized gain of $38.

Result:

$SQ - At the open, was looking for the ORBU. After the first 5, went long 200 shares with a stop below the previous 1-minute. I held this longer than I should have. I was looking for that pop up since it hit new highs twice. After the 1-minute closed at the 9MA 1-minute, I figured it lost momentum and sold for a loss. I think this was a good trade, just didn't work out.

Second trade, I waited for a pullback on the 1-minute (while also watching the challenge of the 9MA 5-minute) and went short 200 shares. After the first minute drop, I covered half of my position looking for the previous day close target. Waited for the next drop looking for the previous day close. Didn't get there and I covered the last 100.

Third trade, I was looking for a move down through the moving averages for a wash. I shorted 200 shares looking for the move, but looking back this was a bad trade. I wouldn't call it an impulse trade, but definitely a late entry. Maybe should have waited for a pullback or a more confirmed move through VWAP?

$CRON - First trade was a flop. Went short 400 shares looking for a play down through the previous day close. I covered for a loss on the pullback to the 9MA 1-minute. My entry was late although I did think the move would happen. Better entry was the next trade.

Second trade - Waited for another opportunity and went back short 200 shares. Covered half after the move down. Covered the rest at the 9MA 1-minute. My share sizing was too much for that first entry. Could have gone heavy on my second attempt being closer to my stop point.

Third trade - Price action was trending down to VWAP, caught an entry at the 9MA 1-minute and under the 9/20MA 5-minute. Shorted 200 shares and missed by cover near the previous day close. Covered at the break of the 9MA 1-minute for a small profit.

Fourth trade - Saw the 9MA 5-minute pullback trade I see a lot. Went short 400 shares with the stop at break of 9MA 1-minute. Covered half near new 1-minute low. Cover the rest at the previous day close.

Edited February 11, 2019 by Brandon K

[Brandon K 64]

2/12/2019

Today was brutal. Took a huge loss. Not upset, but definitely disappointed.

Result:

$CHGG - Missed the ORBD at the 4-6 minute mark. I didn't fret this and waited for an opportunity to form. I watched $CHGG trend up on the 1-minute so I went long 200 shares looking for the push up to VWAP and sold near VWAP. I was expecting a possible pullback and a fall of the VWAP since the price action sold off at open. 

$CHGG - After the price action pulled back on the 1-minute, I took this as a short opportunity at the 9MA 1-minute for 200 shares. Price action squeezed up and I took a loss at VWAP.

Price action came back down and here I'm thinking a reject of the 9MA 5-minute/1-minute. I went short 200 shares and added 100 on the way down. I was so sure the move would happen. Price action found resistance at 37 and squeezed up.  Sold for a loss at VWAP. The plan was to cover half near low of day or probably some before that depending on the push down. This was a huge loss. I guess the problem here was shorting on a strong uptrend. I really thought that fade would happen, but got faked out. I wasn't upset when the squeeze happened, but definitely shocked/disappointed. Maybe this move doesn't happen as often until there's a stronger trend already happening.

$EA -  I didn't take a trade here, but EA did form the pattern I was looking for on $CHGG. Will need to study this for more examples.

$CHGG - I took one more trade to the long side after a close above the 20MA 5-minute. I went long 200 shares looking for a move up, but after the price action seemed to stall, I cut it for a loss.

$UAA - Went short 200 shares looking for a pullback to VWAP 1-minute or the 9MA 5-minute. Probably a bad trade, but was looking for that pullback after several bearish candles. Definitely was a fake out.

[Brandon K 64]

2/13/2019

Got smacked by my own bad trades and sizing once again. Also, broke a rule I haven't broken in months.

I have been great by not trading in the first 5-minutes. After reviewing some charts, I saw some entries I could have taken in that time frame. Took one today and took a L. It's out of my system for awhile, now.

Result:

Watchlist:

$TWLO - Had a gap down on TWLO and I was looking for the ORBD. I took the trade on a 1-minute pullback to the 9MA 1-minute. Went short 50 shares and added 50 shares after getting a move down. Covered for a loss after the price action began to uptrend.

Second trade on $TWLO turned out great. Went short 100 shares after getting the close below VWAP/9MA 1-minute. Covered half at the low of the candle. Patiently waited for the next leg down and covered another half and scaled out. Could have held the last 13 shares for the rest of the way down to the 109.27 level I had. Great trade and very patient and timely on the entry. Now, if only I can consistently do this without taking bad trades.

Last few trades on $TWLO weren't the best. Thought the price action would push back towards low of day. I got in too big on size with 100 shares. Covered for a loss. Got back in for another short 50 shares and added another 50 shares looking for a push down and stopped out again for a loss. Both of these were bad trades.

$CGC - Price action was strong out the gate and I looked for a ORBU. Went long 200 shares after the first 5. Price action broke the 9MA 1-minute and I sold to prevent getting caught in a wash below the VWAP. Price action was clean, just wasn't time for the move.

$MGNX - Price action gapped up in pre-market and then sold off hard at open.  I waited for an entry to the downside on the 9MA and went short 200 shares under the VWAP. My entry was a bit late, but I did get in near the 9MA 1-minute. Was looking for a push down through low of day, but the 21.70 level held and bounced. Covered for a loss at the break of the 9MA 1-minute.

$ATVI - I tried to catch a reversal to the 9MA 5-minute, but failed. Went short 100 shares and added another 100 on the second candle. Price action seemed like it wanted to hold and I covered for a loss. That move did happen a few minutes later.

$EXEL -  I missed the ORBD here. Perfect entry at the 9MA 1-minute.

$TWLO - The retrace to the 9MA 5-minute and wash out was my expected move on TWLO, but I think my entry was too early in the trading day for it to happen. Almost like the price action didn't have time to find a trend and pullback first.

$MGNX - Similar set up here, but the price action found the 9MA 5-minute as resistance and faded.

[Brandon K 64]

2/14/2019

Last night, I made a few changes to my strategies.

1. Limit focus of how many stocks I'm watching. When I watch too many, I find myself flipping through the watchlist looking for opportunities. The problem is, I will take less ideal trades as my focus is too broad versus a small number of stocks to zone in on.

2. Be better about my sizing. I go through a spell of wanting to make up previous losses. I'm fighting this mentally and only saving for big share sizes when I'm close to my stop loss.

3. I wrote out and defined my strategy(s). I've felt for awhile that my trading style wasn't clearly defined. I changed that last night and wrote down what I should be looking for and thinking about when placing trades.

With those changes, I do feel like I was on the right track today. I consider the losses a step towards the right direction in figuring out my strategy.

Watchlist:

Result:

$KO - At the open, was looking at $KO for the ORBD. My target was around the 45.90 level. I waited till after the first 5-minutes to take a move. I could have entered at minute 6, but I wanted a closer entry to the 9MA 1-minute. After some consolidation, I went short 200 shares looking for the move down to the 45.90 level. Stop was above the 9MA 1-minute. Had I held above that level, probably would've gotten the move, but the risk to reward wasn't as favorable. Figured it wasn't worth it so I covered.

$GOOS - $GOOS dropped dramatically at the open. Big rewards there if you went short at the 9MA 1-minute. I waited, though.. After the first 5-minute, I still didn't take the trade because the risk to reward wasn't favorable. I waited till the price action pulled back to the 9MA 1-minute. Went short 50 shares looking for a move down through low of day. my stop was above the previous two candles before my entry.

$GOOS - I covered half on the next candle and the rest on the move back to break even.  I was looking for 53.56, but didn't get the move.

$GOOS - My last trade on GOOS was for a 9MA Reverse. I reviewed many of my trades on this move and most of the time I take this trade, I'm too early or I take a big loss because I went to big on sizing or let my stop run too far.

Went short looking for the reject of the VWAP. Waited two minutes on the reject candle on the 5-minute. Went short 100 shares and set my stop above the previous 2 candles. Stopped out early as the price action seemed to turn bullish 

 

$YELP - Price action pushed up through the 9MA 1-minute after the ORBD. I waited for an entry and went short 100 share looking for hte move down to low of day. I covered for a loss after I felt like the price action would squeeze. I don't remember my stop loss, but with 100 shares, I think I had it at 38 since my entry was 37.90. I stopped out at 37.92. Had I held it a bit longer, I would have gotten that move to the downside. Considered this a great trade.

$CGC - Went for the 9MA reversal after waiting for 2 minutes on the bearish 5-minute candle. Shorted 100 shares looking for the move with my stop above the previous 2 1-minute candles. I stopped out for a loss after the price action pulled back.

$CGC - If I had taken the same trade again and set my stop above the 2 candles (On the 1-minute) before the arrow, I would have gotten the move and not been stopped out. Again, I think the strategy works, just got stopped out today too early.

$MGM - Took the 9MA 5-minute reversal. Went short 200 shares after 2 candles on the 1-minute and set my stop above them (red arrow). I ended up stopping out too early on MGM thinking the price action would squeeze and I missed the .20 move afterwards.

$YELP - The arrow shows another 9MA reversal that would have worked if I set my stop 2 candles (on the 1-minute) before an entry indicated by the arrow. Would have taken 200 shares here and that would have been a possible 40 cent play assuming I covered at the 37.60.

$MU - Another 9MA reversal but to the long side. On the bullish candle after the attempt to break  the 9MA 5-minute, get in at the arrow on the 1-minute and set a stop below the previous 2 candles (on the 1-minute).

$CTL - In this case, the 9MA reversal wouldn't have worked. Wouldn't have taken this trade with the stop being so far away.

$CGC - Another pullback play. This time I think the better entry would be right on that candle rather than waiting 2-minutes into the candle. I could, but there was already a bearish trend on the 1-minute. Short there and set a stop above the previous 2 candles (on the 1-minute).

*****For some reason, I can't delete everything below this since it's a repeat of charts above. Ignore*****

 

Edited February 15, 2019 by Brandon K

[Brandon K 64]

2/15/2019

I think I'm on to something here. Today, I focused on the .. well, first off I'm high off coffee and having thoughts all over the place. I studied that 9MA 5-minute strategy a bit more and attempted to do that today. It worked well and I found myself practicing patience a lot today. I have a history of blowing up accounts on Friday so I was happy to know that I didn't do that today.The strategy worked with a few stop out points and my sizing was on point completely. I felt 100% comfortable and confident in everything I did today.

Watchlist:

Result:

$CGC - This one is straight to the point. After the first 5-minutes, I waited to see what the price action would do. Price action pushed down through VWAP and on the 1-minute. I waited 2 minutes for a pullback on the 1-minute to the 9MA. I got that move and went short 50 shares with a stop above the previous 2 candles. I added 50 shares on the way down and moved my stop near break even or break of the 9MA 1-minute. Got the move down and started scaling out. I took 50% off at the 5-minute 20MA and scaled out more. Could have held longer, but started trading $YNDX and covered everything. Had some juice left in there. Great trade!

$CGC - Took the trade on CGC looking for the fade back down and didn't get the move. Instead of holding till my stop loss, I covered. Felt like the price action would continue up since it didn't go ahead and make a move back down.

$YNDX - This one was an interesting situation that I should point out. After getting my signal which is a reversal at the 9MA 5-minute, I went short 100 shares after 2 candles with a stop above the previous 2 candles. Price action dropped a bit and pulled back so I moved my stop closer to break even.  I assumed here that if the price action hit my stop then the move wouldn't happen and I could reduce my loss. The thing I noticed, though is if I kept my stop there originally, I wouldn't have stopped out.

$YNDX - Here you can see on my next trade to explain my previous point. My stop was never hit until I moved it. I went back short again 100 shares looking for the move down and did get it. However, if I held and didn't change my stop from the previous 2 candles before my entry, I would have gotten a move. The risk to reward wouldn't have been worth it, but the original stop loss would have held. I guess if anything, I would have saved commissions on it.

$XPO - I attempted to short 100 shares, but had a hot key mistake. Price action did make a nice move so I think the strategy was successful here as well. The move wasn't significant and didn't fully reject, but there were several opportunities to get out.

 

[Brandon K 64]

2/19/2019

Today, things didn't work out as well as I hoped. Felt like I traded choppy price action today and ended up over trading. I kept expecting moves to happen, but ended up racking up small losses/commissions. The strategies somewhat worked today, but I was too early on a few and some were bad trades. Sizing was again on point.

Watchlist:

Result:

$CGC - Price action closed above VWAP and I went for the ORBU. Took 200 shares and covered half on the pop. I think the first cover was pre-mature. Took the last piece off at break even. Price action pushed from there.

Second trade - After missing the push down through VWAP, waited for a consolidation on the 1-minute looking for a play off the 9MA 1-minute. Took 200 shares short with a stop above the previous 2 candles. I think I let my stop run too far after getting a push down that didn't hold. Should have moved my stop near break even after the price action retraced to my entry. I do think the move was perfect on the 1-minute, but maybe pre-mature on the 5-minute. Or, that 45.80 level could've just been a strong support level.

Third trade - Went back short on $CGC looking for the move down through VWAP after the price action consolidated under the 20MA 5-minute. Went short after 2 minutes with a stop above those 2 minutes. Got a push down and I covered everything after feeling like the price action stalled. The rest of my $CGC trades were chopped up. Price action wasn't in play.

$CGC - Took another trade looking for a move down from the 20MA 5-minute. I cut this trade off after realizing I was too early.

I didn't take the trade again, but I did screenshot where I would have taken it. Of course, the move does happen this time.

$CGC - This is what I initially saw on $CGC to take the trade short at VWAP.

Set my stop above the previous 2 candles before my entry.

Consolidation and then covered.

$CTL - This one didn't want to play ball. Got the close below the 9MA 5-minute but above VWAP. After waiting 2 minutes after the new 5-minute candle, went short 200 shares. Got a move down, but the price action didn't hold. Covered for a loss at my stop loss above the previous two candles before my entry. Should have stopped out earlier with the price action pushing down and not holding rather than taking a bigger loss.

$WMT - Was looking for a push down through VWAP since the price action dipped below. Price action didn't close below VWAP, though so this turned out to be a bull flag. An ugly one, but wasn't a short. I went short twice 100 shares looking for the move down using the 9MA as my entry. Had I reversed the strategy and went long, would have worked perfectly. Was on the wrong side of the trade this time.

$WMT - Came back with another short after feeling like the price action would fade. Went short 100 shares with a tight stop loss above the previous bearish 1-minute candles.

This is what I saw when I initially took my trade. The thing is, though.. The price action was very close to the 9MA/VWAP so it could've easily bounced from there. Price action pushed through no problem.

Price action consolidated around VWAP and on the breakdown I scaled out 2 times and figured the move was done and covered everything.

$YNDX - I consider this one a bad trade. Probably pre-mature if anything. Also, I question whether YNDX was really in play. It didn't hit the scanners, but I kept it sine it had about 150k shares in pre-market.

This is what I saw before I took the trade on $YNDX to show why I decided to take the trade. Thought it would roll over, but it didn't.

$YNDX - I should have stopped out earlier when the price action on the 1-minute began to curl up. I went back short after getting the close below VWAP and the 9MA 5-minute. I waited 3-minutes after the close and took it short. Got caught in a volatile squeezed and covered at VWAP for a loss.

$ICPT - This chart is what I should have been trading, but of course can't see/trade everything. Reject on the 9MA 5-minute was perfect. However, if I followed my rules, would have gotten stopped out at 9:47. I have a habit of waiting a few seconds when it's time to short to see whether the price action will push down or if it will squeeze. In this case, it squeezed so the better entry would been around 9:49. The second reject was just as good. No issues, just a good clean reject on the 9MA.

Edited February 19, 2019 by Brandon K

[Brandon K 64]

I seem to be getting caught in consolidations a bit when attempting to go with the 9MA strategy as an entry. Today, I was too early on a few plays and others worked out just fine. Need to only trade stocks that are in play and not ignore trends. Will look at setting up more rules for this strategy tonight. I still believe in it and that it works. Just need to focus on trading the right stocks and wait for the moves to happen.

Note: Move stop to break even when price action moves in positive direction. I'll accept the break even stop as the move not in happening versus taking a loss when the play is possibly over. That happened three times today on $CGC, $CTL and $YNDX. Those moves were over and trending in an opposite direction before I decided to cut the trade at my original stop loss. 

Note: On $WMT, I shorted after a close on the 5-minute above VWAP/9MA. Need to think in terms of probabilities. In that case, there was a stronger possibility of the price action going bullish with VWAP/9MA as support versus the price action fading. Turned into a Bull flag, but need to pay attention to the trend.

Note: Are there other trades (since starting the journal) that I could have stopped out earlier on?

Edited February 19, 2019 by Brandon K

[Brandon K 64]

2/20/2019

Can't find balance or consistency in anything. Didn't get a shot of my P/L, but my entries are there.

Watchlist:

CVS - Was looking for a short opportunity and got caught in a squeeze on my entry. My luck. Price action pushed down afterwards.

$CVS - Went back for another short and same outcome. Squeezed up. 

$ROKU - Got a nice move after a close below the 9MA 5-minute. Sold everything at the previous day close. Price action consolidated and sold off more afterwards.

$KNDI - Went long for a move up and price action seemed to stall. Sold for a small gain.

 

 

 

[Brandon K 64]

2/21/2019

Watchlist:

Result:

$NKE - Went long on $NKE after consolidation looking for high of day. Price action fell off a cliff. Sold for a loss. Tried again with another long and got out after the price action felt like it stalled again. Got back in for a short thinking we'd get a fade, but I was too early.

$CAR - Went short after the first 10 minutes looking for a fade. Price action was strong, but the opening sell off I thought it would continue down. Went short at the 9MA 1-minute, got stopped out thinking I'd get squeezed higher. Price action sold off a bit before bouncing.

$CAR - Got back in later for another short after getting a close below the 9MA 5-minute(but above VWAP). Got a late fill, but missed the drop on the 1-minute candle for a possible cover point. Covered for break-even. Price action squeezed from there.

$CGC - Went short on $CGC after getting a close below VWAP/9MA 5-minute. Price action pushed down but didn't hold. Covered at break even.

 

Edited February 21, 2019 by Brandon K