Journal / Growing a small account (Sim Trades)

[Brandon K 64]

Made some good trades and some bad ones. Over traded as well. I think I'm beginning to get long biased on trades now. Trying to be neutral and be able to see both sides. I took $QCOM to the long/short side and came out overall positive. However, burned myself twice trying to catch the bottom of the pullback at the open. $CGC was a screw up. $INTC just didn't work out. $UNH faked me out. $ROKU was a good'n, but didn't let it reach it's potential. Still in a good place. I'm ready for the next few days where I'm smackin' these winners and cutting my losers off in time.

$QCOM 4/17/2019

$UNH 4/17/2019

$INTC 4/17/2019

$CGC 4/17/2019

$ROKU 4/17/2019

 

 

Edited April 17, 2019 by Brandon K

[Mark D. 435]

nice $QCOM shorts!

[Brandon K 64]

42 minutes ago, Mark D. said:

nice $QCOM shorts!

Thanks, Mark! The challenging part about those two shorts was getting rid of the long bias I had on $QCOM and flipping to the short side.

[Brandon K 64]

Sigh.. more mistakes, lol. Should've been a great positive day, but fell short. Chickened out twice on $CGC and the last time I didn't take profits at the break of the 50MA and suffered smaller profits. $STNE.. sigh.. Chickened out and missed a huge drop. $ROKU traded perfectly. $WTR.. sigh again... Cut it off before it made a great move. Gotta do better. I cut many trades off at the 9/20MA 1-minute right before moves happen. Just didn't exit as good as my entries today.

$CGC 4/18/2019

$STNE 4/18/2019

$WTR 4/18/2019

$ROKU 4/18/2019

Edited April 18, 2019 by Brandon K

[Brandon K 64]

4/22/2019

Preparing for the trading challenge. Think I'm in a good place mentality for it.

Got chopped up by $MSCO and lost my gains. Almost got caught in a nasty wash down as well but stopped out before that happened. Kept trying to catch the move down and after two attempts I left it alone.

Still working on my sizing, but definitely on the super upside today. Made some great trades, but also cut some off too early.

$SQ 4/22/2019

$HAL 4/22/2019

$MDSO 4/22/2019

[Brandon K 64]

4/23/2019

A bit frustrated because I gave all of my gains back for the day. Misread $CGC and paid dearly for it. I shouldn't have shorted there with it not really claiming the 9MA (purple line) 5-minute and with VWAP as support. Other trades I've taken there long for a bounce off the 1-minute moving averages. Even with my short strategy off the moving averages, that entry was super late. Other trades were great although $HAS chopped around. Should've stopped after making the two trades on $WHR/$KSS. Was well up for the day. Still a positive day, though. 

$KSS 4/23/2019

$WHR 4/23/2019

$HAS 4/23/2019

$CGC 4/23/2019

 

EDIT: Yeah, $HAS was trash. Made the move a few minutes later.

Edited April 23, 2019 by Brandon K

[Brandon K 64]

Today was one of those days, lol. I didn't go Hulk, but I took some meaningful trades. Felt like I misread a trade once. Most of my trades didn't break out like I thought they would and stopped out for break even several times. Also, got impatient and cut a trade off before it broke out. Would've brought me back near break-even P/L. Positive realized, though.

$BSX 4/24/2019

Felt like I may have misread $BSX the second time I went short. I thought the fade was coming since it closed under VWAP again while under the 9MA 5-minute and 9MA 1-minute. Looking back now, didn't make a new low, made a new high and it closed above the 20MA 5-minute as it did the previous 5-minute candle. Was more probable for a long.

$T 4/24/2019

$OXY 4/24/2019

$EBAY 4/24/2019

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2019 by Brandon K

[Brandon K 64]

Damn, Damn DAMN!!!!

I traded well on my entries but didn't follow through on my exits. Some of my trades just didn't work out and that's hella disappointing. Been practicing all week for the 25K trading challenge. I've been positive realized 4 days in a row, but I can't capitalize on my opportunities. So, I'm negative on my P/L. It's minuscule with a 25K account, but today I was just super bothered. It didn't cause me to overtrade or go Hulk, but more so.. dang, I messed up and missed this trade twice. Could've taken profits better on $MO. Messed up $MSFT big time twice. Took a decent loss on $XLNX and hit it again for a more favorable entry. Added more after profit taking on a pullback, got out at break even afterwards. Super disappointed on my $MSFT trades. That was the money maker trade. Had two opportunities on it. Just felt like it was gonna go against me. The last trade on $MSFT didn't work out. Had a great entry for the pop above VWAP. Just stopped out before the move happened.

$MO 4/25/2019

$XLNX 4/25/2019

$MSFT 4/25/2019

Edited April 25, 2019 by Brandon K

[Brandon K 64]

UGH... That is all I can say. This week has been nothing but positive realized and a negative p/l. Today, I could lucky and ended about +100 after commissions. I could have had the WEEK of my trading career and missed out once again. This is another day of frustrations with myself.  $GRUB.. seriously thought it was gonna reverse on me and squeeze using the moving averages as support. I took it heavy 400 shares and took profits to get something out of it just in case. Then, it dropped 4 points. I was sick to my stomach, lol. The big share size was a factor, but I was confident in my entry. Got back in there for two more shorts. Didn't trust the first one, but hit it again for a decent run. $AAL squeezed me good. Went short 300 shares and stopped out for a loss. Thought that close under VWAP/9MA 5-minute and the 9MA 1-minute was enough for a wash. Could've waited a few more seconds and recognized the squeeze forming. $INTC was a banger. Perfect entry with good scale out points. $XOM played ball for a bit then decided to take the ball and run. $MU was very disappointing. Went heavy on that thinking the push would hit quicker, but it didn't. Stopped out before the move happened. I think I'm in a good place for the trading challenge next week.

$GRUB 4/26/2019

$AAL 4/26/2019

$INTC 4/26/2019

$XOM 4/26/2019

$MU 4/26/2019

 

[Mark D. 435]

awesome $INTC trade!

[Brandon K 64]

6 minutes ago, Mark D. said:

awesome $INTC trade!

Thanks, Mark! Proud of that one for sure! I followed through well on it.

[Brandon K 64]

Trading Challenge 1 - Negative

Started the trading challenge yesterday and didn't get around to posting my trades. This is a big step towards my consistency and live account. I'm used to trading with $5000 so my sizing is bigger. Will be showing my trades, p/l, etc. 

4/29/2019 

Yesterday was rocky. Made some good trades, ended up down 2% so around $550 after commissions. Worked my way back to -125 after commissions so less than 1%. I made good trades after I was down, but my market open trades weren't stellar. I blame my trades (some of them, lol) on an external distraction causing me to miss the few minutes after the first 5. Missed some killer moves that probably wouldn't have resulted in these trades even happening. Ah, well.

$TGT goofed me around. First two trades were probably too early. 3rd trade I took I felt was a good entry and just didn't work out. Went hard on $MOMO and added to my position at break-even. Didn't get the move I was looking for and stopped out. Did unload half my position size to make a possible loss easier. Then, got back short again at the 9MA 5-minute and stopped out before it tried to take my soul. Whew, DODGE A BULLET!!! I misread $OXY. Went short and should've went long. Figured since it closed below the 50MA 5-minute, it was a short even though it closed above the 9/20/VWAP 5-minute. Foolish mistake. Went long after a close above the 50 and stopped out before it fell off a cliff. That one just didn't work out. $PROP was a potential banger. Went long above the 9MA 5-minute towards VWAP looking for a pop. Sold half at VWAP and the rest at break-even. Just didn't break out. My savior of the day was $SPOT. Went heavy on it and constantly told myself.. don't chicken out, don't chicken out. Held on and got that killer move. Wish I had caught it at open when it dropped 6 points after the first 5-minutes. This just shows that moves happen throughout the day. In total, -125 is nothing on a 25K account. Still got plenty of buying power to put some points on the challenge board. Didn't blow it up so I'm proud of that.

$TGT 4/29/2019

$MOMO 4/29/2019

$OXY 4/29/2019

$PROP 4/29/2019

$SPOT 4/29/2019

Result:

 

 

[Brandon K 64]

Trading Challenge 2 - Negative

Today.. No points, but didn't blow up again. Should've stopped while I was up $120 after commissions, but was trading for the challenge and knew that wasn't enough. Ended up losing it all and negative for the day. Ah, well.

Had a few misreads, but overall traded well. My last few trades irked me a bit and I decided to quit for the day.

$OXY 4/30/2019

$OXY was my banger for the day. Went 800 shares heavy for the ORBD. Got the move and took two partials. Wanted that 57.15 level but it stalled. Got back in for a long on it and got caught in a fake out. I think the trade was good, but didn't work out. Came back with a long that I thought would pop higher and stopped out near break even. Swapped to a short after getting a close below the 9MA 5-minute and stopped out. Really got frustrated on that last one.

$NXPI 4/30/2019

$NXPI was trash. I went short at open after seeing the price action not holding its gain the first 5. Stopped out on a huge squeeze. Didn't have time to stop out effectively. Came back with a long the next minute on a heavy size looking for a pop and stopped out again. Wish I didn't trade $NXPI at all.

$JD 4/30/2019

$JD was a jump the gun trade. Tried to catch it and stopped out for a loss. Thought we'd get a wash down to the 50MA after the first 5-minute close below the 9/20MA 5-minute. Could've waited for more confirmation.

$WDC 4/30/2019

All smiles on $WDC. Took it long on a bounce off the 9MA 5-minute that didn't hold. Took some profit before it crashed then swapped over to a risky short and scaled out quickly on it. Came back with a reversal and was hoping for a squeeze. It was risky but the squeezed happened. Took everything off after it felt like the squeeze was ending.

Result:

 

Edited April 30, 2019 by Brandon K

[Brandon K 64]

Trading Challenge 3 - Positive

This is gonna sound backwards to some, but even though I'm well off today, I'm disappointed in my performance. Misread two stocks ($CVS/$PCRX) and cut the best trade of the day off too soon ($RGEN). My technique went way out the door after making a great trade on $HRTX. I traded my P/L and said, "This is enough for me" on $RGEN versus scaling out and continuing to trade the chart. Since this is about the challenge, I missed out on a good chance of getting more points and profit. I feel good about the day, just not great. Hoping my performance gets points on the board today.

$HRTX 5/1/2019

Went long 1000 shares after the first 5-minutes, but only got filled 200 shares. Price action POPPED! in seconds and I instantly sold everything because moves like that rarely last. I took profit just in case. Came back later with another long move looking for the 50MA 5-minute, but was too early and stopped out. My signal was the close above the 20MA 5-minute. Got back in after the price action closed above the 9/20MA 5-minute and went long 1000 shares. Sold everything at the top near the 50MA 5-minute. Scaling out was not on my mind at all today.

$CVS 5/1/2019

After getting the close below VWAP and above the 50MA 5-minute, was looking for a squeezed to the upside. It came quickly and I sold everything at the 50MA 1-minute. Didn't trust it. Came back for a short 1000 shares looking for low of day. Figured it would wash out. After the price action closed above the 50MA 5-minute, I should have seen that as a sign to get out especially after the stall on the 1-minute. Stopped out for a loss. Was up a bit on that trade.

$PCRX 5/1/2019

Was thinking a short on this trade after the price action failed to break VWAP and closed below the 9MA 5-minute. Also, was under the moving averages on the 1-minute. Shorted 100 shares during a pullback. Looking back on it, should have gone long with the price action holding the moving averages. Definitely a misread.

$RGEN 5/1/2019

Blunder of the day. Watched this one at market open go up and down with small volume. I looked at some previous day charts and saw how it moves with low volume. I waited and almost jumped in short/long several times, but figured it wasn't time. Then after getting the close above the 9MA 5-minute, I went in 1000 shares thinking that if it's going to happen, this is the moment. I was also in $HRTX 1000 shares heavy too. Both popped up, but after getting out of $HRTX with a great exit, I looked at $RGEN thinking, this is enough. Also, I felt like the price action might drop. I should have scaled out or something. Disappointed myself on this one because the potential was huge.

Result:

 

Edited May 1, 2019 by Brandon K

[naka 1]

solid work, nonetheless!