Rob C's Trading Journal - starting Feb 1 2019

[Rob C 826]

Friday 6/14/2019

I had a well-being score of 7/10 this morning. My nerves were OK. Since it is a Friday I am trading half shares.

I took two live trades with FB and AMD.

FB looked strong in the premarket and had really good opening volume. It made a small hammer with 1min candle and I went long when it broke premarket high. I took my 1^st partial when it reached $181, but my fill was so bad it filled almost at B/E (22 cent slide!). I took another partial when it clearly broke $181. Then another partial at $181.41 daily level. Just before my next partial it reversed and I exited when it broke the $181 price.

I have to admit that AMD was more of a FOMO trade. I wanted to take a 2min ORB but I was still trading FB. The 4^th 1min candle tested its own bottom wick 3 times. When it bounced the 3^rd time I went long. My stop out level was tight, the bottom of the 4^th 1min candle. About one minute later it broke that level and I exited.

My score card for today:

What I did good today:  My P/L is flat for the day, that’s my best Friday since CMEG had those tech issues and I couldn’t trade.

How did I challenge myself today?  Traded with half share size. For some reason that was difficult today.

What I did bad today:  Traded on FOMO.

What can I do better tomorrow:  I shouldn’t have been even looking at my other stocks while trading FB. Thus, I wouldn’t even had the FOMO.

 

 

[Rob C 826]

 

Live trading summary for week ending 6/14/19.

I took 11 trades this week with an OK score card average of 84%. Win% was only 34% but only had a weekly loss of -0.8R. The stocks I traded this week traded well, the poor performance was definitely me.

Getting some concerns on the fills I have been getting with Centerpoint. I did get poor fills with CMEG that would impact the trade, maybe once or twice a week. But the last 6 days (since I started with Centerpoint), every day I get a bad fill that compromises my trade. I use Smart-Route for both brokers. CMEG always routed through NSDQ and Centerpiont always routes through CPGO which I hadn’t heard of before. I sent them an email asking info on it. I don’t like the look of it and worried that the “CP” in CPGO stands for CenterPoint and I will not get the fills I need. I asked in my email what route that is and if I can use NSDQ or ARCA without additional costs. Currently, I am not happy with the CPGO routing.

Three trades this week I was really disappointed with myself. I had one trade that on the fly decided to change my methodology and add to my position though I have no rules set for this. Then I decided to change my first partial price and did not change my stop loss point. Essentially, I made a small winner into a -2R loser. The second trade was a 1min ORB with MU which looked like a really good setup, except my plan this week stated no 1min/2min ORBs on MU. Back test data shows they are low probability plays. I took the trade any way and was stopped out. The third trade was a FOMO (chasing) trade which I am usually better about not taking those. Most of my other 8 trades were OK which made my score card average OK.

Here is my plan for this week:

Concentrate on process and score card, not on W% and P/L

Do not trade AAPL until better data is seen.

Make FB your primary focus. Stock still very much in play for 1min/2min ORBs.

AMD is still in play again for the 2min ORB, though the 1min ORB becoming more common now.

MU is not in play for 2min ORB, but it has been looking good for the 3min ORB. So keep MU in mind if you are looking for a trade in that time frame

A third trade per day is allowable if you stopped out of another trade early that didn’t feel right any more.

 

 

 

[Aiman 86]

Are one min opening ranges your main strategy? Thanks for sharing btw, didn't go through it all! But I went through a great deal of it! Loved it and love the way you're journaling it!

[Rob C 826]

5 hours ago, Aiman Almansoori said:

Are one min opening ranges your main strategy? Thanks for sharing btw, didn't go through it all! But I went through a great deal of it! Loved it and love the way you're journaling it!

Thank you for your comments. ORBs close to the open is my only working strategy at the moment. It makes just enough profit to pay for me trying other strategies, which are not profitable yet. Thus my P/L has been flat for 4 months. I don't think I trade the open due to any special skills or abilities that I have. I think I am simply too impatient to wait and I see these big moves at the open and I want to try and trade them. I tried it long enough to start forming a working strategy.

I trade the 1min/2mn/3min ORB depending on the stock. For 8 weeks AAPL was in play at the open and the 2 minute ORB worked the best. Now FB is the main stock in play and for some reason the 1 minutes ORB works better on that stock. Interestingly enough MU's time frame seems to be the 3 minute ORB. Not sure why the different personalities. But I back test on weekends to see which time frame and strategy works the best for the coming week.

[Aiman 86]

8 hours ago, Rob C said:

Thank you for your comments. ORBs close to the open is my only working strategy at the moment. It makes just enough profit to pay for me trying other strategies, which are not profitable yet. Thus my P/L has been flat for 4 months. I don't think I trade the open due to any special skills or abilities that I have. I think I am simply too impatient to wait and I see these big moves at the open and I want to try and trade them. I tried it long enough to start forming a working strategy.

I trade the 1min/2mn/3min ORB depending on the stock. For 8 weeks AAPL was in play at the open and the 2 minute ORB worked the best. Now FB is the main stock in play and for some reason the 1 minutes ORB works better on that stock. Interestingly enough MU's time frame seems to be the 3 minute ORB. Not sure why the different personalities. But I back test on weekends to see which time frame and strategy works the best for the coming week.

well, if ORBs work well for you, I guess you don't need any other strategy! Just keep up working on them and ajdusting them, good job there!

[Rob C 826]

Monday 6/17/2019

I had a well-being score of 7/10 this morning. My nerves were OK.

I took two live trades with FB and AMD. I continue to have issues with market fills on Centerpoint.

FB looked very strong in the premarket and had really good opening volume. It made a small hammer with 1min candle and I went long when it broke VWAP. Since I took the trade so close to the open I went light on the shares. I took my first partial due to nerves since the price action was jumpy. The second partial was at a good spot. Then Centerpoint really failed me on the third partial where I had to wait 20 full seconds for my market order to fill. That’s ridiclous one minute from the open to have to wait 20 seconds. This completely spooked me. From watching the video somehow it got mixed up and took that order as a limit order even though I clicked the exactly same button as the first two partials. Then I got out at B/E with no issue with the order fill. It was a small win, but quite stressful.

I really wanted to trade a 5min ORB. I started waiting for AMD to see if it would setup. The plan was if it retraced back to VWAP-1min and bounced I would short. It did right at 9:35am when the price broke the 5min candle body. I liked the trade looked good on both the 1min and 5min chart. I took a light share size since I usually lose at 5min ORBs. The price dropped quickly so it wasn’t a stressful trade. I was able to get 3 partials in and it missed my 4^th partial by a penny. Then after 3 minutes of stagnation I took another partial as I was losing faith. Then all out when it made a new 1 min high.

My score card for today:

 Poor partialing on both. FB also had a so-so entry and not the best share size.

What I did good today:  I really like that I waited for my entry on AMD.

How did I challenge myself today?  Got spooked from the fill issue, but continued to trade.

What I did bad today:  As usual way to many partials.

What can I do better tomorrow:  Contacting Centerpoint again about the routing and fill issues. I may be trading with CMEG tomorrow. I have not closed the account yet.

 

 

[Rob C 826]

Tuesday 6/18/2019

I had a well-being score of 7/10 this morning. My nerves were OK.

I took two live trades with FB and AMD.

I was nervous about my order fills this morning, I have not received an answer from Centerpoint (I will call today) so I took a very small share trade in premarket to test it. It responded OK. And that is when I noticed FB is really setting up in the premarket. The 200MA-5min was acting as a strong level. Just as it created a 5min hammer and broke the 200MA I went long. It retraced for 4 minutes staying above my stop level and then started to grind its way back up. I took my first partial at the 193.25 daily level and a second partial at 193.50. Then I just tried to partial at the 1min highs. When the price retraced I had so few shares left I decided to get out on the new 1min low even though I was above my new S/O at 193.25. I preferred using the time to look at my other charts before the open.

I really wanted to trade something besides FB so I removed it from my watch list. AMD created a very bearish 2min candle. I went short at the break of VWAP and got a bad fill. But I still had a R/R~2 with my target of the 200MA-5min and S/O at VWAP-1min. Price reached my first partial and I got a horrible fill back at B/E. It reached my 1^st partial level again and fill was OK. It missed my 2^nd partial by 1 cent and then price retraced back to B/E where I exited.

What it looked like on the 5min chart when I took the trade:

The whole trade:

My score card for today:

 

What I did good today:  Patiently waited the 7 minutes on FB while it was hovering above my stop level.

How did I challenge myself today?  Traded in the premarket.

What I did bad today:  Still too many partials.

What can I do better tomorrow:  Hopefully I get some info from Centerpoint today. Also I need to make some new partialing guidelines and start to test them out.

 

 

[Rob C 826]

Wednesday 6/19/2019

I had a well-being score of 7.5/10 this morning. My nerves were OK. Looking forward spending a day with my family today while everyone else is working J

I took two live trades with FB. But, first an update on Centerpoint. I spoke to them and the BBT deal (.35min, .005 for com+ECN) limits the routes to CPGO. They said that it is not a fast route and is used for lower price. But, since I trade so close to the open it’s been difficult with the slow fills. Centerpoint said I will have to drop the BBT deal on my account if I want to use a faster route, it will cost me (0.95c min comm with 0.0032 ECN). Which makes IB look better.

Both FB and AMD were both setting up for an 1min ORB but I didn’t take either. I even watch the video of my trade and not sure why I didn’t take one. Both dropped fast right at the break of the 1min candle so I might have felt like I was chasing. Instead I took the 2min ORB on FB but with a tight stop at $165. Even with the tight stop I exited early. I then went short on a 3min ORB on FB and I took a wider stop (VWAP) with a target of the 184.45 with a nice R/R~3. I took my first partial way too early from nerves since I was just stopped out a minute before on the same trade. I took two more parials the second one I got a bad fill. Then FB made a bullish hammer and I exited the rest of my shares on the new 1min high.

 

My score card for today:

 

What I did good today:  Was able to get back into a trade after a stop out. 50% win rate and still green.

How did I challenge myself today?  Stuck to two trades today, though with the early S/O I was allowed to take a third.

What I did bad today:  That first partial was terrible.

What can I do better tomorrow:  Figure out what to do with Centerpoint.

 

 

[Mark D. 435]

i agree with you Rob, i'm only paying  6 cents more than the faster Centerpoint rate on IB. It makes sense to switch to IB just for the peace of mind.

[Rob C 826]

Thursdays 6/20/2019

I had a well-being score of 8/10 this morning. My nerves were OK.

I took two live trades with FB. But, first another update on Centerpoint. So I asked Centerpoint to turn off the BBT deal so I can choose my route. So I know the comm is now min 0.95 and Comm+ECN=0.00732 (for the FAN route) compared to the slower route BBT deal (.35 min, .005 for comm+ECN). I tested the route (and my hot buttons) in the premarket and the FAN route worked fine. Then I tried it at the open. My goodness, it feels like I am back in the sim. With CMEG, after you place the order, you see a hollow triangle for the order for a couple of tenths of a second before the solid entry triangle appears. With the slow CPGO route provided by the BBT deal you see the hollow triangle for usually half a second (thus you have to wait to see your entry) and I had it even miss the market limit order range and not go through at all. That’s the first time since I have been live that has happen. Now with the FAN route the order and entry are instant. I never saw the order (hallow) triangle today. I am going to give it a couple more days trading on the FAN route to see if it is worth it. Then decide if I drop the CMEG account or drop the CP account and trade on CMEG while I apply to IB.

My first trade with FB was unusual. FB gapped up well and good premarket volume. Then the last 15 minutes before the open the price dropped to VWAP and was quickly bought back. What was also very interesting is the complete space between the 50MA and the next level at $194. That’s a huge gap for FB. Usually FB has plentiful amount of levels. So that got me quite intrigued. Even using a wide stop level back to VWAP, there was a R/R~5 when/if it breaks the 50MA. I never see R/R>3 at the open.

So FB broke the 50MA with a nice little hammer and I went long very close to the open. Shares were on the small size due to the wide stop out I was using. Well, it was worth a try, but I did get stopped out at the planned level. It was probably not wise for me to try this setup. It’s likely the R/R can not to be too large at the open to work. You need a close level to aim for.

What the trade looked like when I took it.

Then FB was setting up for a short with a 1min engulfing (2min reverse hammer). But. I had to wait for the price to break some strong levels. It did finally break the 200MA-1min and I went short. My stop was tight at $190 where there was a daily level and my target was ~$188-188.50 where there were 4 levels all near each other.

The price was jumpy and spiked through my S/O which made me nervous so I dumped 1/3 of my shares to reduce the risk. Two minutes later it finally started to move lower. Between the previous stop out and the jumpiness of the price I did take partials to fast as usual. The price almost made it to my final target where I exited when the price started to stall.

 

My score card for today:

 

What I did good today:  50% win rate today and still green.

How did I challenge myself today?  Used a new order route.

What I did bad today:  I let my nerves get to my partialling frequency again.

What can I do better tomorrow:  Keep testing Centerpoint, I need decide what to do by early next week.

 

 

[Rob C 826]

2 hours ago, Mark D. said:

i agree with you Rob, i'm only paying  6 cents more than the faster Centerpoint rate on IB. It makes sense to switch to IB just for the peace of mind.

Mark, may I ask what your comm/fees you are paying for IB?

Is it this:

Commisison: $0.0035 per share (minimum $0.35 per ticket) plus routing and regulatory fees

Also, what is your usual routing fee per share? Do you use let IB choose the route or do you choose? What route do you usually use or get routed to? Thx

[Rob C 826]

Friday 6/21/2019

I had a well-being score of 8/10 this morning. My nerves were good. It’s Friday so I am trading half shares.

I took two live trades with FB.

FB did not have much volume in the premarket, but that is OK for FB. It did have a gap though. The opening volume was huge. I took my first trade more on volume than price action, plus red to green was only 10 cents away. So I went long on the break of the premarket high. It almost touched the PDC, but price retraced and I was stopped out when it broke the 189.12 (daily level and 200MA-5min).

The price bounced off the MA and I went long again at VWAP with the 200MA-1min as my stop. Over the next 3 minutes the candles were squeezing. But after 3 minutes my nerves were shot. When the price finally popped I was hitting the sell button like a wood pecker. I sold 5 times when there was only 2 levels to sell at. So I missed a good part of FBs run.

 

My score card for today:

 

What I did good today:  50% win rate today and still green. Green on a Friday!!

How did I challenge myself today?  Held onto FB for 3 minutes waiting for the move without bailing.

What I did bad today:  I let my nerves get to my partialling frequency again. Even worse than usual.

What can I do better tomorrow:  Need to design a plan, over the weekend, to reduce my poor partialling.

 

 

[Mark D. 435]

20 hours ago, Rob C said:

Mark, may I ask what your comm/fees you are paying for IB?

Is it this:

Commisison: $0.0035 per share (minimum $0.35 per ticket) plus routing and regulatory fees

Also, what is your usual routing fee per share? Do you use let IB choose the route or do you choose? What route do you usually use or get routed to? Thx

so i checked my account commission settings on IB and i'm listed as tiered pricing structure of:

 

but here's my actual statement from yesterday:

 

so i chatted with them and they told me i'm actually on the fixed plan. so i changed it to tiered. it takes 24 hours to go in to effect and i'll be gone all next week so i'll let you know when i get to trade again what i'm actually paying. i feel like a real dummy for not asking about it earlier. i thought the min was $1 on both tiered and fixed which is way cheaper than i'm used to paying with e*trade so i didn't mind it but if it's actually only a third of the cost, that's going to be huge for me! 

 

[IamKarthi 342]

I use IB. Not only the commissions structure is better, the Shorts availabiilty is much better than other brokers.

Edited June 21, 2019 by IamKarthi

[Rob C 826]

1 hour ago, IamKarthi said:

I use IB. Not only the commissions structure is better, the Shorts availabiilty is much better than other brokers.

Yes the first thing I thought of when I logged into Centerpoint was, "where are my shorts for ROKU? They have them on IB?"  They do have a "DAS short locator" system that will likely find me some, but it doesn't look like something you can use at the open. It takes too long to submit the request, etc.

 

Edited June 21, 2019 by Rob C