Thursday, March 22, 2007

A slow day of consolidation


Money made: $134
Trades made: 60

Best stock: IPS $188
Worst stock: MTW -$78




I traded very lightly today. That MTW was a bit of a heartbreaker because I got stopped out of my short near the high of the day, just before it plunged 70 cents.

The IPS was also a short trade. Even though it was a winner, I screwed up my exits. I was short 600 shares up near the top and was scared out of most of my shares. I was scared out because I still can't figure out the mechanics of this market.

I am strongly considering opening up a second account in which I'll focus on longer-term trades. I don't think daytrading is dead, I just can't figure out how to manage the risk anymore. If you never know when a stock is going to spike 60 cents in one direction or the other it's hard to have to confidence to size up to make good money.

I figure if I take a slightly longer-term look I'll expand my loss (and gain) thresholds and those little intraday spikes shouldn't matter so much. We'll see.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

yo im from the old world of using bullets and tape reading. hybrid is horrendous. but u have to adapt- ive migrated to higher time frames alot of these new bloggers are using- 15&30min. defining risk the van tharp way of -1R, can be any cent or even point level away but I pick the dollar risk amount. Less stress on exact executions- too hard w/ hybrid w/ air pockets w/out specialist to slow down. the other change that most in my office of former hardcore nyse traders is now trade 80% nasdaq names. alligators are crocodiles and they are still here.

OBAT said...

I am glad to see old world tape readers adapting.

Since December 2006 till now I'm only up around 3k. It's taking a long time for me to adapt to this hybrid market.

Yeah, I should look into nasdaq too. The spreads should be better than NYSE now and no freaky hybrid trades.

The best of luck to all of us nyse traders.

Anonymous said...

meant to say alligators and crocidiles are dinosaurs and they are still here.

Dinosaur Trader said...

OBT,

December is when my struggles really began as well. It's been a rocky road to say the least.

And Anon,

I'm glad you clarified the "alligators and crocodiles" comment because I was confused! Glad to hear I'm not the only dinosaur around!

Good luck today guys. Let's make a little money and close out the week strong.

-DT