Swell

Well, as you can see I took the second half of the day off today to go surf. That means 3 things:

1. I didn't make a gajillion dollars just because the market was "up big today" Dad.
2. I'm really tired.
3. I'll probably never be filthy rich because I don't care about money "enough."

As for trading, I guess I was a little frustrated out there today. At least by daytrading. I made as much in my "swing" trading account as I did in my daytrading account with 1/100th of the work put in. I like it though... this mix of daytrading and swing trading.

I've learned that swing trading is really really easy when the market moonshots. I haven't the slightest idea about what to do when it starts moving sideways or heads down again.

I do have two swing trades to report that I didn't have time to make a separate post for in the middle of the day. First of all, I picked up some GRMN at $104.18. I only bought 75 shares though because after all, I bought it because a man who calls himself "Bluedog" suggested it.

I think it's wise to exercise a certain amount of caution in circumstances like that...

Anyway, I sold 25 at $105.94. Why? Well, because I wanted to lock in a small gain just in case he wanted to head lower. Now, even if I end up getting out at $103, I'll be flat on the trade instead of having a loss. My real plan is to let the stock test it's 50-day MA and the psychological support level of $100.

Then, I bought 100 shares of WNR at $38.30.



I did this only because the stock has been beaten down badly lately and I just feel like a bounce must come soon. I'm counting 12 straight down sessions for the stock. And today, while it had high volume to the downside, I'd expect more since it made a new low... this will be a short trade. I'm not going to let it move far against me I'm just hoping that the Wednesday oil numbers help the stock. We'll see.

Now, as for daytrading, I was a little frustrated out there today. My best stock of the day was CNS, a thin financial stock that I sometimes dabble in.



I had 1000 shares of this stock below $37.20. So the fact that it closed up at $38.88 and I only managed to make $446 in it should explain some of the frustration I felt today. I'm seriously getting this feeling that a lot of the time I "know" which way a stock will move, and I'm right about it, but I'm getting chopped around and not trading up to my potential. So I'm gonna keep working at longer time frames, even if I start thinking more in terms of hours, not just minutes.

Another good winner for me today was POT, both in the swing account and for daytrades.

On the downside, I got jacked shorting ANW early.



But again, at one point, I was short a few hundred shares over $39 but covered them all at $38.75. Since the stock traded below $37 in the afternoon, I can only look at that trade and be a little frustrated. I ended up losing $263 in him when I could have easily been flat, or even positive in him. I had a good entry and I screwed up my exit.

Anyway, that's it for my analysis. I'm shot and waking early to catch more of this growing swell. Wednesday and Thursday the waves will be big here as in "overhead." I'll need a lot of sleep this week otherwise I could get myself beat up out in the surf. I'm going to crack open "The Dogs of Winter" by Kem Nunn and go to bed. Meanwhile, I finished "Dark Noon" by Tom Clavin and will post a little "comment" about that book tomorrow.

Here's the daytrading stats:

P&L, $891
Best, CNS, $446
Worst, ANW, -$263

16,800 shares traded.
10 stocks traded, 7 winners, 3 losers.
91 trades.