Too little, too late
Well, I couldn't save my month completely, but I got damn close.
P&L $1274
Best: AGU, $685
Worst: POT, -$319
#stocks traded: 14, 7 positive, 7 negative
total trades: 361
There's been some discussion on other blogs lately about position sizing. My trade in POT today was a perfect example of why you need to know the stocks you trade. I lost that $319 on two separate trades with 200 shares each trade. So I lost like, 75 cents each trade, very quickly. Clearly a stock that I can't trade with my "full" position.
On the other hand, I had 2500 shares for the AGU trade. It can take AGU a full day to move a point, whereas POT can move a point in 2 minutes.
I initiated a short in AGU when it broke through 38 around 10:20 or so. The stock then sold off a little and pulled back up to the figure but couldn't break through. That's when I doubled my position. He chopped around for a little while and played with the trend line I drew but eventually broke and I was able to cover for a decent profit. Part of the reason I was looking to short AGU was because the other fertilizer stocks were selling off at this time as was the general market.
Anyway, I thought that today the issue of position sizing really was important to me making money on a good trade and not losing too much on a bad trade.
Have a good weekend. I'll post a history article this weekend and if I can get to it, a monthly review.
