Better Than It Looks

Longtime readers will notice that I'm trading far less shares, and that I'm trading fewer stocks, as well. This is all by design. I'm slowly gaining more confidence with this new style of trading (for me, anyway) and as I gain more, I will start upping my share size. Today, I had a good confidence day, even though I only pulled $245 out of the market.

Why? Well, because I'm starting to see trades correctly. My first trade of the day, in ARD, was well thought out and I even showed some patience. I was watching the $48 level on the daily graph. The stock opened and ripped right above the level. Instead of chasing, and getting caught in a nasty pullback, I waited and bid for the stock back down near the $48 level. I figured, if I got the shares, it was a low risk play, since I was going to stop just below $48. And if I didn't get the shares, I'd move on.



As you can see, I got the shares, and screwed up my exits. But I still like the trade because it shows I'm thinking right, even though I need to let my winners run.

My next trade was also okay, even though, once again, I didn't hold for the full move. I was watching NUE $76.50 on the daily, and liked it even more, since NUE was showing a little relative strength compared to the rest of the metals early today.



Then I dabbled in PCU for awhile, took some small losses and then made them back by finally catching the short I was looking for, down to the $116 level. This stock was showing good relative weakness for a short. He's just a dick...



Anyway, I haven't even gone over my best trades today... short BGC, long TEX and short AGU, but I'm doing a sunrise surf session (which now means 5:30am so I can get back to the desk by 8:45) and I need to get to bed.

I expect the market to be dead until after the FED decision on Wednesday, and will continue to trade tight and light until then. Also, looks like I'll be trading a half day tomorrow.

Here's the stats:

P&L, $245
Best, BGC, $161
Worst, RSG, -$37

9 stocks traded, 5 winners for $328, 4 losers for -$83.
6400 shares traded.