Entries and Exits

There have been so many times when I thought I was "on the verge" of getting my game back, only to get "deballed" shortly after. In the last couple of weeks, I've had that feeling, but then have days like yesterday, that set me back. Then there are days like today, where I manage to make money, but feel "deballed" nonetheless.

It's a tough game we play.

So here are my exits in OXY, my best stock of the day. While I made some money in it, the action highlights how much I can improve. I had 700 shares of this stock at an average price below $80 and made about $425 total, or about 60 cents... it ran over 3 points.



My next trade was in SID, another HCPG watchlist play. Here, I had 1000 shares from around $41.85. Below are my exits.



So I made about 40 cents total, on my shares and left another 60 cents on the table. Very frustrating. Because really, while the stock dipped back down to 20 cents, it was no where near my entry. Maybe I should have sold half there... but I should have held on to some instead of exiting the full position. Indeed, that was a great buy spot...

My third "good entry" of the day came in PCU. I rather hate this stock... he always seems to kick my ass, but today I had the upper hand. I had 300 shares just ahead of $120.



I'm also okay with this trade... as he had a quick and nasty shakeout below $120 just after I sold.

On the downside, I lost $300 today in ICE. This guy is tough. There was no volume today in the stock (until the close), and I should have just let it be. The only positive is that I traded him with small size and didn't make any revenge trades.



So to tie this post up, despite my lackluster performance today, and this month, I'm beginning to have more confidence in my entries. Once I start feeling that every time I buy a stock I'm not going to get screwed, I think I'll be able to work on my exits. And then, I can worry about sizing up again.

Here's the stats:

P&L, $680
Best, OXY, $432
Worst, ICE, -$297

10,200 shares traded.
9 stocks traded, 4 winners, 5 losers.