No trading today.  Another very, VERY volatile day in the market.  It has been a tough week and I am just glad that it is over.  I am willing to bet a lot of traders lost money this week or are sitting around break even.  One minute the market was rallying, the next it was sharply falling off a cliff.  One day the market was down, the next it was up on weak volume, but some how continued to go higher.  In times like these I am going to try and stay in cash.  There is no sense in trying to trade these sharp swings because the potential reward is smaller and the risk is a lot higher.  Unless you like to take risk, just sit tight or take small positions.  I will be back Monday with an update if I trade or decide against it.

I had a sales meeting at work today from 8 AM (when I get to work) and it ran over time until 10:30 AM.  By the time I got out of the meeting I was so lost in the market so I didn’t really jump into anything.  Surprisingly the market rallied up today after a couple of really nasty days.  I quickly checked in on my twitter stream and some websites to see what other traders thought of the action today and the consensus was that it was suspect.  So again, I was very cautious to jump into anything.  In my opinion if something messed up your schedule for the trading day you should step away and refocus or maybe skip trading today.  The meeting definitely messed me up and I didn’t feel like I could jump into anything.

A little after 1 PM I entered VECO that was bouncing after being crushed pretty hard.  I got into the trade at $47.21 with a 300 share position.  It worked immediately which I love to see and held for a little bit.  The market then started selling off hard, it dropped, held up well and kind of chattered around for a while.  I didn’t really like the up and down action it was doing and I had another meeting at 1:30 so I sold out of my position at $47.23 for a meaningless $3 profit.  As of this writing VECO is bouncing around the $47.40 and $47.50 area so i could have had a little more profit if I had stayed into it, but I’m not too upset about 20-30 cents on a small position.  Maybe if I could hold overnight I would have stayed in it, but I don’t feel comfortable holding positions with a prop firm when I am already in the red.

This week has been a tough week for most traders with the suspect rallies and sharp sell offs so needless to say I am not going to meet my goal of being at the break even point by the end of the month.  That’s okay, but tomorrow has to be a big day for me so I don’t fall further into the hole.  Tomorrow may determine if I stay with the prop firm or go to a small account trading my own money.  I’ll keep you posted.

Daily Profit: $3 – before commissions

Another rough day in the market.  I am not even going to do a full review of my trades as there isn’t much to tell.  At the open it looks like the market was going to continue it’s trek downwards, but it turned into chop.  If you look at the market now it’s slightly up on the day.  We’ll see where it ends here in the next 20 minutes.  I knew the day was more than likely going to continue it’s sell off or be choppy and that I shouldn’t trade, but I didn’t listen.  I am really struggling with my discipline when it comes to times when I know better not to trade.  On days where the market is uncertain and chopping around it’s almost not worth trading because the potential profit is o much smaller and risky.  Not to mention with these false rallies and quick, ruthless intrdaay sell offs you’ll drive yourself crazy watching every single tick.
The trades…

I started off the day great with MEE (Massey Energy Co.) as a short position.  As said above it looked like the market was going to trek lower and I had a support line drawn that was broken.  I went at 41.26 and covered at 41.05 for a quick $63 profit.  This was definitely a good start to the day.  I got into a trade via my plan and took profits knowing the day would be choppy.  Throw in a little more chop and I decide to short MEE again based on the market and a weak retrace.  This time I let it run way too long up, down, up, down … I knew I should have gotten out and I could have at break even and a small profit a few times, but I thought I knew it was going down.  NEVER believe you know better than the market.  If you have been trading for a while you can tell when something just isn’t looking right and often you will get a few opportunities to get out – DO IT!  I literally had 4 or 5 opportunities to get out of this trade and I didn’t because I tried to force my opinion on the market.  My gut was saying get out and I didn’t and took a $92 loss.

I took another short position in MEE when it looked as if it were setting up nicely again and ready to fall.  I made a quick $35 profit before, you guessed it, it swung up again.  I need to re-read my trading rules pages about shoulda, woulda, coulda and revenge trading.  It’s almost NEVER a good idea because you’re not mentally focused.

In the afternoon I took a small position in DGP (Powershares Gold) thinking if the market is going to be so negative, gold will be up.  It was up in the morning, it looked as if it was going higher, but due to the overall choppiness of the market it didn’t really do much and I got out with a small loss.

I am quickly putting myself out of the game by not following my own rules.  I have given up my profit and then some on the good day I had Monday.  If the market is like it was today I will either not trade or take very small positions and give them little room to go against me.  I need to get re-focused and it’s just not happening.  Tomorrow is a new day.  I really need to get my act together or I will soon be out of the game.  I am even debating going back to paper trading for a while to get my discipline under control and regain my confidence.  This is all part of the progress of becoming a full time trader and partly why I created this blog.  I want you to see the struggles of someone who is trying to become a great trader and do it full time.  It’s not easy and it takes time.

Daily Profit: -$82 – before commissions

We all knew it was coming soon, but the market really fell off a cliff today!  I only took two positions this morning and both looked really good.  In fact, one of them (CRUS), is still holding up decently through the sell off.  The futures opened lower today, so this morning I drew a price level line on the close of yesterday.  Today, the market came up to that level (1207.72), and then began the sell off.  I really wish I had been paying attention to the futures when this happened, but I trade around work and was monitoring my individual positions.   Oh well, no “shoulda, woulda, coulda’s” as it’s against my rules.  I just need to keep looking forward and let the market tell me what it’s doing next.  I am not sure I will make any more trades today, but if I do I will update.  I am not real sure if the market will continue to sell off or bounce – either way it’s not convincing.

Today’s Trades…

EXM (Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd.)
This stock had broken out yesterday and had a nice little run.  Intraday it rallied in the morning to a resistance point, dipped down lightly on lower volume, and I entered on the break of the resistance.  I received my fill at $7.10.  The trade worked well and it ran up to 7.22, so it was a good, working trade.  Then the huge sell off came and it dropped quickly, I saw the futures and exited at $7.15 for a small profit.  Oddly enough, if you read yesterdays post, I went to sell and hit the short sell button!  I don’t know why Sterling Trader Pro has a separate short sale and sell button, but I don’t like it.  The software I previously used, you would just use the sell button to short and buy button to cover.  Oh well, just something I need to get used to with experience.  I was able to cover my short without much damage, but just my luck I should have stayed in as it fell.  Ah well, shorting was NOT my plan or setup.

CRUS (Cirrus Logic, Inc)
This stock gapped up on earning reports and was holding strong today.  It rallied int he morning and I bought in at $11.96.  It also started working right away and continued up to $12.13.   It went sideways for a short time, before it too fell victim to the sell off.  I am confident this was a good trade, but you can’t fight the whole market for too long.  I sold out of this position at $11.90 for a small loss.  A rising tide lifts all boats and and it also goes the other way.  Always try to trade with the trends and overall momentum in the market.  I am proud that I have been cutting my losses quickly as when i started the new account I was holding on and hoping.  NOt a good idea.  If it doesn’t feel right GET OUT!

Today throws a wrench in my plan of making roughly $215 a day to get my account back to break even, but I’m glad I escaped today without any serious losses.  The market is not a goo one to trade today, be careful!

***UPDATE***

Against my better judgment I got back into the market today.  Sometimes the hardest advice to take is your owns and I didn’t listen to myself at all.  So instead of breaking even today, I am down about $186.  A short recap is I got into RCII (Rent-A-Center Inc.) which was dong well on the day given the hard sell off.  It faked me out and I got out trying to keep my losses small.  I also took a position in BCSI (Blue Coat Systems Inc.) which ran up nicely, but another sell off took it out and I lost a good amount.  Lastly, I got into SOA (Solutia, Inc.) and it turned also with the market.  So now I gave up most of my profits from yesterday all because I didn’t listen to my own advice.

Daily Profit: -$186 - before commissions

It was 9:30 AM when I started writing this post and I am already done trading for the day. If you read my previous post I noted that I had started a new account and am already down a significant amount of money. You’d would have also read that my goal is to simply break even or get close to it by the end of the month. I figure if I can break even or get close I can refocus my mind and start fresh in May. With that said I am not going to let anything ride too far this week and take profits quickly. This morning I played MTW and EK and made $265 which is a good hunk of my losses. If I can make a daily average of $216 for the rest of the week I will reach my goal. I hate to focus on the money because I could probably reach my goal quicker if I let my winners run.  However, letting them run means a bigger time frame for risk and I’d rather lock in profits to hopefully get my account back on track.

Anyway, here are the trades for today…

EK (Eastman Kodak)

Let’s start off with the title of this post! I found EK on a scan last night and drew in a breakout/buy point of $8.49. The stock had an initial run-up and then set up nicely sideways, so I got in right before it broke that sideways action at $8.35. The trade worked immediately which is a good sign according to one of my trading mentors – “Good trades are the ones that work right away”. As discussed above my goal this week is to break even and not be greedy so I took profits at $8.55 with a nice little gain.

Here is where the title of this post comes into play. After the run-up and where I took profits, EK took a break and repeated what it did right before my first entry. I saw this coming, wanted to get in at $8.60 so I had my order ready and it started to move quickly so I sent it out. I was filled…but I accidentally hit the short sell button on Sterling Trader Pro! So I was playing an intra-day breakup and went short by accident. Luckily I had taken a smaller position and was able to get out before it actually took off. The sad part is it DID take off and shot up, so I did miss the move. Frustrated, knowing I was making a mistake, I took another small position on the long side and it was done moving for the time being so I got out. Eastman Kodak continues to be strong today, but mentally I cannot enter it again.  As I am writing this I see EK isn’t stopping!  It sucks that I missed the move, but for my trading psychology I need to accept it and look for the next play.

MTW (Manitowoc Co., Inc)

On MTW I had a breakout/buy point at $15.77 from my analysis last night.  The stock gapped up and was above my target so I was looking for a pull back.  It did pull back right to the $15.77 mark and I entered at $15.92.  It had a nice little run and I exited at $16.25 when the market took a big swing like it has been lately.  I took profits on another sweet little gain.

So that was my day today.  After my mistake of short selling a breakup and taking profits quickly I ended the day positive.  I don’t think I will play anything else today, but if I see a good setup I might take it.

Daily Profit: $249 - before commissions