What a day. Happy to report that it was a green day for me There were all kinds of setups both short and long and CCIV had an absolute epic bounce off the open.I mean wow.
Unfortunately some of the higherups called an 8am (9am market time) meeting that I need to be in attendance for, so instead of trying to halfway be present at the trading desk and get caught between a rock and a hard place because I’m not able to focus I will be taking the day off form trading. I can’t say this is something that I want to do, however if there’s one thing that I’ve learned from getting kicked in the face on trades that I wasn’t present and focused is that you get out of this thing what you put in. If I can only put in half my attention then I will get ripped at some point when the half that isn’t paying attention shows up.
Green day. What a killer open. Pretty much everyone has been talking about the shift and boy did we get a feel for that off the open today. All of the opens across the board had me drooling, but I am focused on not chasing, so I’m happy to report that I let the names setup, give me a clear risk level and then I worked from there. Honestly the weak opens were like music to m years, since I really like short side, however I started to find myself thinking about catching some of the bounces. I was THIS close to pulling the trigger o AAL at 19.12, but hesitated and then about 1 minute later watched it rocket without me. I’m ok with that seeing as I’m just not starting to get comfortable with the idea of taking some of this stuff long. I’m definitely pleased that my mental is starting to think more so in terms of the price action opposed to just looking for a short setup. This is where I want to be. I want to be able to play quality setups both long and short as I mentioned yesterday. I’ll get there in due time, for now it’s just putting one foot in front of the other and making those baby steps first and I feel like I’m doing that.
I’m also taking note that being prepared is key to my success. It helps me to focus and zone in on plays where I will feel comfortable with the price action and where it could potentially go opposed to trying to make the most out of a day one move. This isn’t to say that I won’t play day 1 moves, but it is to say that I definitely find myself more comfortable knowing the night before what I’m looking for and working that idea throughout the day. I do watchlists, however I want to be even more prudent going forward as I’m finding that I really get an edge there. You’ll see below where I had 2 ideas on my watchlist that I botched (still was green on them, but I didn’t make all of it that I could have if I stuck with my watchlist plan. Now more than ever I think this is key as it helps keep you out of Muck. The muck is where I get chopped up and spit out when I get too laid back in my thinking.
Man, I wasn’t even thinking an offering, but I played off the tape and squeezed something out of it. Overall nice range, however I completely messed this trade up. How did I messed it up…well I had it on watch and I had key levels where I wanted to zone in and get ready to particiapte int…check the notes here:
My plan was to wash the 10.09 level for failed follow through. Now even though this sudden drop was because of an offering if you look at the chart with my executions you’ll see that it had a bounce before it continued down at what level?!?!?!?!?!?!? Almost to a PENNY around the 10.05-10.10 area. I mean SERIOUSLY why was I not more prepared for that level. Had I been making sure I had my alerts set in time I would’ve been there and ready to act….especially with the offering news and the pricing. I HAVE to do better on this. That’s a hole .$90 that I left on the table because I wasn’t prepared for my OWN plan….crazy.
Another setup that I was prepared for, however I didn’t execute this one to the best of my ability. I had a plan (as you’ll see below) however I sort of forget my levels and didn’t think about my plan. I was more reactive to he price action (probably some subconscious kicking in there, however the bounces I should have played better in agreement with my plan.
Per my plan You can see that I was looking for 2.70’s as an ENTRY FOR A SHORT. I did get there and I’m proud that I covered a a key lvel to keep from getting chopped, but there’s no reason I should’ve have been there again vs the 2.70 level that I wrote out. Again no excuses here…I need to do a better job of remembering my plan and executing my plan.
The second retest of 2.70 and he failed follow through was what I was looking for, so I have to focus focus focus when things are setting up exactly to my plan. Because I didn’t focus on my target entries I got a lower average and then I was SUPER tight on my risk, which is what I should have done, however if I worked the 2.70 and 2.60 levels I would’ve been much better equipped to let the name work.
After that epic bounce we had some support at 40.87 that Started to get weak, and I wanted to participate. The price action started to get super choppy though, so I covered when it came back. I got some decent range on it and I definitely covered too soon, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. I don’t want to get in the habit of just letting things go crazy…I’ve done that and it sucks when it completely tickles you, so Happy with this overall.
Nothing fancy here, just some failed follow through after the bounce. I covered this one a bit early as well, but given the morning I wasn’t looking to give back any unnecessary profits.
Heck of a move here. Very happy that I didn’t just chase chase, but waited for some confirmation and then got involved and was able to catch the second leg of the fade (you don’t have to be first), which also happened to be the biggest part of the move. I was focused on covering a core into key areas and trying to let the trade work. I think I covered a grip at 24.23 and then added back. In hindsight my adds should have been heavier, but Iv’e been trying to not destroy my average, so it’s definitely a game of balance, but in these situations where the tape tells a story I need to work the trade. I’m happy with how I played it, now time to continue to refine my process