Tuesday, September 30, 2014

TKMR trade summary

I opened up TKMR at 21.40 as it bounced it met the 26 MA and bounced. I figured this would present a decent entry in a stock that that has been moving significantly on the Ebola outbreak news.  I was listening to NPR on the way into work. They were talking about live trials beginning in November.  TKMR was also successfully used in Nebraska. 

This entry allowed a tight stop a close below the 26 MA and I'm out. 



Aftermath:  I do not typically update my trading journal until the evening.  There was a very significant event for TKMR.  The first case of Ebola was diagnosed in the US.  This news broke in the after-hours.  (although on the drudge report during the trading day there was a headline suspected Ebola Case in Texas)  .  This news had nothing to do with my entry.  But every thing to do with the profit I enjoyed.  

 A very large move resulted. I sold at 25.02.    which in all honesty I played horribly for several reasons.  First, the Premarket pop took it over 28.  Premarket can often be the best time to exit a position. But this type of news had staying power so I held.  The problem was I was traveling and unable to get a sense of the broader market.  As TKMR came in I just sold rather than risk all my profits evaporate.  

Profit $3.62  2R. 




Monday, September 29, 2014

Opened RWLK

RWLK is a recent IPO that has been consolidating.  I took a position today @32.42 and enjoyed a nice strong close.  Now If it can only pull a "GPRO"


Strategy: Momo burst.  (ipo)
Stop: 30. 
Target 43.



Thursday, September 25, 2014

Closed: EMES

I had entered EMES as a mean reversion trade and it worked well --- for a day. When a stock should and it doesn't it is not a good sign.  I sold this morning @ 112.81. I was a bit slow to realize that it wasn't going to bounce and  I gave back too much profit but I escaped with a profit of 1.33  .25R Still much better than a loss.   Unless we get broad market buying it looks like EMES is going to go lower. 




Wednesday, September 24, 2014

CYBR IPO Daytrade

I've had pretty decent success in my IPO trades this year.  Most have been very short term holds.
CYBR was one that worked out very well despite leaving a hell of a lot on the table.

I bought the breakout after it had settled down from its first trades at 23.48.  This provided a clear stop loss of about 1 point. The broader markets were rallying so I figured this could run a bit.  And it did.  As I went up over 1.50 I kept telling my self don't get greedy.  I pulled the trigger as it ran.  As it turned out I sold way too soon as it popped 30.  It's a decent win nonetheless.  

Entry: 23.48
Exit: 25.40. 1R gain.


Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Opened EMES

I opened EMES towards the close today at 111.47 after  it bounced from a low of 107.75.  EMES enjoyed 2 days of massive selling closing below the lower Bollinger band.  I think it is likely that EMES wages a bounce attempt assuming the markets don't fall off a cliff here.  Stop at the LOD. 


Monday, September 22, 2014

Opened PANW

Lots of selling today.  I am a buyer.  I bought PANW as I thought it would breakout but it faded.  I still like this play.  It's one of the strongest stocks in the market and bounced hard off the lows.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Closed PLNR


Another loss. I sold after 4.00 broke and then had to chase it down as I was getting partial fills. So in summary bought too high as the breakout I suspected did not materialize. Sold too low, looked foolish in the process as the 50 continues to act as support.  Had I taken fewer shares on the entry I could have risked to see how it plays out.  

Summary: 
Entry: 4.21
Exit 1: 3.99
Exit 2 3.87 (it dropped quick)  - 1R loss. 


Closed AKS

I opened AKS on as it re-took its 13 MA on big volume on a sector wide rally.  I had hoped this would spur some wide spread buying. Nope. AKS caught a downgrade the next day but held the MA.  The selling continued and I got out as it gave up the MA. 

Entry: 10.12
Exit: 9.65 (.47 .4R)

Closed SLCA Short.

This is one I wish I had back.  I nailed the entry yesterday. 72.35 .  There was very clear topping action.   SLCA popped in the Morning off of news that Goldman Sachs upgraded EMES, it then faded.  I covered into the fade at 71.52 because I was concerned that the sector might rally as EMES did.  Nope. HCLP and SLCA faded.   A one day gain turn out to be decent, but I need to let the set up play out.  The lesson learned is trust the chart.


Closed YHOO Premarket

I bought YHOO yesterday on the close. 42.17. I planned to close YHOO premarket as I theorized that the most frenzied buyers would bid it up in anticipation of BABA.  YEP.  My limit order was filled at 43.25, which was .01 off the the HOD in premarket
  
Sometimes, You get lucky!  I was out of this trade before I  woke up. I set my limit at 43.25 because the buying was strong enough A.H. that I thought it would continue --43.25 seemed like a reasonable target.


I also took a stab at YHOO at the end of day.   41.08 - 41.14  I took a .06 swing, when it looked like the Momentum would fade.  I'm a speculator,  I saw no reason to gamble holding over the weekend for a bounce. 


Thursday, September 18, 2014

Opened YHOO

I opened Yhoo on the close @42.17  in anticipation of a BABA bounce.  This trade looks to be working as A.H. trading took it up to $42.66  I will likely sell this tomorrow Premarket.


Opened PLNR

I opened PLNR after it retraced to the 50day and held 3 days. bought at 4.21. I was not pleased by the fade EOD but the pattern still holds up.


Opened Short: SLCA


I opened a short position in SLCA today at 72.34.  Why? after all it's close to a 52 high and has been fire.  Plus, I love the industry.  

Not everything is well in the sand box.  There's heavy negative divergence on this last pop.  Nonetheless, SLCA is 13% above its 50MA, suggesting this expensive relative to its normal trading range. 

Daytrade CMGE,

CMGE was probably the best looking chart that I saw last night.  I set an alert but it gapped over.  Fortunately, there was a retracement.  I got my fill 25.40.  I had intended to hold this as a swing trade but it got a big burst behind it and rallied up well over 10%.  Gift horse meet mouth.

  I sold 1/3 at  26.41 +2.01 and then as it started to fade-- have I mentioned that I had breakouts that fade-- I sold the remainder at 26.65.  + .4R on the trade.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Opened AKS


Powerful move today on AKS as it retook the 10 Day Ma which has tracked the move from 6 with near perfection.  The Elder Impulse system loved the move turning green. 
Entry at 10.12. 
Stop: 10 MA has to hold or I sell. (currently 9.66)

Monday, September 15, 2014

Stop loss day: Closed EJ, RADA, NEO, JRJC -- Mitigated disaster.

On a day with strong selling especially in the momentum names, it was not a fun day despite having significantly cutting back on my holdings over the last week. Before today, my longest losing streak was 2.  Today I lost on 4 in a row.

So let's begin the Slaughter:

EJ, stopped out at $10.50.  I thought I was smarter than the market and this one winds up being one of my bigger losses on the year.
JRJC:
It broke out of the flag ---- to the downside.  Stopped at $7.90, exit as planned. 

RADA: I  used a mental stop at 3.30-- took my eye off  the ball and saw then saw it at 3.16, where I sold immediatly.

NEO Stop 5.55.  It gave up the breakout I gave up my shares. 



Sunday, September 14, 2014

NEO update.

 I opened NEO on Wednesday.  It looks ready for more action as it closed towards its high after reversing.  I believe that it is still in play but it has taken a bit longer to develop. This would be more of the types of setup I normally would trade -- extended consolidation with a momentum burst.  



Closed CSUN

I have become pretty concerned on the over all health of the market as we are seeing some of the leaders begin to falter.  Due to those concerns, I have been quick to pull the trigger.  Probably too quick,  I have over a 70% win rate this year but that's not necessarily a good thing as it likely means I am not letting trades develop as much as I should.

CSUN has about the best weekly setup that you could ask for:
I bought a fishhook setup on it as it had a big powerful high volume move.  Attempted selling 2 days in a row with reversals.  It then broke the range on Friday,  Unfortunately, it faded with the broad market sell offs.  I was concerned that holding a ton of stock would not be a great idea if the selling continued.


 I acquired the position on the various reversals with buys at 3.35, 3.43 and 3.56. I unloaded my position at 3.70 for a bit more that a 1R gain.  I'm not opposed to reacquiring this position but I think now is the time to play some defense.

Opened RADA

On Friday, I opened Rada at 3.76  I anticipated the break from the range, but the anticipated breakout failed.  I probably should have waited until the prior day's high was taken out but nonetheless.  Friday's action was very positive as the sellers were unable to make progress despite broad market selling.  

Stop at 3.30.  


Wednesday, September 10, 2014

SCOK stopped out.

SCOK was a huge gainer yesterday.
I thought I might be able to fishhook it as it bounced at 6.10 and bounced I bought at 6.55 it ran to about 6.90 but couldn't go higher and then sold off- hard.  I kept my stop at the LOD.  6.10 and was filled at 6.08.   < 1/2 R loss

So what went wrong?
Mid-day bounces are the least reliable there was still a lot of pressure on this stock as every one knew it was going to fade.

What went right.  the position size was small due to the increased risk and trading plan was followed.



Opened NEO

NEO is a momentum breakout trade where we look for 3-5 days of continuation.
Entry:  $5.99
Stop: $5.55

Closed OTIV with 50% gains

I Fishhooked OTIV yesterday at 3.14.  It started taking off pre-market.  really taking off I sold a small bit first at $3.80.  But OTIV  kept going more going up to $5.00 as it backed off from that point, I sold off the bulk of my position with an average fill of $4.77   This worked out to about a 4R gain.  My first trophy fish of the season. 


After I sold, It faded the remainder of the day:




Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Closed ALJ

There was no continuation, which is not what you want to see in a breakout out trade.  Sold out at 16.55 , Entry 16.80  < 1/2 R loss. 


Opened OTIV CSUN, Fishhook Entires

I recently wrote up a detailed explanation of a the "fishhook" entry that I have been using for Big Gain Hunting. I hooked into a couple today.

Monday, September 8, 2014

Closed HCLP

The initial bounce at the 50 Day average didn't hold and I got nipped on my stop ouch.  Entry 62.70
Exit: 59.96.  

Opened, ALJ

I bought ALJ at 16.80.  Breakout was not as strong as I would have hoped but Still could work for a 3 day swing. 

Stop at 16.48.


Sunday, September 7, 2014

Day trade: VRA

VRA had a very nice move  out of a bottom.  Bought $21.25 out +.20.    Chart still looks good but I am being extra diligent about preserving profits.



Closed CDXS 26% gain.

CDXS was the first stock I bought as part of my Big Gain Hunting plan.  I sold because (1) have big gains (2) own a bunch of stock and (3) the  volume has vanished meaning I'm holding a big bunch of stock that I cannot liquidated as easily as I might want if the market tuns south. For that reason I sold. I  got filled between 2.70 and 2.67.  Entry at $2.13 so over 25% in a month.  

Not bad, but not quite the 100% + gains I had hoped for. To get those type of gains I'll need to learn how to sit tight and not be shaken out by concerns over the general market.  



Closed VEEV

Over the past few days, I've had growing concerns regarding the overall  health of the market.  I spooked myself out of this trade prematurely.  When the breakout reversed, I had growing concerns that my VEEV would not continue the move.  On Friday it sold off in the morning.  I decided to realize the loss early to avoid damaging my account.   Anyway it did  reverse pretty nicely after sell.

Trade Summary

Entry: 30.41
Exit: 29.26

My entry was higher than I would have liked because I was in the car when I got the alert.  I still took the trade but cut my size as a result.  It's hard to predict what I would have done, but given my past trades as of late, had I bought the original entry signal with the size it would have afforded, I would have taken partial profits on the spike over 31.

Opened HCLP


After selling out of my HCLP position onThursday , I put a limit buy order just below the 10 Week MA  at 62.7 in hopes maybe I would catch a tail below the Magic Line.  To my surprise, I was filled.  HCLP continued the onslaught selling on a low of 60.27, but Friday brought a reversal and relief from the selling. 



I would have closed out the position if it had not recaptured the 10 Week MA since it has held for over a year now.



Thursday, September 4, 2014

Closed HCLP

I sold HCLP this morning for a decent gain this morning at 64.11.  Worked for about 1.1R.  A shame because I had over a 4.5R on Monday.  After I sold things got a bit ugly in the sandbox:

Incidentally,  after I sold I put in my "dream price" order at the 50week MA. Well, my dream order got filled on the continued selling.

 If it can't bounce above the 50week tomorrow I'm out.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Closed LRAD

LRAD was one of my Big Gain Hunting picks.  It started really taking off this past week due to the "police security" stocks rallying post ferguson.  It popped and dropped today as the momentum seems to be coming out of the market.  As always, its better to sell when you can.


Entry 1: $3.07
Entry 2: $ 3.16
Exit 1: $3.17 (20% position)
Exit 2: $ 3.52
Exit 3: $ 3.50


Closed: VDSI

VDSI: This breakout put in a nice second day but never really kicked it into high gear.  I decided to close it out.

Entry: $14.73
Exit: 1. $15.28
Exit 2.  $14.95

Not too much to say about this one.  Small size going in, Small gain going out.  .3 R


Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Partial Close: VDSI, DAY TRADE: ISNS -- Falling off the bull before .08 seconds.

Nice continuation out of VDSI, I sold half of the position.  Why? Profit protection I suppose. That being said, I've had a difficult time staying on the bull for the full 8 seconds: