An update on my LIZ and XTXI positions

I was able to recover all of what I lost yesterday on XTXI, plus made a few bucks to boot! As I'm writing this post now it keeps making new lows... good. I thought about holding longer, but why when there are so many other plays... I'm not married to any stock... unless she takes me money...arrrrrrr!

As for LIZ, I'm still holding my long position from $3.18. I have to say if this were some fly-by-night POS pumper, I would have covered a long time ago, but LIZ was/is a blue-chip and a very well known clothing name brand.

Manhack PM'd today and gave me a heads up that if LIZ drops to $2.35 that I should sell, and try again later... I cordially agreed. As it stands right now though, LIZ admidst such a dreary day on the market (red ~ 3%) has been holding strong, err created a channel, between $2.45 and $2.50. I'm going to hold in hopes that over the next week or so I'm able to recover what is/was rightfully mine...

We shall see...

It pains me to write this...

Trade #5 - short XTXI - 500 shares @ $4.67; holding overnight.

What I did right - nothing. I did everything wrong on this trade that one can do wrong and my position speaks volumes to that point.
What I did wrong - everything. I shorted within the first five minutes of opening bell (which I know and have written several times NOT to do already); my short position was the intraday low and now I'm not going to cover because I "think" it will come back down over the next week... I hope I'm right.
Area of improvement - If this trade doesn't sink my feeble ship, I vow to myself NEVER to trade in the first five minutes after the opening bell! (For the 1000th time NOOB!!!) DUH DUDE!!

Trade #6 - long LIZ - 500 @ $3.18; holding overnight.

What I did right - so far, I don't think I've done anything right. This is a "bluechip" stock (over $23 a year ago), so if I wanted to play as a fundamentalist trader I think it will go up over time... I just have to bite my lip and hope it doens't go lower before it goes higher.
What I did wrong - didn't cut my losses quickly. Again... 1000 times I've written about this... I even have it laminated on my monitor... stubborn Noob! Dumb noob!
Area of improvement - Say it 1000 times out loud... CUT YOUR LOSSES QUICKLY!!!

These kinds of posts truly are humbling and are a reminder that as a human I am really am my own worst enemy... because the ONLY reason I'm in this mess... down $500 intraday, which my small account can not afford, is becaues I broke two cardinal rules that I set for myself!!!

I wrote on the Darkside blog to Muddy, a battle cry for help, however really there is nothing he can do for me... especially if I'm trading against myself. I love trading, but when you trade like a drunk driver... you're commiting trading suicide. Nuff said.

Good luck tomorrow!

Recent trades

What I'm going to do to keep this simple, for myself and those reading, is track each trade I make, what I think I did right/wrong in that trade, and jot down an area I'd like to improve for my next trade...

I've already written about my first trade of 2009 in a post below, so I'll start this from trade #2... NOTE: all figures are gross and not including commissions.

Trade #2 - short XTXI - 500 shares @ $5.25; covered 500 shares @ $5.55 for a $150 loss.

What I did right - didn't get scared out of my position... covered my losses quickly (~5%).
What I did wrong - on at the .50 mark I should have tuned in to the breakout, and flipped my short to a long... this is something I really want to work on this year.
Area of improvement - Don't take myself out of a position just because it didn't go how I initially wanted it to. If you short a stock and it starts to breakout, flip it... and vice-versa.

Don't be afraid to make money trading stocks!

Trade #3 - short PALM - 500 shares @ $6.18; covered 500 shares @ $6.24 for a $30 loss.

What I did right - didn't get faked out (initially) on the fake-0ut/break-out
What I did wrong - Got scared out of my position on a fake-out... regretting covering my position, especially because technically, this stock did exactly what it's supposed to do.
Area of improvement - When entering a trade, ideally my R/R should give me confidence so I'm not trading with scared money. Do not psychic yourself out of a trade (ie: don't trade scared).

Trade #4 - short XTXI - 500 shares @ $4.96; covered 500 shares @ $4.89 for a $35 gain.

What I did right - got a good position
What I did wrong - got scared out of my position... not wanting to hold overnight, even though all the technical indicators were in my favor.
Area of improvement - don't trade scared.

My confidence isn't all there right now. I was chatting with a friend last night after reading back some of blog posts from last year and I still stand by several posts where I wrote about being able to realistically make min. $300-$500 per day.

There are conditions though - you can't trade with scared money (per Muddy from his interview), you have to do your homework every night and you have to have confidence. See how they all tie together? I have to find my rhythm again... and I will.

Good luck.

My 2 cents on the recent "pay for chat"

Sorry to be redundant here, but I think it necessary to give my 2 cents on the recent GOTS chat going to a pay system.

First, for those giving shit to Muddy and Laura about this transition... $?#$?#?%#?%%?#%$?#?$?#$?#?%?#%?#?%?#?#$#?%#?%?$#?$#?!!!!!!!!!!!!! Show some respect!

Second, having been out of the loop for a bit, due to my recent trading-train-wreck, I have to say that I'm not the least bit surprised this transition took place. It was discussed several times WAY before IL started hosting the chat, so for those who are giving IL shit, stop.

And third, before I ever made my first trade, I entered the GOTS chat feeling like a small fish in the big sea (still do, but I know who's-who now...) and I knew entering I had zero to offer. However, I took a chance, said hello (during AH of course), and to my surprise people in the room kindly replied back, saying hello, sharing a few of the chatroom tips and rules, giving me useful sites to check out... all-in-all very helpful.

Laura, again, thank you SOO much for all your time teaching me what ADR meant! HA! Remember that lesson?! You gave me a lot of honest, useful information... and still do when I ask... for that I'm greatful and willing to pay.

The successes I've experienced over the past six months were 100% due to being in the GOTS chat. You can make the monthly fee in 30 seconds off one trade in this chatroom... trust me I've done it, several times.

Just remember it only takes a few bad apples to spoil the bunch... this was done to filter out the wanna-be's, the free-loaders and probably because the information we get in the chat is worth more than what they're charging!

I'm signing up in the next week or so... can't wait to get back into it!

PS - This post isn't directed at people who can't afford the monthly subscription or people who can't be in the chat enough to warrent the cost.

Good luck!

My 2008 goal, my 2009 goal, and other thoughts...

Alright, let's cut right to the title of this post...

I wrote several times last year about what my goal for the end of the year (2008) was; to take $4,863 and turn it into $10,000. Well, I didn't achieve that goal... The highest my account saw was $9,100ish... (don't recall the exact $$ figure). However, looking at my total commissions, I actually (at one point) had around $7,000 in profits... but commissions reduced this drastically. Tuition is high.

The last month and a half of '08 ended up nearly disastrous for me though. I some how (overnight) forgot how to trade, or got scared, or drank to much bottled water... (not that I'm that good as it is, but I do know a little bit!). I ended up losing almost $4,000 in two weeks... WTF!?!? How did this happen? The only thing I can think of is I bought a house, perhaps got distracted by the holidays... who the f*ck knows... what I do know is that the little bit of confidence I had was shattered into a million pieces and I went into a depression.

Life has a funny way of teaching us humility (I've got to much of it at 30). Kind of like when you're favorite baseball player goes into a slump after the All-Star break, when he was on pace to break Hack Wilson's RBI record before the All-Star break... yeah, that was me.

Fast-forwarding to today, I've pulled myself out of that depression/mental slump, had an awesome holidays with family and friends (mom and sis came from the East Coast), and I'm finally getting settled into my new abode. AND I don't give two shits about New Years resolutions... as I've written before, I don't like setting myself up to fail. (just my opinion on the subject).

For 2009, now that I've got 6 months trading experience and a clean slate, I will wipe my tears, dust myself off and try again to hit my goal of $10,000. This time though I'm starting with only $4,267 (this is how low my account got during my "losing" streak). Once I've hit this goal and I will hit it (I need to see $10,000 as my "Net Liquidating" amount), my next milestone will be the ever infamous $25,000 mark. One step at a time though.

Newbs... I've written this numerous times... trading isn't that difficult once you've got a few tools that work for you and they are out there... check out Darkside and GreenOnTheScreen... READ IT AND READ IT AGAIN! The psychological stuff is what makes trading hard, at least this is the case for me.

And if you set a goal for yourself (in anything) and you don't hit, don't give up. Be honest with yourself, believe in yourself and remember that even though you may want something "right now" sometimes life isn't ready to give it to you "right now". Trust the process though and you will achieve it.

My first and only trade today netted me $45 and it felt great to start the year with a green trade.

Good luck to all in whatever you do in 2009!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Hello...

It's been a while since I've written... I'll spare the reasons why until I get back into writing in the New Year, but in the meantime I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.

This truly is a great community and I feel luck to be a part of it.

Good luck to all trading... I'll chat with you in the New Year.

Recent hiatus...

Well, more of a break, but they're two-in-the-same... anyhow, my recent schedule hasn't allowed me much free time to write. Being a father, running a small company, going to the gym, and of course doing my DD has taken up 95% of my day. The other 5% is, well... private. (=D

As I've posted before I love to write and find it very fulfilling that others enjoy what I write. My original intention was to document and track my own experiences so I could learn from my mistakes and hopefully help others treading the same (newbie) path.

After 4 months of dedication (time has gone fast... always does in "hind-sight"), I've made leaps and bounds as a trader... and more importantly as a person. I've learned quite a bit about myself going through the humbling process of learning... especially learning how to day-trade.

I was introduced to trading by Lorne Warren, a well known, very respected prospector. I was introduced to "short-selling" through a book my mother bought me last November called "An American Hedge Fund" aka Timothy Sykes. I've learned how to trade by a two people I've never met and yet they treat me, and many others, like a next door neighbor... Muddy and Laura.

I can't really say much about my recent success because I would be repeating the same thing that has been said over and over... do your DD, follow your rules, and hope for a little luck. However, I can say this, and I've said it before... trading itself isn't hard, competing against yourself is.

Once you've got the tools needed to trade, once you've established a list of rules that works for you, once you feel comfortable enough taking risk with money, the last obstacle that stands in your way to becoming a successful trader is... you! I'm speaking from very personal experience.

There are a few things I really love in life - my family, my health, good food, sports, music, (some other things I can't think of right now...) and of course my new love... trading. Never in my short lived life did I ever think about trading stocks and or did I think I would trade stocks and enjoy it. I've lost, I've won, but my passion for trading has remained consistent.

If you truly love what you do, no matter what is, let the process go through it's process and you will succeed. In fact the success is bonus, because you're already doing something you love, that is the gift.

That said, I'd like to contribute to my blog at least 3x per week. If this ends up being unrealistic, due to life, I'll write at least once per week, posting personal experiences or thoughts as they happen throughout the week. I'm always in the (new) chatroom (which is great btw) and will always reply to emails too.

Remember...

Trust yourself. If you can't do that, you've abandoned the one person in life who would never let you down intentionally.

See you in the trenches.