This is intended for myself.
TROV - This one is a little bit complicated because the lesson to learn was tough to find at first. This one was gapping up all morning with news with a new agreement. I was watching for volume to pick up and looking for strength at market open, instead it dropped right out of the gate. Many other stocks I was looking at also did the same, I can't tell if that is coincidental or it was because the overall market dropped at market open. Anyways, it dropped and that was that. I wasn't very interested in it at that point so I brought my attention to some other things. Eventually I looked back and TROV was starting to bring in some volume and perk up. I didn't know if it would just run into market open price which was 3.96 and fail or fail at whole dollar 4 as resistance. So I waited for it to prove itself and ended up being ill-prepared and chased, got filled at 4.18. My target was 4.5's so I placed my sell position at 4.48. It ended up hitting 4.46 and pulled down. So before I continue what we have so far is a chased position at 4.18 with a risk either at 4 or day low at 3.76 with a target of 4.48. You can do the math this isn't very risk to reward favored on reward. So I suppose you could place this under the "risky scalp" category because at it's best that's all it could be, but that only would apply if I had a better entry. My entry was late that it made my target higher. If I would have entered just above 4 with the same .30 cent target, then it would have happened. That is the problem with chasing. Not only that but how could I determine a logical target anyways, there was nothing logically about my target other than it being under 4.5 which is an attraction. Anyways, this stock hit 4.46 and pulled down the 4.15's, I held on thinking it was okay for it pull back a little to go further, due to my entry though this was scary, looking at the chart there was nothing wrong with that, the b/o started and 3.75 and it was consolidating at 4.15, what's wrong with that? My entry. My entry was 4.18 and it was consolidating under there, I got out at 4.11 and it then dropped a couple more cents and started consolidating at 4ish. It went a little under but seemed to hold, made it's next leg up, broke the hod and went to 4.58. For what it's worth, the stock pulled back after that, consolidated for a while, forming a higher lower all midday, and now is at the 5.4ish area, and it is not even 3pm yet. Very upsetting, but that is what I get for chasing. Chasing is only good for quick scalps, I was treating a chase like a normal position, thinking I was just letting the stock play out. That is not good with morning spikes and chases, they pull back hard, there is no telling what price the high will be, there is no telling where it will pull back to. The best case would have been to buy on the 4 break, and sell for a quick scalp. It is pretty clear what went wrong here.
AGEN - This was the other stock I traded, very foolishly too. This was another stock I had my eye on all pre-market and at market open, it also failed to spike and pulled back at market open, just like the others. Within the first half hour of market open it formed a cup and handle on the 1 day one minute intraday chart, and there was a clear b/o at 3.6. I wanted to be in this breakout but didn't catch it in time. I wanted to chase it and go long at 3.75's but the previous play had scared me out of chasing. Which is a blessing in disguise. Anyways, it ran to 3.84 and started to pull back a little and fade. I then entered short. How stupid is that, 7 minutes after it put in it's high of day after running on good news, I shorted at 3.71. Now I can understand if someone tries to go for a quick scalp on a ridiculous run, but it is only a scalp, there in and out! I held this thing, thinking it would fade all day and I would make some money. Not only that but I traded it with double size, on accident! I wanted 300 shares, but got filled 600 shares. I am not exactly sure how that happened but I remember telling myself, take half off now and size down. Which probably wasn't such a bad idea. Well, I never did that. I held this thing for 30 minutes before realizing it wasn't a good idea, now that doesn't seem like a long time but in any other circumstances I seriously exposed myself to some serious damage. This stock was running on FDA clearance for gosh sake, why would I short that. Like I said I can understand a quick scalp on a ridiculous move, trading with little speculative size, or if the technical chart realllly sets up. But I checked off none of those boxes. Luckily I got out at 3.82, but for my account that was one of the biggest losses in a while. I was actually watching the VWAP (Volume Weighted Average Price) move up and up and up. Now I don't really utilize the VWAP too much, but what does it tell you when the average volume was coming up and up in price, well I hope you answered bullish. An hour or so later this stock set up for a possible short, but only with small size, as it is dangerous and asking for a potential short squeeze. It formed a head n shoulders pattern and is now in the 3.4's that is best case. Unless you are a professional or a play really sets up for something awesome with limited risk, DON'T SHORT FIRST DAY RUNNERS.
-If you make a mistake on accident, correct it immediately.
-Don't short on the first day unless something amazing sets up with limited risk.
-Don't chase, if you do chase, treat it like a chase, in other words, don't expect very much.
-Make NOTE of risk:reward BEFORE you place the trade.
-Don't create naive targets when there is nothing to back it up.
-Have orders ready at all times.
-3/4 stocks follow the market and that't no bull shit.
-Let trades come to you, prove themselves, don't force, don't be naive.
-DON't FIGHT THE TREND.
I stopped trading after that as I realized I was not emotionally stable to place logical trades, so I have been studying. That is something I should get quite familiar with. I will be out of town tomorrow but will still likely create a watch list. Best of luck to everyone.
good lessons man. tomorrows a new day
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