Hey everybody,

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this detailed message from a newbie. So this morning was my first day of paper trading on TD Ameritrade after studying on how to properly trade for over a year and I would have to say there is a lot more learning to go. But, overall, by doing my homework I was on the right track regarding my watchlist and the fundamentals of my trade along with the history of the company. The main things that are struggling is my confidence in my entry and exit points.

 

However, since I am new I was hoping if some of y'all could help me on my latest trade this morning regarding WTW. Like mentioned before, I did my homework correctly and properly to the point I was very confident in making this trade. But I made some mistakes. I made two trades overall (one dip buy - one short) but ended up losing money overall.

First Trade:

Entry - I missed the morning spike (wasn't expecting that) but ended up entering on the second spike of the morning at 18.40. I let it run and it started dropping at 18.84 at resistance but was unsure how far it was going to drop.

Exit - I let it drop down to 18.07 and sold hoping it would spike back up. (Which it did overall since it's at 19.82 right now)

For this trade, I know I shouldn't have let it dropped that far but I was unsure of whether to believe it will spike back up or "cut loses" ASAP. Maybe it's a personal thing I have to figure out when I trade. But I know for a fact I was not confident in my exit point allowing it to drop and not knowing that it was going to drop.

 

Second Trade:

Entry - So, after I let the first trade fall to 18.07, it continued to drop and I decided "oh, lets short it" thinking it was hype. I shorted it at 18.67 and it continued to drop to low 18's.

Exit - Now I have the mentality to keep it short and let it go thinking it drop more than expected but it didn't. It was bouncing back and forth between 18.10-18.20 for a bit and ended up spiking over 18.67. I decided to hold on to it and cover after it drops back down so I would at least make some kind of profit on my first trade...but it didn't...I continued to hold it until it hit it's new high 19+ where I could have been patient with my first trade and ride it out to make a big profit.

On this second trade I know now I shouldn't have short it or even held onto it that long so maybe I have to have more of the "get out before it's to late" mentality...What do y'all think?

Overall, I can see the big picture mistakes of what I shouldn't do but I was hoping everybody could give me some pointers on how to do a better job of completing the entry and exit points properly with a profit and having the confidence of knowing when you're gonna make the profit and get out. If I was patient in the first trade I would have made a pretty profit as it has hit 19.79.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this!!! Much appreciated, really!