MARCH RECAP

MARCH TOTALS:
---------------------
Gain: $18.40 per share, net of commissions
Trades: 194 for 266; 73% winners
Ave Gain per day traded: $1.08 per share
*********************************************************
Days traded in March: 17 days out of 22; 77%
Days traded with a gain: 15 days of 17; 88%
Days traded with a loss: 2 days of 17; 12%
Largest daily loss: -$4.19 on March 31st
Smallest daily loss: -$1.97 per share on March 2nd
Largest daily gain: $4.22 on March 16th. Also, the most active day.
Smallest daily gain: $ .04 on March 10th.
Most active day: 33 for 47, March 16th. (the biggest daily gain in March)
Least active day: 2 for 2; March 4th.
*********************************************************
Notable: The first and last days of the month were the only losing days.

March 31st

Well, it was a day of ups and downs; good news and bad news. First, the downs...the bad news: two of the 19 trades (same trade but a double-down made it two) represented a horrible loss of $5.73 per share on SKF !! It was just ugly on so many levels. In reviewing the trade, I noted the following: I went long while neglecting the fact that SKF was pushing down hard on resistance after having already dropped $3.00 per share from the open and $5.75 per share from its early morning highs. That was a key sign that this was to be a down day. Secondly, I noticed in hindsight that the volume activity was not the usual level I look for for a good solid reversal. I've made trades with this volume level before and it usually goes my way. So much of this game is probabilities and this time, I was stung. Thirdly, I doubled down on the trade out of over-confidence. This was the dagger in the heart. I was so sure that I was in a good reversal that I got cocky and added to the trade when the signs pointed to not doing it. So, all the signs were there, but I was not paying attention to details, as I had intended to do from yesterdays post. Very frustrating. But, earlier in the month and in February, I was doing this much more often. The primary lesson is to cut losers short...but it is a double-edged sword! I've bailed on so many trades for losses that ended up successful that I've taught myself to just have guts, stay in, and fight! Well, today I paid for it. Perhaps, In the end, I must suffer a few of these as part of the cost of doing business in this manner I've chosen to trade.
The ups, also known as the good news, are that without the bad trade, I was 13 for 17, a 76% win rate; a $1.52 per share gain. Of that, I was 7 of 9 for a gain of 89 cents per share AFTER the trade from hell. So, that was a good way to finish the day. But. all in all, I'd like to have finished the month on a winning note, but it was not to be. I will re-cap the month on a separate post once I run the tape on it.
13 for 19, a 68% win rate; -$4.19 cents per share loss.

March 30th

The end of March is almost here and I'm really feeling more confident about paper-trading in this style. I'll have a chance to be at the computer tomorrow as well but I'll be back to the day-job for Wed, April Fools Day.

Nothing really to remark about today, except that I was getting some mis-timed entries and had the discipline to double-down on the trade on four occasions, with all but one of these situations resulting in a gain. Patience is difficult to find when one is down $1.60 per share but I found a way to fight through the urge to "cut and run" and it paid off, for the most part. Discipline, refinement, and patience. These are the things which are my focus right now; necesary to a successful career as a trader.

If I can figure out how, I will do some re-caps and add them to the margin of my blog. Maybe a week-end project...

12 for 13 winners, a 92% success rate. $1.83 per share gain

thought...

"Thrift and self-control are not sought because they create wealth, but because they create character." - Calvin Coolidge

March 27th

My morning day-job appt was a bust so I had a chance to sit in front of the mkt for the entire day and I truly enjoyed getting back to paper-trading. Not a bad day for me, had some early success with my first four trades, averaged my buy price down on the next two but bailed out on them too early; both went on to what would have been nice gains. I find that when I double-down for a better price, I often try to escape with a modest gain, even though my gut, experience, and action of doubling up indicate a nice run is expected. It is a curious habit and proves that fear is alive and well inside my head. I've done it about 6 or 8 times over the past weeks and each time escaped with a very small gain or a small loss. The fills are hit or miss for profits on the sale even though I always show a gain when I pull the trigger. I must condition myself to wait and trust my "gut."
The rest of the day was quite fun and I was in early on a number of nice moves but bailed early; decent gains but fairly small ppercentages of the entire move. This is something I must fix but it is a great problem to have, as problems go; I won't beat myself up too badly. I just looked over at my SKF chart as I'm typing and saw a great entry... at the 3:00 pm candle, but I am done for the day. Yup, over a dollar per share available so far on that move... it appears I quit too soon!

13 for 19 winners; a 68% success rate. $2.62 per share gain.

March 25th

I had a day-job appt this am and then had to run a number of errands. Finally, I was able to sign on and see what the markets were up to. Between 3:22 pm and 3:33 pm (eleven minutes), I made six trades and picked up $1.66 per share. I was pleased with this as I had been unable to trade since last week. Traded SKF and GS. Nothing remarkable about the trades, just looking to fade pullbacks.

6 for 6 winners for a 100% success rate. Gain of $1.65 per share.

March 24th

'A Government Big Enough To Give You Everything You Need is Strong Enough To Take Everything You Have." -Thomas Jefferson

March 23

No trades today, Day job got in the way. The same for most of this week. Did I say how much I hate my Day Job?

March 20th

I got a slow start this am, not making my first trade until 11:00 am. So, I picked up 64.5 cents per share on three trades, two of which represented a "double-down" for a better average price. A "day-job" appt kept me away until near the end of day. I worked in 3 more trades from 3:36 pm to 3:51. The final trade was my first loss of the day (-3 cents)and a result of what appears to be a bad fill; I was showing profit of about 15 cnets when I clicked to sell. More than likely though, it was just the volume rush that caused the slow execution.
One thing is certain, I am feeling more comfortable trading in this style. I am trying to refine my entries and exits, managing risk, and focused on selectivity instead of the frenetic click and hope of last week. While my gains are not as strong, my panic factor is deeply reduced! I'd rather pick up 75-80 cents per share on 8 trades than a bit more gain on 25 trades and be white-knuckling all day. I find that for the most part, I am getting very decent, early entries on nice moves. I am selling them much too soon, however. e.g. my long on the SKF chart at 3:36 pm. I was in at $124.76 (green line on chart) and sold at $125.11 (red line) for a gain of about 33 cents per share. When you see the move that followed however, you'll see what I mean by bailing out early. On the three-minute chart, it went up 4 continuous green candles to a high of $129.38; a full $4.27 per share more than what I took from it. I got only 7 % of the entire move after going long a scant 31 cents above the bottom. Talk about impatient....
I can't complain though. I took a gain for that trade and for the day.
A good week-end to all! Spring began today and the snow is disappearing here in Maine. A rebirth is just a whisker of time away!

5 for 6 winners, an 83 % win rate. Gain of $1.03 per share.

March 19th

A little different approach today, scaling back on the trades and looking for more reliable entries... with an emphasis on looking more than clicking! I saw many moves I'd like to have pulled the trigger on. Most of them were solid trades, too. But a couple weren't. Instead of getting into many trades and focusing on them, I was studying the movement of price and volume.
One move I made today was new to me and that is getting the "breaking news bulletin" off CNBC that the Gov't was to offer money for the auto parts suppliers. Thanks to moving a tv into my office last week-end, I am able to catch some of these headlines. After the news, I thought immediately to punch up AXL on the Quotetracker and prepare a trade. I was so early that I actually saw AXL at rest and then watched it take off. More interested in watching than trading that first move, I did get a short on the first reversal. Then I watched the action which followed. That was pretty much the highlight of the day for me, even though it was not the most profitable trade of the day. My two losing trades today were because of very poor fills on trades which were solidly profitable when I clicked the mouse. This is evidenced by the dollar amounts: -$8 and -$15, essentially flat trades if you don't factor in the commissions.
Today's paper-trades took place between 9:45am and 1:45pm on three stocks; GS, SKF, and AXL.

5 for 7 winners for a 71% win rate. 71 cents per share gain.

thought...

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein

March 18th - Fed Announcemnet Day

Well, I ended up 85 cents per share but it sure feels like I didn't deserve it! I continued getting on the wrong side of big moves, in this case today, trading reversals on a dramatically one sided day. I owe Ben Bernanke for saving my butt, that's for sure. The action that came into the market as a result of the FED Announcement made all the difference in salvaging a gain today. I started my first 4 trades up 88 cents on a 3 of 4 success rate; from 9:38 am to 9:46 am.

Like yesterday, I should have stopped there because I then scored a 4 for 9 win rate between 10:51 am and 2:02 pm. This drop was primarily because of three trades. The first of these major losses was on SRS and was mitigated by an averaging-down long on this trade, thereby minimizing the loss to 91 cents. As has been the case often lately, I got caught playing for a reversal to the long side at the start of a wicked down-draft! Instead of getting out of it, I held for the reversal I was sure would come and while it eventually did, the sting of being down so far at one point caused me to get out with the loss instead of holding for the completion of the move back up. If I had held, I would have taken a nice profit from the trade, compliments of the averaging down buy in at a very good spot. Fear is much more of a motivating factor in my trading than is greed. The next loss was the worst of the day and was on GS. I did the same move, playing for a reversal that went against me and then averaging in at a spot that looked like a good reversal area. The move kept going away from me and I finally sold with the huge loss of $2.28 per share. Well, my instincts were correct again but my fear ruined it. The move in my favor, the reversal I wanted, happened just a moment later and the reversal would have given me a nice profit on the trade, considering that I had averaged down. That is incredibly frustrating. The two worst losses of the day, both averaged down to great entry points, ended with my nerve failing me; selling both minutes from an eventual gain. My head is getting in the way of my brain, that's for sure! But, this is why I practice-trade. I will beat this problem through paper-trading. I had visions of getting back to my real-money account in April instead of this summer, given my recent success. I just don't think I'm ready yet. It was tough holding on as long as I did with just a fake account. I would be apoplectic if this were real money! The last of the three bad mid-day trades was on GS and there was no excuse for not exiting quickly. It was a 67 cent loss per share. These three losers cost me $3.86 per share.

To close the day on a positive note, I then finished by doing 12 for 14 and a $3.54 per share gain, allowing me to close with some dignity! Ha! ...actually had some great moves in my favor at the end, and would have had an even better finish had it not been for some seemingly horrible fills with my broker, IB.

Over the rest of this week and the week-end, I'll be analyzing my trades and mapping the charts I traded today to get my head around what seems to be the incurable disease of not cutting my losses short and not letting my winners run.

19 for 26; 73% win ratio. 84.8 cents per share gain and thankful to have it considering the errors I made.

March 17th - Erin Go Bragh!

Happy St Patty's day!

I really felt like I was struggling today. Same issue as yesterday. I got on the wrong side of large moves, anticipating reversals.. which didn't show up in a timely way! Between 12:20 and 2:04 pm, I was 4 for 11, only a 36% win rate; losing about 98 cents per share. Clearly, I have to figure this out as it is a pattern I'm in and have been since I started trading the high-ADR ETF's. Let's face it, losses are part of trading. And while I've only had one losing day in March thus far, I absolutely MUST figure this problem out in order to become a consistently profitable trader. The big losses I had in February with this "dysfunction" are just around the corner despite some recent success. There are two approaches I could take here. Accept the fact that I can be wrong on an entry, learn how to recognize it faster and cut losses short (perhaps even reverse direction), OR... try to perfect my entries to the point where very few big losses can occur! The problem with the latter solution is that it is akin to "picking intra-day tops and bottoms;" generally considered nearly impossible.

Perhaps there is a combination of the two which will work for me as I paper-trade. Meanwhile, I'm off to drink the nectar of the Gods... Guiness Extra Stout!

10 for 17 trades, a 59% success rate. Gain of 89.8 cents per share.

Thought for the Day

"Every time that we try to lift a problem from our own shoulders, and shift that problem to the hands of the government, to the same extent we are sacrificing the liberties of our people."-- John F. Kennedy

March 16th

It was an up and down day for me in terms of energy and success. Luckily, my up was greater than my down! Started strong and kept up a nice success rate from the Open through 1:50 pm, going 26 for 30 winners. Should have quit there!!! I then proceeded to go 7 for 17 while dumping a bunch of my gains. I really got tired and two back-to-back losses at 3:03 and 3:04pm were inadvertant clicks on the wrong stock! First I clicked a buy on GS but meant to click SKF which gave me a loss on what should have been a gain and the next, I meant to long GS but clicked SKF. This should have been a clue to take a break. The one thing that caught my eye while prepping the screen shot and this summary was that my run of bad trades coincided quite closely with the intense run-up of SKF (and drop of GS which I was playing as it's inverse because I still couldn't short the SKF). I have noted before that I have trouble when the move is big and all one-sided over a longer intra-day timeframe. My recent gains over the past few days have been in picking reversals. The end of day move today was a very hard time to play for reversals, with the energy decidedly in one direction. I really must start thinking longer term on some of these moves. The questions is, how do I recognize a longer move before it happens!? I'll be working on trying to figure it out. Sadly, if I had placed a trade at 1:50pm on SKF and sold at close, it would have given me $17.75 per share in gains instead of the loss I incurred; $2.44 cents per share loss over the same time frame!

33 for 47 in trades, 70% win rate. Gain of $4.22 per share.

March 13th

Another good day, it seems. Still, two days is not a trend. 100 days is a trend!

A real stinker of an exit at 10:18 am, though. Waiting another 12 minutes would have given me a solid profit on what was a $1.99 per share loss. Patience is hard to generate when the bottom is falling out of your trade, that's for sure. ON a positive note, I was happy to actually add to a position as it was moving in my favor on one occasion today; 11:12 am on GS. Adding to winners is something I need to work on.

Paper-traded three stocks today; 1 FAS for a 5 cent gain per share, 7 on GS for $1.66, and 13 on SKS for $1.47.

17 for 21 winners, an 81% success rate. Gain of $3.19 per share.

March 12th

No trades today. The day job got in the way. Too bad, because it looks like there was a nice move later in the day. I really miss it when I have to live my "real" life!

March 11th

12 for 15, 80% win rate. $3.26 per share gain while paper-trading the SKF and GS.

On humility as a trader...

About 10,000 years ago, glacial ice covered this very land on which I live. It scoured and mutilated the earth, grinding it and shaping it without pattern. When the glaciers melted back toward the north pole, what remained was a rough, torn up land mass met by a rising sea of melt water. The Maine coastline has quite a reputation as a coarse, jagged stretch of land. It is often quoted that our coastline, from Kittery to Eastport, if stretched out from its many inlets and coves, would reach from Maine to Florida! As I drank my coffee this am, I thought of the Maine coast as a great analogy for stocks/etf's in their daily movement. Looking at yesterday's chart of SKF, I couldn't help but note the opportunity present to make money as a trader. At 9:30 am it opened at HOD $221 per share (rounded) and closed at its LOD, $182; a move of $39 (18%). One trade short at the open, shares were available at that point, with a cover at close would have yielded $39 per share! I traded this stock yesterday and struggled to make 4 cents; a .001% of the ADR. Then consider the profits available to a skilled trader if he/she had traded near the highs and lows of the major moves as its value sunk through the day. Like the Maine coastline, if you were to stretch out the SKF just so that the 7 largest moves could be measured in one line, the opportunity would have been $85.61 per share by days end.
That's a one trade yield of $ 39 per share gain and an $85.61 yield with a 7 trade day.
Now you tell me that isn't a humbling thought. I certainly have a long way to go...

March 10th

"Did you ever have one of those days where...?"

You know how that saying goes. Well that was a great description of my day. First of all, I traded SKF only today and went 15 for 22 successful trades for a 68% win rate. Not bad, except that one of the 7 losses was a painful $4.44 per share!

The first loss of the day was an inadvertent short sale because I changed my IB order entry to one-click processing. Why I had not made that change earlier, I don't know. But, today I did and I happened to forget and institute an order I did not want. Oh, well. To be expected. What wasn't expected was the fact that SKF at around 11:00am or so no longer had shares to short, on the best shorting day in months! So, forced to only go long on this, of all days, I felt as if I was running a race on one leg (my second choice, SRS, was also listed as "no shares to borrow" at IB). I think, in the face of a financials recovery, this is going to be the norm and not the exception. With the inability to short SKF, I found myself playing a dangerous game, going long into a big down day and it came back on me during the big 11:54 am down draft. Playing an intra-candle bounce, I got washed down with the big drop. I did not sell even though I had a chance to get out with about a $1 per share loss. I was stubborn and expected the up-move to occur. Any other day, I would be short on this move. By the way, that $4.44/ share loss could have been as little as a 6 cent loss had I held less than an hour more. But, selling my position sooner rather than holding longer would have been the correct course of action here.

Later: The ultra-low volume candle popped back up today as a reversal sign, see the 2:42 pm candle; preceding a nice trade-able long-side move of up to $3.74 /share followed directly by an opportunity to get as much as $ 4.97 per share before the candle closed in the red.

At this point in the day, I was down substantially but decided to bare down going into the close and see what I could put together. I did ok and closed up by 4 cents per share gain.

A couple things: 1. My best play today was a losing trade. Late in the day, I saw that I was on the wrong side of a trade and promptly bailed on it without thinking and watching for confirmation. I took a loss of 4.9 cents per share but avoided the bigger loss moments later. I liked my reaction time and the fact that I saw the writing on the wall quickly. My best move of the day was playing good defense.

2. The second best thing I did was not giving up to a big loss. I clawed back and essentially broke even for the day. I felt like I was tied in to the market toward day's end and it was really pretty fun. Had I NOT taken the big loss, I would have had a gain of about $4.48/share; as good a day as I've ever had since I began sim-trading the ETFs. Yes, I know it sounds like, "Other than burning down the kitchen, it was a great meal." I traded the loss and it counts. But, I like that it was one event and not a pattern of bad trades. Just a few weeks ago, I got demolished on some big-move days trying to trade against momo. I liked my performance today better. I saw all the same signals today that I've been seeing the past few sessions, and for the most part, I traded ok as a result.

Summary: It was very frustrating to not be able to short the high-ADR ETF's today. It really threw a wrench into the works for me. I scoured for other, non-inverse ETF's but didn't like the action. One thing I know, if the present volatility ever goes away, I am in a tight spot! I just haven't mastered playing for the longer term intra-day moves yet and that is exactly what will be required if this awesome price action ceases

15 for 22 wins, 68% success. Gain of $.04 cents per share.

March 9th

No trading for this Monday, just watching the mkt while I do my "Day Job" duties.

A Response...

Notes about SKF on a 3-minute timeframe...
1. I search for patterns of behavior over many successive time periods
2. I try to correlate, in two ways, unusual volume levels with what the price is doing at the same
time
a. Real Time- gives me a feel for velocity of movement and how that affects one's ability
to scalp the move of a given candle.
b. In Review- check candles after time has passed in order to get a feel for how the unusual
volume level affected the longer -term, multi-candle move. Did the volume indicate a
change of direction in price?

3. Technical Analysis priniples apply and I look for stalls at or breaks through support and
resistance for higher probablility entries. Also look for breaks from consolidation areas.
4. I try to think of what is actually happening to the buyers and sellersof the shares as the price
rises and falls. This is new to me as I always saw candles and volume as bars moving on the
screen. By attributing the moves on the screen to the interaction of men and women
actually trading shares, I helps me develop a clearer picture of what is really happening.
What of situations where many shares trade but price does not vary? and what of big price
swings on minimal volume? What are the folks trading shares thinking?
5. Price Follows Volume - ...but, volume levels vary throughout the trading day. In the mid-
day, nice price moves are carried on lower volume levels as compared to the open. I try to
evaluate the affect of volume on a price move within the context of the time of day in which it
happens.
6. I also found that one should "Beware the Ultra-low Volume Candle" as a possible signal of
reversal. eg. See todays SKF chart and look at the 11:42 timeframe as well as the 11:57 and
12:57.... take a look at what follows!
7. Very high levels of volume seem to be imply potential of reversal. eg. See SKF on todays 3-minute chart. Look at the 10:18 am candle. High volume reversal with a long-candle body opens and closes near the end of the price range for that 3-min time period. Appears to be very bullish. Then see that volume declines through 10:24 am but then ramps up again. Profit taking happens at the 10:30 am candle on strong volume but the move up continues! But, look at volume level at 10:36... High volume big price range (wicks/shadows) but the close price is very low to the bottom of the range. Momentum may be shifting. High volume, weak price action, maybe a reversal? (also, beware the false positive) Look at the next two candles 10:39 and 10:42. There's the reversal, and one with a decent measure of conviction by the level of volume indicated as compared to the volume which follows. In fact, the 10:42 volume of 191,000 was the highest through to 1:00 pm when I took the notes for this post. Look at the volume of the candle at 1:06 and what follows it.

March 6th

I spent most of the day mapping volume and price for the SKF. I actually had an enjoyable day, not really focusing on trading but just watching and plotting lines. Thinking about what the price candles actually meant in terms of buying and selling and what volume was doing in relation. It was good training and a very

easy pace. I managed to get in four trades, each of them shorts and each of them for gains before running out to the bank and to Staples around 2:45pm. I completely missed the EOD dropoff in the SKF.

4 for 4 , 100% win rate. $2.10 per share gain.

I really liked this so I thought I'd throw it in...

I am a fan of Brian Shannon at alphatrends, as many are. He had this as his inspirational quote of the day and I really liked it so I thought I'd throw it in here so I would see it everytime I scrolled back through.


Friday, March 06, 2009

Panic
Fear cannot be banished, but it can be calm and without panic; it can be mitigated by reason and evaluation. ~Vannevar Bush
Posted by Brian at 3/06/2009 05:50:00 AM
Labels: quotes

March 5th

Wow, that was some session. Talk about the market vomiting all over itself!

I had some early success, trying to focus on riding the momo train and not trying to predict reversals. It seemed to work ok. I found some trouble thereafter, I was taking Day-job calls, not being attentive, and damn but I didn't try for a reversal where I hadn't confirmed one. It really is a dysfunction with me. I had to do some day-job reports so much of the afternoon was spent with the IB off. Toward the end of day, once I signed back on, I focused on NOT calling revesals and tried to focus on playing what I actually was seeing, not what I was guessing was going to happen. This seemed to help and I made a recovery, finishing ok.

Same thing today though. I am drawn to predicting reversals on strong moves. I do not let my winners run. But, as I've mentioned before, these are patterns and with enough work, I feel I can correct them. We'll see.

Not that I didn't know it already, but I am definitely not a natural born trader. I'm going to have to really work at it.

9 for 12 winners, 75% success rate. Net gain of $1.01 per share.

March 4th

I logged onto IB later than usual this am and so
missed the chance to participate in the huge morning run up of SKF. But I watched and waited to identify the end of the run. Now, I knew the run up would end, as they do in any given day...stocks don't go forever. I had to balance that knowledge with my penchant for calling tops and bottoms where they ain't; a problem I've identified and outlined in prior posts. I watched the 10:21 red candle and the 10:24 red candle. It felt like the reversal was confirmed and I shorted at 10:25. I covered at 10:26 for about 46 cents per share. I decided to try to catch another down move 15 secoinds later with the realization that I covered too soon on what should be a much lower drop off such large morning run-up. But, I didn't see much movement and covered basically even on the trade. With the day job appt coming up, I decided to bow out and watch while I prepared for my appt. Well, after two small green candles at 10:30 and 10:33, my sizable drop took place. This is the one I wanted and thought I'd get. It's just that I haven't learned to trust my gut on these reversals yet. I simply don't have the experience. At this moment, as I prepare to go out the door, the larger down move in SKF continues; at $203.30, it is a full $8.48 per share lower than my initial short... and still retreating...
2 wins out of 2 trades, 100% success rate. 46 cents per sahre gain.

March 3rd

I really tried to focus on better set-ups and on NOT picking reversals where the market isn't clearly presenting them. Fewer, high quality trades. I still left a lot on the table in the moves which worked for me. But, I am unwilling, for some reason, to allow myself to run with a move. It will take some conditioning to get past this urge to sell too soon.

The marks/arrows on the volume chart at the bottom of SKF are where I was trying to identify patterns in the correlation of volume spikes and reversals of direction.

Good trading to all!

4 out of 5 winners, 80% success. gain of 69 cents per share.

March 2nd

Well, it was a rough day in the end but each tough day is a chance to learn when you are trading, paper-money or not.

It seems that I am destined to repeat the same errors over and over. In the case of today, I was not waiting for the best set-ups; high probability setups. And for the life of me, I cannot help the BAD habit of playing for reversals. This has been a constant issue since I started trading in October. I am always looking for the turn instead of jumping on the move and riding the Momo. This fascination/fixation with picking the end of a move is incredibly frustrating. I don't know if it is the great thrill of catching the beginning of a new move (the satisfaction of "Being Right"), or concern over jumping on momo with the fear that the move is going to end, or some other mental dysfunction. This is something of which I'm aware. It is a pattern. Therefore, with enough attention, I am confident I will correct it someday. It just doesn't look like it will be right away! The whole point of this method of trading is to ride momentum, to hop on the train instead of trying to turn it around (an impossible feat).

I think I'll get the point eventually. I am only about month and a half into playing high-ADR ETF's and not full-time trading. Only a fool would believe 30 days is enough time to master a skill as difficult as this. Some traders speak of 6 months, 1 year, and longer. Scott of Fear & Greed wrote of watching and studying for 2 years before jumping in.

I'll just keep plugging away and trying to improve.

25 Trades for net loss of $1.97 per share. 60% win rate.