"A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits."

Thursday, March 19, 2009

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