Trading distractions... they come in many forms. For some, it is CNBC, or the radio, or children, or pets. Today, it was the phone call from a day-job customer. After making my first paper-trade entry, I received a call from a customer who kept me on the line interminably, it seemed. In a flash, while distracted, I was down 80 cents per share! So, I covered the position for a large loss of $1.10 per share. Just what I had been desperately trying to avoid! Damn it... but the day-job pays the bills and trading pays nothing, for now. So allowances must be made. After that, I was looking for a recovery. I am trying hard to follow the momentum model set by Scott Farnham so rather than playing for a reversal and blindly holding it trusting that I was right, (as I have been doing mostly over the past two months) I played along with the momentum for two wins of 56 and 20 cents. I was looking for opportunities to reverese direction with the market and ride the momo as long as I dared. I took a couple mental-stop losses of 22 cents and 38 cents per share but was looking for the longer term play to make up for the damage. That opportunity presented itself and I shorted it, riding the SKF down to a point where I felt comfortable doubling up on my winning position as it was moving. It felt really good to play a position the "right" way, the way I envision it should be. And the gains really pile on when you double up... I sold the position with a nice gain of $1.87 cents per share, missing another $7.90 per share (3.95 x 2) of the primary move down. But, I had to get out and prep for a day-job appt at noon, so I took a gain on my final trade of the day at 10:59 am and ran with it. What a great feeling to be in on a good trade... I want that feeling again and again...
5 for 8 winners giving me a 62.5% win rate. Gain of $1.05 cents per share.
