June 8th & 9th : No Trades

No trades. day-job is incredibly busy. Probably no time in the markets for me until next week.

June 7th

I had an hour or so to watch the markets after the day-job finished. Earlier, I heard on the radio while working that the markets were getting hit so I went immediately to TNA because it is a great 3x mover. I was watching for a reversal of the 2:50 - 3:05 pm upturn once all the shorts collected their pirate booty. I was looking for the stock to resume its overall down trend for the day.

I took the paper-trade short right at the candle change over... and it gave a little last gasp upward, then proceed to drop for me. I doubled up short right beside my original entry and waited. Not long before it started down. I took a quick gain then covered. Once again: far too quickly. The down trend continued for three additional candles before another green candle appeared. I took $261 paper bucks out of a potential $2,680; less than 10% of the trend I was playing.

The overall downtrend continued into the close after the 3-candle profit-taking at 3:30/3:35 and a brief consolidation. I am happy with my read of the reversal, and of adding to the trade... something I rarely do. Less satisfied with my hasty exit, though.

There's no doubt that I am still uncertain about my skill level and therefore don't trust that I have made the right choice on my practice trades. When I get a gain, my initial reaction is to snatch it and run before it goes awry. Only experience will cure this, imo. Thousands and thousands of charts, and the same number of sim-trades will be what saves me from uncertainty. Right now, I cannot devote that amount of time to learning.

June 4th- Friday

This was a practice trade I put on at the close of day Thurs. I had a sense that the RIG bounce was basically over, given the fact that the spill in the gulf continues. Dangerous, I know, to hold overnight in a stock with so much headline risk. I would not do this with real money. This is all about practice and developing a feel for markets. While my ultimate goal is to be a day-trader, Mrs. Bluecollar and I have longer-term money in the markets as part of our retirement plans. I favor a broad knowledge base of economics and markets, though it is specialization where one's bread is buttered.

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I could not watch the trade in the morning, spending much of the time at Home Depot. I've been there so much, I fear they will start charging me rent.

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I closed the trade at an S/R area after I got back, then went to work installing lights and bathroom cabinets. In hindsight, as is so often the case with my practice-trades, I exited too soon. No worries, though. I was content that my trade closed for a gain, modest though it was.

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This is more about "how well" than it is about "how much."