Improvement: 08-30-2016

Another great day for discipline.

Discipline shows up in many different ways. It can take discipline to avoid over-trading, and to be patient (for entries and exits). It isn't just in cutting losses that discipline arises.

I believe the requirement for discipline will rear it's ugly head in the coming few days (weeks), across all types of discipline as the number of niche setups dries up and I feel my net profitability starting to decline.

To make sure I continue this discipline I need to ensure that I have appropriate expectations.

Trading Review: 08-30-2016

Gross PnL: +$3853

Net PnL: +3636. $192 on borrows. SPU was expensive (but still worth the borrow!)

Preparation: 7/10
Patience: 7/10
Risk-Reward: 7/10
Discipline: 8/10
Flexibility: 7/10
Greed: 7/10
Over-trading: 7/10

Pretty solid day, similar to yesterday - some minor mistakes but nothing major. This is actually quite exciting because there's somewhat of a consistency to these solid days.

Big thing worthy of note today is that in my preparation I noted that I didn't have anything I was particularly excited about in the morning (except for SPU), so I made a mental note to avoid overtrading. I succeeded in this, but then as it transitioned to late morning/rest of day, there was some opportunity and I was complacent (lazy?), not wanting to over-trade.

SPU another great setup from my niche, that I wouldn't have been able to do in the past. I missed the opening pop on it - because I was scared of it. Probably a hindsight thing, but I feel that I shouldn't have missed it, because I only go 1/4 size on those opening pops anyway. Being fearless when only going 1/4 size is somewhat important. This would have increased profit quite substantially as I would have been able to hold size for the move easier.
Something I did really well was that I did a good job of getting full size for the continuation move. The stock was extremely weak, and getting sold heavily on pops, so I did a good job of adjusting and getting in on pops. I probably chased a fraction too low on some entries. But the thought process was good, versus just chasing.

DUST an example of a "trade2hold" unfortunately I didn't quite have desired size (due to slight execution error) so I didn't bother; but if I had kept a little bit it would have been worth it.

RIGL looks like a stubborn trade, but I'm actually quite happy with it. It was only 1/4 size, and I recognised I was wrong and avoided adding to a loser, and then looked to get out at a favourable price.

Improvement: 08-29-2016

Discipline was meant to be the theme of this week, in terms of improvement. But today I had great discipline.
At this stage I feel that I am ready to move onto another focus. HOWEVER having good discipline, is probably the number 1 thing that will stop me giving back profits from the prior two weeks, and will stop with overconfidence etc - because a stop-out plan helps controlling position size etc. So it's worth sticking with it for a bit.

Some good stop-outs as per my plan when I entered today (few too many for my liking, but that's a different problem). So need to keep that up.

Trading Review: 08-29-2016

Gross PnL: +$2446.

Net PnL: +$2304.

Preparation: 7/10
Patience: 8/10
Risk-Reward: 6/10
Discipline: 7/10
Flexibility: 7/10
Greed: 8/10
Over-trading: 7/10

Pretty solid day, can't really complain too much. EGLE was just a continuation trade of the prior day because it gave a nice gap up. Wasn't a big size trade, but did capture quite a big move on full size.

Marginally unhappy with the rest of the trades, but I can't put my finger on exactly what it was that I didn't like - clearly I gave myself good scores for all the things I'm interested in. I spent a decent proportion of the day over/under break even (if you exclude EGLE), which isn't really a position I want to be in. Feel like my trading behaviour was that of an "inconsistent" trader. Listing the (very small) mistakes may help identify:
(1) MCUR: Bagheld a very small long position for most of morning, while I ditched it at a good stop-out point, the best action would have been to get short. Which I actually thought about doing, but didn't.
(2) MYL: Really happy with how I traded it, especially realising when my thesis was slowly being proven wrong and ditching half into a pop. However, maybe I should have stuck with the idea when price began to confirm again?
(3) NUGT: I bought full size on the breakout (which was a minor breakout, hadn't even had a m15 mini pullback), accidentally bought a little over full size, which I didn't immediately sell. While I never stopped, I was close to it. "Best" action would have been to get a starter on the breakout, then long dips against vwap, and finally add to full size on the eventual breakout (after confirmed pullback that held).
(4) NYMX: I went to half size too quick. Great entry going from half size to full size, but first entry should have been 1/4 with a bit more lower, just to mitigate the risk of bottom fishing.
(5) SPU: Needed a little more conviction in the idea, to either revisit the long, or to build position slowly (in no rush).

Overall I was very disciplined and had some good stop-outs. I think a day that didn't present much opportunity (and I was somewhat wrong on the direction that I chose to trade in for some), probably adds to the feeling.
Additionally, I probably didn't scale my orders enough. E.G. If SPU had been a bit smaller (like MCUR was, and like NYMX should have been) I probably wouldn't have stopped. I got this right on VRX and MYL.
Looking through the minor mistakes, correct scaling would potentially solve 3 of the 5 there, so kinda makes sense.

Weekly Review: 08-28-2016

Net PnL: +$14359.

Monster week. Most important thing to realise from a week like this is that you only need a couple of these a year, combined with small consistently profitable trading for the rest of the year; and you can have a decent year.
With this in mind it is really important that I focus on the consistency notion going forward. Still look to do well in niche setups, but realise that it isn't the most important thing. This is particularly the case when you consider that I have always struggled to pull together consistent months.

Week started off pretty marginally, was trying to do too big size on a wider range of setups. There was some frustration and some tilt. There was also some impatience which lead to some undesirable situations. This is kind of the situation I have been in, in the past; where have some decent days and give a bit back - leading to poor trading behaviour.

But came through later in the week and corrected it a bit. Still not the greatest trading though. Again, for the coming week I've just got to focus on taking good setups, at good prices - which will help consistency.

This was the first week back I have broken my max size rules. That's not good enough, and will potentially lead to blow-ups at some point.

Improvement: 08-26-2016

Greed and Discipline was a lot better today than the prior day. However, I still felt that once EGLE had shown itself to be a great setup that I tried to push it too hard. If I had been less greedy, and covered a little more risk, that midday push wouldn't have given me so much grief - was a decent drawdown.
Eventually there will be one of these setups that will stop me out (as EGLE nearly did), so I need to be prepared for that scenario. Locking in risk, and trading around a core will help that a lot.

Trading Review: 08-26-2016

Gross PnL: +$6191.

Net PnL: +$5943. $207 in borrow fees.

Preparation: 8/10
Patience: 6/10
Risk-Reward: 7/10
Discipline: 6/10
Flexibility: 7/10
Greed: 5/10
Over-trading: 7/10

Pretty solid day overall, with some smaller mistakes - but overall can't complain too much. Came into the day with the mindset of not pushing things too hard because it was really important for me to lock in a good week. But that I was willing to take a big trade if it fitted into my niche setups. And I executed on the plan, EGLE didn't pop up until post 10:30am, and I waited patiently for it to setup correctly.
This is really good because when things are going well, have a tendency to go all over the place - but kept it well refined.

One mistake that I think was quite a big mistake was on EGLE when it pulled back to vwap the second time, and I was looking for the washout through vwap. There was a big bid around that level, it got tested, then small bounce, then got tested again. When the bid got filled the stock washed out and immediately reclaimed. I should have covered half immediately. Usually I wouldn't think this was a big mistake, because it's a marginal tape reading error. However, in this case the stock has held vwap (so trend still in tact), AND it was just sooooo obvious compared to what it usually would be.

A few side notes about the day/small mistakes were:
(1) I anticipated $11.50 to be the level to trade around on EGLE, I should have focused on getting entry really close to that level, rather than waiting too long for confirmation.
(2) Didn't cover enough EGLE into first pull, which which have covered risk decently, and allowed for rinse and repeat. Basically was too greedy when stock was still within uptrend.
(3) EGLE held vwap for first wee bit. A stock that setups up for another leg long (as EGLE did) behaved exactly like this, and I wasn't appropriately prepared for the scenario.

Improvement: 08-25-2016

Terrible day in terms of discipline. Showed up in a different way today, because I had no problems cutting losses.

Today I had issues with breaking my max size that I had set. This can easily lead to a blow-up if I am sized in and decide to get stubborn. Even without the stubbornness, a simple stop-loss would have been a massive loss.

Unacceptable.

Trading Review: 08-25-2016

Gross PnL: +$6283.

Net PnL: +$5540. $573 in borrow fees.

Preparation: 8/10
Patience: 6/10
Risk-Reward: 7/10
Discipline: 4/10
Flexibility: NA
Greed: 2/10
Over-trading: 7/10

There were some really good aspects of today, and some really bad aspects.

Was really good to trade some of the bigger stocks profitably today. Have made a lot of money on low floats/small caps recently, and is good to reaffirm my edge in these stocks. Recently it has sort of felt like I don't have an edge on the larger stocks.

XCOM it is worth noting that I didn't cover any because I wanted to hold for the all day fade. Part of the reason for this is because I didn't want to over-trade a smaller priced stock, and part of the reason was greed. Good lesson for the future.

My big fault today was on NYMX. I had written in my premarket notes that "I was willing to go to 6000 shares, but only on a perfect setup/spot; therefore I should probably keep it to 4000 shares". I got to 6000 prior to "perfect setup/spot", and therefore when it occurred I went to 10000 shares. This was pure greed, poor discipline, and somewhat poor patience (not waiting for the ideal setup). This kind of thing is blow-up type behaviour and could have been nasty. Worse part is that I didn't correct the mistake when I got a chance because I thought "I had already taken the risk" while this is somewhat true, it is no excuse for continuing to trade with too much exposure - this is pure greed.

Am currently up massively for the week, and Friday has been a bad day for me since I started back with new account. Therefore, unless something super clean pops up - I won't put on much risk, and will pull out of the day when I am up a couple of hundred (ideally say $400, but not going to be fussy).

Trading Review: 08-25-2016

Gross PnL: +$6283.

Net PnL: +$5540. $573 in borrow fees.

Preparation: 8/10
Patience: 6/10
Risk-Reward: 7/10
Discipline: 4/10
Flexibility: NA
Greed: 2/10
Over-trading: 7/10

There were some really good aspects of today, and some really bad aspects.

Was really good to trade some of the bigger stocks profitably today. Have made a lot of money on low floats/small caps recently, and is good to reaffirm my edge in these stocks. Recently it has sort of felt like I don't have an edge on the larger stocks.

XCOM it is worth noting that I didn't cover any because I wanted to hold for the all day fade. Part of the reason for this is because I didn't want to over-trade a smaller priced stock, and part of the reason was greed. Good lesson for the future.

My big fault today was on NYMX. I had written in my premarket notes that "I was willing to go to 6000 shares, but only on a perfect setup/spot; therefore I should probably keep it to 4000 shares". I got to 6000 prior to "perfect setup/spot", and therefore when it occurred I went to 10000 shares. This was pure greed, poor discipline, and somewhat poor patience (not waiting for the ideal setup). This kind of thing is blow-up type behaviour and could have been nasty. Worse part is that I didn't correct the mistake when I got a chance because I thought "I had already taken the risk" while this is somewhat true, it is no excuse for continuing to trade with too much exposure - this is pure greed.

Am currently up massively for the week, and Friday has been a bad day for me since I started back with new account. Therefore, unless something super clean pops up - I won't put on much risk, and will pull out of the day when I am up a couple of hundred (ideally say $400, but not going to be fussy).

Trading Review: 08-25-2016

Gross PnL: +$6283.

Net PnL: +$5540. $573 in borrow fees.

Preparation: 8/10
Patience: 6/10
Risk-Reward: 7/10
Discipline: 4/10
Flexibility: NA
Greed: 2/10
Over-trading: 7/10

There were some really good aspects of today, and some really bad aspects.

Was really good to trade some of the bigger stocks profitably today. Have made a lot of money on low floats/small caps recently, and is good to reaffirm my edge in these stocks. Recently it has sort of felt like I don't have an edge on the larger stocks.

XCOM it is worth noting that I didn't cover any because I wanted to hold for the all day fade. Part of the reason for this is because I didn't want to over-trade a smaller priced stock, and part of the reason was greed. Good lesson for the future.

My big fault today was on NYMX. I had written in my premarket notes that "I was willing to go to 6000 shares, but only on a perfect setup/spot; therefore I should probably keep it to 4000 shares". I got to 6000 prior to "perfect setup/spot", and therefore when it occurred I went to 10000 shares. This was pure greed, poor discipline, and somewhat poor patience (not waiting for the ideal setup). This kind of thing is blow-up type behaviour and could have been nasty. Worse part is that I didn't correct the mistake when I got a chance because I thought "I had already taken the risk" while this is somewhat true, it is no excuse for continuing to trade with too much exposure - this is pure greed.

Am currently up massively for the week, and Friday has been a bad day for me since I started back with new account. Therefore, unless something super clean pops up - I won't put on much risk, and will pull out of the day when I am up a couple of hundred (ideally say $400, but not going to be fussy).

Trading Review: 08-23-2016

Gross PnL: +$288.

Net PnL: +$125.

Preparation: 6/10
Patience: 6/10
Risk-Reward: 6/10
Discipline: 3/10
Flexibility: 6/10
Greed: 5/10
Over-trading: 5/10

Am publishing this a day late because I hadn't intended to trade the prior day. Day was mentally exhausting, more so than what it looks like when you look at the trades. Day started out mediocre, had some mediocre ideas (nothing to sink teeth into), and they didn't work, then got tilted on REN as trade wasn't really working. So that was pretty bad.
Anyway late day I made some massively oversized trades on CLVS, that I was lucky I had good execution on (as the idea didn't work) but still came away with profit. Very bad discipline. Quite happy to pretend this day never happened as there were some very bad trading processes.

Trading Review: 08-24-2016

Gross PnL: +$5269.

Net PnL: +$4840. $314 on borrows and $115 on brokerage.

Preparation: 8/10
Patience: 8/10
Risk-Reward: 7/10
Discipline: 7/10
Flexibility: 7/10
Greed: 8/10
Over-trading: 8/10

Pretty crazy day. So much opportunity! And I probably still under-traded it!

First day I have traded the lower priced stocks on the short side, and although borrows were really expensive it was great! This is on AMDA and URRE, and I could have shorted XCOM after I longed it for decent profit. A real high probability, grinding type setup. Borrows as a proportion of price, but it's worth it for the high probability.

Will avoid REN from now on, unless a big parabolic/overextension to upside. Too late to long it, and more downside is probably confirmation, but I haven't had any luck chasing anything on this stock. Bit late to this realisation.

Note: I caught a double on XCOM (smaller priced stock breakout), and LEI was a classic short that I usually make lots of money on.

Improvement: 08-22-2016

All thing considered I did a pretty reasonable job on discipline today. If I hadn't cut off CYCC when I did (eating the large loss) it would have been worse.

The large losses today came from trade ideas and from poor entries.

Focus for tomorrow is on nailing and bailing every trade, so hopefully discipline won't even be a factor!

Trading Review: 08-22-2016

Gross PnL: -$1880.

Net PnL: -$2089.

Preparation: 7/10
Patience: 6/10
Risk-Reward: 6/10
Discipline: 6/10 (reaction to CYCC news could have been instant)
Flexibility: 6/10
Greed: 5/10 (still trying to push thing too hard - get up to max size too quickly, and try hold for big moves too much)
Over-trading: 5/10 (sign of over-trading is over reacting to minor moves in my favour)

Was heavily long CYCC with about $1000 locked in, and 300ish unrealised, then Adam F put out a bash piece, so pretty significant drawdown off that - which was unavoidable. Biggest mistake of the day was not hitting out my long trade THE MOMENT the news came out. The stock didn't really react instantly so I paused and then it got crushed.

Made other mistakes though, but they weren't as significant as that. Had a wrong read on CYCC for the short. REN loss was too big, not tight enough risk on trade - okay with the idea though. REN I was buying strength too much, instead of dips. RLJE I sized in too much on dip.

Minor mistake for the day was that I was somewhat scared buying blind dips - too focused on controlling risk.

As a very general guide, trying too hard to size into trades for a big trade - rather than grinding it out, making small trades here and there until a really ideal setup comes up. For example: CYCC long was a good setup, but not as good as my short the over-extended gap setup.

Weekly Review: 08-21-2016

Net PnL: +$4230.

Really solid week in terms of results - I cannot complain!

Overall patience has been a lot better, so am happy with progress in that direction.

Has been a theme of one bad trade a day creeping in, and it's not good enough! This is a result of a lack of discipline and stubbornness creeping in. This all combined into quite a nasty losing day on Friday (in terms of trading constructively, rather than a massive loss), where I got enormously stubborn.
This is how most of my consistent streaks have ended so it's important for me to rein in this discipline going forward.

As a very general guide, I am making a tonne of money shorting low floats with size, and then breakeven (ish) on the bigger stocks - because that's where the stubbornness is creeping in, after nailing a big trade on a low float stock. Definitely need to fix this!

Improvement: 08-19-2016

Did a relatively good job of being patient for initial entries today. However, some minor mistakes were made by sizing in prematurely. Overall, I am a lot more comfortable with where my level of patience is at, than I was. And now discipline is a more pressing matter.

Will be focusing on discipline for the next week.

As a side note I recall that last time I focused exclusively on discipline I had stop-losses too tight, and was "too focused" on stopping out early, which lead to some poor stop-outs. So don't want to fall into that trap.

Trading Review: 08-19-2016

Gross PnL: -$763.

Net PnL: -$922. $89 in borrow fees, despite losing day I provided liquidity for most of the day.

Preparation: 7/10 (oddly felt really prepared for the day)
Patience: 6/10 (this didn't play too much of a role in losing money today, but I did size prematurely on WINT and REN which cause the losses to be bigger than should have been)
Risk-Reward: 6/10
Discipline: 3/10 (this is where it all fell apart, not taking original stop-losses)
Flexibility: 5/10 (flexibility poor because stayed stubborn and fought to keep bad trades on)
Greed: 5/10 (greed played a bit of a role because had plenty of opportunities to take bad trades off for breakeven)
Over-trading: 6/10 (overtraded by trying to trade my way out of bad trade)

I don't even really feel like I need to go through these trades too much. Chronic amount of stubbornness fighting trades ideas that I knew weren't working.
Other note is that I was actually pretty good on patience, but added to positions a little prematurely.