lucky day

there are days where i have more luck than brains :-)), like in my 15 DJIA trades today ...

first 4 of them where NOT necessary as i started to trade as soon as the trading platform launched after i came home from my office. but at that time i had no idea in which direction could the market go, had no idea where the temporary lows and highs were and consequentially i have lost $58 in 13 minutes with 3 losers + 1 winner. after a small break for dinner i come back to my computer and had 1 winning trade ($1 as always when the price moves a little bit in 'my' direction, so i can move my stop order to secure this result, but the price comes back later). still somehow unsettled i entered a trade + placed a stop order and went to take a bath in order to relax a little bit :o). well, in that time moved the market 170 points higher, but as i wasn't there and couldn't move my stop order to secure a significant part of this profit, i took a loss of $33 as my stop order was processed. that's trading, that's ok ... water, candles, coffee, the 1st x-mass-like cake in this year, no noise, no electric light ...

30 min later + well relaxed = new trading trial! at that point i had already a daily loss of about $90, but i've clicked the BUY button again. result? a loss of $40, the worst trade of the day. ok, let's take the next break! 20 minutes later i came back and in the next few trades i could make up for all losses (unfortunately just virtual as i didn't close the current position immediately), later i had -80 again ... but now came the huge move in DJIA i'm waiting for (PPT again?) as it moved 250 points up and i could 'take' about 200 points (i.e. $200) in 5 winning + 1 losing trade. this would be the time to say good-bye, isn't it? well, i've tried 3 more trades (1 winning + 2 losing) and lost $56. then it was definitely enough and i shut down the trading platform 30 minutes before market closed as there was a heavy war between the bulls and bears @ 8,800 level (very, very volatile! 30 points up or down in few seconds ...).

=> after a very bad start i could make up for a result of $ 77 and i changed the name of this posting from 'i'm a stupid idiot' (one of my bath tube ideas) to 'lucky day' :-)). folks, this time earned my broker less than me (15 x 4 = $60, but with ZERO risk :-)).


there is still sooo much luck/misfortune in tick-chart-trading e.g. will the quote hit my stop limit in a small temporary trend correction and then continue in the anticipated direction or not? well, what are the lessons learned today + which ideas did i get in my bath tube? i will try to trade just some bigger moves and not every tick! how will you make it sure, you addicted, hopeless gambler?
in my LONG TRADES i will place my stop-orders bellow the temporary low and let my long position some air to breathe ...
in order not to violate the law of symmetry, in my SHORT TRADES, of course, i will place my stop-order above the temporary high ...


item--------------: natural gas >> position closed
units--------------: 1
order type--------: market
trade type--------: long
entry date--------: 10/10/2008, 17:21
entry price-------: 7.08
initial stop-loss--: 6.69 ... ... ... this field must never be empty :-)
new stop-loss----:
exit date---------: 10/16/2008, 09:06
exit price---------: 6.69
profit (loss) in %-:
profit (loss)------:
reason why + strategy: in my opinion is natural gas so unbelievable cheap that i will bet on its price recovery!
lessons learned: even when the corresponding commodity future DID NOT QUOTED @my stop-level (daily low 6.715 @nymex), my market making cfd-broker sold my position as the real price moved close to 6.69 wich was my stop limit. yep, you're right! f*cking hell, again and again! well, this 'easiness' in setting price quotes they like is the main reason for me to earn some money here and to move to a futures broker! trading is difficult enough, there is no need to handle also this kind of broker risk, isnt't it? ok! let's complain about that @ my broker's help desk, maybe they will rewind this order (as they already did in few former cases) and let's move on ...


item--------------: natural gas
units--------------: 1
order type--------: market
trade type--------: long
entry date--------: 10/16/2008, 18:12
entry price-------: 7.06
initial stop-loss--: 6.66 ... ... ... this field must never be empty :-)
new stop-loss----: 6.77
exit date---------:
exit price---------:
profit (loss) in %-:
profit (loss)------:
reason why + strategy: in my opinion is natural gas so unbelievable cheap that i will enter this position immediately, even when my stop-order was 'reached' i.e. executed today


i will post just the most significant DJIA trades today:
item--------------: DJIA >> position closed, #4
units--------------: 1
order type--------: market (buy) / stop (sell)
trade type--------: long
entry date--------: 10/16/2008, 18:22
entry price-------: 8,577
initial stop-loss--: 8,555 ... and then i left my PC to take a bath, relax + think :o)
new stop-loss----:
exit date---------: 10/16/2008, 18:24
exit price---------: 8,555
profit (loss) in %-:
profit (loss)-------: ($22)
reason why + strategy: trying to trade some big moves ...
lessons learned: nice trade; clever and FAST placement of initial stop-limit as the DJIA moved fast in proposed direction; the market bounced back, but it doesn't matter as my stop-limit was there => OK


item--------------: DJIA >> position closed, #7
units--------------: 1
order type--------: market (buy) / stop (sell)
trade type--------: long
entry date--------: 10/16/2008, 19:46
entry price-------: 8,564
initial stop-loss--: 8,551
new stop-loss----: 8,625
exit date---------: 10/16/2008, 19:51
exit price---------: 8,555
profit (loss) in %-:
profit (loss)-------: $61
reason why + strategy: trying to trade some big moves ...
lessons learned: nice trade; clever and FAST placement of initial stop-limit as the DJIA moved fast in proposed direction; the market continued ran in my direction and i could move my stop limit higher several times :-); this kind of trades i'm waiting for => OK


item--------------: DJIA >> position closed, #11
units--------------: 1
order type--------: market (buy) / stop (sell)
trade type--------: long
entry date--------: 10/16/2008, 19:59
entry price-------: 8,630
initial stop-loss--: 8,611
new stop-loss----:
exit date---------: 10/16/2008, 20:10
exit price---------: 8,741
profit (loss) in %-: 1.29%
profit (loss)-------: $111
reason why + strategy: trying to trade some big moves ...
lessons learned: nice trade; clever and FAST placement of initial stop-limit as the DJIA moved fast in proposed direction; the market continued ran in my direction and i could move my stop limit higher several times :-); this kind of trades i'm looking for => OK


item--------------: DJIA >> position closed, #12
units--------------: 1
order type--------: market (buy) / stop (sell)
trade type--------: long
entry date--------: 10/16/2008, 20:11
entry price-------: 8,742
initial stop-loss--: 8,721
new stop-loss----: 8,818
exit date---------: 10/16/2008, 20:15
exit price---------: 8,818
profit (loss) in %-: 0.87%
profit (loss)-------: $76
reason why + strategy: trying to trade some big moves ...
lessons learned: nice trade; clever and FAST placement of initial stop-limit as the DJIA moved fast in proposed direction; the market continued ran in my direction and i could move my stop limit higher several times :-); this kind of trades i'm waiting for => OK