Active day and swing traders

[evostik]

Mark.

Yep, am glad you helped put the element of doubt in my mind. I also learn't a lesson or two today with RIO. I was long but I think the good move would have been to close on this morning's up gap; do you not think? I had, at least, raised the Stop to just below entry but it is frustrating to miss the gain. I guess, though, I have a lot more such lessons to come!

Good trading to you too,

Evo

 

[marben]

...I also learn't a lesson or two today with RIO. I was long but I think the good move would have been to close on this morning's up gap; do you not think? I had, at least, raised the Stop to just below entry but it is frustrating to miss the gain. I guess, though, I have a lot more such lessons to come!...

Hi evo,

Please don't give my waffle too much credence, I certainly won't claim to be an expert....
BUT a gap up is not necessarily a negative signal, HOWEVER, a pullback into the gap is. So, if you're trading short term, I think it might be wise to close any long trade when the gap was filled @ 10:30 (or 13:00) today.

If OTOH you're trading over a longer timeframe (e.g. 2 weeks+) I'd just stay in the trade. There is no gap on daily charts. Don't let "intraday noise" put you off (unless, of course, your stop is hit). RIO looks ready for a move up some time within the next week to me (hope miners do recover soon or my XTA long is liable to be stopped out ). Trying to optimise longer term trades by messing about intraday hasn't worked for me (as was demonstrated by today's GLH decision - missed 4pts). My experience has been that it's best just to stick to your plan.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[barjon]

mornin' all

i've been a bit quiet on here lately 'cos my trading's been a bit quiet as well.

currently still long ici (lifted exit stop quite tight here now) and rio - i was stopped out of bats with a loss and only b/e with cbry .

not much on the horizon - potential longs blnd and glh (wouldn't you guess it mark ) and short bsy but they're all some way from trigger points.

good trading

jon

 

[marben]

'afternoon all,

Taken profits on KGF short @ 221.75. Originally opened @ 223.75 on 23/11. Disappointed not to have got more out of this one, after yesterday's close @ 217.75. Needed to exit today as don't want the trade open over tomorrows Q3 results announcement. Was expecting a drop back after this morning's rise but it doesn't seem to be happening.

Might re-enter tomorrow if a) results are worse than expected; and b) price rises in early trade.

..also stopped out of GLH short @ 892.5 (opened yesterday @ 884), neatly wiping out KGF profits . Looks like yestday's break through support was a false breakout & price seems determined to pull back into trading range.

Interesting to see that BT is having another go at the 217 resistance.. Will re-enter if it breaks through decisively... but, having learnt my lesson on GLH, will wait till tomorrow to see whether it can maintain it.

Good trading all,

Mark

 

[techst]

Hi guys, well i'm back on the boards. A situation involving my right hand, a wire fence, 2 hosiptals a hand surgeon and 4 different painkillers didn't stop me trading! Those patientline monitors in hospital gave me the opportunity to trade whilst sitting in hospital, how cool. Although, all i did was take some profits on HSX which I've traded from 201.5. You really see the benefits of being a trader when even being in hospital doesn't stop you from earning a living.

 

[marben]

Hi guys, well i'm back on the boards. A situation involving my right hand, a wire fence, 2 hosiptals a hand surgeon and 4 different painkillers didn't stop me trading! Those patientline monitors in hospital gave me the opportunity to trade whilst sitting in hospital, how cool. Although, all i did was take some profits on HSX which I've traded from 201.5. You really see the benefits of being a trader when even being in hospital doesn't stop you from earning a living.

'morning techst,

Sorry to hear about your accident. Hope you're back to full-form soon. Hope it won't be too long before those patientline monitors made some more profits for my investment in PTL

Good trading,

Mark

 

[marben]

Taken profits on CNA short @ 230.25 (opened @ 238.75 on 23/11). Just as well as remaining trades aren't looking too clever this morning. Current positions:

Long SDR, AZN, XTA, HG., SAB, CBRY

My suspicion is that we're at a bit of a dip right now. Expecting sentiment to pick up as we move into December.

Regards,

Mark

 

[marben]

Well, having another crack at KGF. Short @ 225.75.

This is a bit of a rule breaker (tut, tut) - but I'm using a tight stop & a small trade size, so risk/reward ratio is nice & low. Results were better than expectations but still pretty dire. Price has moved up but there seem to be plenty of sellers in the level 2 order book. Looks like early rise has petered out & looking for a useful fall back.

Good trading,

Mark

 

[solskjaer20]

Well, having another crack at KGF. Short @ 225.75.

This is a bit of a rule breaker (tut, tut) - but I'm using a tight stop & a small trade size, so risk/reward ratio is nice & low. Results were better than expectations but still pretty dire. Price has moved up but there seem to be plenty of sellers in the level 2 order book. Looks like early rise has petered out & looking for a useful fall back.

Good trading,

Mark

Good morning

So you are fading me? I'm long this morning from 223. Stop is @ b/e so fade away

Good trading

 

[marben]

Good morning

So you are fading me? I'm long this morning from 223. Stop is @ b/e so fade away

Good trading

Hi Solskjaer,

Well, I hope we both end up with a profit!

Cheers,

Mark

 

[marben]

Oh well,

One up to you solskjaer! Stopped out of KGF @ 228.25.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[solskjaer20]

Hi Solskjaer,

Well, I hope we both end up with a profit!

Cheers,

Mark

Hi,


out @ 228.

 

[marben]

Hi,

out @ 228.

Good move, I reckon!

 

[marben]

Finally stopped out of my long in XTA @ 1320. Originally opened @ 1410 on 18/11.

A pretty miserable day for my trading today/this week, apart from decent profit in CNA short . Just hope that the market perks up again as we head into December.

 

[techst]

closed IOT which was orignally signaled on the swing/position thread. closed rr. from 375. to 394. Gonna make a decision on cbry at the close

 

[Euro_d]

Mornin all, especially techst, welcome back hope the mouse hand is better. stick to the desk, these DIY things are dodgy!

OK, I too have been quiet on these boards but as usual here we go with my November report. Remember that I have changed my strategy and now set much slacker stops and corresponding smaller stakes and it seems (fingers crossed) to be paying off.
I started the month with the following long open trades:
iii & shp
Both closed yesterday on stops. iii up 14.3%
SHP up 7.8%
both on points basis of course.

Entered during Nov:
SSE closed 2% loss
HSX closed 5.3% loss
BA. closed break even
SDRC closed break even
ISYS running 6% gain locked in by stop
A below running, SL below BE
CTM bought @ 57.5
AVE bought @ 70.75
CSTL bought @ 577
CTT bought @ 295
PHTM bought @ 122

That all. A quite satisfying month as there were few trades on the scanner that seemed interesting and therefore significantly less stress. My day trades are more or less along the lines of Marbens experience, certainly not spectacular!

I will be watching carefully as normally December is a good long month as the big boys try to balance their books, us minnows can ride on the back of their buying sprees.
I personally like the miners but will watch whatever pops up.

Good trading to all
Dave

PS Winter is here even in Northern Spain and it is playing havoc with my golf! Lets hope the early snow in the Alpes gives us a better skiing season than last year!

 

[Euro_d]

Bought ABP yesterday @ 576
Today bought SIG @ 104.5

VMOB looking to see if we get a breakout of 309 if we do then I am in.

Dave

 

[marben]

'afternoon all,

Well, looks like I've had my mind made up for me on CBRY long: stopped out at 554.5. Opened @ 567.5 on 25/11.

Looks like Jon & I both lost out this time, trading in opposite directions

At least there's been a good bounce back on my other trades today.

Good trading all,

Mark

 

[barjon]

afternoon all

Glad to see the back of November - not a good month for me. My first target success rate dropped from around 70% to 48.7% and no surprise it was a losing month overall. Really do need a decent trend to get going one way or the other.

Got a pretty heavy slate of potential longs building up after the pullback and aside from possibilities with bsy nothing on the short side.

new longs today bg and hsba

Hope you all had a better month than me.

good trading

jon

 

[techst]

Yes been eyeing up bg. myself I'm liking those oil pullbacks at the moment. Banks also looking strong for pullbacks. I just had my best month on record! So I'm gonna be cautious not to give back those hard earned profits. 70% return on cash over the last two months. This record gives me something to aim for this month.

I find intermediate declines in the general market are my best setup times. This allows me to trade from the base of a move and position trade all the way up. These intermediate pullbacks only come a few times a year but I've realised that these times are when my performance is best. 80% of the stocks will go through the general market decline, and the last one hit the bottom of the long term bull market, I then use 1-2-3 Reversals to enter checking for strong volume as well.

I tend to load up on the long side in this period. I don't limited myself to 3-5 positions but tend to trade more like a hedge fund. Just out of interest, How many positions do you guys run at any one time? There's the 2% rule on individual positions that most folow. Then Elder recommends risking only 6% of capital at any one time. I find this too limiting when setups are plentiful, opportunities like the last steep pullback don't come around often and just limiting myself to 6% of my account doesn't allow me to strike when the irons hot. Whats your percentage?