Out of the closet

[dimsdaletraders]

Current position:

Been long on CPI since Dec 23rd (breakout), entry 744.75, sl 720, current price 741.
Been short on VTG since Dec 24th (trend plus hedge), entry 517.72, sl 535, current price 516.

I have two to set up before Tuesday:

SHP (cons breakout) e 1214 sl 1184
risk 1.5% as sl set using ATR(10) below entry rather than below triangle otherwise risk would be 2%.

SRP (cons breakout) e 530 sl 513.

on watchlist:

BARC (short swing)
watch for pivot at around 284ish, currently retracing
50eMA coming down towards 200eMA, potential dead cross

CW. (poss cons. breakout to upside)
watching brief only

DGE (long swing)
currently in phase 1, wait for retracement. looking for repeat support at 20 eMA.

FRCL (long swing)
currently in phase 1, wait for retracement to trendline

GFS (long)
may be starting to swing again, watch for pivot then go long; watching only

GSK (long swing)
currently in phase 1, wait for retracement to trendline

IMT (long swing)
may have pivoted into phase 2 retrace; close watch

REX (direction unclear)
operating in channel; eMA200, 50, 20, stoch, RSI, MACD all noted; watch only for info

SN. (swing long)
may have pivoted into phase 2; close watch

*************

T1-10
W/l 20:80
p/l -7.2%

T11-20
w/l 50:50
p/l -0.2%

T21-29
w/l 77:23
p/l 1.2%

T1-29
w/l 49:51
p/l -6.2%

*************
Key area to control this week. No early exits unless signalled by strats.

More later...

 

[dimsdaletraders]

revisted all, and shifted CW. off the potential list into the watch only list. Can't even see now what I thought I'd seen? ACK!

 

[tomorton]

Signs of good discipline being applied dims, keep at it.

Even now, I have these rules standing up on my desk at work - I have posted these before, feel free to use them -

The Rules of Trading

The Trade

1. Trade with the trend – no trend, no trade

2. Plan the trade, trade the plan

The Entry

3. Wait for the signal

4. When the signal comes, don’t wait

5. A weak signal is still a signal

6. Trade what you see, not what you think

The Exit

7. Never let the profit go back into the market

The Stop-Loss

8. Set a stop-loss on entry

9. Always obey the stop-loss

10. Don’t wait for the stop to be hit, start cutting losers early

The Sins of Trading

1. Trading against the trend

2. Trading without a stop-loss

 

[be-positive]

Thanks tom,
The above rules will be printed and frame for 2010
All the best to you and family for next year.

 

[dimsdaletraders]

hi tom, thanks a lot for those, now printed and pinned!

Highlighted the "trade the plan" part. Execution, execution, execution!

************

one more added for Tuesday

BRE (short), e 186.7, sl 195.4
John's call, his first live trade. *G*

More later...

 

[timsk]

Re: Tom's Rules

Hi Tess,
Tom's rules are good, I think, and most of them are logical and pretty black and white. The one that's grey and, IMO, the hardest to implement is the exit, No. 7. Never let the profit go back into the market. I mention this because it's a common fault for traders to focus their attention purely on the set up and entry and not worry nearly so much about the exit. It's also a difficult one to pin down. If you have a 10 point stop on a long trade that's on side to +5 but halts - what do you do? Wait to see if it carries on up? Raise your stop to b/e? Leave your stop where it is and give the trade 'wiggle room'? Of course, in theory, Tom's rule No. 2. Plan the trade, trade the plan will, hopefully, provide answers to all of the above!

Tim.

 

[dimsdaletraders]

hi tim, and thanks for the reply. Agreed, that was definitely the weakest part of my strategies when I first started. And even when I realised that and improved the plan, I was bad at sticking to it. But I think I'm on top of that now (I changed my thinking around), and now I'm "trading the plan", and looking forward to seeing if it is going to hold good in 2010!

**************
Current position:

Stopped out of VTG at 535.8, 0.9% loss.

cancelled BRE set-up, reason for trade invalidated.

CPI still live, currently up around 6 points from entry, sl moved to 738 on Dec 29th, so risk reduced but still plenty of room for daily fluctuations (ATR10=14). No further changes needed until Jan 4th soonest.

SHP went live Dec 29th at 1216.22, sl originally 1184, since raised to 1198, closing price today down 6 points from entry, but still in breakout zone and two up on yesterday. No further change until Jan 4th soonest.

Just GSK to set up from watchlist.

More later...

 

[Black Swan]

Signs of good discipline being applied dims, keep at it.

Even now, I have these rules standing up on my desk at work - I have posted these before, feel free to use them -

The Rules of Trading

The Trade

1. Trade with the trend – no trend, no trade

2. Plan the trade, trade the plan

The Entry

3. Wait for the signal

4. When the signal comes, don’t wait

5. A weak signal is still a signal

6. Trade what you see, not what you think

The Exit

7. Never let the profit go back into the market

The Stop-Loss

8. Set a stop-loss on entry

9. Always obey the stop-loss

10. Don’t wait for the stop to be hit, start cutting losers early

The Sins of Trading

1. Trading against the trend

2. Trading without a stop-loss

Love this bit..."Never let the profit go back into the market"...:clap:

 

[dimsdaletraders]

update

SRP still hasn't activated, but reasons for the trade still valid; leave as is.

can't do GSK analysis yet, as ADVFN has decided not to work for a bit. Hey ho.

 

[dimsdaletraders]

gawd, I know about money management, I know about stoplosses, I'm learning everything I can about trading. But where is the book on "What to do for ents if you trade the FTSE, and it is closed for days on end"? Take up knitting????

 

[tomorton]

gawd, I know about money management, I know about stoplosses, I'm learning everything I can about trading. But where is the book on "What to do for ents if you trade the FTSE, and it is closed for days on end"? Take up knitting????

First, get hold of Call of Duty, DVDs of all 6 series of The Sopranos, plus a range of modestly good Bordeaux. Then mix thoroughly and sit back.

 

[Black Swan]

First, get hold of Call of Duty, DVDs of all 6 series of The Sopranos, plus a range of modestly good Bordeaux. Then mix thoroughly and sit back.

COD, whilst drinking and watching the Sopranos....? You da man...Try doing it whilst trading and let's know how you get on. I have to say it's how I imagine some on the journal guys actually operating

 

[dimsdaletraders]

LMAO! Good call, tom, thanks! In the absence of all the above, last night I settled for IQ testing my dog (yup, my dog!) a box-set of Billy Connolly and half a crate of Stella. In retrospect, should have had the Stella AFTER I IQ'd the dog.

 

[dimsdaletraders]

Current postion as prev. plus a re-entry taken on VTG (short) after getting stopped out.
entry 516, sl 539.

Still nine on the watchlist, but nothing else set up yet, and waiting to see what the New Year brings.

 

[dimsdaletraders]

gawd, I've looked at this damn chart for SHP until I'm dizzy, and I still haven't made a final decision. It's as though both sides of the argument are equally weighted. So I'm just going to stick down all my thoughts and see if I can clear my mind a bit.

Entry was 1216.22, sl is currently 1198 (after the first move up from 1184), reducing overall risk from 1.5% to 0.9%, so that's not a concern. Current price is 1232, ATR10 is 18/19, but that has been pulled down by the holiday season, probably safer to say 24/25 normally. sl is already above all three eMAS, so no help there, can't move it up to tuck it two points under.

No counter-signals from the indicators. No real help there either.

Sector just pivoted, back to phase 1 and stock has relative strength against sector and index.

Range often pretty wide pre 9.30.

Choices are lock in profit with a high stoploss order tonight, but risk of being taken out before target in the pre-9.30 playground, or leave as is until post-9.30 then set new order, risk being a fall.

*goes away to have a coffee and think some more*

 

[dimsdaletraders]

okay. Overall balance of probabilities and info says I'm still expecting to hit the target, the loss is factored in, so the sl stays as is, but with an option to amend post 9.30. Glad to get THAT one out of the way!

Current position.
CPI four points up on entry, sl left as is
SRP went live today, e: 531.53, initial sl 513, cp 532, sl now shifted to 517.5.

Set BARC as a short, e: 271.5, sl 285.

More later...

set SN. as a long, e: 647, sl 634.5.

VPG cancelled, set-up invalidated.

Enough for tonight, I need my bed.

 

[dimsdaletraders]

Current position:

CW. day 3, sl now at breakeven
DGE day 2, no changes needed
IMT day 3, sl moved to reduce risk to 1%, but also now at tradefail level
SHP day 8, profits now locked in

AV. placed under strat 3; not yet active

VTG stopped out; 0.9% loss
POG daytrade: 1.8% gain
CPI stopped out; 0.4% loss
POG daytrade: 0.3% gain
SRP stopped out; 0.7% loss

20 on watchlist to assess over the weekend

T21-30
w/l 70
p/l 0.3

T31-34
w/l 50
p/l 0.1

T1-34
w/l 48.5
p/l -7.0

More later...

edit:
EXPN placed under strat 4
REL placed under strat 1

Five on watchlist

that's it till Monday night

 

[dimsdaletraders]

EXPN, REL, (both long) AV. (short) all activated today. Now have seven trades live, and fighting the urge to start interfering with them. But at least I'm fighting it, I'm going to be real ticked off with myself if I give in and start closing them out as soon as they show a tiny profit, because then I won't be trading the plan. Writing this just to remind myself to leave them alone!

 

[dimsdaletraders]

well I stuck to the plan, and so far everything is going okay.

CW. day 4, small profit locked in
DGE day 3, no changes needed
IMT day 3, no more changes
SHP day 9, sl now at 1% profit
EXPN, day 1, no changes needed
REL, day 1, no changes needed
AV., day 1, no changes needed.

Two more set for tomorrow: GSK and ISAT, both strat 1 longs. if they both go live, I'll be running noine, which I think is enough at one time, especially as the short/long balance is so heavily weighted. but the shorts just aren't there, so I'm going to have to hedge these another way, which I'll explore tomorrow morning.

More later...

 

[dimsdaletraders]

okay, so far today has been so bad that it's funny. In a sea of FTSE100 red, the strongest stock so far by both % gain AND points has been AV.

Which was my only short.

This is one of those days when I'm very glad I'm only trading with beer money.