There are almost always good trades to be found even in poor markets. Today Alan Greenspan is speaking and the markets are yet again on hold and still stuck in thin summer trading.
However, INTU set up for a fall and I shorted it when it hit my trigger at 42.90.
After a few cents fall it showed a sign of weakening and the evidence was very mixed whether it would continue, stabilise or reverse. I acted on that by exiting one third of my holding. Immediately it turned south again and I exited the other two thirds at 42.52 when the fall was again weakening.
Of course had I been blessed with the ability to tell the future rather than judge the probabilities then I would have stayed in for the full run down
Total 28c per share average profit inside 5 minutes. Risk negligible as most of those trades are profitable. Had it gone against me immediately after entry I would have exited with a maximum loss of maybe 4 or 5 cents
Bread and butter trading, not icing and marzipan
However, I acted unemotionally on the evidence in front of me and have no regrets - planning the trade and then trading the plan and keeping any losses very small brings in the profits in this business - in my opinion.
Manage the position and reap the profits.
At the time of writing INTU has risen to 43.20, so the exit decision just a few cents above the low of the day proved correct .
In intra day trading, profits must be taken when the market hands them to you. You don't sit around twiddling your thumbs.
Richard
