Bubba's Journal

[Bubba27]

This is my first online journal. I am a novice trader. My goal is to make profitable trades, even if it small my aim is for profit.

Trade #1
Feburary 20, 2020 - 11am
Stock: SPCE (Virgin Galactica Holdings)
Shares: 5
Entry: $40 USD each

Technical reading: the 1D chart showed a parabolic curve in progress. Maybe I arrived late to this party but I decided to buy 5 shares. Once I bought the 5 shares the price went up to $43 but then out of nowhere a huge red candle came and I watched the price rapidly drop to about $31. The parabolic was tested and I felt panic but did not sell yet.

More technicals: the MA 100 and MA50 are both going up together in unison. The RSI is on top though so the buying power may be reducing soon. The BOLL has the price above the top band and testing it's position with a busy red candle.

Stop: set at $29 which would be a 27% loss if it happens. If that stop is not reached, my goal for this trade is very modest: I would sell at $45 for a small profit, but it would be a profit nonetheless. Or perhaps I would hold longer if the chart looks like the parabolic can sustain itself longer.

Fundamentals: analyzing companies is something I still need to learn how to do. However I personally believe in space exploration projects and this company has a unique edge, strong money, and a recognized leader. Virgin Galactics is potentially a step ahead of a few other much bigger competitors in this particular space race.

Plan: hold and see how the price moves overnight. Right now the price is $37. I am simply aiming for a profit.

Other details: my brokerage does not charge a fee for making this trade. Also I selected the option for Dividends.

 

[Bubba27]

This morning I switched my order to sell all 5 shares of SPCE with a $44 Limit order. That is $1 lower than my first profit order I was aiming for $55.

I do not have a stop loss set because the exchange did not allow me to place two orders? Ideally I would put stops at $44 and another at $29. Mostly I am lost placing orders and lack terminology to place orders.

To my dismay SPCE got off to an awful start this morning. It is a red candle currently price of $33. Not looking good so far. Maybe that bull run went kapootz?

I will hold longer and wait for a profit, Even if it is just a $1 profit that is my goal for my trades. That means my lowest target for making profit is to sell at $41.

More later....

 

[barjon]

This morning I switched my order to sell all 5 shares of SPCE with a $44 Limit order. That is $1 lower than my first profit order I was aiming for $55.

I do not have a stop loss set because the exchange did not allow me to place two orders? Ideally I would put stops at $44 and another at $29. Mostly I am lost placing orders and lack terminology to place orders.

To my dismay SPCE got off to an awful start this morning. It is a red candle currently price of $33. Not looking good so far. Maybe that bull run went kapootz?

I will hold longer and wait for a profit, Even if it is just a $1 profit that is my goal for my trades. That means my lowest target for making profit is to sell at $41.

More later....

Hi, Bubba

Sounds as though you are embarking on the familiar beginners’ route of large losses and small wins. It’s a route that is unlikely to get you to a profitable destination. And it seems you are now set on waiting it out for your trade to come back and give you a tiny profit. Does that make sense to you? At best you make a dollar (but your money is tied up for as long as that takes - assuming it does). At worst you lose another 4 dollars from the current level when your stop is hit.

Maybe rethinking your aim towards not losing much would at least ensure thT you wouldn’t have to win huge to turn a profit overall?

 

[Bubba27]

I fully agree with your determination there.

Bought @ $40
Price is now @ $34
If I sold my 5 shares now: 15% loss
My trading plans loss limit per trade is: 6%
so I am way over my trading plans loss percentage limit

It's not looking good thus far.
I attribute a lot of it to just being new to doing all of this and I have no finness. I bought into this Space Race excitement and literally a few minutes after my purchase the price crashed like gangbusters.

I started placing a Stop order, then editing the price multiple times, then finally a day later removed the stop and put in a Limit order up top thinking profits were coming today.

You are right about my numbers being off. I am aiming for a tiny profit while also preparing for huge losses. How can I remedy this? It is a flaw maybe of simple fear. I'm also fumbling with the controls placing orders while simultaneously looking up definitions for very simple terms for placing orders, and forgetting remedial definitions to place orders.

I was placing orders in a rush and mainly just making decisions from the emotion generated by the green candles and parabolic shape, and seeing the price move up, but I did not really check the MA's or BOLL bands or anything else Prior to buying the 5 shares....

I was all over the place. Disorganized. It's fun learning though.

My prediction with SPCE: price was hyped up, and once the NYSE opens the next trading day on Monday, price will start sinking towards the $20 region. That is my prediction.

I need to dump these 5 shares pronto but if I do, it's likely the price will go up again on Monday. But if I hold the price will likely go down. It is like the whole market is possessed, and all signals from my tiny $200 newbie-trade are triggering the whole market.

That is where my thoughts are at. Thanks for any tips people can add from these observations.

 

[Bubba27]

Okay.... so my 5 shares are in a bad spot. My biggest error thus far was not having a 6% stop loss set and ready to go immediately after my entry. Instead, I bought at $40 and just sat observing the chart until I saw red candles and then began fumbling (panic) through my brokerages dashboard trying to protect my losses after the fact. Not so bright.

Tesla's chart is more dominant compared to Virgin G's. Tesla's chart may still have some steam left in her. Tesla's 1D chart shows two open windows occuring two days ago, two open windows in a row. Those open windows should be a strong signal for more price gains.

News sources are mixed on whether or not this space race rush is ready to tame down or not. It's a 50/50 split of opinions in the news.

My plan is to sit tight until Monday and see how the market reacts in the morning.

My new goal is to take a loss at 6% if possible. Remember I am already at a 15% loss. Another part of me wants to start buying Martingale style and hope (gamble) for the best - (try to recover my losses with Martingale).

Definately need to get organized and keep steady with learning more.

 

[Bubba27]

Like barjon pointed out, my strategy is backwards and not functioning properly because I am aiming for big losses and small profits.... that needs to be corrected.

I need to turn this beast around and protect my account, and stay in the game.

I entered on the huge rally up with a vague plan: I was day trading (thinking I would sell for a small profit before the rally showed signs of ending) but I was also interested in possibly going long..

Both plans fell apart quickly once the price sunk about 10 points in what must have been only 10 minutes. I watched those pips going down real time while trying to log back in to my brokerage account to set a stop.

I made plenty of errors.

 

[Bubba27]

Trade #2
February 22, 2020 - 10pm
Pair: BTC/USDC
Entry @ $9700
Amount: 0.02 BTC (= $200USD)
Fee: $1
Stop was set to sell all @ $9990 (= 3% profit = $6)

Technicals from 1D:
Golden Cross recently occurred.
Stochastic is near the bottom and ready to move back up.
RSI is in the middle with no strong play in either direction.

Other note: Bitcoin's 3rd halving event is 79 days away.

 

[Bubba27]

Trade #2 - RESULTS

Pair: BTC/USDC
Sold @ $9905
Fee: $1.02
Total fees: $2.02
Profit... unsure how to calculate... but it was not much $ at all.

Thoughts: It is upsetting how Coinbase charged $2 for this trade because my account is for "low volume traders". The trade did not even sell every last bit, so it leftover some BTC "dust". I don't like that.

Before this trade closed I was watching the little chart from my Coinbase dashboard and it seemed manipulated against my account (e.g. Hovering at the price $9904.99 for a long while after my stop had been amended to $9905).

It is a suspicious interface for what they call low volume traders. Talk about knickle and diming the small customers.. I would rather trade stocks.

 

[barjon]

Did you read your mail/message?

 

[Bubba27]

Hi barjon I read the mail and replied to your comments. Thank you

 

[barjon]

Hi barjon I read the mail and replied to your comments. Thank you

chart relating to conversation

 

[Bubba27]

Sold the 5 shares of SPCE @ $29.50,
Lost some money on that.
Unsure how to calculate the losses at the moment

Then I went and Bought a Sell Short of SPCE at $31.50, thinking price will go down soon
This was my first sell short order and I am totally confused what happened.
How do I buy back at a lower price?

I am really struggling to place orders.
I get confused with all the terminology, limit, stop limit, buy, sell short, all the twisted terminology
Really confused. Losing money.

But it seems like SPCE is going to decrease in value so I sold short....
It was my first time placing a sell short order and it is all backwards in my mind
Really confused. Losing track of my record keeping. Feel of kilter

Unsure how much money I lost. Unsure what is going on.
Fumbling around trying to figure out all the terminology and the dash board...

Need a term instead of "dashboard" I don't know what else to call it.
Control panel. Order book?

I have this sell short, now how do I set a price for buying it back for profit?
Very confused what just happened with selling short.

They charge a fee every day for the sell short.
Hope the price moves down.
I would set an order to buy the sell short but do not see any option for that.

I am understanding the reading of charts and know where I want to place orders
But very confused with the terminology and dash board for placing orders.

 

[Bubba27]

Confused how to set an order to buy back from my sell short......

 

[Bubba27]

It is like I just bought this sell short and now it is lost in outerspace.....

 

[Bubba27]

This brokerage must like me a lot. I lose money on every order.....

 

[Bubba27]

I understand price direction and chart reading but do not know how to confidently place orders......

 

[Bubba27]

Oh i put in the sell short in a market order because the stop and the limit options were all backwards with the numbers....

Very confused..... losing money on every trade.... lost.... the terminology for placing orders is all jumbled.....

My sell short was at $31.50...... what do I do now? Confused.....

 

[Bubba27]

Selling short makes no sense....

I bought it @ $33.50 and now it is @ $33.85
But my dashboard says that I am down -$0.35
That makes no sense.
I should be +$0.35....
This is totally backwards....
what happened???

How do I exit the short sale?
Do I sell high or sell low?
Something is wrong here....
I thought that sell short meant that you sell and then get to buy back at a lower price......

If I sold short, I should receive money for that, so why did my account not bump up in value???

Why does the control panel not give me an option to sell the shares??? Very confused.....

 

[Bubba27]

It is all backwards.
The price has dropped and it keeps saying I am losing money.
That makes no sense!?!

I should be able to buy back my 6 shares for a profit right now but I have no clue how to operate the control panel....

 

[Bubba27]

I must be looking at selling short like it is an options trade.... I have no clue what I am doing....

I understand how to read charts but have no clue how to operate this control panel....