It was a $4000 dollar loss and it came back to about a $2000 dollar loss but then I ended up turning it into a $4000 dollar loss again from not covering all and readding more and being insanely stubborn and getting bought in dead top (at the time) on the last 2400 shares before it pulled back to 4 ten minutes later ($1000 difference). Traded it twice more from the laptop on a hotspot from my phone, and lost a bit more. This loss is a bit of "wake-up call", but it was bound to happen eventually, there was quite a few times last month where I was in 6-10k shares and down a ton and they would come all the way back to even. I need to just take a step back and trade smaller and not try to "make back", just slow and steady, start fresh again. Huge loss after a good run, but I'm still glad that I've been wiring out otherwise this could have been a 6-10k loss easily.
FOR NEW READERS ONLY: If I am scaling in and out of a position, that is considered one trade until I am completely out of the position and then it becomes a new trade, that's why some trades have a lot of shares, even if I never had that much at once, if I cover half and then re-add my cover, it's still considered one trade until I am completely out. The entry is the average of the entries and the exit is the average of all the exits. The entries/exits are rounded to 2 decimal places, but the exact number is calculated for the PnL, so that's why the dollar amount may look different than what you see. (it may be 7.165 instead of 7.17, etc). Also, you can click on the charts if you want to make them bigger to be able to better see the entries/exits.
VLTC
I just realized I forgot to put VWAP on the chart (and I can't put it on now), the price was well above it most of the day, the key area where it was important was around that 3.30 level when I was in big size and really greedily wanted it to break. I nailed the first short into the parabolic for a really quick scalp with 2000 shares 3.25, 3.28 to 3.09, 3.07, $370 bucks in 30 seconds. Then started shorting too early on the next pop, first entry at 3.23, not wanting to miss it if it didn't get back to HOD 3.30ish. Had around 3200 shares 3.31ish average and it hit 3.25 and I didn't cover any, then it popped up to 3.40-3.50 and I added another 5000 shares and had 8200 shares 3.38 average and it dipped to 3.30 which was just above VWAP, and it was holding there so I started covering some, but only 3000/8200. I wanted that 3.30 break SO BADLY, I was SO GREEDY, I wanted to turn this fairly bad average but huge size into a homerun if 3.30 broke and it faded back to at least low 3's, and I make $1000-2000 in the first hour, also that greediness and wanting that 3.30 break so badly, and being so short biased on this junk stock is why I was readding my covers going for that homerun. I should have made sure to COVER ALL, and definitely shouldn't have been readding any around my average when I already have 5200 shares. It came back down a bit and HELD at 3.32 (a higher low) and then I added some more 3.39-3.50, when I should have been covering it all for breakevenish. Now 9200 shares 3.40 average and it hit 3.67, dipped to 3.58 and HELD, and almost took the $2000ish dollar loss (with $500 realized profits already, woulda been down like $1500 on the day). Missed it and it popped to 3.80, and held 3.63-3.79 for a while and I missed covering any again, I was looking for 3.50's, it popped to 3.92 and I was down around $4500 unrealized with $500 realized profits (-4k on the day). It came back down a bit and I covered 6000 shares from 3.66-3.77 to put me at -$1300 on the day total with another $800-1000 unrealized on those 3200 shares if I just covered the rest (-$2kish on the day). Readded another 2000 3.70's, missed covering any when it was still holding higher lows, it popped from 3.71 to 3.85 and then I got bought in on 2800 or so at 3.83. It dipped to 3.70's again but missed it again and then it started going to 4.05ish, readded 500 then covered 1000. I still had 2370 shares, and I would have covered ALL 3.90-4 when it was just hanging around, but since there was a 2:1 limit and my account isn't that big right now and already realized tons in losses, if I covered all, the max I would be able to reshort was around 1000 shares or less, so because of this I was insanely stubborn with the last 2370 shares, it finally broke 4.05ish and went to 4.45ish without pulling back much at all. It starting looking "toppy" and there's no way I would have ever been covering there, I would have been adding if I could have, but I got bought in on 2280 shares at 4.44-4.45, only had 90 shares left and I covered that at 4.32 as it tanked to 4.25ish and then below 4 within 10 minutes ($1000 dollar difference without that stupid buyin). I figured it was a "short all pops" after that pull to 4, thinking it would be similar to GBSN and CNDO which faded the rest of the day after they had their big pull after their big run. I was trading from a hotspot and I did 1000 shares 4.20 to 4.06, then reshorted at 4.24, could have covered 4.15ish for 9 cents, but I was still expecting it to top out 4.20-4.30 and then fade back to low 4's at least. It just would not pullback, it just slowly made it's way back to 4.50ish without much of a pullback at all, I was watching from my phone now and wanting to cover 4.20's but it kept holding 4.33ish and I was too slow to cover from my phone, it went to 4.50ish again and then one "flash crash" to 4.33 and I had and order in at 4.31 and just missed it, I should have covered at 4.41 when it bounced back up to 4.40 and wasn't breaking down, it soon squeezed to 4.70 into the last 20 minutes. I didn't want to cover dead top and I waited for a pullback to 4.50's and covered at 4.54, really didn't expect it to hit 4.30 within a few minutes, but oh well, few hundred dollars difference doesn't mean much on a day like this.
| Type | Entry | Exit | Shares | +/- $Amt | $ PnL | % Pnl |
| Short | 3.27 | 3.08 | 2000 | $0.19 | $370.00 | 5.67% |
| Short | 3.47 | 3.79 | 14700 | -$0.32 | -$4,695.95 | -9.22% |
| Short | 4.20 | 4.06 | 1000 | $0.14 | $140.00 | 3.33% |
| Short | 4.24 | 4.54 | 1000 | -$0.30 | -$300.00 | -7.08% |
- Lessons:
- Be very careful shorting on "daily chart breakouts", this is still up from around 1 in a few days with the huge gap up last week, but the highest it hit on day one was 3.10, today it was really strong and popped to 3.30 and then came back and held 3.10 over/under, then popped to 3.50 and then came back and held 3.30 (previous HOD/resistance now became support)
- Do not add, add, add, so much and can never be in that big at once, 5000 shares should be my ABSOLUTE MAX for sure, 6000-10000 shares is just insane, every candle is like a $500-1000 difference
- HAVE TO COVER ALL when it's still holding above a key area (3.30 previous resistance and VWAP), and NEVER be READDING around your avg when you are already in way too big size
- Stay away from the grind on the short, this was slow and steady higher lows, fairly nice uptrend all day, there was no reason to still be short after it dipped to 3.65 and bounced and then kept holding higher lows (my readding and then insane stubbornness cost me about another $2000 than what it would have been just covering all there)
- After a big dip on these big moving stocks well above VWAP (3.92-3.65 and 4.45 to 3.95), make sure to be covering into those dips and NOT READDING right away, if it bounces a bit and then comes back down and MAKES A HIGHER LOW, it will keep grinding higher and continue it's trend, that's WHEN YOU COVER EVERYTHING ELSE THAT YOU STILL HAVE LEFT EVEN BY TAKING THE ASK and then look for better entries again later
- Try to be much more careful shorting these really strong, low float, momentum stocks that are ABOVE VWAP all day (all longs are in the money and love buying dips and chasing breakouts and all shorts are underwater and panic covering every time it spikes and SSR just adds even more to the squeeze)
- Try to go long on dips on these slow and steady uptrending momentum stocks, I used to be able to go long on these but lately I'm the one being stubborn shorting and getting squeezed (I made a bunch on GENE long on it's run from 5 to 10 because I didn't have shares and I was just going long and following the trend, and I want to do more of that again, rather than fighting up-trending stocks short and trying to catch "falling knives" long, like I said before it's much easier to FOLLOW THE TREND)
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