The total for the entire month is about $7575, with about $2050 in commissions (after ECN rebates) (a little bit more in fees than I had for the last two months because of trading a bit more and not adding liquidity quite as much), making the net total about $5525. I had only four red days for the month but I let my losses spin way out of control and almost blew up everything that I had in my account a few times (with wiring some out and some back in throughout the month), my four red days amounted to 37k in losses, which is absolutely insane.
I definitely need to do much better with my overall risk management and position sizing, and method of trading for next month. Possibly having an "oh shit" number and/or set max losses set into my account/platform, or possibly using hard stops and/or having more set risk/plan, I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to do yet, but at the very least, I'm going to be super diligent/"strict" with my wiring out process and making sure I send them in frequently enough and making sure they process them right away and/or making sure I don't use the extra buying power that I still have if I know it's "too much". It's better to pay an extra $50 wire out fee by wiring out 2-2.5k at a time than trying to wait until I want to wire out 5k but then having "too much" BP and not having the self-control/discipline not to use it, and "blowing up" most of my account and ending up wiring some money in instead of out, that's basically what happened three times this month. Obviously, I still need to get better at controlling my position sizes on my own, but this "constantly wiring out" process worked well for me in March and April. This month, I let my account get "too big" three times and I was still undisciplined/stubborn and I got the wrong side of really big movers (PTBI, PBMD, VBLT) and paid the price for it.
Feel free to "skim through" as much as you would like on this, there is quite a bit of text and some of it is just repeated from previous posts.
Here is a look at the PnL for each day of the month (before commissions):
| Week 1 | Week 2 | |||
| May 1 | $508.48 | May 4 | $2,584.89 | |
| Total | $508.48 | May 5 | -$11,468.48 | |
| May 6 | -$2,967.63 | |||
| May 7 | $816.30 | |||
| May 8 | $3,224.98 | |||
| Total | -$7,809.94 | |||
| Week 3 | Week 4 | |||
| May 11 | $3,125.20 | May 18 | $4,662.31 | |
| May 12 | $1,947.03 | May 19 | $2,167.50 | |
| May 13 | $1,790.26 | May 20 | -$8,087.50 | |
| May 14 | $1,132.63 | May 21 | $8,260.45 | |
| May 15 | $2,260.15 | May 22 | $4,548.14 | |
| Total | $10,255.27 | Total | $11,550.90 | |
| Week 5 | ||||
| May 26 | -$14,605.13 | |||
| May 27 | $2,672.77 | |||
| May 28 | $480.24 | |||
| May 29 | $4,532.85 | |||
| Total | -$6,919.27 | |||
| Total Red Days = 4 | Avg Red Day = | -$9,282.19 | ||
| Total Green Days = 16 | Avg Green Day = | $2,794.64 | ||
I had a total of 16 green days and 4 red days, with the average green day being $2,794.64 and the average red day being $9,285.19. If you take a look at my last two monthly recaps (http://jgramtrades.blogspot.ca/2015/03/trading-recap-for-march-2015.html, http://jgramtrades.blogspot.ca/2015/04/trading-recap-for-april-2015.html), I had about 2x as many green days as red days, this month I had 4x as many green days as red days, but the DIFFERENCE was that the two last months my average red day was ABOUT HALF of my average green day, this month my average red day was over THREE TIMES as much as my average green day. That was what prevented this month from being that great, not being able to take a small red day and basically turning it into an "account blow up" each time.
I still trade the same way as I have been the last two months, for the most part, but I want to gradually get better at focusing on "bigger moves" and less "adding to a loser". Because of the way I trade, often averaging into losers, I have a fairly high "win rate" but my losses are often a lot bigger than my gains, the averages get skewed from a few really big losses (especially this month with my absolutely insane losses). It looks really, really bad how much bigger my average losses are than my average gain (especially this month), but that's just how I trade (at least for now, like I said I want to gradually focus on "bigger moves" and less "add, add, adding"), lots of small gains adding up and trying to hardly ever "lose", and sometimes I'm "dead wrong" or it never "comes back" and I take a big loss (it's not a very good way to trade really, this "strategy" definitely worked a lot better for me in March and April than it did this month, my huge losses this month were an example of what can happen when you trade like this and it doesn't work very well).
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.
Here is a look at all of my shorts with the total PnL being $4,751.32 from 74 total trades with 65 "wins" and 9 losses (87.94%) with an average gain of $687.71 and the average loss of $4,438.89:
| 1-May-15 | TROV | Short | 8.85 | 8.71 | 5000 | $0.15 | $744.00 | 1.68% |
| 4-May-15 | CYTR | Short | 4.87 | 4.72 | 6800 | $0.15 | $1,048.00 | 3.16% |
| 4-May-15 | PTBI | Short | 4.47 | 4.23 | 1900 | $0.24 | $459.00 | 5.40% |
| 5-May-15 | PTBI | Short | 4.60 | 4.94 | 40800 | -$0.33 | -$13,567.88 | -7.22% |
| 5-May-15 | PTBI | Short | 7.35 | 6.83 | 4165 | $0.52 | $2,164.55 | 7.07% |
| 6-May-15 | PTBI | Short | 9.82 | 9.70 | 7800 | $0.12 | $948.11 | 1.24% |
| 6-May-15 | PTBI | Short | 9.99 | 10.05 | 4400 | -$0.05 | -$226.00 | -0.51% |
| 6-May-15 | PTBI | Short | 9.74 | 10.08 | 2800 | -$0.34 | -$952.00 | -3.49% |
| 6-May-15 | PTBI | Short | 9.92 | 9.38 | 650 | $0.54 | $351.00 | 5.44% |
| 6-May-15 | PTBI | Short | 9.17 | 8.96 | 2400 | $0.21 | $506.00 | 2.30% |
| 6-May-15 | PTBI | Short | 8.69 | 8.55 | 1425 | $0.14 | $199.50 | 1.61% |
| 6-May-15 | PTBI | Short | 8.80 | 8.62 | 1000 | $0.18 | $180.00 | 2.05% |
| 6-May-15 | PTBI | Short | 8.90 | 8.78 | 2700 | $0.12 | $323.00 | 1.34% |
| 6-May-15 | TLOG | Short | 3.07 | 2.80 | 1743 | $0.28 | $483.46 | 9.02% |
| 8-May-15 | CALA | Short | 3.07 | 2.80 | 1744 | $0.28 | $483.74 | 9.02% |
| 9-May-15 | CALA | Short | 12.86 | 12.75 | 2900 | $0.10 | $304.00 | 0.82% |
| 9-May-15 | CALA | Short | 13.50 | 13.36 | 5200 | $0.14 | $722.15 | 1.03% |
| 12-May-15 | PTIE | Short | 3.50 | 3.37 | 15000 | $0.13 | $1,976.00 | 3.76% |
| 13-May-15 | VGGL | Short | 3.31 | 3.21 | 250 | $0.10 | $25.00 | 3.02% |
| 13-May-15 | VGGL | Short | 3.35 | 3.26 | 1235 | $0.09 | $106.45 | 2.58% |
| 13-May-15 | VGGL | Short | 3.52 | 3.46 | 18000 | $0.05 | $984.00 | 1.56% |
| 13-May-15 | VGGL | Short | 3.62 | 3.55 | 2000 | $0.07 | $140.00 | 1.93% |
| 13-May-15 | GIGA | Short | 2.76 | 2.76 | 6200 | $0.00 | $23.56 | 0.14% |
| 13-May-15 | VBLT | Short | 6.30 | 6.21 | 9000 | $0.09 | $771.10 | 1.36% |
| 13-May-15 | VBLT | Short | 5.80 | 5.71 | 2000 | $0.09 | $188.55 | 1.63% |
| 13-May-15 | VBLT | Short | 5.79 | 5.69 | 6690 | $0.10 | $648.04 | 1.67% |
| 13-May-15 | VBLT | Short | 6.11 | 5.99 | 7498 | $0.12 | $892.44 | 1.95% |
| 13-May-15 | VBLT | Short | 6.18 | 6.35 | 7925 | -$0.16 | -$1,303.50 | -2.66% |
| 14-May-15 | VBLT | Short | 6.23 | 6.00 | 3100 | $0.23 | $716.00 | 3.71% |
| 14-May-15 | BSQR | Short | 6.14 | 5.84 | 3700 | $0.30 | $1,099.00 | 4.84% |
| 18-May-15 | EBIO | Short | 3.43 | 3.32 | 26100 | $0.12 | $3,068.19 | 3.42% |
| 18-May-15 | EBIO | Short | 3.52 | 3.42 | 6000 | $0.10 | $601.11 | 2.84% |
| 18-May-15 | EBIO | Short | 3.69 | 3.60 | 5000 | $0.09 | $448.00 | 2.43% |
| 18-May-15 | LTBR | Short | 2.77 | 2.50 | 2000 | $0.27 | $540.00 | 9.75% |
| 19-May-15 | GIGA | Short | 3.09 | 2.96 | 4000 | $0.13 | $530.00 | 4.29% |
| 19-May-15 | GIGA | Short | 3.05 | 2.97 | 3100 | $0.08 | $236.00 | 2.50% |
| 19-May-15 | AMCN | Short | 6.00 | 5.89 | 4500 | $0.11 | $487.50 | 1.81% |
| 19-May-15 | AMCN | Short | 6.25 | 6.26 | 8300 | -$0.01 | -$51.00 | -0.10% |
| 19-May-15 | PBMD | Short | 1.61 | 1.56 | 4200 | $0.05 | $229.00 | 3.38% |
| 19-May-15 | PBMD | Short | 2.43 | 2.31 | 2000 | $0.12 | $246.00 | 5.06% |
| 20-May-15 | PBMD | Short | 3.10 | 4.50 | 8200 | -$1.40 | -$11,458.00 | -45.05% |
| 20-May-15 | ISR | Short | 3.19 | 3.05 | 24000 | $0.14 | $3,406.50 | 4.45% |
| 21-May-15 | ISR | Short | 3.71 | 3.54 | 8000 | $0.18 | $1,410.00 | 4.75% |
| 21-May-15 | ISR | Short | 3.35 | 3.10 | 4000 | $0.24 | $970.00 | 7.25% |
| 21-May-15 | ISR | Short | 3.21 | 3.11 | 7000 | $0.10 | $680.00 | 3.03% |
| 21-May-15 | AVEO | Short | 3.34 | 3.12 | 7000 | $0.22 | $1,540.00 | 6.59% |
| 21-May-15 | AVEO | Short | 2.85 | 2.70 | 5400 | $0.14 | $775.80 | 5.05% |
| 21-May-15 | VLTC | Short | 8.46 | 8.34 | 9000 | $0.12 | $1,116.00 | 1.47% |
| 22-May-15 | ONTY | Short | 3.41 | 3.24 | 4000 | $0.17 | $680.00 | 4.99% |
| 22-May-15 | ONTY | Short | 3.17 | 3.08 | 100 | $0.09 | $9.00 | 2.84% |
| 22-May-15 | ONTY | Short | 3.25 | 3.08 | 4305 | $0.16 | $703.82 | 5.03% |
| 22-May-15 | ONTY | Short | 3.04 | 2.94 | 2300 | $0.10 | $226.00 | 3.23% |
| 22-May-15 | ONTY | Short | 2.98 | 2.95 | 10400 | $0.03 | $302.32 | 0.98% |
| 22-May-15 | ONTY | Short | 2.98 | 2.98 | 2000 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 0.00% |
| 22-May-15 | PBIB | Short | 3.30 | 2.92 | 500 | $0.38 | $190.00 | 11.52% |
| 22-May-15 | DGX | Short | 87.82 | 85.56 | 600 | $2.26 | $1,355.00 | 2.57% |
| 26-May-15 | ONTY | Short | 3.31 | 3.28 | 9500 | $0.03 | $293.00 | 0.93% |
| 26-May-15 | VBLT | Short | 6.41 | 7.07 | 18500 | -$0.66 | -$12,274.13 | -10.36% |
| 26-May-15 | ATNM | Short | 3.77 | 3.67 | 2200 | $0.09 | $208.00 | 2.51% |
| 27-May-15 | CBLI | Short | 4.10 | 3.74 | 2000 | $0.36 | $720.00 | 8.78% |
| 27-May-15 | CBLI | Short | 3.83 | 3.58 | 479 | $0.25 | $119.75 | 6.53% |
| 27-May-15 | GBSN | Short | 4.51 | 4.35 | 9800 | $0.16 | $1,553.30 | 3.52% |
| 27-May-15 | GBSN | Short | 4.22 | 4.12 | 11200 | $0.10 | $1,074.00 | 2.27% |
| 27-May-15 | GBSN | Short | 4.13 | 4.07 | 2000 | $0.07 | $130.00 | 1.57% |
| 27-May-15 | EOX | Short | 8.72 | 8.59 | 1000 | $0.13 | $130.00 | 1.49% |
| 27-May-15 | DCTH | Short | 1.66 | 1.57 | 1000 | $0.09 | $90.00 | 5.42% |
| 28-May-15 | ONTY | Short | 3.46 | 3.41 | 551 | $0.05 | $27.55 | 1.45% |
| 28-May-15 | AMRN | Short | 2.48 | 2.54 | 1700 | -$0.06 | -$97.50 | -2.31% |
| 29-May-15 | TBIO | Short | 3.26 | 3.06 | 11000 | $0.19 | $2,099.84 | 5.86% |
| 29-May-15 | TBIO | Short | 3.10 | 2.95 | 5100 | $0.16 | $807.90 | 5.10% |
| 29-May-15 | TBIO | Short | 3.07 | 3.01 | 12600 | $0.07 | $861.00 | 2.22% |
| 29-May-15 | TBIO | Short | 2.96 | 2.97 | 2000 | -$0.01 | -$20.00 | -0.34% |
| 29-May-15 | HRTX | Short | 20.11 | 19.96 | 400 | $0.15 | $60.00 | 0.75% |
| 29-May-15 | ATNM | Short | 4.06 | 3.96 | 3000 | $0.10 | $290.11 | 2.38% |
Here is a look at all of my longs with the total PnL being $3,428.67 from 97 total trades with 81 "wins" and 16 losses (83.51%) with an average gain of $216.27 and the average loss of $880.57:
| 1-May-15 | VLTC | Long | 11.73 | 11.73 | 5300 | $0.01 | $34.00 | 0.05% |
| 1-May-15 | VLTC | Long | 10.47 | 10.66 | 2750 | $0.19 | $527.00 | 1.83% |
| 1-May-15 | VLTC | Long | 10.58 | 10.47 | 7537 | -$0.11 | -$797.41 | -1.00% |
| 4-May-15 | ICLD | Long | 3.14 | 3.19 | 19199 | $0.05 | $867.89 | 1.44% |
| 4-May-15 | CLNE | Long | 9.29 | 9.40 | 2000 | $0.11 | $210.00 | 1.13% |
| 5-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 6.69 | 6.63 | 1035 | -$0.06 | -$65.15 | -0.94% |
| 6-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 9.31 | 9.40 | 1000 | $0.09 | $90.00 | 0.97% |
| 6-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 9.42 | 9.71 | 200 | $0.29 | $58.00 | 3.08% |
| 6-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 9.69 | 9.81 | 800 | $0.12 | $96.00 | 1.24% |
| 6-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 9.70 | 8.78 | 6200 | -$0.92 | -$5,678.09 | -9.44% |
| 6-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 8.69 | 8.78 | 5000 | $0.09 | $437.00 | 1.01% |
| 6-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 8.46 | 8.55 | 2000 | $0.09 | $181.00 | 1.07% |
| 7-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 9.78 | 9.92 | 1000 | $0.14 | $140.00 | 1.43% |
| 7-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 9.17 | 9.31 | 500 | $0.14 | $70.00 | 1.53% |
| 7-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 8.94 | 9.14 | 100 | $0.20 | $20.00 | 2.24% |
| 7-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 7.85 | 8.07 | 1000 | $0.22 | $220.00 | 2.80% |
| 7-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 7.45 | 7.48 | 5700 | $0.03 | $196.00 | 0.46% |
| 7-May-15 | VLTC | Long | 10.29 | 10.10 | 4000 | -$0.20 | -$780.20 | -1.90% |
| 7-May-15 | GEVO | Long | 3.78 | 3.88 | 4000 | $0.10 | $390.00 | 2.58% |
| 7-May-15 | GEVO | Long | 5.24 | 5.34 | 2000 | $0.10 | $207.00 | 1.98% |
| 7-May-15 | GEVO | Long | 5.86 | 5.91 | 4000 | $0.05 | $203.50 | 0.87% |
| 7-May-15 | GEVO | Long | 5.45 | 5.45 | 5500 | -$0.00 | -$5.00 | -0.02% |
| 7-May-15 | GEVO | Long | 5.20 | 5.25 | 2000 | $0.05 | $100.00 | 0.96% |
| 7-May-15 | GEVO | Long | 4.78 | 4.88 | 550 | $0.10 | $55.00 | 2.09% |
| 8-May-15 | GEVO | Long | 6.64 | 6.82 | 2000 | $0.19 | $370.00 | 2.79% |
| 8-May-15 | GEVO | Long | 6.65 | 6.75 | 2000 | $0.10 | $200.00 | 1.50% |
| 8-May-15 | GEVO | Long | 6.09 | 6.23 | 5500 | $0.14 | $780.00 | 2.33% |
| 8-May-15 | GEVO | Long | 5.94 | 6.00 | 1000 | $0.06 | $60.00 | 1.01% |
| 8-May-15 | GEVO | Long | 5.77 | 5.86 | 987 | $0.09 | $88.83 | 1.56% |
| 8-May-15 | GEVO | Long | 5.53 | 5.60 | 7900 | $0.06 | $490.00 | 1.12% |
| 8-May-15 | ICLD | Long | 3.72 | 3.77 | 1100 | $0.05 | $60.00 | 1.47% |
| 8-May-15 | ICLD | Long | 4.14 | 4.21 | 1000 | $0.07 | $70.00 | 1.69% |
| 8-May-15 | CALA | Long | 12.58 | 12.74 | 500 | $0.16 | $80.00 | 1.27% |
| 11-May-15 | VGGL | Long | 3.20 | 3.24 | 4000 | $0.04 | $154.00 | 1.20% |
| 11-May-15 | VGGL | Long | 3.88 | 3.93 | 9100 | $0.06 | $529.00 | 1.50% |
| 11-May-15 | VGGL | Long | 3.78 | 3.84 | 2000 | $0.06 | $120.00 | 1.59% |
| 11-May-15 | VGGL | Long | 3.83 | 3.89 | 3000 | $0.06 | $180.00 | 1.57% |
| 11-May-15 | VGGL | Long | 3.70 | 3.81 | 2000 | $0.11 | $221.00 | 2.99% |
| 11-May-15 | VGGL | Long | 3.92 | 4.05 | 3000 | $0.13 | $390.00 | 3.32% |
| 11-May-15 | VGGL | Long | 3.96 | 4.00 | 10000 | $0.05 | $470.00 | 1.19% |
| 11-May-15 | VGGL | Long | 3.76 | 3.81 | 16700 | $0.05 | $871.20 | 1.39% |
| 11-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 8.34 | 8.42 | 1000 | $0.08 | $80.00 | 0.96% |
| 11-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 8.17 | 8.28 | 1000 | $0.11 | $110.00 | 1.35% |
| 12-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 9.66 | 9.49 | 8300 | -$0.17 | -$1,384.22 | -1.73% |
| 12-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 9.37 | 9.55 | 4049 | $0.18 | $721.25 | 1.90% |
| 12-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 9.39 | 9.48 | 1000 | $0.09 | $90.00 | 0.96% |
| 12-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 8.94 | 9.08 | 100 | $0.14 | $14.00 | 1.57% |
| 12-May-15 | GEVO | Long | 4.62 | 4.69 | 8000 | $0.07 | $530.00 | 1.43% |
| 13-May-15 | GEVO | Long | 5.12 | 5.23 | 1000 | $0.11 | $110.00 | 2.15% |
| 13-May-15 | VGGL | Long | 2.98 | 3.07 | 2100 | $0.09 | $182.00 | 2.91% |
| 13-May-15 | OREX | Long | 5.36 | 5.46 | 1000 | $0.10 | $100.00 | 1.87% |
| 13-May-15 | ICLD | Long | 3.97 | 4.07 | 2000 | $0.10 | $196.00 | 2.47% |
| 13-May-15 | FCSC | Long | 4.34 | 4.33 | 8200 | -$0.01 | -$66.75 | -0.19% |
| 14-May-15 | VBLT | Long | 5.82 | 5.81 | 8500 | -$0.01 | -$64.00 | -0.13% |
| 14-May-15 | VBLT | Long | 5.65 | 5.78 | 3000 | $0.12 | $371.15 | 2.19% |
| 18-May-15 | EBIO | Long | 3.32 | 3.36 | 100 | $0.04 | $4.00 | 1.20% |
| 19-May-15 | GIGA | Long | 2.87 | 2.94 | 1000 | $0.07 | $70.00 | 2.44% |
| 19-May-15 | PTBI | Long | 9.86 | 9.93 | 2000 | $0.07 | $140.00 | 0.71% |
| 19-May-15 | ACHN | Long | 10.33 | 10.54 | 500 | $0.21 | $105.00 | 2.03% |
| 19-May-15 | ACHN | Long | 10.06 | 10.18 | 1500 | $0.12 | $175.00 | 1.16% |
| 20-May-15 | PBMD | Long | 5.79 | 5.75 | 800 | -$0.04 | -$36.00 | -0.78% |
| 21-May-15 | ISR | Long | 3.35 | 3.41 | 3100 | $0.06 | $181.00 | 1.74% |
| 21-May-15 | ISR | Long | 3.18 | 3.28 | 8200 | $0.10 | $820.00 | 3.14% |
| 21-May-15 | AVEO | Long | 2.95 | 3.04 | 7500 | $0.09 | $683.50 | 3.09% |
| 21-May-15 | AVEO | Long | 2.62 | 2.64 | 5500 | $0.02 | $92.50 | 0.64% |
| 21-May-15 | AVEO | Long | 2.44 | 2.49 | 4100 | $0.05 | $195.45 | 1.95% |
| 22-May-15 | ONTY | Long | 3.15 | 3.23 | 2000 | $0.08 | $160.00 | 2.54% |
| 22-May-15 | PBMD | Long | 3.50 | 3.56 | 4000 | $0.06 | $258.00 | 1.84% |
| 22-May-15 | PBMD | Long | 3.36 | 3.45 | 1000 | $0.09 | $90.00 | 2.68% |
| 22-May-15 | PBMD | Long | 3.33 | 3.41 | 100 | $0.08 | $8.00 | 2.40% |
| 22-May-15 | DGX | Long | 78.95 | 79.47 | 1100 | $0.51 | $566.00 | 0.65% |
| 26-May-15 | PBMD | Long | 3.77 | 3.51 | 9500 | -$0.27 | -$2,531.00 | -7.06% |
| 26-May-15 | IPCI | Long | 3.57 | 3.69 | 2000 | $0.12 | $230.00 | 3.22% |
| 26-May-15 | ATNM | Long | 3.85 | 3.70 | 2400 | -$0.15 | -$363.00 | -3.92% |
| 26-May-15 | VBLT | Long | 7.34 | 7.35 | 1400 | $0.02 | $22.00 | 0.21% |
| 26-May-15 | VBLT | Long | 7.48 | 7.29 | 1000 | -$0.19 | -$190.00 | -2.54% |
| 27-May-15 | CBLI | Long | 3.62 | 3.73 | 1000 | $0.11 | $110.00 | 3.04% |
| 27-May-15 | CBLI | Long | 3.48 | 3.54 | 1000 | $0.06 | $60.00 | 1.72% |
| 27-May-15 | GBSN | Long | 4.13 | 4.17 | 3000 | $0.04 | $130.00 | 1.05% |
| 27-May-15 | CERE | Long | 3.70 | 3.71 | 3125 | $0.01 | $39.25 | 0.34% |
| 27-May-15 | CERE | Long | 3.46 | 3.55 | 270 | $0.09 | $24.30 | 2.60% |
| 27-May-15 | CERE | Long | 3.20 | 3.04 | 9500 | -$0.16 | -$1,507.83 | -4.96% |
| 28-May-15 | BIOC | Long | 3.31 | 3.38 | 4000 | $0.06 | $250.00 | 1.89% |
| 28-May-15 | OHGI | Long | 4.68 | 4.88 | 1000 | $0.20 | $200.00 | 4.27% |
| 28-May-15 | OHGI | Long | 4.70 | 4.77 | 1000 | $0.07 | $71.75 | 1.53% |
| 28-May-15 | OHGI | Long | 5.27 | 5.30 | 3800 | $0.03 | $129.44 | 0.65% |
| 28-May-15 | OHGI | Long | 5.07 | 5.15 | 2000 | $0.07 | $150.00 | 1.48% |
| 28-May-15 | OHGI | Long | 5.39 | 5.43 | 2000 | $0.04 | $80.00 | 0.74% |
| 28-May-15 | OHGI | Long | 5.26 | 5.37 | 1000 | $0.11 | $110.00 | 2.09% |
| 28-May-15 | OHGI | Long | 4.78 | 4.81 | 6150 | $0.03 | $161.80 | 0.55% |
| 28-May-15 | AMRN | Long | 2.45 | 2.32 | 2000 | -$0.13 | -$260.00 | -5.31% |
| 28-May-15 | CBLI | Long | 3.14 | 3.10 | 8100 | -$0.04 | -$334.50 | -1.32% |
| 29-May-15 | TBIO | Long | 2.93 | 2.96 | 3000 | $0.03 | $100.00 | 1.14% |
| 29-May-15 | OHGI | Long | 3.54 | 3.58 | 3000 | $0.04 | $130.00 | 1.23% |
| 29-May-15 | ESI | Long | 4.42 | 4.53 | 1000 | $0.11 | $110.00 | 2.49% |
| 29-May-15 | VBLT | Long | 8.20 | 8.17 | 900 | -$0.03 | -$26.00 | -0.35% |
| 29-May-15 | VBLT | Long | 8.06 | 8.18 | 1000 | $0.12 | $120.00 | 1.49% |
I'm not going to specify the PnL from different price ranges of stocks, I did it for the first two monthly recaps with three different price ranges, $1-10 (mostly $3-10), $10-20, and $20+, that helped me figure out that $2-10 dollar stocks are what I'm best at, and I stopped trading $20+ dollar stocks very much. $2-10 dollar stocks are 95% of what I trade now, so I'm not going to bother with this part of the monthly recap, it served it's purpose and it's pointless now because I only make a couple trades per month on $20+ dollar stocks.
Now to take a look at my biggest losses on the month and review the charts and what I did wrong:
There are some INSANELY HUGE LOSSES this month, I have edited each of the charts and highlighted key things and explained the trades again there somewhat. I have posted the edited charts with the PnL and lessons, the links to previous blog posts for that day of the big loss is there if you want to want to read it all, the edited chart should give a pretty good summary and it's easier to see when it's all in one place (click on the charts to make them bigger so that you can read it).
PTBI (On May 5th)
| Type | Entry | Exit | Shares | +/- $Amt | $ PnL | % Pnl |
| Short | 4.60 | 4.94 | 40800 | -$0.33 | -$13,567.88 | -7.22% |
| Short | 7.35 | 6.83 | 4165 | $0.52 | $2,164.55 | 7.07% |
| Long | 6.69 | 6.63 | 1035 | -$0.06 | -$65.15 | -0.94% |
- Lessons:
- Can always buy a "bigger runner" when it's holding higher lows ABOVE VWAP, with risk under the base/previous low, then be patient with it, sell into parabolic's or when it makes a "lower low" (4.80 base, 4.95-5.05 base/higher lows, 5.70 base, 6.40 base, 6.70 base, etc.)
- Higher lows off of "LOD area" and VWAP reclaims are key things to be looking for to determine whether the stock is going to "fade the rest of the day" or "bounce back to the highs"
- Be careful using VWAP rejects for a short on very quick moving, high volume stocks, it will often only WORK ONCE, if it pulls back 5-10 cents and holds another higher low and retests VWAP, it will likely break, I NEED TO "PANIC OUT" on the ask if short on the SECOND TEST on a "quick moving stock", it will often spike 5-15 cents past it very quickly (I did this twice, it pulled back 5-10 cents, but then held and instead of stopping out on the retest, I kept adding more right above it)
- From "Nikko", pay EXTRA ATTENTION to VWAP around 11-11:30 AM, if you feel stubborn/upside down and the stock is ABOVE VWAP around this time and/or breaking out to new highs, YOU SHOULD NOT BE SHORT, don't be afraid to take the loss into the "offers", there's a very good chance it will continue going much higher throughout the day
- From "Michael Shadkin", past 11 AM top 25% of range, likely continues higher (be more long biased), past 11 AM bottom 25% of range, likely continues lower (be more short biased) (this isn't an "exact science" and I haven't paid very much attention to it, but I would like to pay more attention to it in the future to see if it "works", it definitely "worked" on PTBI and ICLD today)
- From "JohnWelshTrades", try to buy/short at the day's lows/highs for the best entries, I would say this only applies when the stock is trading within a "channel range", which often happens for the first few hours like PTBI today, 4.35-4.85 range (my first short was from near the top of the range and covered at the bottom of the range, my second short was in the middle of the range and luckily covered at the bottom of the range, my last short was in the middle of the range again and the stock broke out of it's channel around 11 AM and I was very stubborn with it because I was already sized in way too big)
- Going along with that last point, TRY TO AVOID ENTERING NEW TRADES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE "CHANNEL RANGE", or at least make sure to use less size since those are not "ideal" entries and still RESPECT HIGHER LOWS AND VWAP
- I need to control my overall position sizes and be careful not to add, add, add uncontrollably, have to try to make "smart" adds and keeping my overall position size under control, and knowing when to be sizing back down if I'm in too big or if it's not doing what I thought (I did the exact same thing twice, adding a lot all in one area up to 15k shares size which was way too much)
- Making sure to exit the entire position when my thesis for the trade no longer exists (especially if I tried to but got partial fills) and not trying to "make a trade work" with more adds and re-adds in places where I wouldn't normally trade that stock, CHANGE THE ORDER AND MAKE SURE TO GET OUT (I got 500/1000 share fills twice and then I was readding where I would have probably had not been shorting yet if I had no position, which lead to a terrible average "lucky trade" and a terrible average "got smoked" trade)
- Always pay attention to "float rotation" and be more careful/avoid shorting if the float keeps "rotating" and there's tons of volume (some sources show the float as 2.7m, others 6m, others 20m, either way, it was still "rotating" and there was a ton of volume with about 10m in the first hour and then 62m by the end of the day)
- Slow grind ABOVE VWAP = NO REASON TO BE SHORT (I've said this so many times, and I knew this, but I was just insanely stubborn because my size was so huge, every 10 cents = 1.6k, I didn't cover 4.80's, then I missed covering when it came back to 4.95-5.10 and it went to 5.30 again in one candle which was a HUGE difference and I was frustrated that it could have just been -2k on the day and now it was -7k again, then I let it turn into -13k)
- Always be careful shorting "Day 1" runners, they can go much further than you think
- Never be too biased, just because a stock is "up a lot" and you have shares to short, doesn't mean you should (I made money ONLY GOING LONG on ICLD and VLTC in the last week on their "above VWAP" uptrends because I didn't have shares to short, if I didn't have shares to short of PTBI today, I would have been doing the same and probably made a ton, but I was already short with huge size and extremely stubborn)
PTBI (On May 6)
| Type | Entry | Exit | Shares | +/- $Amt | $ PnL | % Pnl |
| Short | 9.82 | 9.70 | 7800 | $0.12 | $948.11 | 1.24% |
| Long | 9.31 | 9.40 | 1000 | $0.09 | $90.00 | 0.97% |
| Short | 9.99 | 10.05 | 4400 | -$0.05 | -$226.00 | -0.51% |
| Long | 9.42 | 9.71 | 200 | $0.29 | $58.00 | 3.08% |
| Long | 9.69 | 9.81 | 800 | $0.12 | $96.00 | 1.24% |
| Short | 9.74 | 10.08 | 2800 | -$0.34 | -$952.00 | -3.49% |
| Long | 9.70 | 8.78 | 6200 | -$0.92 | -$5,678.09 | -9.44% |
| Short | 9.92 | 9.38 | 650 | $0.54 | $351.00 | 5.44% |
| Short | 9.17 | 8.96 | 2400 | $0.21 | $506.00 | 2.30% |
| Long | 8.69 | 8.78 | 5000 | $0.09 | $437.00 | 1.01% |
| Short | 8.69 | 8.55 | 1425 | $0.14 | $199.50 | 1.61% |
| Short | 8.80 | 8.62 | 1000 | $0.18 | $180.00 | 2.05% |
| Short | 8.90 | 8.78 | 2700 | $0.12 | $323.00 | 1.34% |
- Lessons:
- NEVER BE TOO BIASED, ALWAYS TRY TO FOLLOW THE "BIG PICTURE TREND"
- Higher lows off of "LOD area" and VWAP reclaims are key things to be looking for to determine whether the stock is going to "fade the rest of the day" or "bounce back to the highs" and continue spiking
- There are lots of "emotional candles" in the first 20 minutes, SHOULD PUT ORDER IN TO EXIT ENTIRE POSITION, usually it "snaps right back" after a washout (had I exited my ENTIRE POSITION in one order, instead of "scaling out" into any of those five dips where I covered, I would have had no position and then maybe have gone long on the opening washout or when it was still making "higher lows")
- Be MORE SHORT BIASED NEAR THE TOP of the "CHANNEL RANGE" and more LONG BIASED NEAR THE BOTTOM (there was ABSOLUTELY ZERO REASON TO SHORT at 9.65 when the it had just came from 10.75 in 15 minutes and was now bouncing from there, and there was also not much reason to short at 9.70's when the "base" was at 9.55, NEED TO WAIT FOR A BIGGER POP to short into, like it did at 10.10-10.40, try to stay away from the "slow grind")
- When a stock is holding VWAP "over/under" and holding HIGHER LOWS, IT WILL LIKELY HEAD HIGHER and have another "LEG UP" (VWAP was at 9.25ish in the first 15 minutes and it held higher lows 8.70, 8.80, 8.95, then "squeezed", VWAP was 9.80ish later on and it held higher lows around that area, 9.25, 9.58, 9.70ish then "squeezed") (draw a line across the "bottoms" and it basically held a "big picture" uptrend until that washout at 11:20)
- Pay attention to the "big picture trend", draw trend lines across the bottoms/tops, it held a perfect "big picture uptrend" from 9:30 to 11:20, and then a perfect"big picture downtrend" from 11:20 until the close (use it as a guide for entries long or short, these were where the BEST entries were today for HUGE 50 cents - 2 dollar moves)
- Making sure to exit the entire position when my thesis for the trade no longer exists (especially if I tried to but got partial fills) and not trying to "make a trade work" with more adds and re-adds in places where I wouldn't normally trade that stock, CHANGE THE ORDER AND MAKE SURE TO GET OUT (everything started from missing my order by 2 cents premarket and not taking it off for a breakevenish and "tried to make it work" then was "stuck short" and more short biased after the open)
PBMD (On May 20)
Type
|
Entry
|
Exit
|
Shares
|
+/- $Amt
|
$ PnL
|
% Pnl
|
| Short | 3.10 | 4.50 | 8200 | -$1.40 | -$11,458.00 | -45.05% |
| Long | 5.79 | 5.75 | 800 | -$0.04 | -$36.00 | -0.78% |
- Lessons:
- Pay attention to premarket resistance/top and do not be shorting at it/just after it, UNLESS it acts as CLEAR RESISTANCE, if it goes past it, it will likely go much higher (I had a terrible average the whole morning because I did not respect this)
- Do not size in too much too quick, always "save bullets" for higher just in case (I should have paid more attention to how much size I was able to do since it's under 3 dollars, my max size was only about 5k shares, and I used all of it right away and didn't have any "bullets" left when it was 2.90's which would have been the place to be shorting)
- ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION TO VWAP, it held "VWAP over/under" as support at 9:34 and 9:41, and most importantly at 10:40-10:53, pay attention to WHAT IT DOES AT VWAP, does it act as resistance (when it breaks below it) and keep fading, or does it reclaim right away and act as support and make a HIGHER LOW and continue on it's uptrend, RESPECT IT for covering shorts/going long
- Have to not be "penny pinching" for a few cents and ECN rebates when trying to get out, just put order for ALL and take the ASK, it might cost you an extra 100 bucks but it would have saved me 5-10k in this case if I had just been aggressive and covered at 2.60 like I was trying to
- Even if you missed where you were trying to cover and the trend changes, you have to just "eat the loss" when you know you are dead wrong and it's likely going higher (I was very close to just "eating the loss" at 2.80's but I was still too stubborn and frustrated that it was just only -1k at 2.60 now it was -2k, then it spiked from there and the rest is history)
- Never be too biased, and never under-estimate how far a stock can go, I was too biased all morning but then when I was finally trying to take the loss in the 3's, I was still thinking, "cover all and reshort with even more size and make it all back", that's why I readded, but this thinking was dead wrong, I should have been thinking, "cover all and go long" instead (it's hard to do, but doing that on PBMD and PTBI would have worked out well and I probably would have made it all back or more)
- Try to recognize these "big runners" early on and try to "pretend" you don't have shares to short/avoid shorting, sure you can make some by shorting, but you are still fighting the "big picture trend" and you will most likely be too early on a lot of the entries (the days that these run and I don't have shares to short, I usually make money going long, the days that these run and I have shares to short, I am usually insanely stubborn and holding onto huge losses until I get bought in)
VBLT (On May 26)
Type
|
Entry
|
Exit
|
Shares
|
+/- $Amt
|
$ PnL
|
% Pnl
|
| Short | 6.41 | 7.07 | 18500 | -$0.66 | -$12,274.13 | -10.36% |
| Long | 7.34 | 7.35 | 1400 | $0.02 | $22.00 | 0.21% |
| Long | 7.48 | 7.29 | 1000 | -$0.19 | -$190.00 | -2.54% |
- Lessons:
- CANNOT TRADE SO BIG ON THIN STOCKS
- SLOW GRIND ABOVE VWAP = NO REASON TO STILL BE SHORT
- Do not fight RELATIVE STRENGTH AFTER 11 AM
- Do not fight RELATIVE STRENGTH on big (1%+) down days on the overall market
- Have to "panic out" sooner, just "eat the loss" into the offer before it becomes a ridiculous amount (I am might set a 3k max loss on my account, but I have to be able to "panic out" even sooner than that sometimes)
- DO NOT READD TRYING TO MAKE A TRADE WORK THAT YOU MISSED COVERING SOME, look to just take the small loss/small profit on the remaining position into dips, rather than readding more and LOWERING YOUR AVERAGE and being unable to exit anything because your size is too big and the stock is too thin
- DO NOT "try to make a stock seem weak/strong" by adding in places that you wouldn't normally trade that stock just because you are trying to "help your other position", IT DOESN'T WORK UNLESS YOU HAVE A REALLY, REALLY BIG ACCOUNT, 1-3k shares here and there doesn't really do anything even on a "really thin stock"
These are the four charts/trades that had my biggest losses on this month (mostly the three really big losses, but "day two" on PTBI had many things to learn from it and I also took a big loss on that long position and I was down a lot unrealized on poorly managed shorts a few times). There are lessons and chart patterns to learn on each of them, but the main way I am going to prevent losses such as these from happening again, is by being extremely "strict" with my wiring out from now on. Obviously, it's best to just know what is a good trade to take and what isn't, and knowing when you are "dead wrong" and being willing to "eat the loss" on your own before you let it build to catastrophic amounts as I did three times this month, but I am still going to use this "wiring out method" for now because it's what works for me.
Overall, the way I traded this month didn't work out that well, I need to be a lot more controllable with my size and better with sizing in and out. I had three $10,000+ losing "trades" (scaling in and out is all one trade) this month which equal about 37k total and/or 4 losing days that ended up being 37k total. Without those three losses/four losing days, my total for the month would have been around 42k instead of 5.5k, just something to think about, but I also held through other big unrealized losses that ended up working out for a profit or a least a much smaller loss than they were.
A few of the main things I still need to work on (by "still" I mean that I've been needing to work on these things for the last three months and I haven't improved/changed that much on these things yet):
- Controlling my overall position sizes and being careful not to add, add, add uncontrollably, have to try to make "smart" adds and keeping my overall position size under control, and knowing when to be sizing back down if I'm in too big or if it's not doing what I thought
- Making sure to exit the entire position when my thesis for the trade no longer exists (especially if I tried to but got partial fills) and not trying to "make a trade work" with more adds and re-adds in places where I wouldn't normally trade that stock
- Making sure to exit the entire position if I know my entry isn't very good and I have a small profit, instead of trying to "scale out" for a "homerun" from a bad entry, it's much better to exit the entire position for breakeven/small profit and then look for better entries again later if it sets up again
- Not being too greedy on sells/covers, if I have an order in at a certain spot for a reason, I need to let it fill, and not worry if I goes a bit higher/lower afterwards (there were many times that my trades were screwed up from being too greedy and CHANGING orders higher/lower and missing them)
That is my extensive trading recap for the month of May, 2015. Not the best month of trading, I let three losses keep going until they were 10k+ and most of my account at the time, but at least it's green, the total for the month was about 5.5k after commissions with a total of 16 green days and 4 red days. Start "fresh" again next month, I've got to make sure that actually learn from these massive losses and improve my risk management and overall trading to make sure that I don't take anymore insane 5-10k+ losing trades/red days in the coming months.
I let three losing days give back most of my month, had I made 500-1000/day consistently I would have been up a lot more than what I finished at, and a lot less stress/emotions, than being up "x" on the day/week/month, then down "x", back up "x", back down, etc. Daily consistency is much better than the emotional and financial roller coaster of ups and downs, like this month has been, trying to force things and using too much size, and being too stubborn to take the losses early enough because it's already "too big of a loss" just because of having a large position size. There is a great blog post by Nate about consistency at this link, https://www.investorsunderground.com/consistency-vs-dollar-profits/.
I am going to keep my account size about the same as I was in April and on 4:1 leverage still as I have been this whole time, I don't need anything more than that to trade with. I let my account get almost twice as big a few times this month and each of those times was where I took my biggest losses (maybe just a coincidence that those stocks came up at these times, but the losses would have been probably half as much if I didn't have so much in my account and so much BP). I don't need that much in my account to still make a decent amount, so I will extra diligent/"strict" on my wiring out processes this next month. Obviously, I want to have a bigger account eventually and I want to do better with position sizing on my own, but this method worked well for me in March and April, I did better with a smaller account those months that what I did this month with a bigger account, there's nothing wrong with making 1-2k/day consistently, it adds up really fast, it's much better than having 4k up days and 10k+ down days like I did this month.
I let three losing days give back most of my month, had I made 500-1000/day consistently I would have been up a lot more than what I finished at, and a lot less stress/emotions, than being up "x" on the day/week/month, then down "x", back up "x", back down, etc. Daily consistency is much better than the emotional and financial roller coaster of ups and downs, like this month has been, trying to force things and using too much size, and being too stubborn to take the losses early enough because it's already "too big of a loss" just because of having a large position size. There is a great blog post by Nate about consistency at this link, https://www.investorsunderground.com/consistency-vs-dollar-profits/.
I am going to keep my account size about the same as I was in April and on 4:1 leverage still as I have been this whole time, I don't need anything more than that to trade with. I let my account get almost twice as big a few times this month and each of those times was where I took my biggest losses (maybe just a coincidence that those stocks came up at these times, but the losses would have been probably half as much if I didn't have so much in my account and so much BP). I don't need that much in my account to still make a decent amount, so I will extra diligent/"strict" on my wiring out processes this next month. Obviously, I want to have a bigger account eventually and I want to do better with position sizing on my own, but this method worked well for me in March and April, I did better with a smaller account those months that what I did this month with a bigger account, there's nothing wrong with making 1-2k/day consistently, it adds up really fast, it's much better than having 4k up days and 10k+ down days like I did this month.
Thank you for reading, I hope you learned something from my extensive trading recap for May, 2015.
