I traded pretty small on ONTY (only had 4.3k shares at the most) and still made a decent amount overall on it in the first few hours, I had another trade on it later where I was trying to turn a "10 cent scalp" into a "homerun" and was readding "to a winner" at first and then "to a loser" when it popped back up (and was in as much as 8.3k shares at one point), but I was sizing back down right away for breakeven/small profit because it wasn't really working and it was just a slow 2.95-3.05 channel the rest of the day. I could have used more size on the first few trades on it, but I still made a decent amount without using much size, I didn't want to go too crazy today and be too overconfident and take a big loss after my big day yesterday.
I traded somewhat big on DGX, but I was down only about $600 unrealized at the very very top and ended up making $1350 on it and left $3000-5000 "on the table". Then I was trying to go long and accidentally did a bit more size than I was trying to do (I was trying to scale in 100 shares at a time but when you click on the level 2 to put the price in the order box, it puts your current position already in there and I accidentally added 300 when I was trying to add only 100) and ended up making about $550 in total on it with being down $500-1000 at one point and not managing it very well.
Those were the "main gainers", everything else were small scalps which I will explain more below. PBIB was sort of a "huge miss" today, I only traded it once with very small size and there was tons to be made on it, shorting then covering then reshorting again higher and covering again, could have done that three times for 50 cents-a dollar each time (which is HUGE on a 2-3 dollar stock even with only a few thousand shares).
I tried "chasing" things more than usual today, chasing PBMD long into strength and ONTY short into weakness, costing me more in ECN fees and basically if I'm right, I will make maybe 5 cents, if I'm wrong I'll probably lose 10+ and I just burnt commissions and ECN fees, not very good risk/reward and I normally don't do it. But today, I did for some reason, I did alright with it today but it's just not a good habit to have, you can get "burned" pretty bad if it doesn't work and you miss exits, there's really no point in doing it, whenever I do it, I know it's a chase and I usually exit immediately for 5-10 cents profit IF it works, if it doesn't work, then I might "get stuck" and then "try to make it work" with readds.
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.
ONTY
This gapped on "positive data trial results" (I think), from 2.51 to open at 3.14, the float is 95m so it trades pretty "slow and thick" unless it has huge volume, the range was pretty good in the first 1-2 hours, but then it was really slow the rest of the day, the total volume on it today was 36m, so only about 1/3 of the float. It spiked up to 3.44 at the open and I shorted 2k at 3.38 and 2k at 3.44, it came back down to 3.20's right away and I already covered 3k from 3.23-3.28, with the idea/plan to add more again higher. It came back to 3.30-3.39, for some reason I hesitated on readding yet and thought it could still go higher and didn't want to be readding too early, I never got back in and never really had much size at all (only 4k). It washed out to 3.12 and I covered my last 1k at 3.18, then went long 2k shares at 3.15 and sold 3.23 for a quick scalp (should have flipped short again there but didn't). It went to 3.05, then bounced back again, I tried to short 2k at 3.17 but only got 100/2000 filled, I covered it at 3.08 to wait for better entries later. It perked through VWAP (3.22), and I was scaling in short into that pop, I got 2k 3.23 2k 3.26 and 305/2000 at 3.28 (wished I had gotten all of that), that was basically the perfect entry but then I scaled out pretty early "along the way" as it washed out to 2.90's, I covered 1k 3.18 1k 3.14 1k 3.08 and 1305 at 2.97 (my average cover price was 10-20 cents too early, I should try to cover when I have more of a reason to, rather than just taking profits "along the way" for the "heck of it"). I reshorted the pop to 3.06 and got 2k 3.04 and 300/2k at 3.06 and covered it 2.94-2.95 when it seemed to be still holding this "LOD area" and I wanted to be done with it. It later had a dip to 2.80 but then came back to 3-3.10 and traded in a 2.90-3.10 "channel range" the yesterday of the day. I shorted 2k at 3.02 only looking for about 10 cents on a 3 break, and it went to 2.90, I covered 1k at 2.93 and missed covering the other 1k, then I was "trying to make it work" and go for the "homerun" by readding "to a winner" and then "to a loser" and ended up making about $300 on the whole trade when I would have just made $200 on the first part of it with only 2k shares. I missed shorting into some of the 3.05-3.10 pops, and I tried chasing an entry at the "bottom of the range" at 2.98, I hit the bid at 2.98 with 2k shares and it dipped to 2.95-2.96, then was bouncing back and I took the ask at 2.98 for breakeven, probably lost 10-20 bucks on commissions and ECN fees, a pointless chase into weakness at the bottom of the range. It now started gapping up a little bit to 3.15ish, it should be somewhat "in play" again next week, but it's just so "slow and thick" because of such a large float, so it's hard/annoying to trade unless it has huge volume. 
Type
|
Entry
|
Exit
|
Shares
|
+/- $Amt
|
$ PnL
|
% Pnl
|
| Short | 3.41 | 3.24 | 4000 | $0.17 | $680.00 | 4.99% |
| Long | 3.15 | 3.23 | 2000 | $0.08 | $160.00 | 2.54% |
|
- Lessons:
- Can always reshort pops/lower highs with a new trade using the "house's money" for more fading (I had already realized about 500 in the first minute and I could have used the "houses money" for my reshorts 3.30-3.39)
- Try to be more patient with a "winner" when you have a great entry, try to only cover when you have more of a reason to (it went almost straight down from 3.28 to 2.92 in 5-10 minutes and I was just taking profits "along the way" for the "heck of it", it was still weak/washing out)
- Don't try to turn a "scalp" into a "homerun", my plan was to make 5-15 cents on my entry at 3.02, and I had it but only covered half, then was readding more going more the "homerun" and I was sized in too big for just random midday channel/choppiness (at one point, I had 2x the size that I had earlier on my IDEAL entries)
- Do not chase a short into weakness/bottom of the range, try to ALWAYS get a good entry on pops/top of range, then you will be already "in" for the "breakdown" if it happens but you can just cover for 5-10 cents PROFIT if it keeps holding support
PBIB
I'm not even sure why this spiked, but the float is really low (1.3m according to Yahoo Finance but Finviz says it's much higher). It went from 1.25 up to 3.30 in about 5 minutes, I saw this on my HOD list on Dastrader, but someone also alerted it in chat a little bit after I saw it, I shorted 500 shares (only 500 because I was going to scale into it, and the volume was only 130k at the time) right at the exact top at 3.30 and it got "volatility halted". I used INETL route to put orders in while it was still halted (you can't do that with ARCAL) and I put an order in to cover at 2.92, and I put an order to add 500 at 3.58, and to add 500 at 3.78, it opened it "weak" and went straight down to 2.04 in two candles and I got filled at 2.92 on the reopen (I probably should have just had no order in to cover and just reacted to it, but I just didn't want it to dip to 2.80-2.90 then rip to 3.50+ or something and I missed covering). It bounced back from 2ish all the way up to 3.26 again, I had tried putting some orders in, I would put an order for 500 shares at 3.20ish and miss it then cancel it, then again 3.10-3.20 and miss and cancel and again 3.10-3.20 and miss and cancel, for some reason I wasn't that confident in it (and it was pretty "thin" with 10-20 cent spread at times, but it had lots of volume here) and I wanted it to spike to 3.50+ first or something and I would have actually sized in a few thousand shares. I'm not sure why I was so hesitant on this stock today (only doing 500 share orders and then not being decisive enough to even keep my order in), normally I would be jumping in with at least 1k shares right away, but I guess I just didn't want to be "that guy" with a 3.20 short average when it spikes to 4+ or something, and just be "add, add, adding" and down a lot. It faded from there down to 2.30's, it tried to bounce to 2.50-2.60 but it was rejecting "over/under" VWAP, then it faded all the way to 1.80ish, slowly bounced back to 2.35ish from there and rejected VWAP perfectly again and faded down to 1.50's by the end of the day. Such an insane "miss" on this stock today, I could have made 50 cents-a dollar on it three times, but I didn't even bother trading it besides that first 500 share scalp.
Type
|
Entry
|
Exit
|
Shares
|
+/- $Amt
|
$ PnL
|
% Pnl
|
| Short | 3.30 | 2.92 | 500 | $0.38 | $190.00 | 11.52% |
- Lessons:
- Try to have more conviction/confidence in pulling the trigger on "golden setups", today could have been a HUGE day, even with only 1-3k shares on this for 50+ cents a few times, but I didn't trade it at all other than that first trade
DGX
This spiked from 75 up to 89 from a "takeover/buyout rumor" that was "tweeted" on twitter. It was "alerted" in the IU chatroom around 81-82 or so when it was "volatility halted". It opened up around 82 or so and went straight up to 86+, I started in short with only 100 shares at 86.30, I added 100 at 86.95 and 100 at 87.49 to have 86.91ish average at first and it came back to 86.10-86.50 on that candle but it was too quick and I missed covering any. It went higher and I added another 100 at 88.32, 100 at 88.86, 100 at 88.99 (the last two entries were dead top pretty much, the top was 89). I had 600 shares 87.82 average and it started washing out from there, I had some "fishing orders" in 100-200 shares at a time and I covered it all from 86.32-84.78 just "for the heck of it"/taking quick profits I guess, just like some of my ONTY covers, I was just scaling out for profits along the way, even if it was still weak/washing out. It went all the way down to 78's within 5-10 minutes (I missed 5-8 dollars/share = $3000-5000). I scaled in long in the 79's and 78's, I accidentally did more size that I had wanted to because one order was 300 shares instead of 100 (when I clicked on level 2, it automatically put in 300 shares in the box because that was the position size that I already had, I was only wanting to do 100). I had 800 shares 79.10ish average and I only sold 100 shares at 79.79 on the bounce to 79.89 I was too greedy wanting a big spike through 80 to scale out into (I had some "fishing orders" for 100-200 shares at a time waiting from 79.94-80.50), it came back down a bit and I added a few hundred more shares, it bounced back as high as 79.75 and I sold it all into that from 79.12-79.63 for a small profit from a 79ish average. It later spiked up to 81's again in one candle, I'm not sure why, but I would have never stayed in the "slow grind", I was just looking for a quick scalp. This chart reminds me of MNTA on April 16th, it parabolic'd from 17ish up to 20ish, then came all the way back to 17ish, I was much too early on that one though, and I was down $2000 unrealized to make $500 and had I held longer, it could have $2000-3000 more, basically just straight up and then straight down again within 10-20 minutes, that's what these "news/rumor plays" can do sometimes I guess, gotta make sure you are on the "right side of it" and then try to be more patient when you are are the "ride side of it" I guess (anyone shorting from 78-85 got destroyed if they emotionally covered or got bought in and anyone trying to "play the bounce" from 85-80 got destroyed)
Type
|
Entry
|
Exit
|
Shares
|
+/- $Amt
|
$ PnL
|
% Pnl
|
| Short | 87.82 | 85.56 | 600 | $2.26 | $1,355.00 | 2.57% |
| Long | 78.95 | 79.47 | 1100 | $0.51 | $566.00 | 0.65% |
- Lessons:
- Always be careful on "parabolic news related plays", they can go much further than you think (in either direction), make sure not to use too much size, always be careful trying to "top tick" your short or "bottom tick" your long, it's very hard to know where the exact top or bottom will be
- Try to be more patient once it's "working for you", try to keep at least some of the position or try to wait for a sign that it will actually bounce before covering (this went straight down to VWAP without a green candle, it tried to bounce from there but failed and then washed out another 5 dollars from there in a few candles)
PBMD
Probably everyone's most hated stock, from 52 cents up to 6's in two days and a lot of people lost shorting it, then it just gaps down to 4ish and faded to 3ish (that was yesterday). Today, it gapped down quite a bit AGAIN (it has gapped down everyday, from AH's to premarket, 2.20 to 1.30's, 5.40's to 4ish, 2.80-3 to 2.30's). It was somewhat "due for a bounce" considered it went from 6's to 2.30's in two days, I was hoping for it to open really low or at least have a washout at the open and then an "SSR squeeze" right back. Unfortunately, it uptrended in premarket back to 2.80's and then went straight up at the open to 3.32 in a few candles (there was "no dip" at the open to get a good long entry). It came back to 2.95-3.10 and held a HIGHER LOW than LOD (where it opened), then went straight up from there up to 3.50, it came back to 3.30's and then would have been a decent "long scalp" entry but I missed it. It was retesting 3.50 and I was 95% sure it would break 3.50 but I just didn't know how far it would go past it, I tried chasing 2k shares on the ask at 3.50, I ended up with 4k somehow, I'm not 100% if I double clicked it on accident or what happened, but I didn't want to be in 4k shares, so I started selling right away at 3.53, I sold it all from 3.53-3.63 for a tiny profit before it washed out to 3.33 the next minute (that chase could have been pretty bad if I missed my exits). I bought 1k shares on that washout at 3.36 and sold it at 3.45 for a quick scalp. It held "over/under" VWAP at 3.20-3.35 (VWAP was 3.27ish), then had another "leg up" to 3.93 eventually, I missed some entries on this "run" and I was focused on DGX for some of that, and I couldn't short it when it was "topping out" because I don't have shares to short. I went long at the very bottom of the dip at 3.33 for a quick scalp but I only got 100/1000 filled so I just sold it for 8 cents because I didn't really care. It "hung around" 3.35-3.65 for a while but then faded back to the lows by the close and could possibly gap down again if it repeats it's pattern that it's done the last three days.
Type
|
Entry
|
Exit
|
Shares
|
+/- $Amt
|
$ PnL
|
% Pnl
|
| Long | 3.50 | 3.56 | 4000 | $0.06 | $258.00 | 1.84% |
| Long | 3.36 | 3.45 | 1000 | $0.09 | $90.00 | 2.68% |
| Long | 3.33 | 3.41 | 100 | $0.08 | $8.00 | 2.40% |
- Lessons:
- Do not chase "HOD breakouts"/longs into strength into an already very overextended move (it happened to "work out" this time, but it's risky and "not worth", I made 6 cents here but if I had missed my exits I would have been down 10-20 cents from one candle)
- Try to "get long" on dips with good entries on "crowded shorts"/momentum stocks, using things like LOD or VWAP "over/under" as your risk, then you can be taking profits from a good entry when others are chasing it up and shorts are panicking
Congrats, Jordan! Great job:)
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