I still want to keep doing the blog daily, as it did help me find consistency for the last two months, but this has been a pretty devastating "two day setback" for me, and I'm completely ashamed of my trading the last two days. I hope that everyone appreciates the transparency, it's a lot harder to post when you are losing a lot like I did the last two days, but these big losing days are even more important to reflect on and learn from, to improve on my trading in the future. I may take a break from posting on the blog at some point but I will likely keep doing it for now at least, maybe I will just "trim it down" and not write as much (considering how long it took me to do these last two posts).
Well, I thought I could brush off yesterday like it never happened and bounce back today, guess not, I traded the most emotionally today than I ever have. Probably one of my worst trading days ever in terms of the actual trades, not the PnL. I probably "deserved" to be down this much after "surviving" -4k unrealized twice and still being up 1k on the day. Nothing was working at all, I was on the wrong side of PTBI pretty much the whole day, I would be getting smoked short when I should have been long, then getting smoked long when I should have been short (and had just covered my short for a 1k loss a minute before that). It finally "tanked" the one time I decided that I needed to just take this loss and possibly switch long instead (which I should have done on the first two trades but didn't). Then I got liquidated at the lows on my long to be down 5.3k on the day, and then there was intraday news released and it bounced back up $1-1.50 from there (the "liquidation" cost me about 5k, but it was still my fault from being in that big and not selling earlier but still very frustrating), I would have been up 5k on the day if I held my short but instead I covered for a loss and "flipped long" and ended up down 5k instead. (10k PnL swing from covering that short and then going long)
I wanted to just FOLLOW THE TREND TODAY on PTBI, I wanted to have no "set bias" long or short and just trade re-actively to it. This plan got ruined by me waking up at 7:45 EST instead of 8:45 EST and getting up because I saw PTBI was at 8+, then missing the good long entries from 7.80-8.20 (missed a fill at 7.86 at 8:06) then starting into a short trade on it premarket. I had profit about 5 different times (in different washouts with covering some and readding), then it "broke out" from there and I was "stuck" short and had missed the big long opportunity. I was too greedy in each washout, looking for the "homerun" after yesterday's big loss and was still "short biased" just because I was still short and trying to go for the "big washout/fade" under the lows so I could "make back" a lot of yesterday's loss.
Such a frustrating day, my friend Alex (AT09_Trader), also lost around 11k yesterday because of PTBI and today he was "long biased" and long from 7.80's premarket and other exits and re-entries from there and ended up making 11k on it going long (and another 3k going short later on) with only having about 4k shares at the most. I wished I had "followed him" or at least stayed away from the short side until it started getting really "nuts" like 10.50-11. I had missed my long entry that I was trying for at 7.86 and then later at 8.20 and I didn't want to "chase it" at 8.50-8.70, and decided to short it instead, it pulled back 30 cents and I covered half, and I missed the other fill by 2 cents, that messed up everything, I almost covered it for breakeven/small profit about 10 times, but I either just missed the fill or moved my order lower being greedy. Then "tried to make it work" the rest of premarket and the whole first 20 minutes and that messed up my whole mindset for the day, from the all the missed opportunity and then having more of a "short bias" on it.
That premarket trade messed up everything, it "made me" hold onto stubborn shorts and then "made me" more "short biased" on it. I missed lots of opportunity (going long and/or short, and taking more advantage of the FULL RANGE) because I held onto two very stubborn shorts for over a dollar/share each, then somehow had managed to "survive" -3-4k twice and ended up +1000 realized on the day even though I traded it terribly. Then I shorted 20 cents off the lows and didn't cover when it held, I knew it was a "crowded short" with lx21 and CraigTrader tweets and Tim Sykes short alert, and I didn't cover for 10-20 cents or breakeven, and let it go 70 cents against me, then covered emotionally for about a 1k loss, then went long right after covering, thinking that's what I should be doing/emotionally trying to make something work, and lost another 6k, so insanely frustrating, had I just held my short I would have been up about 5k, instead I was down 5k.
Both yesterday and today, I probably should have stopped for the day, but I kept trading the last few hours and made back about 2k each day, I just gotta do that without being down so freaking much first. I "overtraded" it the rest of the day and managed to make back 2.3k with lots of small scalps which is what I'm better at. I was going for the "homerun" on my shorts looking for a breakdown under the lows in the morning with my 9.30ish average short, and looking for a fade back to 9-9.50 on my second short once it broke back below VWAP to 9.60ish, even though my entry wasn't very good and it just came back to 5-10 cents profit after being down 60.
Today my trading was absolutely terrible, I need to have more of a plan and be more decisive whether I should be long or short, and whether I'm going for the "big picture trade" or just a scalp, not flipping back and forth long and short all the time and holding/adding on a trade for a 50+ cent unrealized loss. I don't have to "win" every trade, I have to have more of a plan, and where I want to stop out/risk to and then respect it, rather than just randomly buying and shorting, then adding/holding if I'm wrong. I held through a 1-1.50/share unrealized loss twice today (and held for basically a dollar/share REALIZED loss from getting liquidated), I need to develop that much patience for winning trades and much less patience for losing trades.
I would say the only two "good" trades I made today, was my TLOG "top tick" short at 11:42 at 3.07ish and my PTBI "top tick" short at 13:52 at 9.92. Only problem is, those were both with insanely small size compared to all my other trades and I exited somewhat early in the "big scheme of things".
New day tomorrow, PTBI should have good action again and I want to be on the RIGHT SIDE OF IT this time, "grind back" SLOW AND STEADY, focus on DAILY CONSISTENCY and BEING GREEN EVERYDAY and regain confidence again. Today I was trying to "make back" as much as possible as quick as possible and 1k wasn't good enough, I ended up turning it into -3k.
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.
PTBI
This had the big run yesterday from 4.40's (from 2.90 previous close) to 7.70's and faded into the close yesterday and closed around 6, then gapped up to 6.20-6.40 afterhours, then had a "well timed" positive "press release"/news today that helped continue the gap up, from 6's to 8+ before 8 AM. Like I already explained above, I wanted to go LONG premarket but I missed the good entry at 8.20, so decided to short instead, at around 8.76 with 1500 shares, it dipped to 8.45 and I covered half at 8.59 and had the order for the rest at 8.43 and missed it by 2 cents. Then a whole mess of readds and partial covers, I had 2k shares short into the open with a 8.95 average (which is a rule that I never want to have any position into the open, I just want to be able to react with no position), it pulled back to 8.70 and I covered 1k at 8.71, I should have covered it all there and even went long, but that's all I put in and I missed covering the rest. It spiked back up a dollar from there, then was trading around 9.70-8.80 for about 20 minutes and had readded into that spike and got some filled into the washout for profit but missed 1000 shares, and then was readding on the bounce again and then only got 500 filled. I ended up being "stuck" short with 2700 shares 9.30's average and it spiked from 9.15 to 9.87 (past the 9.70 previous highs) in one candle, then all the way up to 10.77 from there (up 1k realized with -4k unrealized), I added 200 shares at 10.04 too early on the way up, which didn't really change much of anything, I should have just taken the loss at 9.40-10 and reshorted it higher. 10.75ish "topping out" was the place to be selling/shorting after such a huge move up, it washed out to 9.75 over the next few minutes and I covered 900 at 9.77, then readded 800 at 10.04, it washed out to 9.25 and I covered it all there at 9.50-9.36 to be still around 1k on the day realized with no positions. Then I went long, with 1k at 9.31, and tried to add 1k at 9.26 but didn't get filled, it just pulled back from 10.75 to 9.30 in 15 minutes, I should have been "loading up" long and being patient with it, but I missed that second order and sold my 1k at 9.40 for some reason, I guess I still had such a "short bias" on this stock today. Then shorted way too early, had 2k at 9.63 and it pulled to 9.52, then spiked up again and I added 800 more to have 2800 shares 9.65 average somewhat using VWAP as a guide (9.78), but I HAVE TO NOT TAKE THESE SHORT TRADES SO CLOSE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE RANGE, this stock just went from 10.80 to 9.30 in 15 minutes and it was now bouncing and I was shorting 30 cents off that bounce, like WHAT AM I DOING? It went to 10.30's and I could have made a dollar a share on my long from 9.31 and was now down $1500+ on my short, it came back to 9.60 and I still didn't cover and then it bounced right back up and held "over/under" VWAP and squeezed to 10.20 again, then back to 9.70's again and held "over/under" VWAP again and I didn't take a small loss on it and/or go long. Next leg up to 10.45, back to 10.10, then straight up to 11+, "topped out" and faded from there, that's where I should have been selling if long/shorting if no position, INTO BIG PARABOLIC MOVES NEAR THE TOP OF THE RANGE, not a small bounce after a huge fade near the bottom of the range like I did. I covered most of it 10.26-10.36 (everything but 600 shares filled), then readded 1600 at 10.59, and it tanked from 10.80ish to 9.70ish in less than 5 minutes, and I covered at 9.85 and 9.71, which made the whole trade about -$200 which could have been -4k around 11. I tried to go long and only got 200/1000 shares filled and made 29 cents, then chased a long and sold for 12 cents. I was looking for a 10+ pop to short around 12:03 but it failed there at 9.90ish, then I shorted MIDRANGE/LOWER END OF RANGE not wanting to miss "the move", with 2k shares at 9.72, looking for the "big washout" under the lows, but I knew my entry was a chase and I was going to cover if it held. It went to 9.55 and HELD that area as support again and perked back up again, I missed covering, then I added another 800 at 9.80 and could have covered 9.70-9.80 for a few minutes for breakevenish but didn't and it popped back up from 9.70 to 10.09 in one candle, then was "absorbing" a lot around 10 and I still didn't cover and it went as high as 10.45. It "stuffed" in that area and this was the "big pop" to be shorting on the "bigger picture trend". Because of my crappy average/entry and poor management of this trade, I still wasn't thinking very clearly and trading very emotionally, and I covered some 800 10.18, 1k 10.06, 1k 10.02, to be all out taking about a 1k loss (was up 1.5k now only up 500), then decided to go long and scaled in with full size with bad entries, and had 5400 shares 9.83 average, it "stalled" at 9.70-9.79 for a minute or so and I could have taken a $300-500 dollar loss and/or flipped short again, but I was super emotional and so frustrated, I just took a 1k loss on my short and now it's back to profit and now I'm long and down another 500. It tanked to 9.15 in two candles, then bounced to 9.30-9.45 area, I was looking/hoping for a bounce to 9.50+ to take less of a loss there, but 9.40 PREVIOUS SUPPORT BECAME RESISTANCE and it tanked down to 8.80's, it bounced to 9.20 and I sold 1k at 9.17 (should have sold ALL either there or way earlier), I readded 800 at 8.80 and it bounced to 9.14, I was wanting to sell into that bounce but I had moved some orders too high (too greedy) and missed it. It tanked below 8.80 and I missed "panic selling" at 8.80, I got liquidated on about half (2700) at 8.63, it went to 8.31, then bounced back to 8.81 from there, I was trying to sell some at 8.80ish but I missed it, then I got liquidated on another 1.1k at 8.55 right at the very bottom of the dip (bottom was 8.53), I only had 1400 shares left and I sold it at 8.88, I then couldn't trade for a while again. There was some news on a $10M "private placement" and it spiked all the way up to 9.77 in three minutes (super frustrating, that's a 5k+ difference if I wasn't liquidated near the lows, but without that "well timed news" this could have easily kept fading lower). I ended going from +1.5k realized to +500 realized (from the short) and then from +500 realized to -$5.3k realized (from the long), and had I just held my short this time (like I did the other two times), I would have been up around 5k on the day instead of down 5k, so frustrating, a 10k difference just like that. I scalped it the rest of the day and recovered about 2.3k, I was still trading emotionally, but at least the trades managed to work out okay (not going to explain all the trades, just look at the chart and the text below to see them, I sorted them chronologically, hopefully it makes sense). 
| 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)
TLOG
This was halted today on "news pending" which was "temporarily halt of Chronic Hepatitis B Trials". I wasn't watching it until later, I'm not exactly sure what it did on those candles, it looks like it opened at 1.50 from 3.75 then hit 3.60, then was 1.45 to 1.65 on the next candle and then was volatility halted (which doesn't really make sense, maybe the first candle was just a from a "misprint"). It reopened around 2, then traded from 2.20 back down to 1.80, then "SSR squeezed" all the way back up to 3.09 and I nailed the short there with 1k at 3.07 and 743/1000 at 3.08. I covered it quickly at 2.86 and 2.75 to focus on PTBI again but it faded nicely back to VWAP area at 2.30ish, but it is a fairly thinly traded stock so I just took the quick profits.
| Type | Entry | Exit | Shares | +/- $Amt | $ PnL | % Pnl |
| Short | 3.07 | 2.80 | 1743 | $0.28 | $483.46 | 9.02% |
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