Well, today was the day when my account turned green!
If you played any of the watches I listed yesterday, you would have made money. I played CHIC and GSOL.
First, CHIC. CHIC had the most beautiful chart I have seen since I started trading in October. From the market open, CHIC started the ride down from 8$, all the way to 5.8$, closing at 6.36. Here’s how I traded it:

CHIC Trade 14th Nov
I shorted it twice because the chart was just too appealing. Total Profit: 334$. If I didn’t have to go for meeting at work and was able to watch the stock, I could have made more. But I am happy with how I traded CHIC. [Originally I wanted to short 800 shares of CHIC but I couldn’t do it because TOS won’t let me. I need to figure out what went wrong.]
Next, GSOL. And here’s what happened.

GSOL Trade 14th Nov
For GSOL, I tried one idea which I have been thinking for sometime. The idea is to cover half of your position to lock in some gains and leave other half to ride your trade. After covering half of my position for 25 cents/share, I wanted to ride the remaining downside but well, I had meeting and I didn’t want to take chance with a market bounce especially as it was Friday. I covered remaining 400 at 7.10. Total Profit: 116$.
Overall, I am not happy with this trade because I broke my rule and chased the trade. Luckily, it worked in my favor. It was quite possible that 7.20 could be the low of the day and stock would never reach that level again. I need to remember to wait for the pullbacks. Also, I need to automate my order entries, I think it’s high time I setup order templates in TOS and also start using Order Queues.
Finally, my open position OPTR.

When it tanked initially in the morning, I didn’t cover because my expectation was that it will go and test 6$. OPTR kept moving up and I shorted more and more. Currently, I am short 1300 shares at an average price of 7.70. OPTR closed at 8.28, so I am down by 760$ on my position.
I think what I did with OPTR was right. OPTR was moving up on very low volume and it could have cracked at any moment. Today, it moved up by 1.65$ while the whole market is down. I think this is because people are now learning about the clinical trial results and are coming in to buy. Even though I don’t like to do a weekend hold, I think it’s worth in OPTR case. The way OPTR is ranging, it could very well tank on Monday and make me money. Let’s see how it works. Either I would look like a fool on Monday OR will be cashing in some nice profit. Will keep you posted.
Anyway, today was a very special day. I started with 5000$ on Oct 2nd. Was down by 1200$ at one point. As I wrote on Oct 8th after taking some big losses, one of my problem was not being able to short. When I analyzed how folks were trading in the chatroom and few blogs I follow, I saw that everyone who was making money, was making money with SHORT setups. And why not, when DOW is touching it’s all time lows, it’s not a smart idea to place your bet on LONG setups. Once I got my head around to shorting, things started working and I am finally GREEN on my account. In between, I created 3 more accounts and my total trading capital is 17,000$. My trading journal tells me that I am up by 212$.
Looking back at my journal, it’s hard to believe how naive I was just one month back. I am still no good at this but I think I am slowly getting better.
And once again, it’s Oscar speech time. I don’t think I would have turned things around if not for the wonderful folks in the community. A special thanks to to JV, Steve, Matty, Torello, Adam, JeePee, Muddy and Laura. You guys are THE best! Keep trading, Keep Rocking!
RJ
Status as of end of Nov 14th:
Positions closed for Gain: CHIC (334$), GSOL (116$)
Positions closed for Loss: None
Open Positions: Short 1300 OPTR at 7.70 (Down by 760$)
5 responses so far ↓
1 iL Torello // Nov 15, 2008 at 4:08 am
Ramta…I didn’t get to trade today, but watching you turn your account green is also satisfying. Congrats and keep up the great work!
2 Charlie G. // Nov 15, 2008 at 8:19 am
Congrats! Your open OPTR position would drive me crazy but after that big gap up Wed., slide on Thurs, and up more slowly on Fri., this stock probably has some zig-zagging to do before it settles down. Good luck, I like following your blog.
3 matty84 // Nov 15, 2008 at 12:24 pm
!! Awesome on the red to green account action! And that is ballsy trading on OPTR, I might add, though it does look partly like a two day long gradual short covering, so very possible you’re right to add like that…good luck on that one.
4 YngvaiMalmsteve // Nov 16, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Nice work on getting your account green! Good luck with OPTR…I wouldn’t have been able to hold through that like you have
5 RJ // Nov 16, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Thank you guys, your encouragement definitely keeps me going.
Steve and Charlie,
I would be wrong if I say I am totally cool with my OPTR position. But my analysis of the chart tells me that it is bound to come back. The stock’s movement is not rationale and it should touch planet earth very soon. Again, I could be wrong. We will see what market decides.
RJ
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