Well, I didn’t play any of my watches which I listed yesterday.
Instead, I shorted KEY. During the morning drop, I shorted 200 shares it at 2.45 only to see it go back to 2.75. As it was moving back and forth between 2.75 and 2.50, I shorted another 200 shares at 2.75 to bring average price to 2.60. Closed my position for a tiny 24$ profit after commissions. KEY has moved from around 5$ to 8.7$ in a week and I thought about holding it overnight for a fade. But at this point, financials are simply too risky. On any kind of bailout news, there could be huge gap up (gap down) wiping your equity.
Also, I would like to mention my watches from yesterday. MTG not only crossed 2.5$ mark, it it closed at 3.32, 50% up for the day. Why didn’t I play it then? For one, MTG gap opened at 2.54 (12% up from yesterday’s close) and then I decided to wait for 15 minutes before taking a position. MTG moved even further up and I couldn’t go LONG. I thought that MTG will run out of steam. Well, I was wrong and I lost a great opportunity. I think I need to keep my mind open and simply play the chart. As Morpheus tells Neo, ‘Free Your Mind’.
Just like MTG, ARTC was a great short right at the open. But I decided to wait a little bit and well, couldn’t enter into the trade afterwards. I am wondering if I should really follow JV’s suggestion that one should wait after OPEN. So many times, opportunity has already passed by the time I decide to wait and make a trade (especially incase of pre-hits). They say that most of the money is made and lost in first 30 minutes, I think I am going to try to trade those first 30 minutes and be on the money making side.Wish me luck. [Or if you think this is a stupid idea, let me know.]
Trade well,
RJ
Status as of end of Jan 28th:
Positions closed for Gain: KEY (24$)
Positions closed for Loss: None
Open Positions: None
1. MTG. A potential LONG play. If it can break the 2.5 mark, could easily run to 3$. 25 cent increase in price in last 10 minutes of trading today.
2. ARTC – 100% up in last 3 days. A potential short play.
3. AIB – 300% up in last 5 days. Huge gap opens for last two days. Could be an interesting LONG/SHORT play.
4. BAA – 50% up in today. Could lose steam tomorrow. A potential short.
5. XTLB – Biotech company, a potential runner. [Thanks to MarketKid for the watch]
6. The usual: C, BAC, FAZ, FAS.
Trade well,
RJ.
I didn’t get up on time today and missed the pre action. After that, I wasn’t confident about movement of my watches.
Anyway, I pulled myself together and bought C for 3.5 as it was moving higher. C couldn’t hold the momentum and tanked immediately after I bought. Later on it tested 3.5 again and I got out costing me 5$ in commissions. Even though I lost 5$, I was glad with the trade as I correctly identified that C is not able to hold on to 3.5. Only at 1pm, C crossed 3.5 and touched HOD of 3.64.
I need to make sure that I am on my computer at 8AM to watch the pre action. Today in the chat, Muddy was saying that it’s very important to keep pre hits [Long or short] in mind. These are the ones who are most likely to offer great trading opportunities once the market opens. He said that the pre list is even more important than the watches he posts on the website! I think he has made a great point and I will make sure that I am up early to watch the pre action.
Trade Well.
RJ
Status as of end of Jan 27th:
Positions closed for Gain: None
Positions closed for Loss: C (5$)
Open Positions: None
Here are few watches for Jan 27th.
1. AIG – AIG is almost at its 52week low of 1.26 (1.25 actual 52 week low) and bouncing off that. Even though it’s not a high day ranger, I think one can make 3 to 5% playing off the bounce. I will try and see how it goes.
2. C and BAC. I am still trying to learn the intra day chart for these two, once I feel confident about the movement, I will play them.
3. FAZ. I really wish I can read FAZ’s chart better. Moves fast, it’s easy to make 1$/share with FAZ. Again, I still need to watch it more to get comfortable.
That’s all for tomorrow.
Trade Well,
RJ.
After a LONG break, I finally made a trade today and it turned out to be a loss! 
I played SAY today. It was moving up fast in PRE and kept up the momentum at OPEN, so I went LONG 1000 shares at 2.13. It quickly went to hit high of day of 2.21 and started tanking. It came back up to 2.10 and I felt that volume is dying so I got out at 2.10 for 40$ loss.
Even though it is a loss, I am not too worried. It allowed me to experience IB’s Trader Workstation Software (TWS). Even though TWS looks lousy compared to TOS’ software, I think TWS is very functional. I like the ‘Close Position’, ‘Reverse Position’ buttons. I think I need to spend some more time and master the software.
Status as of end of Jan 26th:
Positions closed for Gain: None
Positions closed for Loss: SAY (40$)
Open Positions: None
