Shared by
ThirdStringHero_BOWS
Entry: Initial entry on bear flag after broke all 3 bases formed in the morning. Scaled up 6 times to rebuild position after taking profit, and to increase profit potential as attempts to break the down-trend failed. Rode it all the way into the close.
Exit: Profit x 4, Once to reduce risk, Profit another 3 times, then all out for EOD.
Execution detail:
| Date/time | Symbol | Side | Price | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-06-17 14:23:32 | GIGA | sell | $4.240 | short |
| 2014-06-17 14:26:56 | GIGA | buy | $4.150 | short |
| 2014-06-17 14:30:55 | GIGA | sell | $4.110 | short |
| 2014-06-17 14:38:38 | GIGA | sell | $4.150 | short |
| 2014-06-17 14:48:00 | GIGA | buy | $4.100 | short |
| 2014-06-17 14:48:49 | GIGA | buy | $4.010 | short |
| 2014-06-17 14:49:33 | GIGA | buy | $3.890 | short |
| 2014-06-17 14:52:52 | GIGA | sell | $4.000 | short |
| 2014-06-17 15:08:38 | GIGA | buy | $4.100 | short |
| 2014-06-17 15:10:45 | GIGA | sell | $4.000 | short |
| 2014-06-17 15:13:11 | GIGA | buy | $3.920 | short |
| 2014-06-17 15:43:05 | GIGA | sell | $3.700 | short |
| 2014-06-17 15:43:21 | GIGA | sell | $3.700 | short |
| 2014-06-17 15:44:31 | GIGA | sell | $3.740 | short |
| 2014-06-17 15:47:37 | GIGA | buy | $3.700 | short |
| 2014-06-17 15:50:53 | GIGA | buy | $3.630 | short |
| 2014-06-17 15:56:42 | GIGA | buy | $3.540 | 0 |
Comments
ThirdStringHero_BOWS
Thanks for the feedback - all good points.
Peeling back on the size only works if you increase the price of the stock - otherwise, the total dollars invested is small, and the P&L is in proportion to the total dollars invested. In general, I tend to trade fairly low cost stocks, and this generally means higher volume and higher commissions. I take the commissions into account in my R:R and profit targets, and I don't really care how much I'm paying in commissions as long as I'm making as much or more than that in profits. I just care what my total P&L for the trade is.
I take higher priced stocks when the setups are there, but lower cost stocks tend to move a little more (as a percentage of stock price), so I tend to get into them more.
I am definitely focusing on letting my winners run. But my stats show that when I consistently take profits, I end up with bigger winners. So my goal isn't jus to let the winners run - it's to take profits all the way up or down. And if I do that without scaling back in, I just run out of volume and lose out on significant profit from the later parts of the move.
So my focus now is on nurturing my winners - taking some profit at the peaks/valleys as I go along, and scaling back up at the next valley/peak. I kind of view this as if I'm taking scalps within the overall position trade. Selling 1000 shares at a peak and covering the same 1000 shares at the next valley is basically just a scalp; the only difference is that I have 1000 shares in the position both before and after the scalp - riding the whole way down. All my biggest winners in the past few weeks have been managed this way, this one included.
So yeah, in terms of my rules and trading style, I played this one really well. Still lots of room for improvement in both my rules and my style, but I'll be happy to have more of these!
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Whoa!! 17,000 shares traded? About 100 bucks in commissions. Maybe this is your style and a good one for you (especially if you make 10 times that amount ;)), but I'd suggest peeling back a LOT on the size and focus on letting your winners run. Measure your success by process goals. Look back at this trade and see where your personal "Reasons to exit" were met. Maybe you did it perfectly for your rules. If so, good job! Your general thesis was perfect on this one.