SPWR Trade on Jan 6, 2021 10:15 from tjmiller2001: Tradervue User Stock Trades.

An ugly loss that shows what not to do. Stopped trading after this one because I realized I was overtrading and taking setups that weren't that clean.

On the two earlier trades on this day, I wrote down my entry, stop loss, and take profit levels so I could find a good RR. On this trade, I was afraid I'd miss the move if I took the time to do that, so I didn't bother and instead submitted a buy order at the bottom of a symmetrical wedge.

I missed the 7:01 VWAP bounce. I should always want to trade that 1st bounce because it will probably be larger than the second and have a higher win %.

From 6:57-7:01, price bled through VWAP but I shouldn't have been too concerned about this because it had gapped up a lot.

Once the bottom broke, I stayed in because I saw that VWAP was right below that. So I kept buying on the way down to get a better dollar cost average. This lack of clear levels was the reason this turned into a large loser. With option contracts, this would've been a big loss.

On my entry, I should've chosen whether to enter at the bottom of the trendline or VWAP. I bought at the trendline then switched my stop to VWAP, then didn't even begin scaling out when VWAP broke.

Since I was holding 4 shares, I should've started scaling out about 20 seconds earlier. I still had full size on and price was well under VWAP.

I was slow to exit once VWAP broke, as I scrambled to get out as price fell fast. I kept being greedy, looking to exit on a wick up even though buyers were gone fast.

I ended up getting out at LOD for a large loss. I think the drop was so quick because all the retail traders were thinking like me, buying right above VWAP and placing their stops right below. Suddenly everyone wanted out at the same time. Then the smarter institutions came along to take shares from the last few traders panicking. I need to think like these institutions instead of a retail trader.

The time to buy right above VWAP is probably from 9:35-9:50 EST, not this late in the morning session.

My mindset should be, "I have to be willing to get out now and reenter later if the opportunity presents itself.

Lesson Learned: Don't be naive about how fast the bottom can fall out on a stock. Think like an institutional trader, picking up distressed assets from those who are panicking. Always have a plan with clean levels, dont just figure it out as you go.