Thursday 8/28/08

Account Value:  $30,708

Gain/Loss:  +$543

Good day today, and some redemption for SQNM.  Added some more throughout the day.  Volume was light, but so was the overall market.  Keep an eye on it, as we made a new closing high, and that might attract new buyers.  

Also got into SIRI today.  It's a crap shoot, but showed some signs of a bottom today.  We'll see what happens, there's a ton of angry shareholders in this one, so I don't expect it to move too high... just looking for a quick trade.

STSI:  Lost some money trading this one today.  I was following the 50ma on the one day chart which had been support.  As usual when I try to scalp, I bought at $2.97, sold at $2.93, and it finished the day at $3.  Looking at it now, I really had no reason to sell, but it seemed like a good decision at the time based on the chart.  Oh well.

Wednesday 8/27/08

Account Value: $30,165

Gain/Loss:  -$407

Today is a perfect reminder for why I started daytrading to begin with.  I wake up to find my only position, SQNM, has been hit by some dipshit analyst.  Carris & Company comes out with a ridiculous low price target, and weak hands get shaken out.  Seems like every time this stock starts to pick up some momentum, some dumbass has to open their mouth and bring it down.  The very same day, Lazard raises their price target by to 50% above the current price.  This goes to show that Analysts are pretty much worthless.  I prefer to look at where the smart money is going, and from what I see, Goldman picked up 750,000 share about a week ago.  Nothing has changed fundamentally in that period of time.  Insiders bought when the stock dipped under $20 a few weeks ago.  Nothing has fundamentally changed.  And now when some hack makes a guess at a price target, the stock goes down.  Just dumb.  The good news is, the volume was small, and seemed more like manipulation than anything else.  These are the "dips" everybody tells people to buy on.  I picked up some more shares today, and will do the same tomorrow if we get another dip.  Remember, we have a catalyst coming up in a month, and any promising news on a stock like this will send it soaring.  At the very least, there may be a run up before the news imo.  We'll see.  

Tuesday 8/26/08

Account Value: $30,572.17

Gain/Loss: +$2.17

Today was a good day.  Any day when you finish in the green is a good day no matter how much you make.  I was able to pick up 382 shares of SQNM in the morning at about $22.60.  Watched it climb as high as the $23.60 range (although the day high shows it climbed as high as $24.50).  Did I sell?  No.  I've been watching this one for a close above $22 for about a month now, and I'm not going to give up after one day.  I noticed SQNM showing up on a lot of day trading sites, so todays action was most likely traders having fun.  Nothing wrong with that, but I'm in this one looking for a big gain, and I've got my sights set on the $30's.  I don't mind it coming all the way back down in price, because I have more funds settling tomorrow, and it give me an opportunity to buy more.  The smart money is accumulating right now, so I'm not going to bet against them.  

Here are some other ones worth keeping an eye on tomorrow:

NABI: had a good day on above average volume.  Look for the break of $6 (more specifically $6.03)... could happen tomorrow.  Would like to see it consolidate a few more days, as it looks like it's in an early bull flag formation.

DAIO: was also up today.  Look at the last 3 days of the three month candlestick chart... is that a little triangle I see forming?  A break of 6.76 could signal a buy, but the daily volume on this one sucks.

NOBL:  A break of $6 tomorrow could squeeze... needs to break $6.34 and then maybe a move to the $7 range is in store.

VPHM: Watch the $14.70 break.  Could be interesting.

Monday 8/25/08

Decent day for the watchlist:

SQNM: Finished up around 6%, but more importantly closed above $22.  Stalled at $23, but that's ok because it was already up around 8% at that point.  Plus it gives me an opportunity to get in tomorrow when I have settled funds!  Volume was decent relative to the rest of the market, but average for SQNM despite being higher than it has been in a couple weeks.  I think it's safe to get in on this one and hold for a few weeks leading to the R&D meeting/catalyst on Sept.23 but keep a close eye on it.

DAIO:  Down today.  Not even worth looking at until it crosses $7.

NABI:  Looks like $6 is going to be resistance... may consolidate for a few days, but keep a watch on it.  Potential buy if it breaks $6.

Friday 8/22/08

Account value:  $30,570

Gain/Loss: +$110

Today was another day of learning to control my trading impulses.  The day started out well trading AKNS in the pre-market.  I saw the bid at $4.50 this morning and jumped on it.  This turned out to be a good trade as the stock ended down on the day, but I still managed to turn that to a $260 gain for the day on that one.  This in contrast to the $160 I was down on it from getting in at $4.40 the previous day.  I was given a gift with this one with premarket hype surrounding CSUN earnings beat.  By the way, last night after some strong DD, I had a bid in AH for CSUN at $10.15 in anticipation of an earnings beat (lots of elements pointing to a favorable outcome otherwise I don’t like earnings plays)... a few pennys above the ask, and my order still didn’t get filled!  Scottrade????  The stock gapped up in the premarket to around $11.20... lack of execution on that trade cost me $1000.  

When the market opened, so did my impulses.  First off, I wasn’t watching the market for the first 30 minutes or so of trading.  This was intentional, but turned out to be a mistake as I missed out on two breakouts I had been anticipating.  

The first was RHN.  My plan was to get in at the $2.60 break.  When I got to it, it was already at $2.69, so I bought.  It immediately shot up to $2.84 which would have made a quick $150 scalp.  Instead I got greedy and held on to it, and saw it come all the way back to $2.63 where I took a loss of $60 instead.  

 

The second was MITI.  I was looking for the break of $7/share.  By the time I got to my computer, MITI was already up to $7.35.  I jumped in for a quick scalp of 1000 shares for a $83 gain.  Not even worth the stress, but a profit nonetheless.  My mistake was not selling this one into a buying spree right after I got in that took it up to $7.63.  That mistake cost me a couple hundred.  I need to remember when a stock runs up 5% that quickly, I need to take profits.  

I became determined to make more off of MITI, so I bought another 1000 share lot at $7.47 after I saw the stock forming a pennant.  Rather than wait for the breakout, I anticipated and bought in early.  Soon after, the breakout failed and the stock tumbled, and I got out quickly at $7.33 for a $140 loss.  Very stupid trade, which is very humbling.  

If I’m ever going to be successful at this I have to learn more discipline in my trading.  I traded for the sake of trading today.  I had money to burn, and rather than wait for a good setup, I chased two mediocre ones, and wasted an entire day’s worth of trading within the first hour of the day.  When my funds have settled, and it’s time for another day of trading, I want to try to wait until after the lunch break to trade.  I’ve got to learn patience by taking the day to observe setups that build throughout the day.  I’m finding that the afternoon seems to be the best time to make money.  Stocks reaching their highs in the afternoon tend to run into the close, or at least halfway through the last hour of the day.  I will try this next Tuesday when I have money to trade again.

Stocks to watch Monday: 

I can't trade on Monday, but if I could, here is what I would be watching:

NABI: New 52 week high on decent vol... watch for follow through

SQNM:  Not expecting much for a couple weeks, but it could surprise you.  If it closes above $22 on strong vol, I would be a buyer.  Important meeting coming up in Sept., and this could start making a run into any related news at anytime now.  Could land in the mid/high 20's and beyond on the next leg up IMO.

DAIO:  Watching for the $7 break to go long

All I got for now... I'll wait to see what pops up on other boards over the weekend to see if there is anything else ideal to keep an eye on.