Welp, I was able to meditate and I got through all of it despite feeling like I might need to stop a couple of times. It helped, certainly, so let’s see how the rest of the day goes. I’m trying trying trying to stay in good spirits and confident, but man is it hard for me. Just keep swimming.
Firstly, the only thing I’m currently in is ARR; and it’s continuing to push down today pretty strong (my put is increasing in value), so I’ll continue to hold there. I’ve been waiting for this to reach $3.53, which would’ve been 1R according to my calculations, but the more I thought about it, my actual risk is still only $100, so I should look to get in when I’m up $50, right? That makes sense to me, so I’m going to set a trailing stop on this today. Hopefully it doesn’t trigger too soon.
The last thing I want to say before I start hunting for opportunities is: I’ve been wanting to try my hand at day trading. I can still “day trade” without taking 25 – 50 trades a day, I can take 1 or 2, especially if I only risk, say .5% or $20 or something. I also can’t, legally, do more day-trades without a larger account size. I largely want to get my feet wet, and see what it’s like to get in and out quickly, and slowly but surely increase my position sizes as my account grows and my comfort level with day trading increases. Honestly, day trading will probably be better for me in the long run, given how differently I tend to feel each day — If I can get in and out with some nice profits on my good days, I won’t have to worry so much about it on my bad days.
It’s also just another feather in my cap toward becoming a more well-rounded trader (which I believe I already am). I’m not going to be doing anything different, really, just doing the same things on lower time-frames trying to get in and out within hours not days. I almost talked myself out of it; with the thought process of needing a volume of trades to be successful, rather than just taking a shot once, but A) given the fact that I only can day trade a couple and B) if I get into the habit of trying to day trade more than just on Mondays, or something, the volume will get there. I think it’s something important, and l have qualms about using the practice account, so I’m going to do it.
I’m going to check my screener for opportunities now.
Y’know, living in a state of confusion most of the time, really doesn’t lead toward much confidence in trading. I don’t, really, have certainty anywhere that I can think of, and I think that translates. I see things I like, and when I go to actually analyze them and potentially pull the trigger, I start to feel fear; a lack of confidence. I don’t have anything else that I do that instills confidence or builds it in me — not like when I was playing basketball regularly or even call of duty in a lot of ways. I’m figuring things out. Still planning on taking some writing classes once I can pay for them myself, and slowly but surely looking into different community events I can attend to get a bit out of my comfort zone and start to feel like a person again. Baby steps. In the meantime, I need to keep working.
Initially this morning, only 4 things came up on my watchlist, and nothing jumped out at me enough to really keep me locked in. Nothing looked like it was about to pop and I should be in on it immediately, so, naturally, I decided to do something completely different. I’m trying to follow my rules of not distracting myself, while still somehow indulging in my urges a bit, and it’s a struggle. At least I know that there’s no endgame, so it causes me to get in and out fairly quickly which isn’t bad, but I’m not working so that is.
The candidate that looks best for a day trade right now is Twitter. It gapped up this morning, and has been basing ever since. Looking at the 5 min. chart, this is in a nice, tight base, the bands have contracted and it’s not overbought. If this breaks out of this base it could make a run, and since I’m only going to risk $20, I’m not too worried about it. I’m going to run the numbers, set an entry order then come back to talk about the other things I saved this morning.
After running the numbers, my R:R is less than 1.5, and I felt I was stretching it already. Also, on the 15 min. chart, it looks like things are overbought, so I guess this was a bust. Let’s see what else is out there.
Another thing I was looking at this morning — but not necessarily for day trading — is DKNG. It’s been pushing down for a long time, and has come up on my screener before, and it still looks weak. Dropping down to a 15 min. chart, though, and price has been rounding upward, and the candles are getting larger as they push up. Price is up against some resistance, and it doesn’t look like it’ll push up much more based on resistance areas, but if this is generating energy, it could pop up. Unfortunately, though, I’m not looking at this long, even for a day trade, and since it’s mostly up right now, I’m not seeing where I can short it, so I’ll hold off.
AMD is something else that has come up on my screener in the past, but I just couldn’t figure out how to trade it. Looking at it today, price has been pushing down and there was a long base during most of February and March. A couple of weeks ago, price pushed through those lows, somewhat moved sideways, then made a new low last Thursday and between Friday and today has done another retest. Looking at the hourly/15 min. chart, this is pushing down off of the retest, and at this very moment, appears to be basing again.
As a day trade, I’m not seeing much — the R:R appears to be less than 1 on the 15 min. chart. Even the 5 min. chart isn’t offering a ton that excites me. That said, though, if I look at a longer-term play, with a similar entry on the hourly chart with a target from the 4h chart at $83.50, the numbers might look better. And if they do, that just begs the question: Stock play or put option. With the underlying being in the $80’s, I think a straight stock play is the move. Let’s run the numbers and see what we’re looking at.
I’ve got a 1.81 R:R, now, which isn’t bad, but not as much as I’d like. With a stop loss $1.85 above my entry price, my R:R becomes closer to 3; and I still like it because even today, price has moved 1.5% and less than that amount ($1.50 right now). That puts my stop at $90.50 which is above a prior resistance area, but not quite the highs of the retest. I think I’m going to pull the trigger, but only risking 1% rather than 2.