20070330 - PMCS - 15mins - Gain

Symbol: PMCS
Type: Long
Entry: The beginning of the 7th bar
Exit: The beginning of the 13th bar
Result: Gained +1.86%

With my recent losses, I have decided to be more patience with my entry, and learn to take less risky move. The 5th bar was started from the Opening High. But without knowing where the bar would ended, I decided to wait till the 5th bar is over to look for further signs. It turned out that the 5th did close above the Opening High. Normally, I would have entered Long by now. But again, I decided to wait. The 6th bar stayed above the Opening High. My concern was that was a Doji Shape bar, signaling uncertainties and potential reversal. But I decided to enter at the break of the 7th bar. The prices raised along the rising 5eMA. Fearing that it will not hit the 138% Fib. Extension, I exited slightly early because I told myself that I want to end the week with a winning.

20070328 - CAL - 15mins - Loss

Symbol: CAL
Type: Short
Entry: The beginning of the 9th bar
Exit: Stopped-out during the 11th bar
Result: Lost -0.41%

This one puzzles me. The 7th bar was a Doji, a sign of reversal (I thought). And I waited for the reversal confirmation. Here came the a weak 8th bar closing close to its low, and below the Opening Low. I thought 'bingo!' I entered Short at the beginning of the 9th bar, and everything went North! My Stop-Loss kicked in during the 11th bar.

20070327 - SPF - 15mins - Loss

Symbol: SPF
Type: Short
Entry: The beginning of the 9th bar
Exit: Stopped out during the 14th bar
Result: Lost -0.69%

I caught up with SPF after it tested the 119% Fib. Extension during the 5th bar. It then retraced back towards the 5eMA. Then I saw the weak 8th bar closing close to its low. I entered Short during the 9th bar thinking that the falling 5eMA will push the prices to re-test the 119% Fib Ext., but it didn't. It Stopped Out during the 14th bar, and eventually ended its reaching the 81.9% Fib Ext.

20070322 - INTU - 15mins - Loss

Symbol: INTU
Type: Short
Entry: The beginning of the 16th bar
Exit: Stopped out mid-way through the 21st bar
Result: Lost -0.29%

INTU remains on my screen today, I was still hoping another opportunity to win back some money that I lost today. I noticed that the 15th bar was a very weak, closing close to its low, and beyond the Opening Range low. Therefore, I took a chance to enter Short, hoping that the falling 5eMA will continue to push the prices down towards the next Fib. Extension. Unfortunately, prices consolidated sideway, and I was stopped out on the 21st bar. My Stop was set really tight, on purpose, because I wasn't sure about my own observation either. No to mention that I do not inflict further damages to my account today!

20070322 - AGIX - 15mins - Gain

Symbol: AGIX
Type: Long
Entry: The beginning of the 6th bar
Exit: The beginning of the 15th bar
Result: Gained of 0.54%

I entered at the beginning of the 6th bar because of the Doji-like 4th bar, and a rather strong 5th bar (closing close to its high). My target was the first-bar high, and the Stop was set at the 4th bar low.

The price did went up as expected in the next 2 bars, but it stayed flat for the remaining of the day. I exited towards the end of the day when the price went up slightly.

20070322 - IMCL - 15mins - Loss

Symbol: IMCL
Type: Long
Entry: The beginning of the 10th bar
Exit: Stopped out during the 14th bar
Result: Lost -0.44%

I saw the strong 9th bar that closed at its high. With the rising 5eMA, I was hoping that the rising price will continue to ride along the eMA, and wishing thinking that, it will break through the Opening High and continue upwards to the next Fib. Extension.

It turned out that the price did break-through the opening high but it went out of steam. It failed to close above the Opening High in the next few bars, and eventually fell back. My Stopped Loss kicked during the 14th bar.

Looking back now, I think this trade was too agressive and optimistic. It is definitely not the style of trading that I can afford to practise at this stage of my trading-life.

20070322 - INTU - 15mins - Loss

Symbol: INTU
Type: Short
Entry: The beginning of the 10th bar
Exit: Stopped out during the 11th bar
Result: Lost -1.19%

Looking back, it is rather obvious that it was a bad decision to go Short on the 10th bar. I had no clear signal from the chart that the momentum is heading for a rerversal. Just because the falling 5eMA was approaching, the prices could have easily break through the eMA. This is a very poor trade!

20070322 - IMCL - 15mins - Loss

Symbol: IMCL
Type: Long
Entry: The beginning of the 7th bar
Exit: Stopped out during the 9th bar
Result: Lost -0.21%

With the rising 5eMA and series of Doji Bars signifying uncertainties, I took a gamble to enter a Long position at the beginning of the 7th bar. My Stop Loss was set at the bottom of 3rd bar, believing that the support has clearly established in the past hour or so. My target was the Opening High. Unfortunately, some crazy activities happened during the 9th bar, creating that long lower shadow, which led to my Stop-order to triggered. Otherwise, I would have hit my target 2 bars later.

Message to my 7 readers:
Do you have any suggestion as to how I should have managed my Stop in future, to prevent similar event from happening?

20070321 - FMT - 15mins - Gain

Symbol: FMT
Type: Long
Entry: The beginning of the 6th bar
Exit: The beginning of the 16th bar
Result: Gained +1.2%

Looking back at this trade, even I think I was too quick to jump in for Long. I was totally anticipating the rising 5eMA is going to support the falling price, when I have absolutely no sign of such support. The price could have just fell right through the 5eMA. I am damn lucky on this trade!

I exited the trade when the price close below the 5eMA on the 15th bar, and took action on the 16th.

A shameful trade even though I ended up with a gain.

20070321 - FDX - 15mins - Loss

Symbol: FDX
Type: Short
Entry: The beginning of the 9th bar
Exit: Stopped out during the 13th bar
Result: Lost -0.14%

Both the 7th and the 8th bar appeared to be riding downward along the falling 5eMA. Therefore, I entered on teh break of the 9th bar. The protecting-order triggered during the 13th bar. Looking back, I think I should have been cautioned by the shadows of the 7th and 8th bar, and waited.

20070321 - AXL - 15mins - Loss

Symbol: AXL
Type: Long
Entry: The beginning of the 6th bar
Exit: Somewhere on the 8th bar low
Result: Lost -1.03%

It was a Doji bar on the 5th bar with the rising 5eMA acting as support that led me to go Long at the beginning of the 6th bar. I was stopped out later on the 8th bar. My stopped may have been too tight, but it turned out that it was a blessing... kind of.

20070315 - LEND - 15mins - Mrs. Gain

Symbol: LEND
Type: Long
Entry: Beginning of 12^th bar (to be safe.)
Exit: Opening of 16^th bar
Result: Would have been a good +5% gain

This is merely a different approach that I am trying to document.

20070315 - LEND - 15mins - Mrs. Gain

Symbol: LEND
Type: Long
Entry: Beginning of 6^th bar
Exit: I would have exited at 119% Fibonacci Level because I’m still a rookie!
Result: It hurts to mention when I just sat there and watch!

Due to my inexperience in this field, I have to admit that I just sat that and watched this running away from me! I was just gun-shy and failed to execute. I guess this is exactly the learning curve that I have to climb.

20070314 - AFFX - 15mins - Mrs. Gain

Symbol: AFFX
Type: Long
Entry: Beginning of 5^th bar
Exit: 6^th bar at the 119% Fibonacci Level
Result: Would have made almost 2.0%

I didn’t like the 1^st bar too much because of the long upper and lower shadow hinting a bit of uncertainty. Still, the prices retraced slightly during the 2^nd and 3^rd bar, with the 4^th bar finally breaking through the opening bar high. The 5^th bar cleared the opening high, with 5eMA providing a close range Support. I would have entered on the break of the 5^th bar and close out by position when the price hit the 119% level.

20070313 - KLAC - 15 Min - Mrs. Gain

Symbol: KLAC
Type: Short
Entry: Beginning of 17^th bar
Exit: 19^th at the 119% Fibonacci Level
Result: Approx. +0.5%

Gapped own on opening with a fairly weak 1^st bar, with a fairly long shadow. Prices retraced back to near the Opening Range High followed by another fall towards the opening low. The 12^th bar broke support established by the 1^st and 3^rd bar, and tested the 119% Fibonacci level. The 13^th and 14^th bar retraced back with the 15^th thru 17^th bar testing, and confirmed, Resistance. An entry could be made during the opening of the 17^th bar, and exit on the 19^th bar at 119% Fibonacci, or even at the last bar, which is the 138% Fibonacci.

20070313 - IMH - 15 Min - Gain

Symbol: IMH
Type: Short
Entry: Beginning of 8^th bar
Exit: 13^th bar at the 119% Fibonacci Level
Result: +1.8%

Gapped down on opening with a strong wide range opening bar. 2^nd bar retraced back to almost 50% of the first bar, with long tail touching the opening price line (which signal weakness.) Third bar is a Doji-like formation, and the 4^th bar broke the opening price low. The 6^th bar tested the Resistance level, and the 7^th bar confirmed the Resistance level. I entered at the break of the 8^th bar.

20070313 - MRVL - 15mins - Mrs. Gain

Symbol: MRVL
Type: Short
Entry: Beginning of 11 bar
Exit: 12^h bar at the 119% Fibonacci Level
Result: Would have gained almost 1% @ 119%

MRVL gapped down on opening leaving a mildly strong opening bar with short upper shadow and a long lower shadow. It tried to test both the opening high, and low, within the next 2 bars. Prices began to retrace towards to opening low with the 5eMA closing in. I would have entered on the 11^th bar with Resistance protected by the 5eMA. In action, I would have exited on the 12^th bar when the price reached the 119% Fibonacci level. However, you can also see that once the price has reached the 119% level, prices began to retrace again, pulling the 5eMA closer. It even broke loose the 119% later and continued to fall to the 138% level.

The Decision

The Beginning
The Rules
The Thoughts

There isn’t much suspense here if you have gone this far reading into my Blog. I have accepted his offer… but not without coming up with my own rules either.

I’ve learned a lot from different Day-traders by reading their Blog. Therefore, I also want to contribute to the Day-trade Blog community. In addition to providing a monthly profit/lost update to him, I also want to Blog my transactions and decision making processes for others to reference. But since I have agreed to keep his identity a secret, it doesn’t take much to figure out his identity from those who already know me personally. Therefore, in agreement to allowing me to Blog my day-trading, I have also agreed to withhold my identify from my Blog. Which eventually led me to come up with "Closet Daytrader" as my Blog's name.

I also told him that I have decided to trade “secretly” from work, whenever I could. My working environment allows me some freedom, to a certain level. Therefore, if I bring my own laptop to work, I can monitor stock prices and entry/exit opportunities throughout the day. I will sign-up for a wireless network card from a cellular company, so that I can get high-speed Internet access for my laptop while at work. I didn’t want to use the network connection from work, because I do already feel guilty for day-trading while at work. The last thing I want is to get myself into trouble by exposing myself via my work’s network. I don’t want my work’s I.T. department to pick up the streaming data and trace it back to me.

As much as I want to start right away, I told him that I don't think I can dive right into action immediately. I will need time to prepare myself both systematically, and operationally. It means that there will be changes to my daily routine, both at work, and at home. I need to do some research to find out which on-line broker best suit my trading style. I also need to find out what other trading aides are available to me. There will be a lot of work ahead of me and I cannot wait to get started!

Most importantly, if you have read this far... I want to assure you that I will try my very best to blog my progress!

Thank you for reading!

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I only have !

The Thoughts

The Beginning
The Rules

“What am I thinking? Tell him ‘yes’ right away! This is what you have always wanted!”

These are the instructions that kept coming from the voice inside my head while we were finishing our lunch meeting.

But no, I didn’t accept the offer right away. In order to show him that I am taking his offer seriously, as if the money is mine, I told him that I shall bring his offer back home to discuss with my wife, and to respond back to him in 24 hours. I told me that this is not a sign of disrespect, but instead, I want to make sure that I am absolutely ready for this opportunity, and that he should see my thoughtfulness as a sign of a sound investment (of his money) on me.

I got home that night, and I had a discussion with my wife. As much as I wanted to accept the offer 7 hours ago, I listed out a few issues that I might face once I have accepted this offer.

1) What if I lose all his money? At what point do I tell myself that I’m not destined to Day-trade?

2) If I do lose his money, how would I feel?

3) What about my day-time job? How am I going to manage a full-time job, while day-trading at the same time?

Click here for My Decision

The Rules

(I don't think it will make much sense to you if you arrive to this post directly without reading the previous post here.)

1) The $40,000.00 will be opened at an online brokerage account of my choice, but, under the name of my friend. He will give me full control of his account.

2) I am not allowed to withdraw the funds, as cash, for spending. He wants to make sure that I get the opportunity to live my dream.

3) Since I have no proven record on how I can generate a steady income by day-trading, I must continue with my day-job in the meantime.

4) I am to keep his lottery winning a secret, and never to identify him as the source of this fund. (I later received his approval to tell my wife the details to avoid ruining my marriage!)

5) I am to provide him with a monthly high-level profit/loss update.

6) I have the option of cashing out the profit by the end of the year, or I can choose to leave the profit in the account as additional principal.

7) I will not be responsible for losses that I incur in the account. But should I choose to discontinue this ‘project’, the remaining balance must be returned to him. (I was later able to talk him into picking up the tab on any Capital Gain tax that I might incur ‘on his behalf.’)

8) Last but not least, if my day-trading practice has proven to be successful, I must pass-on my methodology to him. After all, he is also somewhat interested in day-trading.

These are the rules. Here are my thoughts!

The Beginning

As I’m typing this post, I still cannot believe this is happening to me.

I was invited to lunch by a friend of mine a few weeks ago, and he told me that he is going to give me US$40,000 to practice Day-trading. This friend of mine always knew that I am interested in Day-trading, but I have never saved enough cash to fulfill my hobby/dream/goal.

At first, I thought he was joking with me. But in order to convince me, he told me that he had hit the lottery jackpot! He told me that he is not the type of person who is going to ‘waste’ his money away, like most lottery winners. Instead, he wants to turn his winning into something meaningful, and help others. Sadly/Gratefully/Luckily, helping me to fulfill my ‘dream’ is on the mid-bottom of his list, and it is a rather easy, and cheap (by his standard now), mission to achieve.

While I was overly excited for him, trying to find out how he is going to spend his fortune; he remained calm and focused on his “mission of the day.” He asked me how much I need to get started on Day-trading. I told him at least 30k. He paused and replied: “That’s what I thought. I’ll provide you with 40k funding.”

“What’s the catch?” I asked.

Click here to find out.