Yalicoo - Virtual Stock Market Trading/Gambling/Competitions

Folks, I came across this website called Yalicoo (http://www.yalicoo.com/), and it is a virtual stock trading platform that allows you trade, via a provided real-time feed, to win cash prizes (vis PayPal). If you are a frequent reader of my Blog, you know very well that I am no expert in stock trading. Yet, out of curiousity, I decided to sign-up and check it out.


First, what I learned is that you have to pay to join the game. For those on-line Poker Players out there, this is very similar to the Poker Tournaments online, or even Sit-n-go games on-line. You pay a 'buy-in', and you are ready to roll. You can choose between a Day, Week, or Month game. In trading terms, that's more like Day-trade, Swing-trade, or 'longer'-Swing-trade.

I randomly selected a game called "NASDAQ Largest 750 Companies Monthly" game to look at the details. You can see that it shows you how many participants there are, and the rewards... which is US$1350. Basically, if you come up to be the top earner among these few hundred participants in a month's time, you will win $1000. (The remaining $350 is split between the 2nd and 3rd position winner.) Oh, and the top 10% winners will get a free-entry into other 'games.'

So how much is it to join a game like this? It turns out that it costs US$15 to join this game. (Day-game and Week-game are cheaper.) My first reaction was... what the hell? I rather spend my $15 on commission doing real-money trade! (More on that later!)


Let's see what other rules are there for this particular 'game'...

No Short Sell

Starting cash is $100k

$5 per executed order commission (taken off your $100k starting 'bank-roll')

You'll get real time quote from the $15 you paid!

Only a maximum of 10% of your assests may be invested in one stock.

bla bla bla...

After reading all the details (I think I got everything covered so far), these are my thoughts...

• At first, I really thought that this idea is stupid. Then, I thought... hey, there are so many 'wanna-be' traders out there that do NOT have the captial to start trading, yet, maybe these people do have to skills! How else can the participate except for Paper Trading? Yeah, the rewards are nothing compare to what you'll get from wall street, assuming 'absolute success rate' of course. But if/when you have limited capital, the possibility of investing $15 for a potential of $1000 return is not that bad! And if you think about it, you are looking at a risk of only $15!
• My second thought is... if online Poker is forced to made illegal (or somewhat inoperable) in the US, how is this site/model different from online Poker? You pay a 'buy-in' to play the 'game.' You win money from the 'game.' Also, the continuous debate over a Game of Chance vs. a Game of Skills in (on-line) Poker, is so applicable to Stock Trading. Some may argue that it's 'skills.' But plenty do think that it's 'chance.'

Last but not least, if you do plan to sign-up and try it out, I would like to ask that you send me an email first! It says on the web-site that for every person that I referred, I will get 3 free entries. So just email me from the email address that you are going to use to sign-up, and I'll send you an invite from my Yalicoo account. Disclamer: I do not get commission money from them. I do not have any ownership or investment in this company. I just want to earn some free-plays.

My email addres is Closetdaytrader at Gmail.com

Regardless if you are going to let me gain your referral, I would still very much like to hear from you on your view of this site. Signed-up or not. Meanwhile, I think I'm going to give it a try. I'll post my results and experiences here.

Merry Christmas!

I have never thought that having a new-born would take up so much of my time! Actually, it's time AND ENERGY!! I took a good few weeks off work, and I THOUGHT, I would have time to do some trading while I'm home. Guess what? I hardly had time to turn on the computer! Let alone doing anything else. Alright, enough of this parenthood thing...

I will be going back to work comes the new year. Until then, I want to publish a post to update my Viewers that...

1. I'm still around. I have not given up yet!
2. I shall begin trading probably at around the second week of the year. After taking 2 months off, I think I would need at least 1 week just to catch up with my emails
3. I've changed the template of my blog a bit. Check it out and let me know what you think!
4. I also want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Holidays!
5. Most importantly, I also want to thank those who have given me so much support in the past 9 months! You know who you are, and without you, I wouldn't even be Paper Trading today.
   
   
   

A Future Day Trading Trainee?

Posting has been extremely light in the past week because me and my wife have just welcomed a new member to our family! A baby boy!



Posting will remain light in the following weeks, as some parents-traders know... sleeping is hard to come by when there's an infant in the family, not to mention doing other things like daytrading.



I will still try to trade, but I don't know how often will that be possible. I just want my 3 loyal readers know that I have not given up practising my daytrading yet. In fact, I should have 1 more reason to work harder on my daytrading. Until ne



Until next time, Good Trades!

102607 - CFC - 15mins - Gain*Paper

Symbol: CFC
Type: Long
Result: Gained +4.67R

• Countrywide Financial gapped up on positive outlook today
• Prices retraced to the $15.25 level for most of the morning, forming quite a few Narrow-Range bars, which caught my increased attention
• The 12:45pm bar was an Inside-bar, with NR7. It almost made it to a Hammer, except for that tiny Upper Shadow
• I decided to take a low-risk entry to go Long when prices broke the high of the NR7 bar
• I set my Buy-Stop order 2 pennies above the high of the NR7 bar, with my stop set to the bottom of the NR7 bar
• My order was triggered almost immediately

• The Blue line that you see above was my Primary Target.
• I observed the Daily-Historic chart and noticed that there was a low back in September that might serves as a potential resistance level (see below.)
  

• It didn't take too much time before the prices reached the 'blue-line.'
• As soon as I have sold half my position at blue-line, I moved my Stop to the bottom of the 13:30 bar (10mins, see below, the black one!)
• The 13:40 bar, unfortunately, just touched my Protective Stop and sold the remaining half of my position
• I thought about a re-entry on the same bar that I was Stopped-out, because it was a nice little Hammer bar.
  
• I chose not to re-enter Long because the same blue-line that I drew was like flashing at me, telling me that "hey, you drew this! Remember?"
• Plus, the winning that I already have, although on paper, is already making me very happy! (See how I am easily satisfied? Don't know if that's a good thing for a Trader though.)
  

• The prices did continue to rise!
• It even went past the opening high, and went all the way to the 113% Fib Level (Yesterday Low / Today's Opening-High)
• I captured the chart below, before the market closes, so that I can journal this trade before my meeting
• Even though the words of wisdom of Jamie did play-back in my head as I was entering the Stop level for my remaining half position, I chose to play it safe! What I'm referring to, is a rule that I learned from Jamie... "Prices usually ends its rally after 3 Wide-Range-Bars" (also see chart below.)
  
• I chose to play it safe, and secure my winnings
• But in this case, I left a lot on the table!
• Was my 2nd Stop set at a wrong level?
  
• My entry was based on a 15min chart, had I used the same 15mins (instead of 10mins), I might have been okay! So did I use the wrong chart to set my Stop?
  

102507 - EMC - 10mins - Gain*Paper

All the notes are written on the chart. I have to run to a meeting, and a busy evening. I didn't lose money; I'm happy!

102307 - NFLX - 15mins - Loss*Paper

Symbol: NFLX
Type: Long
Result: Lost -0.53R

• This one really hurts!
• 2 consecutive Inside-bars, and NR7 formed at around 11:30am, that caught my attention
• Later on, another NR7 formed at the 12:15 bar, with increased volume
• I entered Long after the prices broke the high of the 12:15 bar
• I was nearly Stopped-out during the 13:30hrs bar, when I moved my Stop closer
• I was not as lucky later. The low of the 14:00hrs bar triggered my, then-new, Protective Stop. the trade was exited at a lost!
  
• It hurts even more to see that the prices eventually hit my initial target of Daily High!
• Was my Stop too tight? What do you think?
  

102307 - AAPL - 10mins - Loss*Paper

Symbol: AAPL
Type: Long
Result: Lost -0.83R

• I was hoping for some Base and Break here but it didn't happen
• AAPL painted consecutive inside bars, followed by 2 NR7s in a row
• I entered Long when the prices broke the mini-resistance (see blue line)
• The prices didn't really go anywhere
• I got Stopped-out at around 13:30hrs
  

101907 - SNDK - 5mins - Gain*Paper

Symbol: SNDK
Type: Short
Result: Gained +2.77R

• I wanted to enter Long when prices first broke under the Opening Low
• But I though the 5eMA was too far away, and therefore, I waited
• The prices started to retrace, and posted several NR7s
• The 11:25 bar even formed a NR7 + Inside Bar
• I entered Short when prices fell below the 11:25
• My target was the 119%
• I did exited half my position only when the prices reached 119% the first time
• But I told myself that I want to secure the winnings, and therefore, I decided to exit my entire position a few minutes later
• The thing is... I wonder on a down day like today, how significant is my training/winning?
• It's almost like... pick anything and it will drop!
• Now I know why one is supposed to take notes on the overall market mood in the trading journal as well
  

101907 - GOOG - 5 mins - Loss*Paper

Symbol: GOOG
Type: Long
Result: -0.13R

• First, it was those Narrow-range bars painted between 11 and 1130am that caught my attention
• My Long entry was set to just above the 11:05 high (see line)
• But the prices fell back to 61% Fib (yesterday's low and today's high) before rebounding
• My entry point was met, and my initial target was the Day-High point
• It never quite got there
• I exited my position when prices fell back to my entry-point, for a very small lost
  

101907 - CYBS - 5mins - Observation

• This was the first stock that caught my attention this morning.
• But I noticed the 5eMA was too far away
• I decided against going Long
• Just like what Buzz Lightyear would say: "To Infinity and Beyond!"
  
• And this is happening on a -366 points drop on Dow!
  

101807 - NE - 15mins - Loss*Paper

First of all, I'm not going to post any chart for this NE trade that I made today. I was stopped out within 3 minutes of entry, and I knew I was forcing a trade!

Which brings me to the challenge that I'm facing... it is extremely challenging to try to Daytrade, while working a full-time job! My 3 readers should realized that my postings have been light lately, and mostly it's because my day job has been demanding! I'm not complaining because this job is what brings in the income. And you all know that my daytrading is nowhere near breakeven, not to mention profitable.

I still don't think I'm going to give up daytrading just yet! Because I still feel that I have a strong interest in this field. However, when I read that Ugly has decided to take up a full-time job, and stop daytrading, I ask myself... how come I'm heading down 'the other' direction? I have a full-time job already, and I'm trying to daytrade, while folks like Ugly is leaving the daytrading scene and go back to working full-time.

Well... I'm sure Ugly has his/her reasons. But for me, I know for sure that I am not giving up yet! There are still more for me to learn!

Operation Spamalot - Are they going after the wrong object?

I've been reading a lot about how SEC has decided to halt trading of the company, if it is featured in those financial email spams floating around the internet, orchestrating those 'pump-and-dump' scheme/scam.

At first, I thought it was pretty smart of them to take this approach. That is until I read this article today from FT.com...

Over the past week the regulator has suspended trading in Alliance Transcription Services, Inc, Prime Petroleum Group, Inc, and T.W. Christian, Inc

But aren't they going after the wrong guy(s)? I'm assuming that these email scammers are not hired by these companies to send out those spam emails. If this is correct, then shouldn't the SEC or the Law Enforcement Agencies be going after the spammers/scammers, instead of halting the trading of these companies? Besides, how difficult it is to reverse the trace to find out who has been profiting by these inflated prices, at the right time, at the right price, with increased volume?

With that thought in mind, I was thinking... if I pick up the content of these spam emails and change the Symbol to a company that is more renowned and send them out, is SEC going to halt trading on the 'big guys' too? (I know for a fact that there are valid email addresses for sale at bulk, somewhere out there on the internet.) I understand that with the 'big guys', it will take a lot to move the prices. But based on SEC's theory and approach, technically speaking, it could still happen! Besides, it's not like SEC is going to sit and wait for any 'unusual activity' to take place before taking actions. It seems to me that as soon as SEC come across those spam-emails, they are going to halt trading right away!

My point is... I don't think SEC should halt trading based of some spam-emails. I think they are just going after the wrong object... in this case, the publicly traded companies. Instead they should be going after the spammers. (Even if the spammers are, after all, hired by the said company) Although, I have to give the SEC the benefit of doubt that they do have some kind of rules and logic embedded into their decision making process. However, I just don't see how it can make sense, in terms of preventing what I mentioned from happening.

100907 - YUM - Long - Loss*Paper

Symbol: YUM
Type: Long
Result: Lost -1.05R

• The chart above showed what it looks like at time on entry for YUM
• I thought what I saw was a mini-base, with decreasing volume
• I entered Long when prices broke the mini-base line
• (see chart below) Prices did shot up a bit, but not for long
• It failed to reach the day-high... otherwise, I would have exited half my position
• My Protective Stop was later triggered
• This is my only trade of the day
  

Condom Fashion Show in Beijing, China

Yes, China! I was shocked too!

At least we know the models are not allergic to latex!

Have a good trading week! (I don't think I will be trading on Monday though.)

100307 - RIMM - 15mins - Gain*Paper

Symbol: RIMM
Type: Long
Result: Gained +0.7R

• I failed to spot an entry on RIMM early this morning, but it remained on my watchlist
• After the prices reached its Day-high, it retraced a bit and the rising 5eMA performed well as Support
• I was hoping for a 2nd rally when the prices break Day-High, and ran for 138% Fib (from yesterday's low to today's high.)
• I entered Long when the prices broke the day-high (see top yellow line)
• It didn't get to where I wanted it to go
• Fortunately, I had to leave my desk for a meeting and therefore, I had to exit my position
• Otherwise, my Protective-Stop would have triggered during the next bar, which only means less profit
• But at least it's a winning trade!
• Have a great weekend, and Long weekend to those in Canada!
  

100507 - TLAB - 15mins - Loss*Paper

Symbol: TLAB
Type: Short (twice)
Result: Lost -1.78R (combined)

• Looking back now, I think I have mis-read the chart for my first trade
• It was painting higher-lows consecutively, and I was focusing on all those Upper Shadows from 10 to 11am
• My second entry wasn't much better either. I entered because of what I thought was a mini Base and Break
• The only part that I got right was the word 'mini'
• It went South just a bit and then bounced back
• My Protective Stop was triggered
• Had I managed to stay in, I would have made some money
• But I doubt that I would able to manage the exit

100307 - PNRA - Long - Gain*Paper

Symbol: PNRA
Type: Long
Result: Gained +3.35R

• You can probably tell that the Hammer painted before 11am was the trigger for my Long entry
• However, today is the first time that I started using IB's Paper Trading platform, it took me a while before I managed to completed the order
• By then, the prices went up a bit further, but it later retraced, and painted another Hammer
• Fortunately, my Protective Stop was never reached
• But I wasn't too happy with the lack of volume either
• I thought about exiting the trade, but decided against it. Partly because it has been a very busy morning (I didn't even have enough time to completely go over every single stock on my shortlist!)
• Anyway, prices continued to rise, and you can see, and when prices crossed the Day/Opening-High, I paid closer attention to the price movement
• I noticed that the 5eMA was too far below, and an Upper Shadow is beginning to form, so I decided to exit my trade and pocket the profit!
  
• I told myself that even if the prices continue to rise, if I can start my month with a positive trade, I'm happy!
• And this is the only trade that I made today
  

200709 - Month-end Review

- Okay, I'm still here! I was gone for 2 weeks for a business trip, and then when I came back from my trip, I had to catch up with all the work that got piled up. I'm sure you know what I mean, and I don't want to bore you these crap.

- Basically, I only did 4 trades this month. 4 losing trades to be exact

- And one of those trades was a -3R lost!

- In terms of statistics and record keeping, this month is a total right-off

- I am hoping that October's work load would be easier on me so that I can practise my trades more often

- More importantly, my paper trading account with IB is established and ready to roll. It would probably take me some time to get used to it. But I'm looking forward to it.

To my loyal readers/supporters out there, once again, I have been here/I'm still here/I'm back!

091107 - VMW - 15mins - Loss*Paper

• Those 2 consecutive Hammers above caught my attention on VMW this morning
• Since the 2nd Hammer didn't closet above the 5eMA, I did not place an entry
• The next bar... did close above the 5eMA, but I neglected to pick up a doji star shining right at me... and I entered Long

• As you can see from this chart above, the entry bar looked good
• But my Stop was triggered during the next bar
• The chart below is a full-day view of VMW

• This chart belowi s a daily view of VMW
• I wonder if the Shooting Star is signaling a top-reversal

091107 - RIO - 15mins - Loss*Paper

• My second trade of the day is RIO
• I entered Long, right after the prices exceeded the top of the 11am Hammer
• The Upper Shadow of the next bar made me uncomfortable
• It followed by another, this time, down-bar, with an Upper Shadow
• When this down-bar closed below the 5eMA, I thought there were enough 'negative' signals, and decided to exit the trade even though it didn't reach my Protective Stop yet
• As soon as I exited, it continued to head North
• Prior to my entry, my initial target was merely the Opening High
• The red line you see below is my Secondary Target. It is drew based on the Daily Chart (next chart below.)
• And the prices did went beyound my Secondary Target and managed to closed above it.
• I think the Red Line will act as a Support for tomorrow
• Something to look into for tomorrow
• But for now, what a big ouch! I have totally missed a big chunk of profit!
• I hope I made the correct decision with my early exit... what do you think?

091107 - MCD - Observation

• My final post of the day is an observation that I did on MCD
• The chart above showed my 'would-have' entry point
• There it was an Hammer formed right underneath the Opening High
• But I looked at the volume, and noticed that there weren't significant spike
• I flipped over to the 15 minute chart (see bottom chart), and noticed that the 5eMA was way too far away
• Although I told myself that this looks really good as a Base and Break setup... I decided against a Long entry
  

• It turned out to be another good run as you can see from the chart above. Ouch!
• The chart below is the 15 minute chart that I mentioned
• Noticed how far away is that 5eMA?
• What do you think? Would you have entered? If so, why? Or why not?

090707 - BBY - 5mins - Loss*Paper

Symbol: BBY
Type: Short
Result: Lost -1R

• Well, I held myself back from an entry after the 1st Inverted Hammer because the 5eMA was too far away
• The second one came, and I still managed to control myself (by not looking at the chart, by the way!)
• The third one appeared... well, it was a up Hammer
• When the 4th Inverted Hammer was 'forming', I thought the 5eMA was close enough and I pull the triggered when it broke the low of the prior Hammer
• The next bar is what I called the "What the hell?" bar
• Followed by the 'F-word' bar, which is usually my exit bar
• Have a wonderful weekend!
  

090707 - CMCSA - 10mins - Loss*Paper

Symbol: CMCSA
Type: Short
Result: Lost -1R

• CMCSA was my second trade of the day
• As I saw the prices cleared the Opening Low, I thought it presented an opportunity for entry
• I entered Short, and soon realized that the move just wasn't going to happen
• I exited the trade before a full 1R lost
  

090707 - DELL - Observation

• Above is DELL that I observed today
• I spotted the Inverted Hammer first on the 5min chart
• I was too sure if it was an entry signal because when I flipped over to the 10mins and 15mins, the signals (if there were any), were not that convincing. (I always tried to get entry confirmation from 2 other timeframes charts.)
• As I watched DELL continued its downward movement, I thought about an entry when prices broke the Opening Low.
• Again, I chose not to enter mainly because the 5eMA seemed a bit too far away
• It was history from that point on
• It just kept falling
  

No entries today!

I tried to trade today and yesterday, but I just couldn't spot any entry. It mostly had to do with my effort of being selective with my entries... and it's working!! There were quite a few trades that I thought about entering, but didn't, and it turned out that they were all losing trades. I have yet to spot any winning trade that I've missed... except for the one that I posted 2 days ago. I just have to remind myself that no-entries is not necessary a bad thing! If I don't trade, I can't lose $$. I will earn less, but never losing!

I hope my 3 readers did well! Best wishes to you!

090407 - HOKU - Observation

• I made 1 trade today, but the entry was so poor that I am embarrassed to post it on my blog
• Basically, the 5eMA was a mile away when I entered... although I didn't get stopped out, I exited the trade shortly after when the prices were just flat with no volume
• The chart above is HOKU
• I thought about entering Long when the prices went above the OR high
• But I was worried that HOKU might be running out of steam because of the lack-of volume
• I decided against an entry and this is how it turned out
• I'm sure that there are many traders out there who made some really nice moves today. AAPL and YHOO both rallied nicely
• I look forward to checking their blogs!
• Have a wonderful day and a successful September!
  

200708 - Month-end Review

26 Trades Total. 9 Win, 17 Losses

• I had a slight improvement this month, managing almost 35% winning rate
• I continued to be selective with my entries, but it appears that my selections/decisions still lacked quality
• I had three earned more than 3Rs, and these were the trades that kept me afloat throughout the month
• Meanwhile, I managed a few times this month to exit my losing trades to avoid a full 1R lost. In fact I only had 1 trade in this past month that is a full 1R lost
• My performance is still unacceptable! There's still room for improvement!

083107 - BAC - 10mins - Loss*Paper

Symbol: BAC
Type: Long
Result: Lost -1R

• The chart below shows what I was seeing upon entry
• It is a 3min chart and the inside Hammer was what caught my attention
• Now that I look back at this chart again, I noticed that there weren't that much volume to support the hammer
  

• This chart below shows how prices bounced off the Pivot Points
  

• So when I flipped over to the 10mins chart, it was a Hammer that actually bounced off the PP
• A second Hammer followed, although it was a weak hammer
• But it still managed to closed above the 5eMA
• I decided to enter Long when prices go above the high of the second hammer
• My Protective Stop was the low of the 2nd Hammer
  
• Prices quickly retraced after my entry
• I was later Stop Out
• Although prices did climb back up, it never exceed the high of the 4th bar
  

• With this trade, it concludes my trading month of August
• I will post a month-end review over the weekend
• To my 3 readers, have a wonderful long week-end!
  

083007 - KG - 15mins - Gain*Paper

Symbol: KG
Type: Long
Result: Gained +0.86R

• Drew a potential Pivot Point (see blue line), which is slightly above the Opening Range High
• Drew Fib from Day low to Day High
• KG painted a Hammer during the 7th bar, closing above the 5eMA, but just slightly below the Day High
• Entered Long when prices break above the Day High
• Continuously adjusted my Stop to the bottom of the previous bar
• Got Stopped-out during the 12pm bar
• A very small gain