"Sharckie...I really would appreciate if you would have some time to let me know what I did wrong with my trades the past two days...."
First of all, MOST PEOPLE LOSE MONEY, so you may have to be willing to change strategies or give up. Simple as that. Not as easy as it sounds. Why, because it is hard not to sell, when the your stock is going down, (that is when you should be buying, and sell when the stock is moving up, but that is when you should consider selling... )
"....Yesterday,I bought NEWP @39 and put a stop sell @38.5...the close of the previous day and the stock would have gone down below the 20 and 40 ema. Of course they got me later it went to 39 and up again..."
finance.yahoo.com
NEWP has a high beta and trades in a volatility pattern of at least 2.5 points on the daily. You bought a stock and set a stop below your purchase price but within the 2.5 range, resulting in a degree of almost certainty that you would get hit.
I learned that stops don't work from the school of hard knocks: Message 15827969
Yesterday, one of the stocks I called on the site was NEWPs baby brother EXFO at 29 near the end of the day as futs started to up tick. finance.yahoo.com I also mentioned that I felt the stock could rally if the naz did next week with a target of 34. After moving higher initially, it slipped back to 28.5 on weak volume. I felt the stock was at the bottom as volume was weak so decided not to sell and widened my mental stop to 28. The stock ended the day higher....: finance.yahoo.com Though I sold some today for a profit, I will add at 30 to get my full position back and adjust my mental stops accordingly.
"...Today, I bought IDTI @44.65. Had a mental stop @43.99. finance.yahoo.com
The dow went below 11000 and IDTI below 44. I only sold 1/2 my shares. I still hold a small amount. The markets were not strong, so the stops had to be tighter. How in the world can I make money in this market?? Am I so far from knowing what I am doing?.."
Similar problem as NEWP, if you bought IDTI at 44.65 you are basically saying that you believe the end of the down trend is here: finance.yahoo.com
I have been trading for several years and am still not very good at knowing when we hit bottom. I let the mkt tell me when it is finished and risk missing a pt or two at the bottom. Safer strategy IMHO. In contrast the purchase of EXFO came late at the end of the day, (and other stocks I did buy rallied stronger then did EXFO...)
So IDTI and many others are in a down trend, why fight a trend, short on down days, from a spike, buy dips in a strong up day. I know this is a simplistic answer, but in a sense, this kind of daytrading is much like gambling. If you have a proper understanding of IDTI, their biz model, and the company, have low uncertainity in the mkts and prices are stable, the go with your convictions. However, just throwing money at a stock in the hopes it goes up can be risky at best. (That is why shorting is easier). Something moves a stock and you have time to assess the information and justify the move based on the news. Longing a stock, suggests you are hoping some news occurs, that will alter the fundementals in such a way that it becomes more attactive to other traders and the demand for this stock increases. Again, guess work...
Hope this helped a bit...'
All in my humble opinion of course
Good luck
S |
