Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : The Final Frontier - Online Remote Trading -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric P who wrote (3807)	4/21/1998 10:45:00 PM
From: TFF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12617

I got on the wrong side of a SEEK trade last week and it really hurt my confidence. Who would have thought the stock would double in 2 DAYS! Just goes to show what stop losses are for...wish I'd kept mine:(

To: Eric P who wrote (3807)	4/22/1998 1:08:00 AM
From: Sword	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 12617

Eric: Glad to share about it -- Here are my morning's trades: TYPE SYM PRICE CONTRA SYSTEM TIME Buy SEEK 37 1/16 ARCA 9:32:04 Sell SEEK 39 3/8 ARCA 9:47:29 SellShort SEEK 39 1/2 ARCA 9:49:00 Buy SEEK 39 7/8 ARCA 9:52:30 Buy SEEK 39 7/8 ARCA 9:53:13 Sell SEEK 40 11/16 ARCA 0:05:12 Buy SEEK 40 5/8 ARCA 0:29:39 Sell SEEK 40 7/8 ARCA 0:40:07 Buy SEEK 40 9/16 ARCA 0:44:43 I actually did better on that first trade than I remembered earlier. The next trade broke my rule (only give up an eight). And the last trade was even worse. In both of these cases the problem was me: I waited too long to get out. The stock was moving so fast that there was no buffer on the MM screen. By the time I clicked on the price and confirmed the order, the bid was gone. So I had to cancel and resubmit. This wasted precious time. In the last hour of trading, I traded KTEL. I made several trades that were even more painful. In one case, about a point and an eigth. the reasons were more varied, however: 1. Same as above. 2. The ECNs crashed (nationwide, according to MB Trading). This left me with an open trade that I could not close electronically. The market drifted lower and I was long. Finally, I called them and pulled the plug. 3. This stock was so darn volatile that the quote server could not keep up. Whether this was the NASDAQ feed or the MB Trading server, I don't know. The quote lag made it very hard for me to keep a feel for the trading. The Level II screen didn't talk to me. 4. I kept using ARCA throughout the day when I should have been trading SOES to get better execution times. I still don't feel comfortable with SOES, but think I'd better start getting some experience in using it. ARCA is great because I hardly ever get partials, but it is slower. Lessons learned: 1. Be ready with the exit key. From now on, I'm going to set up an emergency sell key with a limit sell price that will execute several ticks down from where I want to exit but will use it to sell at my exit point higher up. I'll usually get the current bid but in fast moving markets, it will still execute a few ticks down, if necessary. That way, I'll be ready and be able to complete the exit the first time I try. I've also shut off the confirmation option on the trade screen. Now when I press the button, it'll go off without the computer second guessing me. 2. When you lose loss control, stop trading. I should have immediately called the brokerage and exited when I lost control of the execution system. I was lucky something worse didn't happen. -Jerry