Lover of trading, tacos, 3D/AR/VR, cryptos, and most things Japanese

$UUUU – Energy Fuels Inc – 2nd Day Play

$UUUU was up big yesterday and I was looking to capture a continuation of the move. It opened above yesterdays HOD and sold of in first 30 minutes before bouncing and basing. I bought my first tier in the first minute at $3.61 to establish a position in case it ran – this was sorta half a FOMO move, and also a reasoned decision.

I picked up my second tier at a shallow pullback target in the 4th minute at $3.50 – which turned out to be too soon as it continued pulling back to $3.25. I put my stop in for one tier just below support at $3.32, which turned out the be solid and didn’t get hit for most of the day.

I still liked the play and was wondering if there’d be continuation again tomorrow, as it consolidated all day and didn’t hit my stop until the very last minute of the day. As it turned out, there was continuation the next day, but I didn’t take profits as I should have. I waited and waited and wondered if it’d continue another day, which it did not. I was moving my stop up each day it advanced, and was eventually stopped out at $3.84 on 8/9 for a small gain.

This was my first attempt at an intraday trade, and it spilled over into a swing trade. Part of the issue was my position was too small to give meaningful gains or losses, and my curiosity outweighed my discipline. There were two times that, if I had been holding a larger position, I would have taken profits, but didn’t.

Lessons learned: Stick to your discipline and take profits, even if small, when targets are hit. Don’t turn an intraday trade into a multi-day swing trade just because you’re curious if it’ll keep running.

Review: I felt good about the trade, despite being a push, as it showed my instincts are pretty well tuned. I was looking for confirmation of ideas, which I got. Only being able to trade the first hour of the day is quite a handicap, and I’ll consider putting positions on in the morning and then trading out of them during the afternoon. I’ll need to take a break from work maybe 20 minutes before market close so I can review and close intra day positions. This was also my first trade with increased size – I added a second tier to my buys, which I take as a step in the right direction and a small victory in and of itself.

What a month! July was the month I took the next step forward in my trading journey and started SMB Capital’s “DNA of a Successful Trader” program. Trader DNA is comprised of 14 self-paced modules covering every aspect of professional trading – prep work, setups, PlayBook trades, entries, profit targets, exits, position sizing, psychology, and mentoring. I’m only a few weeks in, am halfway through Module 5, and am loving it!

Two of the big benefits I’ve experienced so far, apart from the wealth of information provided from a large swath of professional traders, are the daily morning meetings and access to SMB’s proprietary technologies. The morning meetings are done each day before the open, where co-founder Steve Spencer reviews the overall market activity and presents three or four “Stocks in Play” for the day. These stocks are the ones he’s selected that provide the greatest potential trading opportunities for the day. While my full time job doesn’t afford me the luxury of trading most of the day, a large number of moves happen within the first hour of the market open, and I’m seriously considering adjusting my work hours so that I can trade the open each day. This would mean that I’d trade 7:30-8:30am, then work 9-5, and hit the gym from 6-7. Eat, talk with Christine, and study from 9-11. I’ve been gradually adjusting my schedule to do just that, having gotten spoiled by my short commute and sleeping in until 7:30. Since joining SMB, I’ve been getting up at 6:30 to attend the morning calls, and falling asleep around 11, so it shouldn’t be too big an adjustment – though I have spent the last two years going to work early and getting done at three, so that’ll take a mindset adjustment.

Another cool thing about the Trader DNA program is access to SMB’s proprietary trading tools. These include the SMB Stock Screener and SMB Radar. The Screener allow me to set about 15 different variable criteria and then returns a list of all stocks that meet those criteria, along with relevant data. I’m still learning to use it, and often my criteria are wrong and the stock I want to explore isn’t listed. The Radar is another tool that shows what stocks are in play, by SMB’s criteria, and it is looking to be worth the price of admission alone. As traders, we need stocks to move to make money on them. These tools provide refined lists of stocks with potential. Then all I have to do is explore the charts of each one until I find one or more that set up to match my trading style. I’m digging it!

So far I’ve done three trades. As Mike Bellafiore, Managing Partner of SMB Capital, says, “Your goal is to make One Good Trade. Then One Good Trade. Then One Good Trade.” Of my three trades, I consider two of them “good”, although both could have been better. That said, the FNKO trade I did yesterday put me in the black, which is a great feeling. My studies are paying off and I’m learning how to do this stuff!

My goals for the next month are to take more trades and to get bigger in my A+ setups. Right now I’m focused on Funko ($FNKO) – my good trade from yesterday, that reports earnings this Thursday. I’m going to sell my underperforming position in PTC and add to the FNKO position Monday morning. This will bring the position up to 30% of my trading capital, which is about the limit of risk I’m willing to take on it before earnings. Since I have therapy Friday morning and won’t be able to trade the open, I’m considering taking half my position off Thursday if it continues to run up. This is because the CPI report comes out Friday and could shock the market if the numbers aren’t good. That’s one of the lessons I’ve learned from my reading – don’t be in a position where an exogenous event could wipe you out. Obviously, I wouldn’t get wiped out if there’s a big selloff on Friday, but I’m likely going to take the conservative route and lock in some profits Thursday, just in case. Besides, I think FNKO’s 3rd and 4th quarter results are going to be even better with the holiday buying. And, if there is a selloff, I’ll have more capital to put to work at lower prices. 🙂

#HowGoodCanYouBe

After establishing a position in FNKO last week, I was looking to add to it. It had already gone up several percent and I was pissed I got distracted by work during the week and missed the pullback opportunity to add more size. That said, FNKO just announced a new set of Pop! figures for the Nightmare Before Christmas would be hitting the shelves in a few weeks, just in time for Halloween, and I wanted to buy more before the news spread. And FNKO reports earnings next week, had been running up, and I wanted to get my size up.

I watched it hit an ATH first thing in the morning at 18.15 and sat back to see what developed. The previous three ATHs had been followed by big selloffs, and I was looking (hoping) history would repeat. With earnings being reported next week, it did not. Hope is not a strategy. 😉

I bought more at 17.86, just above VWAP, and it proved too eager a move again. It had been consolidating above VWAP for about 10 minutes, and I thought it was going higher. It pulled back to my adjusted buy point, before I FOMO bought, so if I had been patient I would have gotten in at a better price. Lesson still to be learned: Don’t be too eager to get into a position, wait for your moment. Also, I had given myself until 8:30 MT to see what happened, and bought right at 8:30 instead of waiting for it to show me its move. Right after I bought it dropped, showing that there’s nothing magical about 8:30 – use it as a guideline, not a rule.

After getting to work and my morning meetings, FNKO had popped up to another ATH at 18.21, and I was relieved to see my trade was in the black. FNKO kept rising through the afternoon session, finally reaching another new ATH at 18.77 before selling off into the close and closing at 18.45. This was “One Good Trade”! Of course, it could have been a few percent better, but I’m still learning and I’m calling today’s trade a win.

Practice! Practice! Practice! I’m getting better and learning with each trade, and need to see if I can find a way to do them more often going forward. Loving the process!