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

This was a good week and I learned a lot. Not only did I have a productive week at work, I also increased and improved my trading and completed the SMB Capital Trader DNA program.

I made more trades this week than I had before – both in quantity and in size. I got in the arena and placed my stakes. I had been thinking that I needed to increase my size and stepped up my buys in both trades I took. I also took two trades this week, instead of just observing the market from the sidelines. I didn’t miss a single SMB AM meeting, and I also attended the Saturday morning review session, all of which provided insightful learning opportunities.

My trading is far from perfect, as I’m still new to intraday trading, but I am getting better. I started scaling up positions that I was right on, slowly increasing my trade size. My goal is to increase size step-by-step for the next two weeks, when I should be getting out of my biggest position which I am holding until earnings on the 29th. This will free up a lot more capital for me to trade with, and by stepping up as that date approaches, I should be mentally prepared to trade the bigger size when I have the opportunity. More A+ trades and bigger size are the two things I’m actively working on, with the focus on going bigger once I identify my A+ trades.

I also hit a major milestone in completing SMB’s Trader DNA program. This is a 10-week program that I started July 2nd and completed in just over a month. The program content was extremely useful and I’ve already almost made back the cost. That said, I’m not done with the program. There is so much content to review, particularly an extensive list of trade setups, and I still have a lot to learn. But I feel really positive about the experience – DNA was exactly what I was looking for, at exactly the right time, at a reasonable price. I’ve learned about setups, psychology, review, stocks in play, journaling, studying, and so much more.

Part of me is a bit sad that I’ve completed the program, as I looked forward to the study sessions every weekend, but now it’s time to take it to the next level and put what I’ve learned to use. I’m figuring out how I can trade beyond the first hour of each day, which is often the most chaotic part of the day, so that I can take advantage of longer term intraday setups. Right now, my thinking is that if I take a position in the morning, I can monitor it off an on throughout the day, and then take a break from work near the end of the market day to close out any positions. This is less than optimal, as I will undoubtedly miss optimal exits, but I don’t want to hold positions overnight and I do want to take advantage of the intraday plays.

The biggest lesson of the week was not to put off doing my Daily Report Cards, but to do them each night after I trade. I repeated some mistakes that I had made the previous session that I may not have had I done the Report Card before the second session. So, I will get better at doing those on the same day, or at least before the next trading session.

$BLNK – Blink Charging – 2nd Day Play

$BLNK was my second stab at a 2nd Day Play. I was a bit torn with this one, as I think it has good long-term potential, and I might have considered investing in it if I were not trading it. It was up big yesterday and I was looking for a continuation, which I got. With rumors abounding about a possible deal with Tesla and a fresh infusion of $11M in capital, they just announced a partnership with a South Korean EV firm that caused the jump yesterday. Fresh news!

I learned from yesterdays haste and waited for the first selloff to bottom before getting in. It sold off pretty hard right away, bottoming at $3.55. I tried getting in at $3.88, but it was moving up too fast and I bought two tiers at $3.95, after chasing it up from the bottom a bit.

$BLNK moved up throughout the day, peaking at about $4.25, before pulling back and consolidating around my entry price. My position was to hold until Reason2Sell, with my stop set around $3.90 – risking five cents for a potential 5x gain.

The position turned into a winner and I didn’t get out. I didn’t take profits when I had a win and let it run for two days before getting stopped out at $3.82.

Lessons: Do Daily Report Card the same day as the trade, so can think through and review the trade before potentially repeating the same mistakes the following session. Again, take profits, and consider sizing up so the profits will be meaningful.

Review: I’m kicking myself for this one. The trade in $UUUU yesterday was such a small winner that I didn’t cover costs, and this one had me up a little after costs, which I didn’t act on. Still, I’m really happy with my improving entries. This is so important, especially in day trading small dollar stocks, where Mike says you really need to fight for your prices. I need to anticipate levels and get my buys in ahead of them, instead of just trying to react to bottoms and then buying, as things tend to move quickly off sharp bottoms.

$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.