Hi
@Joannie,
Below are my trades for past 8 weeks. From late last year - I started to rekindle the interest in trading as I started to take profits in previous longer term holds which freed up some trading capital. This has also coincided with a reduction in consultancy works - so trading the market more actively has been allowed.
I have 'rolled up' the data for Week 9 - as whilst the gains are good - in this week I generally through the toys out of the cot and liquidated a few remaining longer term holdings and pretty much all open trades. The macro conditions got the better of me I must say and I also wanted the profits to offset a loss from the sock drawer at the end of this FY.
(The sock drawer is getting emptier...this is a good feeling).It's not all about the numbers though - it's the methods that I employ.
** Of the below trades 90+% are day trades. Others no longer then 3 to 4 sessions max.
** Of the 141 trades for Feb & March - 121 have been on one company only (AVZ).
** Only 12 other tickers have been traded.
As for my rules - don't really have any formal rules - but what is working at the moment is;
** I now use charts way more effectively to complete a trade. In the early years - I was too impulsive and greedy. Results in plenty of sour trades.
** I have been using predominately simple moving averages and MACD histograms to gauge a trade.
** I'll generally have two or three charts open of the same stock looking at multiple time frames to check relativity to the SMA's and if it may be 'rolling over'.
** I exit many trades way too early - but at the moment I'm happy to improve this whilst still banking profits.
** I've been guilty of re-entering too early - but as I like to trade stocks in healthy up trends - these errors are generally smoothed out in short time.
** If a trade feels anxious - it's probably not suiting your risk profile - or just plain higher risk....pretty much most of the BOOM calls on the DT thread.
** The DT thread is great for sharing tickers and information - but it can also be a trap for
young new players.
** I'm improving at reducing the exposure to higher risk trades - especially ones with low liquidity.
Some of your best trades can be losing ones.** Having a good trading spread sheet I think is important. Data can show lots of trends - and also just for tidiness come tax time etc.
Reading the threads from the HC trading community - it looks like punters will trade multiple tickers in a day. For my style - I would become distracted and miss out on the stocks/charts/patterns of the select few stocks that you become very familiar with. I'll generally only follow two or three tickers closely. Many chartists use lots of tools and charting methods. I find I simply don't have the time to educate myself on other charting methods - and just use SMA to follow the trends. I may also set different SMA's for different stocks - based on recent history.
The markets continually throw up surprises and opportunities. In recent times the dot com bubble, 9-11, GFC, Co-vid Correction etc.
Having cash to capitalise on these opportunities is key. Can't say I previously have - but getting better. Like the ocean - always respect the market - don't turn your back (for too long anyway).
Anyhow - each to their own. I know I'm just enjoying working from the home office as often as possible at the moment - rather than away from family on construction sites etc.