All for a whopping $20, which is better than a sharp stick in the eye. The killer today was a short that I got in and didn't get out of at the stop. I just kept thinking that it would turn around, and it didn't. That cost me $85. I feel pretty good about having climbed out of the hole on that to a loss of $2 for the day (gross profit of $20). One of the day trades was a loss of $5, basically a break-even. Only that one large loss and two smaller ones.
I did an after hours futures trade that nicked me because I set a stop and it tested it. Stops are part of the trade but the after hours action didn't require a hard stop so close to the action, an emergency parachute a point down from that would have been fine. That cost me 3/4 of a point and a round trip of commissions.
So basically, a good day except for two mistakes, and I came out ahead after commissions. I made a lot of good trades today.
I've started to increase the share amount on selective trades to more than 100 shares, up to 200 or 300, that is going to be crucial for making actual money on this instead of paying tuition and 'building confidence'. I was taken to task today by the head of the trading room for not getting more on a trade, and he was right. I got a point on a futures trade that had several, and I knew it was possible at the time. At least I didn't take a half point when it was there, that is progress for me.
I guess it was all those days of losing $200-$400 and having every trade seemingly fall apart that made me so gun shy, but I've got to enter the trades with confidence and I have to get wins to build up confidence. I am getting there, its real and I'm doing it, I'm making futures trades that work because I wait for the setup. Even setting aside the one slip-up with the stop I would only be doing a 1/4 point as I write this and the trade still would not have failed. It would not have been moving the way I would have wanted, things are kind of languishing, but I would not have made a bad trade.
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