This morning I bought $DRYS right at the open at 9:30AM when it broke 6.10 resistance. In my mind I knew the stock was overextended after seeing the pre-mkt price action so I fomo-traded and broke my rules of either waiting for a break of the candle high or waiting for a dip. I bought at 6.12 and two mins later I sold at 5.744 when it dropped so fast it blew past my stop of 6.00. I had fomo because I missed the dip buy pre-mkt after 8AM when it broke the downward channel. The stock basically came back up to where it opened before dropping down to the low 5.00s. I was actually planning to buy the dip after the loss on the first candle break around 5.70 at 9:36AM but got scared. I haven't had a loss like this for a while. It's actually 3 times my daily max loss.
If I had waited patiently I probably would've dip bought at 5.70 and sold at 6.00. I also missed out on gains when I set a price alert pre-mkt for $HZNP which has a 166M float and is up on an analyst upgrade. I got the alert when it broke 16.41 which was a red to green move/cup and handle breakout and resistance breakout which are 3 good reasons to buy but because of the DRYS loss I hesitated. It got up to 17.08 which would've been a nice 63c/share gain.
I've paid a lot of market tuition the last 2 months but more than anything I learnt that patience is so important if you want to be successful at trading. I believe I have the knowledge and an edge now after studying charts and setups for 5 months but I really need to wait for the opportunity to arise before jumping in. I know sooner or later I will be more consistent. I just need to keep reminding myself to wait for the setup.
Trading can be an emotional rollercoaster but it really isn't that complicated. We as humans just make it more complicated than it needs to be. I guess that's what draws a lot of people to trading. It's challenging emotionally and you learn a lot about yourself in the process. You're the only person responsible for your success no one else. And when you stuff up you're the only one to blame no one else. Today's loss was frustrating but it just means I'm one step closer to to my goal. For anyone in the same boat keep studying, don't give up. Once you have the trading knowledge you're half way there. Then the other half is managing your emotions which I'm sure for even the most experienced traders is a constant challenge. Remember patience, preparation and perseverance = success!
@Lincoln_Hawk *that uptrends I mean
@Chongette32 "Jungle" because it's often a time of fast moving indecision between panic buyers and/or sellers as MMs try to match orders. I guess he calls it the jungle because there's not always a clear path or direction to follow in a jungle.
I agree that the initial surge out of the gate at 9:30 is chaotic. I've found that if I wait for the first pullback, it usually occurs within the first ten minutes after the open. Good time to jump into something if the pattern looks good and it fits with my plan.
@XRenegadeX I've had success before with buying at the open but it all depends on the pre-mkt price action but from now on I'll just wait for the first pull back like you said and only trade breakouts if I see an ascending triangle or a range breakout after the initial spike
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