I did it again. But this time I was actually in the trade this time. I’m very excited about my green day. Even though it was a small gain, it’s a step forward in the right direction.
Was still thinking about yesterday’s missed opportunity. Not that I missed it, but I was searching my emotions and trying to eliminate the feeling of missing out. Today was a new day, and I was determine to take the trade. But only if the opportunity was there and I got in at the price that I wanted to get into.
The Market was moving down and I was a bit concerned about taking a trade when the main players are selling off. But around 8:46 the alert came in for $OSTK, the stock that has been playing with my emotions of missed attempts, large spreads and fast movements.
However, it was down back to the point it started the beginning of last week. And the 5 minute relative strength index was at a very low – low point. And because it had made that very huge move last week, I assumed many traders would be looking at this set up and the move would be undeniable.
I watched it move around the 16 range and I was not very positive about getting into the trade since it wasn’t moving off of the 16 range. It did move up to 16.24 or so but soon after dropped down to 15.60, with in a few minutes I noticed that it had showed multiple times a resistant level of 16.
As it moved sideways, I set a limit order for 15.60. With an attitude of, “if it drops, I get in. If it moves lower than the low of day of 15.50 – I’ll exit with my tail between my legs.”
It came down and I got in, as quick as lightning – It moved lower than the low of day. But it was too fast for me to even pull the trigger on my stop. And as fast as it moved down, it moved upward and a smile grew on my face. I was so happy to be in the green. I was so excited to be part of a winning trade. Now to control my emotions and set out a plan to exit at a reliable support/resistant area, $16.
The following 10 minutes felt like it was taking hours to complete. When it started to move up, all I could think of was the trade I took on Monday. I wanted to take 30 cents from the trade on Monday and I should have set a stop at that mark. As it moved up to quick to my 30 cent stake, and quickly move down from it. I took 20 cents instead. Good Trade, but I didn’t want to make the same mistake this time.
I set a limit order for $16 and calmly waited for my exit. As I was waiting I felt my insides boil, I could barely contain my emotions. My finger on my mouse ready to flatten my position at 15.90 and take some gain, i thought to myself. But because the previous candles moved around the 16 range, I trusted the support/resistant level and I held my emotions with in me and off my mouse button. Took a deep breath and let all my anxiousness out.
Before I could have another panic attack, the limit order executed and I was out of the trade with 40 cents of gain for the day. Very happy I could take that from the market, even when the overall market was down.
I started to think about how much money I left on the table. But soon after I exited the trade, I began reading my New Textbook; “Mastering the Trade”. And I read the following line, “…the fact that the hardest part of trading is holding onto a big winner. If this is a problem for you, and it probably is, do yourself a favor and focus on capturing the “expected move” and get out and on to the next setup.”
🙂