Confessions of a Day Trader: Losing money is for Squares!
Experts
Experts
Each week, Stockhead’s resident day trader gives us a peek at the highs and lows of his trading diary and hints at what might be coming this week.
Platform used: Marketech
Round Trip: A round trip is $10 up to $25,000 and then above $25,000, commission is at 0.02% in and at 0.02% out.
Rules of engagement: Never hold any positions overnight (unless forced) and try to avoid any suspensions (if possible). No shorting.
Big today, with everything coming out of the traps higher on a bit of a relief rally but then it ran out of puff.
Every stock was showing green at 11.00am, so I had nowhere to go. SUN popped up as an 11% faller and they gave me my first win of the week.
Then I had to wait and wait before having another go. CBA’s range today was open at $95.20, low of 95.06, high of $97.13 and their last trade was $96.08.
I had to wait till just after 1.30pm to have a go and it was a quickie. FMG and WDS let me down today, as I really was trying to escape bank-related but RIOs and BHP did me proud.
I could feel everyone’s nerves through the screen and stock movements. RIOs had a day range of $2.65, as an example. The problem is that anything could be announced when the market is open, which is why even Bitcoin has shot up.
Up $540 after taking in some of those losses. Now we wait for 10.00am tomorrow.
Recap
Bought 2,000 SUN @ 11.56
Sold 2,000 SUN @ 11.60 ($80 profit)
Bought 1,000 FMG @ 21.12
Bought 1,000 CBA @ 96.24
Sold 1,000 CBA @ 96.40 ($160 profit)
Bought 1,000 WDS @ 31.18
Bought 2,000 FMG @ 20.98
Bought 2,000 BHP @ 42.97
Bought 1,000 RIO @ 114.00
Sold 1,000 RIO @ 114.26 ($260 profit)
Sold 2,000 BHP @ 43.12 ($300 profit)
Sold 3,000 FMG @ 21.00 ($80 loss)
Sold 1,000 WDS @ 31.00 ($180 loss)
Mmmmm. One of those days today. CBA came in with a classic, where they hovered around $97 for ages.
I only know this because I was hanging on. They would break up towards $97.03 and then come back to $96.95.
Kept doing this and I’ve seen it before, and I’m thinking I should double up, as at some point it will take off.
My thoughts must have done something as they suddenly took off and I locked in a profit. Then at the end of the day they slumped.
Now, have look at FMG’s chart. There were a few yeah/nah moments but they kept drifting and then got really whacked. I think the market is a bit long in the tooth with all the different hats Andrew Forrest wears.
Anyway up $270 and it could have more, and it could have been less!
Recap
Bought 1,000 CBA @ 96.91
Sold 1,000 CBA @ 97.18 ($270 profit)
Someone came into my cafe and asked me if I knew anything about Weebit Nano, as he had some in his SMSF. I said I had heard of them but don’t know anything about them.
Turns out that they are/were a $1.2bn company, as I found out, when they popped up on my list of market fallers, down 19%. Since he came in and asked me about them, they have fallen 29% and today’s fall was a classic.
Their range today was: Opened at $7.11. High $7.30. Low $5.54. Last $5.54 on 4.29m shares and I got involved in them when they broke down below $6.00. Managed two goes before walking away into the sunset with contentment.
Up $790 and today’s trading in was classic 101 because of others’ stop losses being triggered around a whole number ($6.00).
Recap
Bought 1,000 RIO @ 115.56
Sold 1,000 RIO @ 115.75 ($190 profit)
Bought 2,000 WBT @ 5.95
Bought 2,000 WBT @ 5.86
Sold 4,000 WBT @ 6.00 ($380 profit)
Bought 2,000 WBT @ 5.85
Sold 2,000 WBT @ 5.96 ($220 profit)
Both FMG and RIO were trending down today, as everything else on my watch list was going up or hanging steady.
After opening up at $115.31 and watching them for a while, I had a cheeky bid in at $113.80, after they started to head $1.31 lower and towards $114.00.
Well, it only came in and even though it took a few goes in and out at their $114 mark, they eventually went on a rally. I was also set in FMG, though had to go twice.
You could have bought 100,000 plus in the mid teens – see chart. It always blows me away how sometimes stocks do what they do and for no logical reason.
Anyway, as RIO rallied, so did FMG and I did leave a bit on the table, managed a total gain of $540, which just happens to match Monday’s effort.
Recap
Bought 1,000 FMG @ 20.53
Bought 1,000 RIO @ 113.80
Bought 1,000 FMG @ 20.25
Sold 1,000 RIO @ 114.22 ($420 profit)
Sold 2,000 FMG @ 20.45 ($120 profit)
Come in today and all the news is about a shorter attacking Block, which trades in the USA and over here with the ticker SQ2, as it used to be called Square.
I love these opportunities because a) the news is already out before they open and b) at some point a short seller has to buy back to cover their position.
So, SQ2 closed at $108, opened at $91.99, had a high of $93.27, a low of $86.30 and last at $88.94 on 990,000 shares.
Wow, what a day range. $6.97!
Got in very early and caught the first wave of short covering and then waited. When I did wade back in again the in and out this time took a bit longer.
All of this distraction left me only looking at this one stock and by the end of the day, my eyes really were SQ2’d. Got a bit nailbiting in the middle of the day, waiting for a short squeeze to come along.
Ended today up $625 and for the week up $2,765 gross and $2,375 net and this week was like going to Dreamworld via an iMax computer screen and never needing to leave home/office/cafe/beach/pub or Nelson Bay.
Recap
Bought 500 SQ2 @ 92.65
Sold 500 SQ2 @ 93.14 ($245 profit)
Bought 500 SQ2 @ 89.50
Bought 500 SQ2 @ 88.28
Sold 500 SQ2 @ 89.23 ($170 profit)
Sold 500 SQ2 @ 89.31 ($210 profit)