Confessions of a Day Trader: Here’s to making your cash work harder

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.

Wednesday 29th December

I kinda love these holidays, and kinda hate them. Having no screen to entertain my head and being forced to relax is like a ‘ying and yang’ on my brain.

Anyway, today had the usual movers but on lower volumes.

Had to have a tickle in a few, just to get my eye in.

Bought some APT and some NAB and made a smallish gain, but when you see the chart of RIO, you will see why I went in a bit heavier.

Remember, it’s all about trying to make your money work harder for you and stretching it out, hopefully in your favour.

Doesn’t always work but worth giving it a go, rather than just having it sitting there, being lazy.

Up $590 for the day and waiting for open tomorrow, so I can get my trading fix.

Recap:

Bought 250 APT @ 84.75

Bought 500 NAB @ 29.24

Sold 250 APT @ 85.23 ($120.00 profit)

Sold 500 NAB @ 29.30 ($30.00 profit)

Bought 2,000 RIO @ 98.63

Sold 2,000 RIO @ 98.85 ($440.00 profit)

Thursday 30th December

Volumes again drying up today.

CBA managed to turnover just over 1m shares and APT managed just over 600,000.

Got in a trade in APT only today and waiting to see how tomorrow will pan out, being the last trading day of the year.

Recap:

Bought 300 APT @ 82.73

Sold 300 APT @ 83.23 ($150 profit)

Friday 31st December

Last day of the trading market and shutting at 2.10pm.

A real gamble of a day today, as things can be moved around by the pros and you can get caught in their wake.

Trying to avoid this gets me into rough water and I get treated to the opposite of what I intended.

End the last trading of the year down $380 (plus commission) after having a go at CBA.

Their range for the day was $1.65 on 1.1m shares of which 400,000 went through in the 2.10pm session.

So, the parcel of 500 that I bought, I decided to basically run for the day and have a punt on the close.

Well and truly got my fingers burnt but on the flip side, this is a good omen for my year ahead.

So down $380 today and up $360 for the week, which comes in at $217 net.

Anyway, HNY to everyone and let’s hope we can get on top of COVID in 2022!

Recap:

Bought 500 CBA @ 101.76

Sold 500 CBA @ 101.00 ($380 loss)