Each Monday, 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.
 

Monday November 22

Hang around till just before 11.00am and buy 1500 CBA, as come down from their opening level of $97.82 and buy 1500 at $96.03. They of course go lower before going higher and as I have a few other things on, I lock in a 9c profit and go away.

A few of the travel related stocks get smacked, including FLT who are down 5% or so at around the same time as I sell the CBA.

Decide to leave them alone as I feel they may not recover today or tomorrow, so the only other one I have a dabble in is NAB.

Manage to pick up 2000 at $28.15 and they still have their buy back on. Wait as long as I can and with 2 mins to go, sell them at $28.23. Again, they were my kinda safe trade today and never thought they would get so low.

Anyway, up $295 and tempted to up my buying in CBA at the same time tomorrow, though this is just my thinking after today.

Recap:
Bought 1,500 CBA @ 96.03
Sold 1,500 CBA @ 96.12 ($135 profit)
Bought 2,000 NAB @ 28.15
Sold 2,000 NAB @ 28.23 ($160 profit)

Image: Marketech
Image: Marketech

 

Tuesday November 23

Settle in and watch APT get smashed on the opening. They were $113.55 at yesterday’s close and today they opened at $108.43 and kept on falling.

They only bottomed out at 1.45pm.

I only bought 500 as I was not too sure how they would go. Got set at $105.105 and out at $105.55 and just watched them keep going up. Their range today was a massive $3.58.

Before all of this CBA came in beautifully and at 10.59am bought 1500 at $96.33 and 23 mins later out at $96.80 and they continued to rally, though ironically, they only finished 2c above my sale price, having hit a high of $97.36. Very chuffed with this one.

Finished the day up $927.50 even with some blood on the street. Iron ore stocks were just too strong today but reckon they will come back tomorrow.

Recap:

Bought 1,500 CBA @ 96.33
Sold 1,500 CBA @ 96.80 ($705 profit)
Bought 500 APT @ 105.105
Sold 500 APT @ 105.55 ($222.50 profit)

Image: Marketech
Image: Marketech

 

Wednesday November 24

Well, some of the iron ores did open weaker and then bounced, so maybe a stronger underlying trend than I thought is happening.

A few fallers came on the radar. BAP were 15% higher two days ago, so thinking oversold – had a small dabble.

Same for TNE.

They were down 10% today so also had to have a go. Never traded either before, so that’s good (see charts).

CHN gave me two bites of the cherry today and even APT let me do the same as yesterday. Again, my selling helped them go higher.

Then, just before the close and just having a look around and noticed CBA were getting smashed around.

Made a quick 8c turn on 1500 shares. Just couldn’t help myself!

Leaves me up $780 for the day and most trades I’ve done for some time, which is cool.

Recap (and in this order):

Bought 1,000 BAP @ 7.10
Bought 500 APT @ 106.10
Sold 1,000 BAP @ 7.21 ($110 profit)
Bought 1,000 CHN @ 9.49
Sold 500 APT @ 106.61 ($255 profit)
Sold 1,000 CHN @ 9.57 ($80 profit)
Bought 1,000 TNE @ 11.29
Bought 1,000 CHN @ 9.40
Sold 1,000 TNE @ 11.37 ($85 profit)
Sold 1,000 CHN @ 9.53 ($130 profit)
Bought 1,500 CBA @ 97.20
Sold 1,500 CBA @ 97.28 ($120 profit)

Image: Marketech
Image: Marketech
Image: Marketech
Image: Marketech

 

Thursday November 25

Turns out that today I was not fully focused on things and this led me to make a classic mistake, which cost me $315.

Every once in a while you can have a relapse and it can be from getting too cocky and today was my day. Not so much too cocky but more from lack of clear thinking.

When CBA did finally fall below $96.00 with an hour to go, I bought 1500 and then panicked as they kept falling. I fell for the classic rookie mistake and got my timing wrong on both sides of the trade.

When a stock cracks a level, it will set off some stop losses and these can exaggerate the knee jerk reaction. From the chart you can clearly see it being sold off all day. Small rallies lead to bigger falls and if I was really concentrating I should have picked up more on the stop losses going off.

Anyway, I live to fight another day and I am still up for the week but today’s loss more than wipes out Monday’s gain, so I feel like I have completely wasted two days out of five. Hopefully Friday will be better.

(P.S. Writing this down helps to clarify things, which is why it is a bit of a ramble, but taking notes and reflecting on them helps the trading head clear reboot itself.)

Recap:

Bought 1,500 CBA @ 95.93
Sold 1,500 CBA @ 95.72 (-$315.00 loss)

Image: Marketech

Image: Marketech

 

Friday November 26

Have a bit more time to concentrate today. All of the travel-related stocks are opening lower and as I try and avoid reading too many headlines, I presume it’s COVID-related so going to avoid them all together.

Have to patiently wait till things really start to crack before becoming involved. If you see the chart on BHP, they looked to me to be oversold and having cracked the $38.00 barrier on the way day, I have learnt over the past two days to wait a bit. Bite the bullet and go a bit harder on the size and buy 2500 at $37.76, which is 24c below $38.00.

Of course they keep falling before a rally kicks in and I’m more than happy to lock in a 9c turn.

It’s not until after 2.30pm when things are looking pretty grim, that I decide to buy some CBA at just above $95.00, thinking they could go either way. Went a tad early with hindsight but was getting trigger happy.

At the same time went for NAB, thinking with their buy back on, they should be a bit safer.

Had to double down on both before a bit of short covering arrived and when it did, the move upwards was very quick and just sold into it.

When trying to look for a buying opportunity, it’s always hard to get the timing right, so always make sure you don’t go all in, so you can’t average down.

I missed the 11.00am CBA move as I got stuck in an underground carpark. It was raining and no reception so I had to wait for another go.

Tried to pick the bottom in MIN and cut them when my losses recovered and after I had some more profits under my belt.

Up $920 on a difficult day and when I doubled down, everything looked shocking but at some point a shorter has to buy back, so always looking for that short term squeeze.

For the week plus $2607.50 gross or $2144.50 net and that’s after Thursday’s lapse of concentration, so not too bad after all.

Recap:
Bought 2,500 BHP @ 37.76
Sold 2,500 BHP @ 37.85 ($225 profit)
Bought 1,500 CBA @ 95.04
Bought 2,000 NAB @ 27.73
Bought 2,000 MIN @ 43.44
Bought 1,500 CBA @ 94.47
Bought 2,000 NAB @ 27.57
Sold 3,000 CBA @ 94.96 ($615.00 profit)
Sold 4,000 NAB @ 27.68 ($120.00 profit)
Sold 2,000 MIN @ 43.42 (-$40.00 loss)

Image: Marketech
Image: Marketech
Image: Marketech
Image: Marketech