Confessions of a Day Trader: One golden turn deserves another. And another! One more? Oh go on then…

Picture: Getty Images
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.
Monday January 29
Now, I’m not a flat earther or a conspiracy theorist but this is how CBA went today.
Opened at $116.00, had a high of $116.00 and a low of $115.00 and 2.02m turned over with the last being $115.92. Their low was hit at 10.03am.
Far out!
So anyway, after I had taken the tin foil off of my head, a couple of things stood out.
BOE had opened at $5.35 they also touched their day’s high of $5.45 before later slumping down and reaching a low of $5.16, just before midday.
I got into them just before 11.00am at $5.21 and hoped for a bounce.
It did come at 2.00pm when eventually my limit got taken out, which was way longer than I thought it would take, though their rally saved me – see chart.
RRL was also a bit of a waiting game, after seeing them open at $2.14, $2.07 seemed like a bargain, which turned out to be true, as they closed at $2.11.
Up $750 and now just wondering about CBA and how it managed to trade with such exact numbers as its high and low.



Recap
Bought 5,000 BOE @ 5.21
Bought 25,000 RRL @ 2.07
Sold 25,000 RRL @ 2.08 ($250 profit)
Sold 5,000 BOE @ 5.31 ($500 profit)
Tuesday January 30
Managed a couple of in’s and out’s earlier on and then CBA had a bit of a collapse before 3.30pm, which can sometimes be a bouncing spot.
Anyway, I got two goes heading into the last 30 mins so I was happy to up the size a bit and keep my eyes wide open shut.
And it worked!
Up $985, which was a bit amazing and something I was not expecting at all.



Recap
Bought 5,000 NAN @ 2.93
Bought 25,000 RRL @ 2.11
Sold 25,000 RRL @ 2.12 ($250 profit)
Sold 5,000 NAN @ 2.96 ($175 profit)
Bought 1,000 CBA @ 115.91
Bought 1,000 CBA @ 115.85
Sold 2,000 CBA @ 116.02 ($280 profit)
Bought 2,000 CBA @ 115.87
Sold 2,000 CBA @ 116.01 ($280 profit)
Wednesday January 31
CPI figs came out at 11.30am and a tad better than expected, so bonds and equities rallied.
I played safe with some RRL, pre CPI figs and low and behold, even they got a leg up on the way through.
In the afternoon, drum roll please, CBA touched a high of $118.24 before having a bit of a setback, towards the close.
They fell from that high down to $117.45 on some heaving selling, which I put down to option expiry shenanigans.
And then we have the manic child CSL.
They punched through the $300 barrier, even though there was 47,000 on offer at that level and keeping a lid on things.
Their range was $295.12 to $302.50 on 1.12m shares. WOW!
Anyway, in for a penny, in for a pound and same tactics as yesterday, but this time a dollar or two higher.
Up $830, thanks mainly to CBA.



Recap
Bought 25,000 RRL @ 2.07
Sold 25,000 RRL @ 2.08 ($250 profit)
Bought 2,000 CBA @ 117.52
Sold 2,000 CBA @ 117.81 ($580 profit)
Thursday February 1
Come into a morning where one of America’s bank’s share price collapsed by 26% overnight, so that was a big red flag for me today.
CBA actually closed on its low for the day at $114.10. They reached above $118 only yesterday.
I was surprised at how the market only fell 1%, though on my main watch list I only had two companies not in the red.
RRL gave me a bit of a heart murmur, when they came out with a trading halt. It said they may come back on Monday and I was thinking thank Christ I wasn’t long of them and then that happened.
Anyway all’s well that ends well and when they did come back, I thought their markdown was a bit overdone and managed to get a 2c turn out of them.
Up $500 and popcorn watching the bond yields falling, which probably helped the market from not falling as much as it could have done. Got a feeling that tomorrow I will lose money!




Recap
Bought 25,000 RRL @ 1.92
Sold 25,000 RRL @ 1.94 ($500 profit)
Friday February 2
Noticed a couple of fallers in the As today, namely ANZ and AGL.
Luckily for me my thoughts on losing money today were a prediction which didn’t eventuate and I managed a couple of 4c turns.
Why both of them were down was a mystery to me, especially ANZ. Left a bit on the table with them. Both were on sell limits.
I think everyone is a bit shocked at how much the market cap of Facebook’s owner, META, went up by overnight. Something like US$200bn which is more than our little old CBA is worth in total.
The biggest mover on my current watch list was Boss Energy, who were up 7.95%, though a blast from the past Bougainville Copper shot up 128%, having gone from 36c to 80c on 700,000 shares.
Anyway, up $500 today bringing in the week at $3,565 ($3,176 net), which is a bit of a shock for me as I was expecting to be down this week. Have to shake off my negativity with a dive in the sea and just breathe a bit ahead of a nice cold beer.



Recap
Bought 5,000 AGL @ 8.24
Bought 5,000 ANZ @ 26.93
Sold 5,000 ANZ @ 26.98 ($250 profit)
Sold 5,000 AGL @ 8.29 ($250 profit)
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