tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25908372969393416342024-03-14T12:09:10.292-07:00Trade the TickerMy name is Tim Grittani (kroyrunner89), and I've been a full-time daytrader since the beginning of 2012. I've learned a lot along the way from my successes and failures and would like to pass along some of these lessons. This blog will hopefully save me time in answering the dozens of questions I get each week through Facebook and Twitter. If not, I guess I just created more work.Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-27228437687085389652018-06-08T09:15:00.001-07:002018-06-08T09:15:27.820-07:00Recapping My Best Trade Ever - $212,000 CVSI Long<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Has it really been over a year since I wrote my last blog post? Wow, that's
embarrassing. Well, I'm going to do a post recapping my CVSI trade, <a href="https://profit.ly/1MvWX5">a record-best $212,000 gain for me</a>, because there are so many great lessons
to be learned from it. I would have recorded a video, but given the fact
that everything microphone-related I own is now either broken or in
Puerto Rico, I have little choice. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There
are really two sides to discuss when it comes to CVSI, the technical
side and the fundamental side. Yes, the "Trading Tickers" guy has
finally started looking at fundamentals. I've spent the last couple of
years slowly improving my ability to read SEC filings and understand their
significance, although I'm sure that I still have a long way to go. But
in this specific case, the basic fundamentals I saw, combined with the
technical chart setup on CVSI, led to one of the most picture-perfect
long setups I've ever seen. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Technical Side:</span></b></div>
<div>
<b></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Does
the term "Multiday Breakout" sound familiar to anyone? I hope it does,
because it's one of the only long setups I've ever been good at or done
videos and posts on. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you're looking at just the one year chart, CVSI's
breakout was above the $.89 level, set on 4/26/18. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFhhKawBURKb1qDNHuOlJD7cz5kkc9F3H0vXAhrK8flXanOnd1b6FRyBNkUgN1SvuNw9gmPU2wqBOh49TARS4nl-qxDWtL8FESyyUb9z2_bSxfG30lgnYfVOodYXTj-t8n6AgCO6aLdxA/s1600/CVSI89.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="543" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFhhKawBURKb1qDNHuOlJD7cz5kkc9F3H0vXAhrK8flXanOnd1b6FRyBNkUgN1SvuNw9gmPU2wqBOh49TARS4nl-qxDWtL8FESyyUb9z2_bSxfG30lgnYfVOodYXTj-t8n6AgCO6aLdxA/s400/CVSI89.PNG" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But if you go back a
bit further on the chart, you'll see a beautiful multi-year high right at the
$1 level. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiePRITI0zdzht5WMnCEPYmQzO4S9naIyMNDDCQ8MqHmsJs0HmTAPm7LrX5AKXEryh5yMIzINOWIqplcTuIiEZWg6Uj8l5ecko947oIkbF-lonxbaEqRiRGoXo4FXA_PtTJlifcBeODjMAk/s1600/CVSI1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="538" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiePRITI0zdzht5WMnCEPYmQzO4S9naIyMNDDCQ8MqHmsJs0HmTAPm7LrX5AKXEryh5yMIzINOWIqplcTuIiEZWg6Uj8l5ecko947oIkbF-lonxbaEqRiRGoXo4FXA_PtTJlifcBeODjMAk/s400/CVSI1.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Yes, the chart goes back further and there is more overhead
resistance (back when the ticker was CANV), but given the complete lack of volume on those trading days,
those levels hardly concerned me at all. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I
was a bit late seeing CVSI. It was on my OTC scanner, but I hadn't paid
much attention to it because I was busy frustrating myself by trying
to short HEAR and BLNK. I think it was eventually a tweet from
<a href="https://twitter.com/InvestorsLive">@InvestorsLive</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/OddStockTrader/">@OddStockTrader</a> that made me take a closer look. I saw
it coming up on the $1 breakout level, and I was very interested in
longing it, just as I would be any other OTC stock. In fact, my first
buys were right around $1 on May 15, as the stock was breaking out. I
also added some shares into weakness on pullbacks and finished the day
long 50,000 shares overnight. </span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFaAqC4lhrdGyNW6B7kh1n6IQSU_rIDvWpObWkag3MZmS-4feWgK7L5YYZ6HryUVKANvsOYzgCEP_w0DR3308-WhkhkQLl7y8RxZ0Z8uaViytdVSqiyAgvGC4c42odIzGPJNXShDdgPdze/s1600/CVSI+Intra.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="349" data-original-width="540" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFaAqC4lhrdGyNW6B7kh1n6IQSU_rIDvWpObWkag3MZmS-4feWgK7L5YYZ6HryUVKANvsOYzgCEP_w0DR3308-WhkhkQLl7y8RxZ0Z8uaViytdVSqiyAgvGC4c42odIzGPJNXShDdgPdze/s400/CVSI+Intra.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I expected a
gap up and further spiking the next morning, but instead, CVSI gapped
down and pulled back under $1, where it consolidated for two days. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqhKKHP72N5CB9qnWxSgrL4o0LvMG2zPdLBzf3BX5CJn24YJd95R-hRpd9h51YUSB54YgObwTBppdoYJoTJqLV9pYxRt_AVx7P2iT09gn6ETO__8fNIzhOKbebVbMsUwXtO29vpZgOedWp/s1600/CVSI+Intra2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="539" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqhKKHP72N5CB9qnWxSgrL4o0LvMG2zPdLBzf3BX5CJn24YJd95R-hRpd9h51YUSB54YgObwTBppdoYJoTJqLV9pYxRt_AVx7P2iT09gn6ETO__8fNIzhOKbebVbMsUwXtO29vpZgOedWp/s400/CVSI+Intra2.PNG" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The
stock was weak, it was red on the day, it wasn't continuing. Why didn't I
just get out and move on? Well, I've been noticing lately that the OTC
breakout pattern seems to be evolving a bit. In the past, I would have
cut on a g/r move like this. But lately, I've been seeing a new pattern
emerging - a shakeout g/r after the first breakout day and then recovery
and continuation. It seems that more and more breakouts are doing this.
More importantly, this red shakeout still seems to hold the original
breakout level area, despite being red on the day (in this case, the
$.90 area). So I adapted, and I've begun to reconsider risk levels I
will use on day 2 of breakouts. It also helped that my average was
around $1 and that I hadn't chased the spike up to the $1.12 closing
price. In fact, I actually used these days to add to my position, and
I wound up long a total of 159,800 shares from a $.986 average. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The
only other thing really worth discussing on the technical side is my
decision to sell. I was very patient with this play, mostly for
fundamental reasons, which I'll discuss next. But also, I do know that
breakouts can go parabolic, and I did believe it was possible the CVSI
action could speed up. When that finally happened and the chart started
to get extended near $2, I figured my time had come. I didn't want to
hold through a giant parabolic, sit through a crash, and watch a huge
gain disappear. I would then likely be stuck in a situation where I'd
have to wait weeks, if not months, not knowing for sure if the stock
would ever rally again. That didn't sound fun. So I paid myself 1/4 of
my position on June 4 and took off the rest on June 5. I mostly paid
myself into strength, taking off in chunks of 5,000 to 10,000 shares
at a time. My average overall exit was $2.317.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUbBrI1GquEG_fWqienI9grbAd5E3wPkYKsz3sUAAPD-0ngfOZNEcHL_3aiVgb0FyvSsCQ4OZ3cXt__stmInWsCuTVUSDO7tSyV_Tg8udyKSMbxykxhPNGksQEnNBhhrlctXHNzs5zr8k8/s1600/CVSI+Intra3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="540" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUbBrI1GquEG_fWqienI9grbAd5E3wPkYKsz3sUAAPD-0ngfOZNEcHL_3aiVgb0FyvSsCQ4OZ3cXt__stmInWsCuTVUSDO7tSyV_Tg8udyKSMbxykxhPNGksQEnNBhhrlctXHNzs5zr8k8/s400/CVSI+Intra3.PNG" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Fundamental Side:</span></b></div>
<div>
<b></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I
don't know if it was random curiosity or strategic planning that made
me open <a href="https://backend.otcmarkets.com/otcapi/company/sec-filings/12753106/content/html">CVSI's most recent 10-Q.</a> All I know is that I found myself
reading an OTC financial statement for one of the first times ever (I do
it quite frequently for listed stocks). Here's a quick summary of the
most basic things I quickly look for when opening a 10-Q and what I
found for CVSI:</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">-Shares outstanding:
90,512,563
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">-Current assets: $9,541,937
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">-Total assets: $23,054,414
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">-Total liabilities: $5,018,468
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">-Stockholders' Equity (assets - liabilities): $18,035,946</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">-Product Sales (Revenue): $8,070,765</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">-Net Income: $619,334</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">-General quick-search through 10-Q for possible ways for the company to dilute and increase share count</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">While
there is definitely much more information you can learn by reading a
complete 10-Q or 10-K, the above info was more than enough for me and
took me just a few minutes to find. My first reaction when looking at
this was a bit of shock, due to the fact that the financials looked
better than most listed stocks I research. It's pretty rare for me to see
a small-cap company with positive net income. With revenues also above
$8 million, it was clear that this company actually has and sells a real
product. For once, I wasn't trying to buy a blatant pump. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">From
there, I looked through a few other things to get a clearer picture of
the fundamental side. I looked back at the previous three quarterly
reports to see what revenues and net income looked like. I quickly
scanned twitter and the Ihub message board to see if anyone had anything
intelligent to say about the company (and ignored the "TO THE MOOOOON"
garbage all over the place). A few quick highlights of things I noticed:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Revenues were steadily increasing every quarter, so the most recent quarterly statement obviously wasn't a one hit wonder.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">-
Net income was improving every quarter, and the biggest expense,
"Selling general, and administrative" was holding steady around $4
million each quarter. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">- On twitter, I found a mention of
their earnings conference call and some things discussed in it. Instead
of taking the tweeter's word for it, <b>I found it and listened for myself.</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">- The conference call discussed how the remainder of their convertible debt had been eliminated.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">-
The presentation slides discussed how distribution channels increasing
was why revenues were increasing. This was another reason not to think it was just a
"lucky quarter."</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">- The conference call discussed plans to uplist to a major exchange late this year</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hopefully, by now you can understand a bit of why I was impressed. This
was nothing like the 99% of the OTC trash I usually trade, this was a
real company with real things going on, breaking to new multi-year
highs. But I didn't drink the kool-aid yet; there still was one thing that concerned me, the market cap valuation. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For
those unfamiliar with this term, market cap is calculated by multiplying the number of
shares outstanding by the price of the stock. That's an easy enough
number to find, great. But what do you do with it? When I saw that CVSI
had a market cap of just over $90 million, what should that mean to me? I
don't know how to decide whether that valuation is "fair" or not. So
rather than stressing about that question, I took another approach. I
decided to see how it stacked up compared to other marijuana stocks in
the sector, based off of their most recent quarterly report that I could
find. For the sake of simplicity, I ignored Canadian companies (didn't
feel like doing currency conversions) and also ignored stocks under
$.10, as I figured their market caps would fluctuate too wildly to be
useful. Below is the (almost certainly incomplete) table I came up with
(share prices as of 5/17/18, to show what I was looking at early in the
run):</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCU2_7t0GBPAKxgnLkFYtLtIjEspAZ5pU1hbrGAk1UCNLtl5TFaCxYoGuQNqZuS3saHj50bgYqJugObcc3PbfmmUyJ_-siYeRI64V93TefoG7YZhONiOYPqaKMqdcmTmX8VqY6vr3I07hY/s1600/table.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="930" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCU2_7t0GBPAKxgnLkFYtLtIjEspAZ5pU1hbrGAk1UCNLtl5TFaCxYoGuQNqZuS3saHj50bgYqJugObcc3PbfmmUyJ_-siYeRI64V93TefoG7YZhONiOYPqaKMqdcmTmX8VqY6vr3I07hY/s400/table.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I found it very interesting to examine
how the market caps of all these stocks related to a few basic
fundamental areas, as I'd never really stopped to consider a sector like
this before. There certainly were a few wacky ones (looking at you
BUDZ), and I was surprised at how few of these companies I've seen run in
the past actually have meaningful revenues. At the time, CVSI ranked
14th out of 35 stocks tracked, with a
<span style="text-align: right;">$93,227,360
market cap. But how did it compare in the other areas? CVSI was #3 in
revenues. It was #1 in net income. It was #5 in both total assets and
S/E. Yet its market cap was only 14th? That seemed wrong to me.
I really
didn't want to say where CVSI "deserved" to be as I'm not qualified or
knowledgeable enough to make that kind of assessment, but I certainly
could use these comparisons to help guide my thinking as to what might be possible. In terms
of revenue, CVSI compared most closely to the top 6 stocks on the list
(except you BUDZ, sorry), and was half the market cap of the lowest one,
TRTC.
Maybe all of these were just overvalued. But since none of them were in
the midst of big parabolic runs, it seemed to me like their market caps
should hold fairly stable at those levels for a while - meaning CVSI
potentially had some catching up to do, in a technical situation where a
parabolic spike certainly was possible. </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Putting It All Together:</span></b></div>
<div>
<b></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So
what does the complete picture look like here? One of the strongest stocks fundamentally
in the marijuana sector, with a much cheaper market cap
than anything comparable, trading in a sector that has a history of
large runs, no share dilution going on, in the midst of a technical
breakout, and possibly uplisting at the end of the year. What's not to
like? So I piled in on the long side, and the break above the $1.12
level made it VERY easy to stay patient and see just how far the run
could go. I would have held months if I'd had to. If there was a sudden
negative news event or the breakout just randomly failed, I would only
be losing unrealized profits. Given the potential I saw, that risk was
more than worth it, to really give the chart a chance to run. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'd
like to give a quick shoutout to <a href="https://twitter.com/MarxistTrader">@MarxistTrader</a>, who absolutely killed
CVSI as well, posting a <a href="https://profit.ly/1MvWZR">verified profit</a> that dwarfs mine! I'd also like
to thank <a href="https://twitter.com/OddStockTrader/">@OddStockTrader</a>, because I had a few discussions with him about CVSI
that really helped me to stay patient. I know he had a great patience trade
on CVSI too. Both of these guys found CVSI well before I did and were
in it from much lower! Excellent research and conviction! </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Trades
like CVSI don't come around often, but when they do, preparation and
experience are always key. Without spending the time outside of market hours to
read the filings, make my comparisons table, or scour message boards for
anything useful, I'd have never recognized this opportunity. As far as
experience is concerned, I've had years of experience trading marijuana
stocks to help me trade CVSI's technical action and to recognize that,
fundamentally, it wasn't just another garbage pump that could go to zero
on me. These are the trades worth showing up to the market every day
for. Hopefully, the market doesn't keep us waiting too long for the next
one!</span></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<br />
Disclosure: No current CVSI position, but I plan to trade CVSI again in the future, both long and short.Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com119tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-29903335594864690272017-08-09T02:57:00.001-07:002017-08-09T02:57:16.678-07:00Trade Recap: -$1500 GBTC Long Loss<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qRrDB2aX83s/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qRrDB2aX83s?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-79869239853996159962017-08-02T20:18:00.002-07:002017-08-02T20:18:33.306-07:00Trade Recap: $7400 MBRX Short<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/x2OrrH8UAJ8/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/x2OrrH8UAJ8?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-59612566605856184962017-08-01T19:40:00.003-07:002017-08-01T19:40:42.323-07:00Trade Recap: $3500 HUSA Short<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4m4HTrKPit4/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4m4HTrKPit4?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-25622698062424530602017-07-28T12:57:00.003-07:002017-07-28T12:57:41.956-07:00Trade Recap: $23,200 RETC Short<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1wz8LaES39c/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1wz8LaES39c?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-8062971655903755412017-07-26T17:28:00.003-07:002017-07-26T17:28:22.676-07:00Trade Recap: $4400 IFON Short<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VIE9m5jQac4/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VIE9m5jQac4?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-83783351731121644072017-07-25T19:22:00.003-07:002017-07-25T19:22:30.990-07:00Trade Recap: $37,000 AEZS Short<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FIaCb4ngZfo/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FIaCb4ngZfo?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-7496353849566568632017-07-24T19:52:00.003-07:002017-07-24T19:52:37.099-07:00Trade Recap: $4800 TOPS Short<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OFaCILW-c7M/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OFaCILW-c7M?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-1964866626402524612017-07-20T19:16:00.003-07:002017-07-20T19:16:54.911-07:00Trade Recap: -$9000 AEZS Loss<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gAeexpKNQ8w/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gAeexpKNQ8w?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-1814075260242768102017-07-19T19:27:00.001-07:002017-07-19T19:27:08.722-07:00Trade Recap: -$4400 CAPR Loss<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KcWRa9WjtrI/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KcWRa9WjtrI?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-90531028357492878382017-07-19T10:11:00.000-07:002017-07-19T10:11:09.137-07:00$7300 MOSY Short Trade Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Sj38LhPhCrc/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Sj38LhPhCrc?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-89065469971167370372017-01-25T17:50:00.002-08:002017-06-24T20:26:12.072-07:00Overdue End of 2016 Recap<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hohKK3qCN4c">January Recap</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH_Cw70MOec">February Recap</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dj7WD_v1MU">March Recap</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xAv8p2ZQI4">April Recap</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLssR4rH0N8">May Recap</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnsI_6erS6s">June Recap</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po3E5VgklkM">July Recap</a><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Alright…</span><span style="color: black;">….</span><span style="color: black;">so </span><span style="color: black;">you might have noticed that </span><span style="color: black;">I fell off the face of the </span><span style="color: black;">e</span><span style="color: black;">arth
after July. As many of you know, I spent September and October
traveling, as well as watching my beloved Cubs win the World Series. In
November we packed our bags and moved, and December was filled with holiday trips and settling </span><span style="color: black;">into</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">our </span><span style="color: black;">new home. Somehow, I found </span><span style="color: black;">the </span><span style="color: black;">time to squeeze trading in there. I'll start by recapping the last few months of the year </span><span style="color: black;">that </span><span style="color: black;">I don't have videos for, then give some overall thoughts relating to the year as a whole.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">August: -$36,312.39</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">My only losing month of the year. Long story short - UPLMQ boned me. I shorted overnight, </span><span style="color: black;">was </span><span style="color: black;">caught in earnings because I forgot to check if they were expected, and </span><span style="color: black;">then I was </span><span style="color: black;">stuck in a huge gap up with no way to get out. </span><span style="color: black;">L</span><span style="color: black;">o</span><span style="color: black;">st over $33k on that trade, </span><span style="color: black;">then </span><span style="color: black;">took one more stupid loss out of frustration a day later</span><span style="color: black;">,</span><span style="color: black;"> before taking the last three weeks of the month off to regroup mentally.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f;">September: $63,091.65</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">Slow
and steady this month. Traded almost every day at least a little bit.
Met a lot of great people in Orlando during Sykes' stock conference.
Just </span><span style="color: black;">went </span><span style="color: black;">back to the basics, cut my losers</span><span style="color: black;">;</span><span style="color: black;"> no wild swings of any kind.</span><br />
<span style="color: #93c47d;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f;">October: $102,059.05</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">Met more amazing people at Traders4ACause! Also, OTC trading came back to life! </span><span style="color: black;">Had a </span><span style="color: black;">couple </span><span style="color: black;">of </span><span style="color: black;">large wins </span><span style="color: black;">by </span><span style="color: black;">shorting some marijuana stocks that ran, but </span><span style="color: black;">I </span><span style="color: black;">put a HUGE dent in my month with a sloppy BTUUQ short. Broke every rule. Didn't cut my entire loss, added to a loser</span><span style="color: black;">.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">I</span><span style="color: black;"> really was just playing too much size given the lack of liquidity and difficulty of fills. Lost $60k </span><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_496072663" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="color: black;">in one day</span></span><span style="color: black;">
on it, made almost all of it back on a big BTUUQ short the next week. But the loss was a
huge blemish on my record and went against EVERYTHING I had been working
towards this year.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f;">November: $73,340.35</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">Insanely lucky to escape this month green. Was trading very well through the first two weeks, then </span><span style="color: black;">was </span><span style="color: black;">incredibly </span><span style="color: black;">sloppy with DRYS. Shorted what I thought was a tiny position at $15 and basically decided </span><span style="color: black;">there was </span><span style="color: black;">no way was I covering </span><span style="color: black;">-</span><span style="color: black;"> this pig was going to come DOWN! Well, </span><span style="color: black;">I was </span><span style="color: black;">finally scared out in the $70s. The next day I made matters worse by once again breaking my golden rule </span><span style="color: black;">-</span><span style="color: black;"> I added to a loser. Took two huge hits on DRYS for -$110,000 and $-70,000. I</span><span style="color: black;">,</span><span style="color: black;"> thankfully, managed to recover almost all of it </span><span style="color: black;">in </span><span style="color: black;">the next two days as the shipping sector crashed, and then </span><span style="color: black;">I </span><span style="color: black;">promptly gave myself a week</span><span style="color: black;">-</span><span style="color: black;">and</span><span style="color: black;">-</span><span style="color: black;">a</span><span style="color: black;">-</span><span style="color: black;">half </span><span style="color: black;">timeout</span><span style="color: black;"> from trading. Again, just a terrible breach of </span><span style="color: black;">my </span><span style="color: black;">rules.</span><br />
<span class="im"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"></span></span><span class="im"><br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f;">December: $118,677.70</span><br />
</span><span class="im"><span style="color: black;">Back
on track. No huge losses. Cut all losers, had some great winners,
showed some good patience on a few swings short. Perfect way to end the
year after a few sloppy months.</span></span><br />
<span class="im"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span>
</span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Overall 2016 Results: $906,665.20</span> <span style="color: red;">(NOT Including $138,300ish in total fees (locates, interest, platforms, etc.))</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">One quick question I want to answer </span><span style="color: black;">that I get often</span><span style="color: black;">. My monthly/annual stats that you see include my trade commissions but NOT my locate fees. I never really look at those </span><span style="color: black;">un</span><span style="color: black;">til I'm doing my taxes</span><span style="color: black;">. </span><span style="color: black;">I just consider them a cost of doing business</span><span style="color: black;">. I'll update this post with the exact figure once I know </span><span style="color: black;">it</span><span style="color: black;">.</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">This year was a huge step in the right direction, but I have a long way to go. The theme of the year was getting myself back under control and cutting my losses. While </span><span style="color: black;">I’ve come </span><span style="color: black;">a long way from where I was in 2015, it </span><span style="color: black;">isn't </span><span style="color: black;">good enough. I'm very bothered by the fact that I took three HUGE losses in the final three months of the year</span><span style="color: black;">,</span><span style="color: black;"> after being nearly perfect up until that point. There </span><span style="color: black;">are </span><span style="color: black;">a couple </span><span style="color: black;">of </span><span style="color: black;">possible reasons for this:</span><br />
<div>
<span style="color: black;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="color: black;">1. </span><b><span style="color: black;">Loss of focus</span></b><span style="color: black;">. I was traveling and moving, trying not to take trading too seriously</span><span style="color: black;">. It's</span><span style="color: black;"> very possible </span><span style="color: black;">that </span><span style="color: black;">I just</span><span style="color: black;"> became mentally</span><span style="color: black;"> lazy. If this is what happened, I MUST be sure in the future to hold myself accountable to my rules, even when I'm not in my office.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: black;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="color: black;">2. </span><b><span style="color: black;">False sense of accomplishment</span></b><span style="color: black;">. After 7+ months of controlling my losses</span><span style="color: black;">,</span><span style="color: black;"> possibly the best I ever have in my career, I may have just let my guard down and said, "Mission accomplished!” </span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">I compare it to baseball </span><span style="color: black;">- </span><span style="color: black;">when
you see a relief pitcher come into the game in a jam, get the first two
outs, and THEN give up the big hit. I think it's more likely that this
is the mental trap I fell into</span><span style="color: black;">,</span><span style="color: black;"> and I'm determined not to repeat it in 2017. No matter how successful you become as a trader, the mental battle is NEVER over. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: black;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="color: black;">Overall though, great year in 2016 and a nice step forward. I'll continue </span><span style="color: black;">to </span><span style="color: black;">slowly increas</span><span style="color: black;">e</span><span style="color: black;"> my size into 2017, as I start the year with </span><span style="color: black;">a </span><span style="color: black;">maximum </span><span style="color: black;">of </span><span style="color: black;">$3000 risk per trade (except for the rarest/best of opportunities). But</span><span style="color: black;"> I have to EARN the right to play larger</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">each month!</span></div>
<span class="im"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div>
<span class="im"><span style="color: black;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span class="im">
</span>
<br />
<div>
<span class="im" style="color: black;">2017 Goals:</span></div>
<span class="im">
</span>
<br />
<div>
<span class="im"><span style="color: black;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span class="im">
</span>
<div>
<span class="im"><span style="color: black;">1. Make it through the WHOLE year maintaining my discipline. Cut my losers, and if I get stuck, NEVER add.</span></span></div>
<span class="im">
<div>
<span style="color: black;"></span><br /></div>
</span><br />
<div>
<span style="color: black;">2.
Work on learning fundamental analysis (listed stocks only). Quick
tangent - I've been blowing this off for a few years now. My assumption
always was that price action rules all, and what big money is doing is
what matters in a trade. However, although I'm still in </span><span style="color: black;">the</span><span style="color: black;">
early stages of learning, I'm quickly seeing that I was wrong. There is
a HUGE advantage to be gained by digging through the fundamentals,
especially matters relating to share structure of a company. While
there's been a </span><span style="color: black;">tremendous amount </span><span style="color: black;">of opportunity this month, January has already blown my best month </span><span style="color: black;">in </span><span style="color: black;">2016 out of the water, and I don't think that's a coincidence. I'm incredibly excited to see where this path leads me</span><span style="color: black;">. The </span><span style="color: black;">combination of technical and fundamental analysis appears to be a lucrative one. I suggest anyone else looking to head down this path start by following and reading everything posted by <a href="https://twitter.com/AuspexResearch">@AuspexResearch</a>. Then the rest is up to you.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: black;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
<span style="color: black;">I'm unsure of what kind</span><span style="color: black;">s</span><span style="color: black;"> of updates I'll be providing throughout 2017 or whether or not I'll be </span><span style="color: black;">providing or posting </span><span style="color: black;">more videos</span><span style="color: black;">. Time</span><span style="color: black;"> will tell. That said, I wish you all the best in your journeys, and </span><span style="color: black;">I </span><span style="color: black;">hope that you take every mistake you make as a learning opportunity!</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-66486980385856334502016-07-08T15:36:00.003-07:002016-07-08T15:36:31.266-07:00June Trading Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnsI_6erS6s/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LnsI_6erS6s?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-41685940626335545972016-06-25T23:50:00.004-07:002016-06-25T23:50:58.077-07:00May Trading RecapBest month of the year despite some sloppy mistakes<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TLssR4rH0N8/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TLssR4rH0N8?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-12024362834504795222016-05-28T21:57:00.003-07:002016-05-28T21:57:41.636-07:00$MGT Trading RecapBreaking down my biggest win on a listed stock in over a year:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FrLRkRohwgE/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FrLRkRohwgE?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-3509036981196854342016-05-01T10:29:00.004-07:002016-05-01T10:29:35.443-07:00April Trading RecapMy best month in quite a while, great discipline and great results!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-xAv8p2ZQI4/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-xAv8p2ZQI4?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-2814092153307158302016-04-13T20:49:00.003-07:002016-04-13T20:49:34.820-07:00March Trading Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5dj7WD_v1MU/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5dj7WD_v1MU?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-77464532947004303962016-03-02T21:19:00.001-08:002016-03-02T21:20:07.138-08:00February Trading RecapMy fourth month of trading smaller and working on my discipline, but also my best month yet! Still plenty to work on though!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GH_Cw70MOec/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GH_Cw70MOec?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-45808194947831509182016-02-03T11:02:00.000-08:002016-02-03T11:02:51.523-08:00January Trading RecapMuch better job not fighting stocks this month and with my sizing, loss cutting could use some work still though. I also need to start focusing on my entries more, way too many missed/squandered opportunities this month!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hohKK3qCN4c/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hohKK3qCN4c?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a7ZSLtv63pVI-d41RYf-CcQtRZOIEEAmOgalN9kbQYA/edit#gid=1346046340">Link to loss journal</a>Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-3240505290307305612016-01-06T12:31:00.000-08:002016-01-18T12:25:41.692-08:00Some 2016 UpdatesSince we're entering a new year, I figured it would beneficial to do a quick post updating some information that may be out of date or not clearly stated on my blog. I hope everyone finds this beneficial and it answers some questions!<br />
<br />
<b>Brokers I am using:</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Centerpoint Securities (ETC Clearing)</li>
<li>Centerpoint Securities (Vision Clearing)</li>
<li>Speedtrader (COR Clearing)</li>
<li>Fidelity (Roth 401k Retirement Account)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<div>
<b>Trading platforms I use:</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>DAS Trader (Provided by Speedtrader)</li>
<li>Sterling Trader Pro (Provided by Centerpoint)</li>
<li>ThinkorSwim by TD Ameritrade (For free charting only)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>Level 2 Provider:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>DAS Trader (Available through numerous brokers)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<b>Stock scanner I use:</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>"Equityfeed"</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>Similar scanners I have used and liked:</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Interactive Brokers scanner (found on their TWS Platform)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>News alert software:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Thomson Reuters Eikon</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<b>Free scanners (with less features):</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://finviz.com/screener.ashx">http://finviz.com/screener.ashx</a></li>
<li>ThinkorSwim by TD Ameritrade scanner</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>Stock promoters I follow closely:</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://tradetheticker.blogspot.com/p/stock-promoters.html">http://tradetheticker.blogspot.com/p/stock-promoters.html</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<b>Trading rules I think are most important:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://tradetheticker.blogspot.com/2014/02/some-tips-for-new-traders-from-old-blog.html">http://tradetheticker.blogspot.com/2014/02/some-tips-for-new-traders-from-old-blog.html</a></li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Trader Tax Preparation Services:</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://greennfh.com/">Green NFH</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.tradelogsoftware.com/">Tradelog software</a></li>
</ul>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Any questions not answered here can be found on my FAQ page:</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://tradetheticker.blogspot.com/p/list-of-faq.html">http://tradetheticker.blogspot.com/p/list-of-faq.html</a></li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-9775671972848196062016-01-04T20:20:00.000-08:002016-01-04T21:45:49.078-08:00December Trading RecapHere's my video recap for the month of December! Overall a slightly better month, but I still have a ways to go. Biggest thing I need to work on is detaching from the money side of things and just focusing on trading well!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hvu3p6_ETlk/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hvu3p6_ETlk?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
Link to loss journal: <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a7ZSLtv63pVI-d41RYf-CcQtRZOIEEAmOgalN9kbQYA/edit#gid=1782025275">https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a7ZSLtv63pVI-d41RYf-CcQtRZOIEEAmOgalN9kbQYA/edit#gid=1782025275</a>Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-40704112932290360192015-11-30T16:44:00.001-08:002015-11-30T16:44:48.483-08:00November Trading RecapBefore I launch into my recap of November, let me take a moment to thank all of you that took the time to reach out to me with words of encouragement following <a href="http://tradetheticker.blogspot.com/2015/11/working-to-break-slump.html">my last post</a>. I truly appreciate all of the support and suggestions!<br />
<div>
<br />
We're going to go ahead and do a video recap! It just comes across way better than text in my opinion, but if anyone would prefer I go to written recaps let me know!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a7ZSLtv63pVI-d41RYf-CcQtRZOIEEAmOgalN9kbQYA/edit?usp=sharing">Here is the link to my loss journal</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/O0RRMMlo2No/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O0RRMMlo2No?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br /></div>
Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-19829898048651058432015-11-21T09:36:00.001-08:002015-11-21T14:46:24.657-08:00Working to Break a SlumpFor the past several months, I've been suffering through the worst slump I have ever experienced since I started trading. You really could say that ever since my <a href="http://tradetheticker.blogspot.com/2015/05/quick-recap-of-my-pbmd-debacle.html">PBMD loss</a> in late May, I haven't been the same. I let myself turn into a stubborn trader with an inflated ego, someone who cared more about making "enough" money than about trading well. I notice that many of my favorite setups still work well, but my ability to trade them has greatly deteriorated due to mental and emotional mistakes. It has been incredibly frustrating and humbling, and one day in October it led me to ask that dreaded question, "Am I sure I want to keep trading?"
<br />
<br />
<div>
<div>
99% of the time, I absolutely love trading. I love the challenge of it and the potential reward if you're performing at your best. That's why it was so surprising to me to find myself in that place emotionally, because I'd never been there before. I had to stop and evaluate why I had suddenly had been pushed over that edge, when I hadn't even felt that low back when I was first learning and struggling. </div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
When I finally came up with the answer, it was actually pretty frightening. <b>I felt that I had lost the ability to control myself and my emotions</b>. I wasn't losing because I couldn't make sense of the markets. I wasn't losing because my favorite patterns stopped working. I was losing because of ego. I was losing because time and time again, I would watch a stock blow through my mental stop point without taking it off. I was losing because I couldn't even get myself to put in physical stop losses, as I vowed I would do. I was losing because I'd get frustrated by all of this and then play the next setup with ten times the size I'd played anything else recently. You can guess how that usually ended. I thought about quitting because I couldn't stand the thought of possibly throwing away everything I'd worked so hard for, especially due to what boiled down to a lack of discipline.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
Of course, we're talking about my lowest moment here. The other 99% of me that loves trading won out with ease, because I still believe in myself and enjoy trading so much. But it was still uncomfortable to find myself asking that question, and it was even more uncomfortable realizing how hard changing these bad habits really is. For example, I've been talking about needing to cut losses better since my <a href="http://tradetheticker.blogspot.com/2014/10/lessons-from-my-290000-lake-loss.html">LAKE loss last year</a> - and two six-figure losses later here I am still talking about it. This is exactly why so many traders fail. It's easy to figure out the changes you need to make, but so many of us lack the fortitude to follow through and actually make and sustain those changes.<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
I don't want to be another failing trader statistic. I don't want to become a story about someone who made it big and then threw it all away. So now I'm going to truly get serious about changing, rather than just jumping back into the market as if everything is "business as usual," like I normally do after a bad run. I read my first trading book ever, <i><a href="http://tradetheticker.blogspot.com/2015/11/momo-traders-my-first-ever-recommended.html">Momo Traders</a></i>, and am currently working through my first trading psychology book, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Daily-Trading-Coach-Psychologist/dp/0470398566">The Daily Trading Coach: 101 Lessons for Becoming Your Own Trading Psychologist</a>. </i>I've lowered my position sizes drastically, telling myself that I will now only risk $1000/trade, or $2000, if it is truly an exceptional setup. I have also identified the three most costly trading mistakes I make and will be meticulously tracking them and working to eliminate them.<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>FOMO (Entering a trade due to Fear of Missing Out, rather than waiting for my ideal setup)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Trading too large (Sizing in with more than my planned $1000/$2000 risk for various reasons) </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Failure to cut losses (Continuing to hold a stock beyond my planned stop point)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
Every month, if I make one of these mistakes and take a loss, I will enter it into my log. At the end of every month, I'm going to use this blog to help hold myself accountable. I will post an end-of-the-month recap and share all of my losing trades that broke these rules, with details. The goal will be to see improvement every month, as I, hopefully, slowly eliminate these mistakes from my trading. ONLY when I've seen significant improvement will I begin to consider sizing up again.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
You can expect a post from me in early December, recapping my November trading. It has already been a wild ride as I lost discipline for about a week and a half and fell into some very frustrated/emotional trading. More on that later! </div>
</div>
Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-30095276716151590862015-11-05T12:57:00.001-08:002015-11-05T20:29:53.127-08:00Momo Traders - My First Ever Recommended Trading BookOver the past couple of years, I'm sure I've frustrated many of my readers who have asked me the question, "What trading books do you recommend?" I've simply never had an answer. Reading trading books never interested me. I had skimmed a couple, but for the most part, I felt like I would just be wasting my time. My thinking was that I would rather spend my time learning by watching the market than from outdated info in a book. Sure, reading the stories of billionaires on Wall Street could be interesting, but there was no way I could relate to that or use it to make myself a better trader. By the time I even knew trading psychology books existed (one of the only categories that I think could be useful), I was already quite successful and felt like I didn't need them.<br />
<br />
In late 2014, Brady (<a href="https://twitter.com/MiltonaTrades">@MiltonaTrades</a>) and Nate (<a href="https://twitter.com/InvestorsLive">@InvestorsLive</a>) approached me and asked if I would be interested in being one of ten traders featured in their upcoming trading book, <i><a href="http://www.momotraders.com/">Momo Traders</a></i>. The book would be written in a question/answer interview style and explore the path each individual trader took to eventual success, as well as the many lessons they learned along the way. I loved the idea and agreed to be interviewed, which turned out to be one of the most intense interviews I have ever participated in. The Skype interview took almost three hours to complete, but left me feeling great about the quality of information I had shared, and I was incredibly excited to read the interviews of all of the other traders who had been featured. In my mind, I was (and still am) a small fish compared to some of these traders, who make millions of dollars per year. Like myself and everyone else, they had all started as beginners once, with much less money to their name, and I wanted to read about their journey and learn everything I could from them.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.momotraders.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/SiteMain2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.momotraders.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/SiteMain2.png" height="304" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Now, a year later, <i><a href="http://www.momotraders.com/">Momo Traders</a> </i>has finally been released. As I had hoped, the stories inside are absolutely incredible. When you see these traders posting screen shots of their massive profits now, they don't seem human. However, to read all of their stories, hear about their early struggles, and learn that they came from the same place that you did, is incredibly inspiring. No two stories or strategies are the same. So I would suggest that you really take your time while reading each chapter, maybe read just one or two chapters a day like I did.<br />
<br />
Another big perk to <i><a href="http://www.momotraders.com/">Momo Traders</a> </i> is that a <a href="http://www.investorsunderground.com/how-momotraders-book-brought-another-22000-to-support-bcrf/">portion of the proceeds goes to charity</a>! Not only are you investing in your education, you're contributing to a good cause! There is SO MUCH to learn from each one of these traders, so I highly recommend you pick up your copy on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Momo-Traders-Tips-Tricks-Strategies/dp/069251080X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1446756313&sr=8-1&keywords=momo+traders">Amazon</a> or at <a href="http://momotraders.com/">momotraders.com</a>. It's a very inexpensive investment towards your education, and you can learn how these ten traders, who were once beginners too, became the millionaires they are today.<br />
<br />
<br />Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2590837296939341634.post-62463843671766573072015-09-10T09:35:00.003-07:002015-09-11T06:39:32.400-07:00More Details About My WatchlistsFor the past six months or so, those of you that follow me <a href="https://twitter.com/kroyrunner89">on Twitter</a> may have noticed that I've been posting a list of stock symbols that I'm watching for the following day. I'll be the first to admit that this is not at all detailed regarding my plans for my trades - I just want people to have an idea of what I'm looking at. For those of you who haven't been following me, below is an example of what one of my watchlists might look like:<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjARyf4F1XzV7iePKX9pAcNoKVXS7U5IAwHhT-3oIBXWo8qR2I1GnVKVSklgpXBvV4GpULmwUoDf1KCaRnW0rU6zi-4GVJ6p3VLksjoriFhQIN13YnQjG4KIeI_tcoe9YBa_MhZZ26psp4q/s1600/9.8.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="90" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjARyf4F1XzV7iePKX9pAcNoKVXS7U5IAwHhT-3oIBXWo8qR2I1GnVKVSklgpXBvV4GpULmwUoDf1KCaRnW0rU6zi-4GVJ6p3VLksjoriFhQIN13YnQjG4KIeI_tcoe9YBa_MhZZ26psp4q/s400/9.8.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The responses I receive from users who view these watchlists are far-ranging. The most common question I'm asked is, "Long or short?" Sometimes, one of the stocks will make an especially severe move in one direction or the other and I'll get a "Great call!" Or every now and then I may even get an especially entertaining troll warning me not to short their company because it's going to save the world with whatever miracle product they're working on. Regardless of which of these categories you fall into, I want to provide a little bit more detail about what these watchlists mean and what I'm thinking behind the scenes that you don't see.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For those of you that missed HOW I pick tickers for my watchlists, you can find my <a href="http://tradetheticker.blogspot.com/2014/02/question-how-do-you-create-your.html">OTC scan parameters in this post</a>, while my listed stock scan requirements are in my <a href="http://tradetheticker.blogspot.com/2014/10/my-2014-and-2013-vegas-presentation.html">2014 Vegas presentation slides</a>. Once I have these tickers, what is my plan for them?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The truth is, when I list these stocks, I probably am short-biased most of the time. When I say short-biased, I mean that the primary play I'm looking for the next day is a short sale opportunity. But this is not always the case. There are some long setups I like as well. <b>Which way I'm biased is always affected by the "big picture", how the daily chart looks</b>. I run my scans, I look at daily charts, and I cherry pick the setups that I think I may have an edge with, long or short.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
While all you see may be my list of tickers, far more goes into my watchlist than that. Below, you can see an image of the FULL watchlist that I created for myself the night before September 8:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMw7vc82JoZPNEdAagWr8gQv_KawJ_XdZbNlL98X0US2FlZz9S5aK_O26YrZWE68TiSSgWRHx1f4DivM8LELntLT54VB1xu7lLloNMleBaxBe-OdH2cjf3_K4nLfNZHP-7ldihb2fsrpcm/s1600/watch.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMw7vc82JoZPNEdAagWr8gQv_KawJ_XdZbNlL98X0US2FlZz9S5aK_O26YrZWE68TiSSgWRHx1f4DivM8LELntLT54VB1xu7lLloNMleBaxBe-OdH2cjf3_K4nLfNZHP-7ldihb2fsrpcm/s400/watch.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
As you can see, I have very specific plans for each ticker. In some cases, I have a plan for both a long AND a short opportunity, should the setup present itself. <b>Just because a ticker is on my watchlist does not guarantee I will trade it the next day</b>! When I pick my stocks, I have a VERY specific scenario I'm looking for in order to make a play. If that scenario doesn't present itself, I will not feel compelled to do something anyway with the stock. In some cases a stock I was looking to short will fade away all day, but I won't trade it once, because it never gave me the ideal setup I was looking for. I have absolutely no problem missing the play if that is the case.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This is how I trade day after day. My list of stocks changes, my plans change depending on the daily chart (and in some cases, some intraday details), and then the next morning I look for my top watches to, hopefully, give me an opportunity I planned for. I'm watching these stocks because they're liquid, because they're volatile, and because they're the most likely to set up in a chart pattern that I'm familiar and comfortable with. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm sorry I don't share my full watchlists on a nightly basis, and I have no plans to do so. I really do believe that it's possible to be too spoon-fed when it comes to trading and that it will hinder newer traders' development if they're just trying to follow other people's plans. I'll let you know what I'm watching, but you will only improve by making your own plans, trading your own niche, and looking for the setups that YOU are comfortable with. This may also mean making your own mistakes, but I know that I wouldn't have become a successful trader if it wasn't for learning from the mistakes I made day after day when I first started trading. Even now, mistakes are my best learning tool.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I hope my nightly list of tickers continues to be helpful, but I encourage all of you to form your own bias, make your own plan, and learn from your mistakes along the way! </div>
Tim Grittanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02368873204236634040noreply@blogger.com31