Daily Recap: A Tough Day with Valuable Lessons

Today was a challenging day in my trading journey, with both of my trades ending in losses despite being based on news. The key takeaway for me is the importance of trading only in clear uptrends and avoiding stocks that show signs of a downtrend. I need to be more patient and disciplined, even if it means sitting out for the day when no strong trends are present. I ended the day with a loss of $34.42, bringing my account balance down to $861.31. Let’s break down the trades.

Trade 1: CING

CING was the top gapper in the premarket with news, so I decided to take a position shortly after the market opened. I entered at $4.36 with a 15-cent offset on my stop loss, but the volatility of the first 30 minutes proved to be too unpredictable. Within a minute, the price fluctuated rapidly, triggering my stop loss at $4.172, resulting in a loss of $16.94. The speed of the market led to a 4-cent slippage on my stop, underscoring the need to wait for a clear trend to establish itself after the open before making trades.

Trade 2: TPST

TPST had momentum and a new catalyst, but unfortunately, it started to sell off shortly after the open. I entered the trade at $1.65, hoping for a rebound, with a 7-cent stop loss at $1.58. However, the stock continued to downtrend, and I was stopped out at $1.58, leading to a loss of $17.55. This trade highlighted a recurring issue for me—trading on a downtrend in hopes of a reversal, which rarely works out.

Reflection

Today’s experience has reinforced the need to be patient and wait for the market to establish a clear trend before entering trades. I need to avoid trades that don’t meet these criteria, even if that means not trading at all. Tomorrow is a new day, and I’m committed to applying these lessons to make better decisions going forward.