Daily Recap: A Tough End to the Week with Lessons Learned

Today was another challenging day that extended my losing streak. I made a couple of costly mistakes, which led to further losses, even though there were some good opportunities in the market. This first week of the month has been rough, but I’m determined to come back stronger next week. I ended the day with a loss of $47.53, bringing my account balance down to $1,059.34. Let’s dive into the trades.

Trade 1: FFIE

FFIE had some news and gapped up during premarket trading, but after the market opened, it sold off heavily. Despite it being a downtrending stock, I decided to take a trade, which in hindsight was a poor choice. I entered at $4.74 after seeing what I thought were decent signals. The price initially went up, barely reaching a 1:1 RR, but I was aiming for a 2:1 RR. Unfortunately, the momentum faded, and the price dropped, stopping me out at $4.51 with 3 cents of slippage for a loss of $25.56.

This trade reminded me of a key rule I need to follow more strictly: avoid trading stocks that have been trending down all day, no matter the news or signals.

Trade 2: WHLR

WHLR also had a catalyst today and presented multiple opportunities for profit. I missed an earlier entry but was eyeing a re-entry point later in the day. Unfortunately, I made a critical error by setting my buy order too early, at $8.70. The price spiked quickly, triggering my order at $8.50 due to slippage, and then dropped rapidly. I was stopped out at $8.10 for a loss of $22.02.

Had I waited for the price to approach my entry point and placed the order when I was ready, I would have taken a much better entry and possibly captured a 3:1 RR. There were even multiple chances for profitable trades on this stock throughout the day, but my premature order placement cost me.

Reflection

This week was tough, both because of my mistakes and the overall market conditions. The market was down for most of the week, which made it more difficult to find solid setups. However, today’s losses were entirely preventable, and I learned two key lessons:

1. Avoid trading downtrending stocks: Even with news or catalysts, stocks that are trending down from the start of the day are too risky for me right now. I need to stick to uptrending stocks to minimize unnecessary losses.
2. Be more precise with order placement: Setting buy orders too far in advance can lead to slippage and unfavorable fills. I’ll wait until the price is closer to my intended entry before setting my orders in the future to avoid this issue.

Despite the rough week, I’m looking forward to applying these lessons next week and bouncing back.