Daily Recap: Learning from Today's Trading Mistakes

Today, my goal was to take fewer trades to better simulate a real account. Unfortunately, I failed to achieve this and should have limited myself to no more than three trades for the day. Tomorrow, I plan to stick to this limit.

I started the day strong with my first trade. In a real money account, that single trade would have been my only one for the day, netting me a $75 gain. I should have taken my win and walked away, but I continued trading and ended the day with a significant loss of $170. Normally, I would stop at a 10% loss for the day, but since I was on a simulator, I wanted to get more practice. This decision led to even greater losses, but it was a valuable lesson in discipline and the importance of knowing when to walk away.

Let's take a closer look at my trades with LRHC:

First Trade: I bought LRHC at $2.77 on a pullback with a strict stop limit in place. The stock rose, and I sold at $3.02, resulting in a $75 gain. This was a substantial win, and I should have stopped trading for the day.
Second Trade: I re-entered LRHC at $3.08, which was a poor decision. The stock showed signs of indecision with a doji and a shooting star candle. I sold at $2.93, incurring a loss. A stop limit at $3.00 would have minimized the loss, but the primary mistake was re-entering the trade without strong indicators.
Third Trade: I bought in at $3.17 and sold at $3.26, making a small gain. This trade was well-executed with a tight stop limit.

Subsequent Trades: My next three trades were poorly timed and poorly executed:

I bought at $3.29 and sold at $3.25 due to a strict stop limit. This trade lacked volume and clear indicators.
I bought at $3.04 during a sell-off with no strong indicators, aiming for the 20 EMA and $3.00 support lines. I sold at $2.77 for a significant loss.
I bought back in at $2.85 on a slight ramp-up, despite the MACD crossover and low volume. I sold at $2.77 for another loss, and this buy was ill-advised as it was below both the 9 EMA and 20 EMA, adding resistance.

Overall, today was rough and demotivating. While I was trading on a simulator with no real financial loss, the mistakes I made impacted my confidence. I need to focus on taking my wins and walking away, avoiding greed and over-trading. Additionally, I must learn to accept losses and move on without repeatedly buying into the same stock unless there are strong indicators of a ramp-up.

Tomorrow is a new day, and I will approach it with a positive mindset, aiming to make just a few well-considered trades.