Trade recap 4/28 YOKU

This trade recap is being done on 4/29 , however it is for the action of YOKU on 4/28 which was on this days watch list. My idea for YOKU was R/G play after the strong action the day before. One aspect of the R/G play which gets many people confused is that it does not have to be a quick play right out of the gate. A R/G play can take its time setting up before it starts to curl up on its way to green. Another aspect of a r/g play is that it doesnt HAVE to go green as long as you anticipate it on the long set up you can take a nice trade in it and not need to hold it for the green move. YOKU was an example of both. First it pulled back quite a bit before setting up a higher low move which is where i entered for the move at 18.17. And second, it did not go green but had a nice juicy move! Here is what is the daily as of today, remember the move I traded was yesterdays candle.

As you can see after the strong day I had it on watch for a pullback red or weak open in the morning. I was looking for a set up to take for the move to green or at least close to it. Here is what i found

So as I always say, once you have a bias for that day you are looking to trade, be patient and wait for the set up to form. Do not take the opposite trade unless you have a plan for it. My plan for this one was a R/G so I waited for the opportunity for this play to show up

Watch list 4/28!!

Today I have a pretty short watch list for longs. Did not spot too much I could say WOW to

YOKU---This was a fantastic mover today, looking for a R/G move perhaps tomorrow

DANG---Also looking for a R/G move here

GRUB---Looking for R/G as above

CLF---Consolidation day today, either R/G move or push out of the gate a pullback for long.

JMEI---Could take some more time but watching this one for a break out of the consolidation range

Trade recap TASR---Is confirmation necessary

Today my trade recap is not going to be about a successful trade. Today I am going to discuss a trade from my watch list that I ended up stopped out of but it could've been much worse if I had become stubborn and stayed in it. This trade brings about the issue of entering a trade on confirmation or anticipating the move. When should one be used over the other. Todays trade is TASR from the watch list last night.

Last night if you remember I had TASR on for a long trade once it broke out of the pattern it was forming, here is another look at it

My idea was that it was going to break over the upper trendline I had drawn and I would enter at that spot. However sometimes I assume a stock is going to make a particular move due to the daily chart or 30 min set up and I try to anticipate the move it "will" make. This is used to try to enter a potential break out before the break out. Many times once the breakout happens people rush into it and you may end up chasing a stock. Let me show you where I entered and what happened next

So as you can see here, I entered following what I thought was a higher low set up for the push to new highs and the breakout over 30. This however did not come to pass as it failed to follow through and broke the trend  setting up for a nice short for the rest of the day. Could I have taken it short, sure, but as I mentioned at the start of my blogging, I am only looking for long set ups at the moment. So in this case would confirmation over 30 have been better? sure in hindsight confirmation on this play would have been much better. It also started the day weak and since this wasnt quite a R/G set up ( they need to have had a strong previous day to qualify for r/g) that was the first sign that i should wait some more to see if it would make the move over 30 or not.

The truth is when you are trading you are always anticipating something that "may" happen. Nothing is certain in trading, and the fact that I anticipated isnt a bad thing. What would have bad is if I had held as it went lower and lower. This trade in my view was not a mistake but a success since I got out when I had to get out. Keeping my loss to a minimum. Could I have waited for confirmation based on the look of the daily? sure, but if this had skyrocketed after my entry and i waited for confirmation, I wouldve been writing a blog called should I have anticipated lol  Hope you enjoyed this! If anyone has another take on this please comment below, I would love to learn other points of view

New Watch list 4/27 !!!

Hey guys! Here is my new watch list of longs for tomorrow!

SONS---Looking for a R/G move here on this one. Showing some nice strength after the move on Friday

CLNE---I believe this one could still go some more perhaps 8.50-9 Looking for a R/G move. If it gaps up I will stay away for the long

BITA---Also looking for a continuation here and R/G move is most likely in my opinion

HZNP---Looking for a nice flat top breakout here. Chart looks sweet!Could be a nice multiple time frame breakout here

JBLU---This one has been setting up for a nice multiple time frame breakout! Coiling up super nicely on the 30 min time frame. Could be a sweet mover this week

YOKU---I like how this one is making higher lows. Could see a push up to the ma200 on the daily. Looking perhaps for a R/G

FTNT---Not much resistance overhead, this one had some time to consolidate on FRiday for a nice push. Coiling up beautifully on the 30 min timeframe. If this breaks out it could be nice!

TASR---Setting up nicely here for a break. Higher lows have been forming and looking for the push above this area!

Trade Recap FEYE

Good morning. I am here on a Saturday morning in Miami writing a trading recap, wow I must really love trading :) Today I am going to talk about a nice yet tricky stock I encountered yesterday. FEYE

FEYE---My idea for this one on the scan was for a push higher out of the gate. On the daily I really liked the consolidation pattern it was forming and I thought sooner or later it was going to make a nice move to the upside. Here is how the chart ended up yesterday. It pulled back at the end of the day, but we had a nice long trade early on.

Now as I like to do, let's zero in on the intraday action and take some notes. The stock opened with a slight gap up into resistance from the day before, gap ups can be tricky because with no news to send it you never know if it will fade off or keep on going. It then bounced a little off a nice area of support. The reason I would not have bought here is because personally i like to wait for a higher low or at least a double bottom before taking the risk to enter. Just a higher prob set up in my opinion.

Next it began to move back down again but these candles started to look weaker. In my opinion it is also very important to look at the strength of the candles into a move or pullback. This can tell you loads of information. I dont mean simply candlestick patterns but more importantly the size, overlap and wicks of a candle. Here was the tricky part which tends to happen a lot before nice moves. The last candle below the reversal was actually a lower low but if you look at it , it barely pierced the previous low, so this was a classic fakeout move to get people out. Remember the plan for this one was a long NOT a short, so even if it looks as thought it is going to go short you dont touch it unless you have confirmation. Follow your rules. Next it reversed and once it broke the trendline that was forming it was a confirmed long. Here is a look at it with the trend line drawn.

So in summary you have to be ready to encounter these types of moves. Sometimes trick moves will happen to shake you out of the trade or to prevent you from getting in. But if you have your bias set and see a fake out like so followed by a break of a trend line to the upside you know its time for a nice move in that direction. So as always remember to stick to your plan and wait for the trade you were looking for UNLESS you have a plan in the opposite direction.

Watch List 4/24

Lots of plays worked off yesterdays watchlist , let's hope I can keep this going :) Here is todays list

X--- I am loving this one for a continuation off of todays move. Possibly a nice R/G or could pop right out of the gate and offer a pullback entry. Either way, stick to the plan

CLNE---Also looking for a continuation play, great looking set up here possible also a R/G move

HALO---This one has been known to have nice follow through days after a big day like it had today. I would like to see a R/G move but I know it can move right out of the gate

ADXS---Like WUBA last night, I dont think this one is quite finished yet. Even though it is a riskier play at this point I believe it still has 1 more day in it , possibly a R/G move out of the gate.

FEYE---This one is in a nice consolidation on the daily and could break out of this range, looking for the move higher either tomorrow or next week

YOKU---I'm looking for this one to make a break over this mini flat top base here, would be a sweet breakout on multiple time frames

ZIOP---Confirmation of a support area today, looking for the move higher for entry. Mover over 11.50 would be key

ESPR---Also a possible continuation move beautiful chart pattern. I am looking for the R/G move for the break higher

Trade Recap featuring CLDX

I want to try and feature a trade recap of 1 or 2 stocks, preferably from my watch list that turned out to be great trades that particular day. These trade recaps will be to train our minds on how to spot entries and exits in stocks which are in play. They say the best way to learn is by teaching, so here I go! My best shot!

CLDX---Last night I had this one for a long play. My idea was for a R/G move out of the gate. My reasoning behind this scan idea was the daily chart. I loved the look of the daily it had just started to break out and I thought wow this has potential here for some more. I wasnt too crazy about the 30 min chart ( which I use to better time my entries) I did however fall in love with the daily. Here is a snap shot of it as of 2pm

Now lets zero in on the intraday move. I use the 3min chart intraday to time my entries. I want to make it clear that as of now I am trading on a simulator while I practice and get in my reps before going live again. So any mention of entries and exits are all on sim.

Notice how the stock started red, many may think of that as a short set up forming , what you always HAVE to remember , and this is what made all the difference in the world to me, is , what is the BIGGER picture telling me. The daily , was it overextended? was bad news released ...and the answer to those questions is NO. In other words there would be a higher probability to look for the R/G move than to look for a short. And we are all about taking higher prob set ups. Would I have taken it short if it failed to go green? No, because that wasnt my plan and I had no plan for a short in CLDX. If it collapsed to 0 I would just have to watch it.

Did CLDX offer any other opportunities to enter? Sure it did!

R/G plays are now turning into one of my fav plays, perhaps because of how bullish this market environment is. Maybe in the future I will love G/R plays , who knows. This set up is great when you spot a daily chart which could still possibly go higher. I dont know too much of the psychology behind them, but what i understand is that the buyers from the day before are simply taking profits, however , new people who still see potential take advantage of the dip to buy in. Simple enough :) Hope you enjoyed my first Trade recap

Watch List 4/23

Good evening everyone. Here is my watch list for 4/23

CLDX---My idea for this one tomorrow is a Red to Green move (R/G)  It may also gap up and push in which case i would wait for a pullback to enter long.

SFUN---I still see some potential upside in this one! I would love this one as a weak open R/G type play as well

WUBA---As long as this doesnt gap up i still see this as a potential long. R/G would be the play here. I will forget it if it gaps up a lot

TASR---Continuation long here , looking for a nice intraday long set up, perhaps a push out of the gate and pullback for an entry

CIT---Here is a chart i really like , this is a potential gorgeous flat top breakout here. Mover over 48.30 should do it, looking for a nice intraday set up to anticipate it.

SPWR---Another gorgeous set up here , looking for the move above 35, also however looking for a nice intraday set up to anticipate this

YNDX---This one is still looking to breakout of this sideways consolidation move here. Could do it at any moment and we need to be ready for it. A move over 21 would be sweet

My Trading story part 2

Welcome back to my blog, in this blog I will continue talking about my history in trading.

Where I last left off I had lost a huge amount of profits in a stock called ATRN because of my unwillingness to sell in 2012, right before this stock declared bankruptcy. After this "episode" I got rid of the "guru" I was trading with at the time. I decided at this point that I was going to take matters into my own hands and learn how to trade. From the end of 2012 onward I began to immerse myself into all I could find trading related. I was like a sponge, I just wanted to soak up all the info and knowledge I could find on trading so that i would never make the same mistake again. I also began dabbling in penny stock and yes I must admit, sub penny stock trading. The allure of huge profits was there , however huge losses were also possible. I had my fair share of good trades as well as my poor trades in which I would give all the profits back, so all in all I was flat in my learning process. I did meet many great traders who became friends of mine in the process, which is always a plus for us lonely home based traders.

2013 was a year of learning, some trading and a lot of investigating. I tried it all , I was in search of the holy grail of indicators as we all are. I used RSI, Stochastic, Chalkin money flow, Force indicator ( not from Star wars I swear ) among many many others and some worked for some stocks and others worked in other stocks but at some point they all failed and I would lose money. I even had someone convince me that when all indicators were completely flat a big move was coming....lol I guess now i know it just means the stock is not doing anything.

At the end of 2013 I began to get very serious about my trading education. I had been studying on my own , not taking any courses or watching any educational DVDs up until now. I decided to invest some hard earned money into some pricey but fantastic products. I started with Cameron Fous's courses which opened my eyes to a lot of what i had been missing. His take on losses was worth the entire price of the DVD , his scans were also very simple and straight to the point. It was also the first time I had really looked into intraday trading, before this I had seen it as only something true pros would do. He made it look realistic for anyone. Next I started looking at Nathan Michaud's DVD and it too opened me up to many new things especially price action style trading. Not focusing on indicators as much but what is price telling you. It was also the first time I truly understood shorting. Up to this point I didnt care about it or understand it too much. Both DVD's are fantastic and I am glad i spent the money to purchase them. I knew however that i wanted more, and they say that when the student is ready the teacher will show up. And that is when Cameron lead me to Kunal and the Bulls on wall street group. When I saw that they offered a bootcamp I wanted to take it because I knew i needed a structured class to truly be successful , ask questions and then get to where I wanted to be in the long run. And I was not disappointed! Stay tuned for part 3 in a few days!

Watch List for 4/21

Since this is my first official watch list, let me share some information on how I put these together.  First I am trying to keep my watch list to a minimum, no more than 10 stocks at the most. I will only be posting long set ups. Flat top breakout plays, flag set ups as well as one of my favorite plays the red to green set ups. I will not be searching for short set ups in my scan for the time being as i want to keep my set ups to a minimum so as to not suffer from paralysis by analysis. If I find the a stock I like that can go either way I will mention that in my watch list. I will however try to stay away from those as I learn how to be disciplined and only trade what i wrote out in my plan.

NVGN-- I wouldn't call this one too overextended only because before today's move it had some rest and a chance to consolidate. Today was a strong day after the pm gap up. I am looking to see a nice weak open red to green (r/g) move. It could also gap and push strong at the open. I would only enter in this situation after a pullback to the emas

TASR--- Also looking for a weak open R/G move here on this one. I believe this could still go higher

ROSG--- Looking for a continuation long here for a move over 4.30. Daily chart looks primed for this. Possibly a weak open and move to green anticipation for the move over 4.30

VSLR--- Looking for a move over 14.32 here. Possible weak open play to green. Mini flat top here

LOCO---Weak open r/g here, continuation from today's beautiful play

CEMP---Nice triangle setup forming here looking the the breakout

HLF---This can in my opinion keep on going higher, daily chart is just so sexy. I am looking for a weak open as today for a R/G move. But I am aware this could shoot out of the gate in that case i would be waiting for a pullback.

My trading story part 1

For many readers it will seem as if though I just appeared out of thin air. The truth is that my story is quite an interesting one. I dont know if it's unique but you be the judge.

The year is 2011, I am a successful and happy personal trainer, starting to slowly but surely earn more money each month. I believe at this point in my life that doing what you enjoy and getting paid to do it is the dream. So this is what i strive to achieve. Having struggled my life with a stutter, which by the way is something i have always tried to hide from the world, I found myself feeling limited in what I could truly achieve as a personal trainer. I wanted to be able to give speeches and talk at seminars because i know how knowledgeable i am about health and wellness, however my speech always hindered me. I knew there must be something else i could do but I didn't know what.

My father had passed away in 1996 and I had just received my will money at the end of 2011. In the past I wouldve probably spent it all on stupid purchases, but now at 30 years old I thought I was more mature and much smarter than my younger self. At this point I began looking into what i could do to get my money to work for me. I remember as if though it was yesterday, I was looking at videos on gold and silver investment opportunities and stumbled upon a video by Mike Dillard, and it was a video featuring John Carter, who happens to be one of the top professional traders in the world, not the Disney movie ;) I had never even dreamed about the stock market, to me it was only for math geniuses and people who are great at charts lol I remember being so floored by how easy it looked. I had to learn more. So from there on I began to read everything i could find online about the stock market. I even took a little course here in Miami to get me started, but i must say i knew more than the teacher. So that was a waste of time. Fast foward a bit to the end of 2011. I find this individual who I will not mention. He is a stock "guru" in Europe who prides himself in trading off other peoples money. He charged a comission on profits I would make and that is how he runs his business. He convinced me to hire him as my trader. Seemed pretty simple, he was good, I was not. He would make me rich. He promised me at least 15k a month with the money i had , trading penny stocks only. So I said ok, lets do it. It is now 2012 and I get the order to buy 1million shares of a stock called ATRN, a penny stock worth 1 cent. I go ahead and buy it spending 10k in the process. Not to make this story too long and boring. In 1 month this particular stock was at 35 cents. If any of you are good at math you will figure out that i had made 350k . I dont know how to explain it but it was a surreal feeling. And since i trusted this individual completely i did not question him. Looking back now I can ask myself over and over, why did I not sell...who on earth makes 350k and doesnt sell. Well, if you are told a particular stock is going to 1$ and if you sell it now you will regret it, it becomes quite a dilema. And plus the fact that i knew nothing about trading back then and he had quite the track record. Long story short, the company eventually went bankrupt. I ended up saving what i invested, so technically i did not lose any money. However the dream of the fancy car, the awesome house etc  was washed down the drain. I knew i had to take matters into my own hands to never ever let something like this happen to me again.  Stay tuned for part 2!

Finviz Scans

Scanning in my opinion is one of the most important aspect of planning thus of your trading. I remember when I did not run scans. I woke up in the morning and looked at the pre market movers and planned my trades from those. Although pre market movers is a great trading niche, it is not what a beginner should be focused on. It makes one believe that trading doesnt require much planning and that my friends is a big mistake. Today I am going to share with you guys and gals who are reading this my nightly scans. This is how i filter out what i will be looking at the next day. From these scans, which is step 1, I come up with my plan for each individual stock. So to keep this post straight to the point. Here are my scans with a brief explanation

Finviz scan 1- broader scan which you can run either once a week or everyday if you choose to. It is composed of an avg volume of 500k at least. Daily volume of 750k ( for that day) Mid cap and below. Average true range of .50cents mover per day and i believe over 3$

http://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=341&f=cap_midunder,sh_avgvol_o500,sh_curvol_o750,sh_price_5to50,ta_averagetruerange_o0.5&ta=0&o=-volume

Finviz scan 2- This one is a 4% up mover for the day. It is one that should be done everyday to check for the big movers of the day and stocks that are in play. This will help you find the best long set ups, red to green moves or if they are extended some great short set ups

http://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=341&f=sh_avgvol_o300,sh_curvol_o750,sh_price_o3,ta_change_u4,ta_changeopen_u&ft=3&ta=0&o=-volume

Finviz scan 3- This one I usually run when the market is in a downtrend phase and will help me find nice short set ups or green to red, as well as overextended shorts for a nice bounce move

http://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=341&f=sh_avgvol_o300,sh_curvol_o750,sh_price_o3,ta_change_d4,ta_changeopen_d&ft=3&ta=0&o=-volume

So there you have it. These are the scans i run on a daily basis to find the best stocks possible for trading the next day. Remember this is only step 1. It is of utmost importance to have a well established routine every day to begin seeing progress in your trading and your life

Accept the journey

A few months ago I felt as if I was ready to become rich! I was pumped I was visualizing my future with lots of money and fancy cars. I would be trading from the beach in a few months as many of the trading gurus want you believe. How's that wifi at the beach working out for you Mr.? I had killed it on the simulator making about 500$+ per day and most of those wins were in the first 20 minutes of the day!  The feeling of exhilaration was there, the visualization of success was there.....and then.....I went LIVE. I will discuss the various challenges I had going live in subsequent posts but one thing I will say here is that for the few months I went live it was pretty much a disaster. Not because of the amount of money i lost , but due to the frustration i felt of not yet achieving what i wanted to achieve. I thought I was ready, actually I was sure I was ready! I had no idea emotions would cause me to freeze in my live trading. I was smart and quick in the sim trading, so what was going on here??? What happened? I came to the realization that if trading is hard for so most people, then why on earth would it be easy for me. What was so special about me that would set me apart from others who have tried this before. My expectations had buried me. I can sit here and blame the marketers for this, and say that they don't put forth a realistic view of what i should have expected as I went live, but i won't because we each are responsible for what we create in life. If I keep blaming everyone else for my failures I will always be the victim and that is not I place i want to be at. As I mentioned before, it was my expectations that really set the tone for my frustrations. The more you expect to achieve something, the more disappointed you will be when you don't reach your goal in minimal time. So what have I decided to do? I am not lowering my expectations because to me that would defeat the purpose. I still want to achieve all I set out to the second I started showering myself with trading knowledge. The big difference is that now I am not focused on the outcome, I am zeroing in on the process, or some would call it the journey. What do I have to do to achieve the outcome I so desire. What have other traders done  before me to become successful. Once you accept that it is going to be a journey of ups and downs and many of them! You will feel peace in whatever happens along the way. You will maintain your focus with all the swings in your emotional state as well as your trading account. As long as you see progress in your journey nothing will stop you or myself for that matter. Do not be too hard on yourself, many before you have failed multiple times before succeeding. You cannot know one without the other , it is simply impossible as life is all about contrasts. I have accepted that i will not be rich over night, however i know deep down inside that it will be a challenging journey up till the point that i finally come out victorious.

Hope you guys like my blog!

Hi, My name is Jonathan Schrager. I am a borderline obsessive student of trading. Always trying to learn and improve from my mistakes, my goal with this blog is to share my successes and failures with whoever wants to read it. I will use this blog to hold myself accountable in my journey to financial freedom. I will be open to all sorts of citique and advice on how to improve my trading. You will witness my journey from sim trading, which is where i am at right now all the way to my return to live trading, which is were I want to be. Thank you to the readers and I hope we can grow together!