7/6/2008 - oops, when I first wrote this I forgot to recognize the loss from my worthless IMB call.

Please note that I bounce between performing these trades in my Zecco and SogoTrade accounts in order to minimize my commissions as well as gain access to short inventory.

June 2

1. 10:23 Buy 300 LLNW at $3.26
2. 11:54 Buy 300 PINN at $2.55
3. 12:12 Sell 200 LLNW at 3.5001 gain: +$48
4. 1:56 Sell 100 LLNW at 3.87 gain: +$60.99

June 4

5. 10:39 Short 200 PTEK at $5.4101
6. 11:13 Cover 200 PTEK at $5.12 gain: +$52.01

June 5

7. 9:43 Short 200 PTEK at $5.5001
8. 10:06 Cover 200 PTEK at $5.35 gain: +$24.01
9. 11:25 Buy 400 SSTR at $0.78
10. 11:35 Short 300 PTEK at $5.10 (agh, why couldn't I have just held my earlier short???)

June 6

11. 9:31 Cover 300 PTEK at $4.8199 gain: +$78.02 - if I had held this literally 10 more seconds I would have made probably at least 30% more profit. My fear helped me get skinned a bit right at the open.

June 9

12. 11:29 Short 200 OMNI at $6.50
13. 11:34 Sell 300 PINN at $2.751 gain: +$60.27
14. 11:49 Buy 200 PINN at $2.7499
15. 12:35 Cover 200 OMNI at $6.65 loss: -$30.02
16. 12:49 Sell 200 USEG at $3.01 gain: +$33.99
17. 3:15 Sell 200 USEG at $2.92 gain: +$15.99

Those last two trades are me taking profit and reducing risk on a longer term position held from last month - part of the reason I ended May with such a poor account equity was due to my position in USEG that was at draw-down at the end of the month.

June 10

18. 3:43 Short 100 SQNM at $11.9901

June 11

19. 11:12 Cover 100 SQNM at $11.8196 gain: +$11.04 - a well executed but nearly worthless short scalp that I should have reversed where I covered, and held for a day or two, or more!
20. 11:49 Short 200 FRBK at $6.50

June 12

21. 9:33 Short 100 FRBK at $6.78
22. 10:04 Cover 300 FRBK at 6.45 gain: +$33.98 - don't be fooled by the green, this was a BAD TRADE.

June 13

23. 11:12 Short 500 UCBH at $2.97
24. 12:46 Cover 400 UCBH at $2.8999 gain: +$22.63

June 16

25. 10:16 Short 200 UCBH at $3.0001
26. 10:37 Sell 200 USEG at $3.1904 gain: +$71.07

June 17

27. 9:35 Buy 300 QTWW at $2.46
28. 10:56 Buy 200 USEG at $3.23
29. 11:43 Cover 300 UCBH at $2.93 gain: +$17.41
30. 1:04 Short 200 UCBH at $2.9504

June 18

31. 9:38 Cover 200 UCBH at $2.7599 gain: +$38.09

This series of UCBH trades was both very excellent, and pitiful. I played it correctly for a while - just scalping it for no more than dime each time, but then the volatility kicked in but I kept reducing my size on each trade and continuing to essentially scalp. Sigh. However, excellent entries and exits during the constricted trading range I initially traded this stock within.

32. 10:16 Short 200 BPAX at $5.64
33. 11:05 Sell 200 PINN at $2.94 gain: +$38 Shoulda waited a little longer on this one... easily twice the profit in only an hour or two longer.
34. 2:49 Cover 200 BPAX at $5.58 gain: +$11.99
35. 3:28 Short 200 BPAX at $5.50
36. 3:43 Sell 300 QTWW at $2.51 gain: +$14.99

June 19

37. 9:54 Buy 300 PINN at $3.50
38 11:25 Sell 200 PINN at $3.64 gain: +$27.99

June 20

39. 10:11 Cover 200 BPAX at $5.50 loss: -$0.01 - The whole series of BPAX trades was a worthless waste of free trades I got from my SogoTrade referral. However, would have made a nice longer-term short. BPAX is currently about $4.50 a share.
40. 10:34 Buy 100 NCOC at $9.0299
42. 2:50 Sell 100 NCOC at $10.00 gain: +$97
42 1/2 - IMB call option expires worthless at EOD loss: -$25.50

June 23

43. 3:39 Buy 100 NCOC at $10.56

June 24

44. 10:00 Short 300 KOG at $5.00
45. 10:19 Cover 300 KOG at $4.9199 gain: +$24.02
46. 11:13 Buy 100 PINN at $3.35
47. 1:41 Buy 100 PINN at $3.25

June 26

48. 10:47 Short 300 PLUG at $2.72
49. 10:53 Cover 300 PLUG at $2.75 loss: -$9.01 This was actually a great short entry... sigh.
50. 12:30 Short 500 XFML at $2.45

June 27

51. 11:30 Cover 500 XFML at $2.44 gain: +$1.99 not a bad short entry here either... stock currently trading $2.26 and I get a penny. Typical.
52. 3:30 Buy 100 NCOC at $9.24 (OMG OMG averaging down. This is the beginning of the end.)

June 30

53. 9:30 Buy 400 QTWW at $2.98

Not a bad long entry on QTWW here if I had possessed the guts to hold through the morning dumpage that happened right afterwards. The correct entry would have been after the stock went somewhat green on the day after coming out of the harsh morning slump. Taking very nearly the first trade of the day can be a fool's game.

However, this is what I do next...

54. 9:45 Sell 400 QTWW at $2.91 loss: -$33.97

conclusion

All in all, not a bad month, realized some very nice gains.

realized gains: +$684.97

However, mainly due to the ridiculous NCOC position that I averaged down on, I ended the month with these account values:

SogoTrade: $3115.42
Zecco: $2578.34

For an overall gain +$443.76 since I started trading, or +8.45% in approximately 5 months of trading. At one point during the month, I was hitting +13.6%.

Please note the following graph starts somewhat after I started trading; and it starts at draw-down from my total cash infusion of $5250.

I have now added another $1500 to my SogoTrade account in order to have more flexibility. We'll see where that takes me.

As I write this, the AVERAGED DOWN position on NCOC of 200 shares at approximately $9.90 average price is at HEAVY DRAW DOWN. NCOC closed today at $6.88!! AMAZING SHORT SELL OPPORTUNITY AND I'M SITTING THERE WITH A FREAKING LONG POSITION

Bye bye profits. Lots of signals to cut that NCOC position. Probably should have cut it before the month was even out. The type of trading I do often doesn't work well with hard stops, but I gotta work on those mental ones!

Sometimes your head just isn't in the game.

Another month of lessons learned.

May 1, 2008

1. 10:16 Buy 500 MNKD at $2.68

May 2, 2008

2. 12:01 Buy 700 GNBT at $1.1299

May 5, 2008

3. 12:01 Sell 500 MNKD at 2.35 loss: -165.02
4. 2:17 Sell 700 GNBT at $1.10 loss: -$20.99
5. 2:56 Buy 500 LLNW at $3.03

May 6, 2008

6. 11:20 Buy 400 MGI at $1.7688
7. 11:45 Sell 400 MGI at $1.8425 gain: +$29.44
8. 12:21 Buy 1000 MGI at $1.8888
9. 3:59 Sell 1000 MGI at $1.88 loss: -$14.82

May 7, 2008

10. 9:35 Buy 1000 MGI for $1.95
11. 10:00 Sell 500 LLNW at $3.2501 gain: +$110.01

May 8, 2008

12. 12:26 Buy 500 LLNW at $3.11
13. 2:39 Sell 500 MGI at $2.08 gain: +$60.54 (note: profit taken on only half of position)
14. 3:46 Buy 200 IAR at $4.7699

May 9, 2008

16. 11:22 Sell 200 IAR at $5.1515 gain: +$71.80
17. 11:43 Buy 500 MGI at $1.86 (note: MGI position back to 1000 shares)

May 14, 2008

18. 10:36 Sell 1000 MGI at $1.7308 loss: -$181.66 (this position was far too large for my account and far too speculative)
19. 12:46 Buy 300 IAR at 4.65
20. 2:06 Sell 300 IAR at $4.6801 gain: +$3.02
21. 3:11 Short 300 AKNS at $5.73
22. 3:56 Cover 300 AKNS at $5.6399 gain: +$21.02

May 15, 2008

23. 10:51 Buy 300 IAR at $4.78
24. 11:15 Buy 200 IAR at $4.64
25. 3:22 Sell 500 IAR at $4.82 gain: +$39.83

May 16, 2008

26. 9:42 Buy 300 USEG at $2.80

May 20, 2008

27. 11:42 Buy 200 USU at $6.5474
28. 12:20 Sell 200 USU at $6.6804 gain: +$20.59
29. 1:12 Buy 300 FPP at $5.40
30. 1:24 Sell 300 FPP at $5.5501 gain: +$39.02 (Should have held onto this trade longer - the stock exploded upwards the next two days.)

May 21, 2008

31. 3:41 Buy 300 USEG at $2.85 (poorly timed double-up on USEG)

May 23, 2008

32. 11:06 Short 50 SINO at $24.22
33. 11:29 Cover 50 SINO at $24.00 gain: +$4.99
(This could have been my best trade ever had I simply held onto it for a few hours or days - SINO is now trading in $13s-$14s.)

May 23, 2008

34. 12:25 Short 300 AMR at 6.4901
35. 12:37 Cover 300 AMR at 6.4599 gain: +$3.04 (trade needed slightly more patience to be a decent scalp - could have been $20+)
36. 1:13 Buy 100 HEK at $8.2999

May 27, 2008

37. 1:57 Sell 100 HEK at $8.41 gain: +$4.00

May 28, 2008

38. 10:27 Sell 500 LLNW at $3.1501 gain: +$15.51
39. 3:58 Buy 100 EBS at $10.6148

May 29, 2008

MY FIRST OPTIONS TRANSACTION!
40. 12:16 Buy to Open 2 IMBFZ contracts (IMB June $2.50 Call) at $0.10
41. 3:12 Sell 100 EBS at $10.4001 loss: -$27.48

May 30, 2008

42. 11:45 Buy 500 CPST at $3.81
43. 12:19 Sell 500 CPST at $3.76 loss: -$31.02

And that ends the month of May with two open positions.

My realized delta for the month of May was: -$18.18.

However, due to open positions at the end of the month, my account values were:

Zecco: $2542.11
SogoTrade: $2710.87

For a total of $5252.98 bringing me to a grand total of +$2.98 of total return for 4 months of trading or approximately +0.00056762% !!!!

I am so awesome.

Month over month, I am down -$177.61 or -3.2% from 5430.59.

Here is a graph displaying my trading accounts total from 4/30 to 5/30 (there are values for the end of each trading day)

April 1, 2008

1. Short 200 OWW at $7.02
2. Cover 200 OWW at $7.19 loss: -34.02

April 2, 2008

3. Short 300 COT at $3.4801
4. Cover 300 COT at $3.35 gain: +39

April 4, 2008

5. Buy 100 GU at $15.15

April 8, 2008

6. Sell 100 GU at $14.21 loss: -94.01

This one was particularly frustrating due to the fact I could have easily sold at several points for a profit, and possibly even over $80 profit. You can see some of my thoughts in this post: Anatomy of Failure, a bad GU trade.

April 9, 2008

7. Short 100 CRY at $10.1701
8. Cover 100 CRY at $10.25 loss: -$8
9. Short 100 IMMR at $8.11
10. Cover 100 IMMR at $7.90 gain: +21.01

April 10, 2008

I should have made this trade in my SogoTrade account... I ended up paying $9 commissions...
11. Short 250 PRTS at $3.98
12. Cover 250 PRTS at $3.85 gain: +23.48

now back to SogoTrade...

April 11, 2008

13. Short 300 NTZ at $4.00

April 15, 2008

14. Buy 500 MNKD at $2.00
15. Sell 500 MNKD at $2.18 gain: +90.15

April 18, 2008

16. Short 200 NXTM at $6.46
17. Cover 200 NXTM at $6.32 gain: +28.16
18. Cover 300 NTZ at $4.05 loss: -$14.97

This NTZ trade was silly on my part; this stock was going absolutely nowhere and just trading within a range. I should have taken an early profit and gotten out.

19. Short 500 EDEN at $2.59
20. Cover 500 EDEN at $2.36 gain: +114.99

April 22, 2008

21. Buy 500 MNKD at $2.08
22. Sell 500 MNKD at $2.10 gain: +10.60

Hmmm... just about out of free SogoTrade trades by now ain't I?

In order to avoid the SEC pattern day trader rule in case I want to liquidate my position intra-day, I do the next trade with Zecco, paying $9 roundtrip commissions...

April 23, 2008

23. Buy 500 CPSL at $3.66
24. Sell 500 CPSL at $3.7001 gain: +11.05

This trade was annoying, because I should have done 1 of 2 things: either sold into an early spike for gains closer to $50, or waited it out for a later spike, which did come despite the fact I got scared out of the trade.

April 24, 2008

25. Buy 500 CPSL at $3.6999

Back in CPSL again, and too close to the middle of its current range.

April 25, 2008

26. Sell 500 CPSL at $3.65 loss: -$34

April 28, 2008

27. Short 300 NXTM at $6.36
28. Cover 300 NXTM at $6.22 gain: +$42.20

This NXTM cover is where my free trades in my SogoTrade account ran out. It was good while it lasted, and I'd be down an extra $75 without those free trades!

April 30, 2008

29. Buy 500 MNKD at $2.25
30. Sell 500 MNKD at $2.49 gain:+$114

Account Balances

Zecco: $2514.35
SogoTrade: $2916.24
Current Total: $5430.59
Total Original Capital: $5250
Current Total $ Return: +$180.59
Current Total % Return: +3.44%
$ Change in April: +$309.64

My net change for the month of April was +309.64, which despite having some good luck, was largely because of a better definition and application of my strategy. However, please note that without the copious free trades from SogoTrade and Zecco, I would probably be sitting at a loss simply due to transaction costs. I have made well over 60 individual trades since opening my brokerage accounts; even if all of those were $3 SogoTrade commissions, I'd be sitting at +$0 and likely be posting a negative return.

It's kind of funny that most of my good trades have ended up in my SogoTrade account. Of course, since my SogoTrade account was opened much later, and I didn't start getting a strategy together until early last month, it's not surprising. Also, SogoTrade has much better short inventory than Zecco, so sometimes I am unable to make profitable short trades in my Zecco account purely because I can't borrow the shares I need from Penson.

March was an interesting month. I saw my losses deepen while I simultaneously started using my 25 free trades up from SogoTrade. It's quite fortunate that I didn't have to pay commissions for this month. When I'm dealing with perhaps twice the size that I'm comfortable dealing with now, it might not be such a big deal.

As it was, I learned this month that I need to size my positions more appropriately so that my trades do not control my behavior. Also, I was using AMD largely as an index proxy, and this methodology started to have no edge as AMD started diverging from tracking the indexes (particularly XLF) and slowly sank beneath the waves.

Worthy of note is that I went into this month holding 300 shares of JMBA long that I originally purchased at $3.05 a share.

March 4, 2008

1. 10:53 Buy 250 AMD @ 6.50
2. 11:50 Sell 250 AMD @ 6.51 Net Gain: $2.47
3. 12:21 Buy 250 AMD @ 6.52
4. 15:07 Sell 250 AMD @ 6.61 Net Gain: $22.47

March 5, 2008

5. 11:50 Buy 100 COIN @ 15.9699
6. 13:10 Sell 100 COIN @ 16.12 Net Gain: $14.99

March 11, 2008

7. 10:36 Buy 300 AMD @ 6.17
8. 11:24 Sell 300 AMD @ 6.27 Net Gain: $29.95

March 12, 2008

9. 11:35 Buy 300 AMD @ 6.61

March 13,2008

10. 10:28 Sell 300 AMD @ 6.51 Net Loss: -$30.05
now there are commissions...
11. 11:08 Short 300 AMD @ 6.50
12. 12:03 Cover 300 AMD @ 6.63 Net Loss: -$48.02

March 14, 2008

13. 12:15 Buy 300 AMD @ 6.45
14. 12:44 Sell 300 AMD @ 6.40 Net Loss: -$24.05
15. 9:48 Sell 300 JMBA @ 2.31 Net Loss -$226.53 (I held this one way too long and should have cut it at <$100 loss. Rookie mistake.)

March 17, 2008

16. 11:15 Buy 300 AMD @ 6.35

March 18, 2008

17. 14:51 Sell 300 AMD @ 6.39 Net Gain: $2.95 (when will the AMD garbage trades stop?)

March 19, 2008

Now we're on SogoTrade... free trades again but no stops! Unfortunately I briefly continue my madness before massaging my strategy into place. I also start trading more than one position at once, which is VERY BAD for my novice state. Henceforth, I will trade only one position at a time. Also, I begin to learn to work with more appropriate position sizing, but not before some mistakes...

18. 11:51 Buy 300 AMD @ 6.30
19. 13:35 Short 300 HALO @ 5.75
20. 15:39 cover 300 HALO @ 6.00 Net Loss: -$75.02

March 20, 2008

21. 12:25 Short 100 CHNR @ 17.20
22. 15:24 Cover 100 CHNR @ 16.95 Net Gain: $24.98

March 24, 2008

23. 10:06 Short 200 VVTV @ 5.81
24. 10:45 Cover 200 VVTV @ 6.10 Net Loss: -$58.02
25. 15:45 Sell 300 AMD @ 6.20 Net Loss: -$30.03

is the AMD madness over?

March 26, 2008

26. 9:55 Short 300 BPAX @ 3.31
27. 11:26 Cover 300 BPAX @ 3.16 Net Gain: $44.98

March 27, 2008

28. 10:34 Buy 100 SOLF @ 13.14
29. 12:08 Sell 100 SOLF @ 13.80 Net Gain: $65.98

March 28, 2008

30. 14:16 Short 300 BPAX @ 4.70
31. 15:33 Cover 300 BPAX @ 4.50 Net Gain: $59.98

Conclusion

From these numbers, I had realized losses of -$222.97 for March 2008. With the addition of $90.09 in realized gains from February, I have lost -$132.88 since I started trading.

However, I must have messed up somehow, because my account balances don't quite jive with my trading journal.

Account Balances
Zecco: $2588.68 (deposits of $2750)
SogoTrade: $2533.40 (deposit of $2500)

So according to this, I'm down -$127.92 - I'm not sure really sure where I messed up my numbers although I do know there's a little bit of money market interest floating around.

Lessons Learned

Only be present if there is opportunity.

If you feel like you need a second opinion on whether to take profit right then and there, TAKE THE PROFIT.

Size positions correctly. Too big and there's too much perceived risk. Correctly sized positions lead to rational decision making.

Also, although I don't like SogoTrade, I do like the little account balance graph they give you.

Thus ends my trading month of March. I would be violating the pattern day trader rule to make a trade on Monday or Tuesday of next week.

Recently, I decided to open a brokerage account with Zecco. They offer 10 free trades a month if you have at least a $2500 balance. Because I wanted to try stepping into the shark-infested waters of day trading, I figured this would be a good way to get a little experience while minimizing my commissions. After you use up your 10 free trades, it is $4.50 per trade. Due to the amount of capital I deploy on a trade, that $9 on a round-trip would eat up almost all my profits.

However, being able to make 5 free round trips each month is pretty good, especially considering the 'pattern day trader' rule. You can only make about 12 roundtrip intra-day trades each month. You can hold positions overnight as much as you want, but I'm mostly interested in the intra-day action.

Currently, I employ a long-only strategy. I am converting my account to a margin account to play the other side of the market - it is essential for an intra-day strategy.

basic info for trades in February 2008 (roundtrip delta includes commission and transaction fees if applicable)

• 2/01/08 11:17 Buy 500 CBOU (Caribou Coffee) @ $2.828 Net: -$1414
  • 2/04/08 9:30 Sell 500 CBOU @ 2.95 Net: $1474.95 Roundtrip delta: +$61.95
• 2/01/08 11:26 Buy 300 JMBA (Jamba Juice) @ $3.05 Net: -$915
  • Position still open. JMBA currently @ 2.51 per share. Current delta: -$162

• 2/07/08 11:53 Buy 200 AMD @ $6.44 Net: -$1288
  • 2/07/08 12:17 Sell 200 AMD @ $6.50 Net: $1299.97 Roundtrip delta: $11.97

• 2/08/08 10:35 Buy 200 AMD @ 6.47 Net: -$1294
  • 2/08/08 2/12/08 12:26 Sell 200 AMD @ 6.36 Net: $1271.97 Roundtrip delta:-$22.03
• 2/12/08 12:07 Buy 200 AMD @ 6.51 Net: -$1302
  • 2/12/08 12:17 Sell 200 AMD @ 6.5601 Net: $1311.99 Roundtrip delta:$9.99
• 2/15/08 10:49 Buy 200 AMD @ 6.54 Net: -$1308
  • 2/19/08 10:22 Sell 200 AMD @ 6.70 Net: $1335.47 (commission to sell - no more free commissions this month!)Roundtrip delta:$24.47
• 2/22/08 11:15 Buy 230 AMD @ 6.66 Net: -$1536.30
  • 2/22/08 11:27 Sell 230 AMD @ 6.71 Net: $1538.77 Roundtrip delta:$2.47
• 2/27/08 11:56 Buy 100 AMD @ 7.24 Net: -$728.50
• 2/27/08 12:00 Buy 130 AMD @ 7.25 Net: -$947
  • 2/27/08 12:43 Sell 230 AMD @ 7.31 Net: $1676.77 Roundtrip delta:$1.27 (I paid $13.50 in commissions for this roundtrip because I modified my partially filled limit buy in order to not be stopped out of the trade. This proved unnecessary.)
• Total Commissions for February 2008: $27

So my realized profit is $90.09. However, I am sitting on -$162 in paper losses on my JMBA position, bringing my total realized and unrealized delta to be -$71.91

There were a two points I could have cashed my JMBA position out and been sitting on $50-20 worth of profits. There was one point this past week I could have closed out the position and been sitting at about $10 of realized gains. Given the market conditions, I feel I did reasonably well. Given the market conditions, I should not be holding onto that JMBA stock. I should have closed the trade a $20-30 loss on that same day I bought it. You live you learn. Rightly or wrongly, I have chosen to ride out my decision on JMBA. However, I will likely close out the position at the end of the year even if it is a loss, in order to possibly better my tax situation (this would make my JMBA losses count as short term capital losses for 2008).

Lesson? Don't keep an open position on a micro-cap stock that's just mostly trending with the current bear market. As an aside, $2.50 is an excellent price for JMBA, one well below book value at a P/E of around 7.8 - unfortunately I bought at the height of a bear market rally, and have not seen the price of JMBA crawl back to even $3 yet.

All in all, not a bad start to trading considering the current market environment. I just wish I could have gone into March without depositing a little bit of extra money in order to get the 10 free trades from Zecco in March. Conceivably my JMBA could spike and I could get the free trades, but I'm not going to bet on it. (Zecco just requires that at one point during the month your account be >=$2500, if it is, you get 10 free trades that expire at the end of the month.)

Paying commissions = murder!

Even though I executed 3 profitable AMD trades while paying commissions, the two trades where I payed round-trip commissions have miserable profit margin. In part, this was psychological in that I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be paying just for the pleasure of making these trades, so I tended to cut my profits a bit early - although one of them was a perfectly executed scalp in the long direction during bear conditions that pulled out almost the maximum profit.

It's worthwhile to note that if I had simply initiated the very first AMD position of 200 shares @ $6.44 and kept it until this last friday, I could have easily sold the lot for $7.20+ a share, netting a profit of $152. My system, particularly in this turbulent market, does not give me such distant insight into stock prices. I am only able to trade my beliefs about the market.