Another week in the books, and more profits:
May 16th
$310
May 17th
No Trades
May 18th
No Trades
May 19th
No Trades
May 20th
$708
Total Profits for Week 3: $1,018
This turned out to be my best week of trading Netflix, and it all started on Tuesday morning. The market opened and I spent hours waiting for a pattern to develop, but nothing happened. Nothing looked familiar to me, and I got tempted to make a trade anyway. I caught myself, turned off the app, and didn’t trade for the rest of the day. On Wednesday morning, I missed out on a fantastic pattern in the morning, and didn’t want to take a chance on anything else so I didn’t trade that day either. When Thursday came, I again missed out on a great pattern and wasn’t interested in waiting for something to develop. Friday was an easy one, as NFLX had OLGs every day that week. So I went in and made a little over $700, but I could have made as much as $2,600 had I stayed with the pattern that developed.
I called this my best week of NFLX trades not for the trades I made, but for the trades I didn’t make. There was a time when, if I didn’t see anything familiar in a stock, I would trade anyway. I’d find an untested pattern and convince myself that it would be a good trade. 90% of the time that lead to me losing money. This time, however, I didn’t make those trades. Despite my bravado and confidence, I’m a rookie at this game. I may be the greatest man that ever lived, but I don’t know everything about the stock market. I only have 2 patterns that I know and trust, so why force trades based on untested patterns and theories?
One of the biggest lessons I learned last year is that, sometimes, the best trade is the one not made. On Tuesday, for example, I was seriously tempted to buy, but didn't recognize any of my usual patterns. I looked at the previous day’s close and said to myself, “Well, if the stock drops to the previous day’s close then it should do a quick bounce that can make some money.” I almost sent the order in until I realized this was a desperate bullshit theory. So I waited and watched as the stocked dropped well below the previous day’s close, and I would have lost over $1,800 that day. From then on, I became very careful.
It’s like the kid that’s about to go into the double-dutch jump rope. He’s gotta wait for the right moment, that perfect instance where the ropes are in a position that he can jump in and have some fun. He knows that, if he goes in at the wrong moment, he’s gonna get hit in the face with rope. That’s exactly what I did, and I’m very proud of myself for actually learning this lesson. This lets me know that I’ve grown as a trader, and that gives me confidence as I build momentum towards live trading very soon.
Next week is the last for Netflix trades. I made a mistake in saying I should go for big profits in Week 3, as I’m too new at this game to swing for homeruns every at-bat. So the goals of Week 4’s NFLX trades will simply be to trade carefully. That’s it. Once it’s over, I’ll do a quick wrap-up and see what lessons I’ve learned about myself as a trader. So far, it would seem, I’ve learned quite a bit.
May 16th
$310
May 17th
No Trades
May 18th
No Trades
May 19th
No Trades
May 20th
$708
Total Profits for Week 3: $1,018
This turned out to be my best week of trading Netflix, and it all started on Tuesday morning. The market opened and I spent hours waiting for a pattern to develop, but nothing happened. Nothing looked familiar to me, and I got tempted to make a trade anyway. I caught myself, turned off the app, and didn’t trade for the rest of the day. On Wednesday morning, I missed out on a fantastic pattern in the morning, and didn’t want to take a chance on anything else so I didn’t trade that day either. When Thursday came, I again missed out on a great pattern and wasn’t interested in waiting for something to develop. Friday was an easy one, as NFLX had OLGs every day that week. So I went in and made a little over $700, but I could have made as much as $2,600 had I stayed with the pattern that developed.
I called this my best week of NFLX trades not for the trades I made, but for the trades I didn’t make. There was a time when, if I didn’t see anything familiar in a stock, I would trade anyway. I’d find an untested pattern and convince myself that it would be a good trade. 90% of the time that lead to me losing money. This time, however, I didn’t make those trades. Despite my bravado and confidence, I’m a rookie at this game. I may be the greatest man that ever lived, but I don’t know everything about the stock market. I only have 2 patterns that I know and trust, so why force trades based on untested patterns and theories?
One of the biggest lessons I learned last year is that, sometimes, the best trade is the one not made. On Tuesday, for example, I was seriously tempted to buy, but didn't recognize any of my usual patterns. I looked at the previous day’s close and said to myself, “Well, if the stock drops to the previous day’s close then it should do a quick bounce that can make some money.” I almost sent the order in until I realized this was a desperate bullshit theory. So I waited and watched as the stocked dropped well below the previous day’s close, and I would have lost over $1,800 that day. From then on, I became very careful.
It’s like the kid that’s about to go into the double-dutch jump rope. He’s gotta wait for the right moment, that perfect instance where the ropes are in a position that he can jump in and have some fun. He knows that, if he goes in at the wrong moment, he’s gonna get hit in the face with rope. That’s exactly what I did, and I’m very proud of myself for actually learning this lesson. This lets me know that I’ve grown as a trader, and that gives me confidence as I build momentum towards live trading very soon.
Next week is the last for Netflix trades. I made a mistake in saying I should go for big profits in Week 3, as I’m too new at this game to swing for homeruns every at-bat. So the goals of Week 4’s NFLX trades will simply be to trade carefully. That’s it. Once it’s over, I’ll do a quick wrap-up and see what lessons I’ve learned about myself as a trader. So far, it would seem, I’ve learned quite a bit.
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