Thursday Wrapup (12/17) - $702 Gain

9:00AM
Two profitable trades this morning.  First was a simple short pullback taken off the 1000 tick chart @ 6:45AM.  Fairly straightforward setup though I could've done better with my entry.  Initially entered 3 lots, then added 3 more a few mins later as it appeared momentum had stalled and I didn't want to miss the move back down.  Ended up taking a 1 pt drawdown before we fell and hit all of my scale tgts over the next 60 mins.  Made $425 here. Overall not much to complain about.

Second setuip was another short pullback entered at 8:10AM with 3 lots, and I then tacked on another 3 lots 2 ticks higher just a few mins before 8:30.  I figured longs would get scared before the news release and close their positions which would allow me to scale out of at least 1/2 of lots before the news hit the wires.  And I was spot on with this thinking.  Three targets were hit easily before the news as the bid/ask spread widened, and the last 3 were hit on the fallout after the news release.  Overall took only 1 tick heat on the whole trade and made $312 total.

So I'm up $737 on the day before the market even opens.  What sucks is that I have a business meeting to attend from 9:30 thru 12:30ish.  So I'm likely going to miss the best trading of the week. I've been seeing the market action so well over the last few days, I hate to miss any screen time.  Also, from past experience, I need to make sure I don't press too hard this afternoon trying to "earn back" any setups I missed in the morning session.

On another note, I've passed or missed at least two decent countertrend setups this morning.  The first I missed completely, the second I tried to enter, but wasn't filled again.  But one thing I need to keep an eye out for in the future is the chance to re-enter these setups if we have a mini-pullback.  Buy the next breakout above the prev bar's high with stop below this bar.  Might even be a slightly better risk profile.

Also, definitely won't be fading this morning's gap.  Could be a gap and go especially with futures opening below the 1100 level. Very happy sitting on the sidelines for this one.

12:30PM
Just returned from my meeting.  After reviewing the charts it looks like I missed at most 1, maybe 2 quality setups.  Feeling better about that, I hate being drug away from market during peak times. Now just need to focus on the afternoon trading and not force anything.

1:00PM
Got suckered out of a decent countertrend entry just now.  Had a high volume drop at 12:48 where I entered long on first break with a 3 tick stop.  Had thoughts about setting stop at 4 ticks (2 ticks below last bar's low), but decided to keep the orig stop in place.  Sure enough I was stopped out and the market immediately reversed w/o me.  Geez I know better.  Markets play the same old tricks over and over. Up $550 on the day now. Still lots of time left to make this a good day, but don't press anything!

1:45PM
Just closed out a pullback trade gone wrong.  Only lost $62 so pleased with my trade mgmt overall.  Problem was I entered a trade at a time when no volume was present.  Took a short entry with 1/2 size after 1PM thinking we'd quickly re-test the LOD, but things went stagnant shortly thereafter.  Added another 3 lots when momentum waned and then for the next 30 mins, we just fluctuated within a 3 tick range before moving higher.  While it may very well turn out to be a profitable trade, I took the opp to get out at the first mini-pullback for a reasonable loss rather than take a chance of getting stopped out.  Coin flip trades don't help me at all!  Up $490 heading into the last 2 hrs.

2:45PM
Countertrend short entry at taken at 2:10PM.  Wasn't in love with the setup (then why did you enter it?) so ended up closing for a $25 profit when things got choppy.  Don't want to waste money on so-so setups.

Ugg, missed perhaps the easiest trade of the day just now.  Need to be willing to take 1 tick slippage on some of these trades.  Especially on trades this tight where I can enter with a 2 or 3 tick stop. Clear vol spike just after 2:30 set up a nice countertrend short.  Couldn't get filled at the price I wanted so I even moved my limit down and still no luck.  Market proceeded to collapse in the ensuing minutes.

3:20PM
Just found myself trying to create a trade that really isn't in my repertoire.  Realized the mistake a quickly cancelled the order.  A++++

4:00PM
One final trade to end the day, a countertrend short taken at 3:41 on the TICK breakout and vol spike.  Sold the prior bar low with a 1/2 size position due to time of day and scaled out for a $187 gain.  Finished the day up $702.  Not bad, but was hoping much more after the solid AM start.  On a positive note though, I didn't give back my early gains!  Still feeling locked in.  Even the trades I've missed I've seen very clearly. 

Tomorrow I've got a few more mtgs, but should be able to get a couple more hours of trading in.