Technical Analysis - Practice trades

[mindgames]

Trade 21 of 2016

Stock: GAIL
Buy: 378 on 13 May 2016
Sell: 367.3 on 10 June 2016
Holding period: 28 days
Trade reason: Ichimoku setup

Comments
1. Lazy chart reading. Entered on strength of ichimoku conditions - should have noted that breakout over resistance area was not decisive.
2. Hurried entry - out of boredom / looking for some action?
3. Lazy trade managemet. Overconfidence. Should have moved SL to break-even after stock rose 2%.
4. Exit after stock started moving sideways. Price action looking weak - lower high. Still appearing to have good support at 365 levels.

 

[mindgames]

Trade 22 of 2016

Stock: HDFC
Buy: 1098.5 on 3 May 2016, 1165.75 on 13 May 2016
Sell: 1200 on 26 May 2016, 1206.2 on 13 June 2016
Holding period: 23, 31 days
Trade reason: Bounce off trend line, +ve news in banking sector

Comments
1. Lazy trade management. Should have made first exit on first swing to resistance @ 1200 levels. Squared off only on 3rd swing - at same level.
2. Added another 40% of original position on pull back as trend appeared up.
3. Ideally balance exit should have been on 10 June 16 bar as there was a weak candle. Did not do so as volume was less than average. Alternatively, exit could have been made at second resistance, near 1265.
4. Entries could have been on better candles - even if at higher price.

 

[mindgames]

Trade 11 of 2016

Stock: AXISBANK
Buy: 459.5 on 20 April 2016
Sell: 461 on 27 April 2016
Holding period: 7 days
Trade reason: Ichimoku setup

Comments
1. Should have set SL below break-out bar. Instead, set it at top of the bar to avoid loss. Bad decision as stock resumed uptrend after taking off the stop.

Past trade analysis.

Lessons
1. Should have set SL below break-out bar or at top of previous resistance swing high. Instead, set it at top of the bar to avoid loss. Bad decision as stock resumed uptrend after taking off the stop.
2. Did not identify previous support turning into resistance. Should have closed 50% here. Poor chart reading and trade management.
3. As far as possible, use stops on price closing at or below the stop level.

 

[mindgames]

Trade 23 of 2016

Stock: JETAIRWAYS
Short: 1.9 on 3 June 2016
Cover: 1.75 on 20 June 2016
Holding period: 17 days
Trade reason: Breakdown below support

Comments
1. Should plan exit better instead of blindly waiting until expiry - complacent?
2. Too much greed waiting for better price when I could have covered it in the past couple of days.
3. Must plan hedge against freak moves to avoid BIG loss in future.
4. As options are high risk instruments, should develop mentality to cover at support/resistance - it is okay to not get best price. Running after last bit of profits is stupidity.
5. There's still a possibility of the stock closing below 680 on expiry. However, closing it before hand to not be caught on the wrong side of a freak move / gap-up due to FDI announcement.

 

[mindgames]

Bad day today - not because of losses but because I broke my rules. Some mistakes were avoidable while others were unpardonable.

1. Planned to buy 8000 PE to hedge positions yesterday. For some reason, decided not to do so.

Lesson: Need to develop risk taking ability - willingness to take small calculated risk for potential gain.

2. Since I was not hedging my positions, should have definitely exited all positions knowing that there was a possibility of big drop due to Brexit. Did not do so.

Lesson: Stop being complacent. Stop being greedy. Stop living on hope. Get rid of the careless attitude. Treat this like a serious profession.

3. Revenge trading and over-trading to make up for portfolio loss. Put on intra-day trades beyond my loss taking mental capacity. 1 profitable, 1 break-even and 1 loss trade.

Loss trade was taken after the profitable / break-even trade. This made me complacent and over-confident. Dropped my guard down. Started thinking that I can make money easily, that all my profits were because of my great trading ability.

Lesson: Stop being overconfident. Remember that both profitable and loss trades occur by chance - not because of my chart reading. Even best setups can and will fail. Only way to make money is by keeping losses small. Big positions turn you blind to reality. Profitable and break-even trade should have been allowed to run instead of curtailing them to protect profits. Loss trade should have been closed when it was in profit or worst case closed at break-even.

4. Did not use stop loss. Averaged a loser - Yes. Just when I thought I was out of that horrible habit, after staying clean for a long time, returned to my old ways like a drunkard/drug addict.

Lesson: First and most important rule in trading is position sizing. Every time you put on a trade, you are putting money on the line. Never put on a trade unless you can afford to lose. Don't dabble in options/futures without having emotional stability. Big position size = desperation to earn money. You will not stick to your profit target. Next, you are desperate not to lose money. You will not respect your stop loss. You will become blind to reality and lose your sense of balance. It takes just one trade to grind you to zero. Without stop loss, you have no business trading. Market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent. If you don't take small losses, pretty soon you will take the mother of all losses.

 

[Shikamaru]

Hi
Doji is Vital in daily chart, Swing trader should have clear trend...
As reference use Heiken Ashi most it predict trend... Previous chart both long
took with no direction in market.. Just my opinion and observation

 

[mindgames]

Trade 24 of 2016

Stock: MARUTI
Buy: 3482.5 on 7 April 2016
Sell: 3906.5 on 24 May 2016, 4053 on 24 June 2016
Holding period: 47, 78 days
Trade reason: Bullish engulf on daily. Hammer on the monthly and then pullback after rise

Comments
1. Buy order got filled at 3482.5 as placed a market buy order by mistake instead of limit order. Need to be careful while placing orders.
2. Bought the stock on a pullback when it was forming a bottom. Going forward, need to start buying on rise from pivot low after pullback.
3. Delayed sale on rise to first resistance - lazy trade management.
4. Alternatively, could have sold 2nd part at rise to 2nd resistance.
5. Exit on Brexit crash - Trigger price was missed and stock rose back to stop loss to execute sale. Better to time sale apprpriately on such instances than wait for price to recover.

 

[mindgames]

Trade 25 of 2016

Stock: LT
Buy: 1288.55 on 13 May 2016
Sell: 1401.35, 1449, 1482.75 on 26 May 2016, 1441.05 on 24 June 2016
Holding period: 13, 42 days
Trade reason: Retracement after Breakout and Ichimoku.

Comments
1. A trade that could have been closed at a loss but turned out to be profitable.
2. Poor entry strategy again. Bought on pullback before rise from pivot after forming bottom.
3. Poor chart reading: Completely missed resistance at 1325-1335 levels during entry (previous support area turning into resistance and level from where stock had pullback.
4. Shakeout bar penetrated pivot low at 1236 but closed above same at end. Deciding to stick with original SL @ 1209 saved the trade.
5. Booked partial profits (majority of the position) after stock gapped up on day after results by ~10%. Covered balance on Brexit day volatility.

 

[mindgames]

Trade 26

Stock: ARVIND
Buy: 300 on 16 May 2016
Sell: 324.25 on 21 June 2016, 310 on 24 June 2016
Holding period: 36, 39 days
Trade reason: Ichimoku / Breakout

Comments
1. Lazy trade management and complacency - Should have exited 1st half much earlier, also should have exited balance 50 on big volume down bar at daily resitance.
2. Exit on Brexit crash - Trigger price was missed and stock rose back to stop loss to execute sale. Better to time sale appropriately on such instances than wait for price to recover.

 

[mindgames]

Trade 27

Stock: ZEEL
Buy: 415.05 on 2 May 2016
Sell: 441 on 24 June 2016
Holding period: 53 days
Trade reason: Ichimoku / Breakout

Comments
1. Entered small with plan to enter balance on pull back. Never added to position as per plan.
2. Did not identify upper channel trendline resistance on weekly chart - could have used this for exit.
3. Letting profits run led to staying through consolidation and getting stopped out on Brexit day.