Gosh, my last day trading post was in APRIL
Sara, can you tell this blog is basically dead?
What happened?
Oh Lord, do I hafta?
It's embarrassing.
I broke the cardinal rules of day trading and got CREAMED. BAD.
I bought a block of MSFT. And it did okay I made about $150. That's a great gain for me. And I saw how it was doing and thought I had another chance for a quick scalp.
It was Friday. It was 11 AM. But I thought I had time (Mistake #1).
So I bought a huge block--1000 shares--pretty much all the cash in my account (Mistake #2). And I sat. And I waited. I had my stop price in at $27.58. It would have been a tidy, but not greedy profit. The stock went down a bit during the lunch doledrums, but I knew it would rally towards closing.
But then it was time to go get my kids at school. I couldn't wait any more for the rally. I was still like $250 down. I didn't want another big loss--I tend to make $50 at a time and lose $500 at a time.
So I did what I had to. I left. (Mistake #3)
By the time I returned, I had missed selling by a SINGLE PENNY. The stock rose to $27.57. Had I been there, I would have avoided the pain to come.
And OH BOY DID IT COME.
After the market closed, MSFT released some super bad news and the stock TANKED in aftermarket trading.
$27
$26
$25
$24
IIIIIIEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYY!
The shrieks of pain were reverberating from my office. I was sitting on like a $3000 loss. And over the next weeks, it kept falling, finally bottoming out around $22.
So I did the OTHER stupid thing that newbie day traders sometimes do. I sat on the stock. I'm in high tech, so I know MSFT pretty well. And I know it's a "good company"--not a wishful thinking good company, but rather one that can actually deliver. This could have been Mistake #4, but I felt that it wouldn't be--even if it meant not day trading for a long time, I felt that sitting tight--maybe even til Vista comes out--was a good idea. And the analysts agree. Something like 9 of them ratcheted MSFT from either hold to buy or buy to strong buy this past week (or so).
So I sat tight and didn't agonize over the ups and downs. I just let it ride--all 1000 shares--my whole portfolio. And lo and behold, a week or two ago, I happened to log in to my account and--
DAMN!
I was above water!!!
The stock buy-back really boosted the share price. I'm actually making a few bucks. Not enough to make th agony worthwhile, but still not too shabby. I should get out now. Make a little money. Don't be greedy. But, I think I am going to hold til Vista comes out.
Mistake #5?
What happened?
Oh Lord, do I hafta?
It's embarrassing.
I broke the cardinal rules of day trading and got CREAMED. BAD.
I bought a block of MSFT. And it did okay I made about $150. That's a great gain for me. And I saw how it was doing and thought I had another chance for a quick scalp.
It was Friday. It was 11 AM. But I thought I had time (Mistake #1).
So I bought a huge block--1000 shares--pretty much all the cash in my account (Mistake #2). And I sat. And I waited. I had my stop price in at $27.58. It would have been a tidy, but not greedy profit. The stock went down a bit during the lunch doledrums, but I knew it would rally towards closing.
But then it was time to go get my kids at school. I couldn't wait any more for the rally. I was still like $250 down. I didn't want another big loss--I tend to make $50 at a time and lose $500 at a time.
So I did what I had to. I left. (Mistake #3)
By the time I returned, I had missed selling by a SINGLE PENNY. The stock rose to $27.57. Had I been there, I would have avoided the pain to come.
And OH BOY DID IT COME.
After the market closed, MSFT released some super bad news and the stock TANKED in aftermarket trading.
$27
$26
$25
$24
IIIIIIEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYY!
The shrieks of pain were reverberating from my office. I was sitting on like a $3000 loss. And over the next weeks, it kept falling, finally bottoming out around $22.
So I did the OTHER stupid thing that newbie day traders sometimes do. I sat on the stock. I'm in high tech, so I know MSFT pretty well. And I know it's a "good company"--not a wishful thinking good company, but rather one that can actually deliver. This could have been Mistake #4, but I felt that it wouldn't be--even if it meant not day trading for a long time, I felt that sitting tight--maybe even til Vista comes out--was a good idea. And the analysts agree. Something like 9 of them ratcheted MSFT from either hold to buy or buy to strong buy this past week (or so).
So I sat tight and didn't agonize over the ups and downs. I just let it ride--all 1000 shares--my whole portfolio. And lo and behold, a week or two ago, I happened to log in to my account and--
DAMN!
I was above water!!!
The stock buy-back really boosted the share price. I'm actually making a few bucks. Not enough to make th agony worthwhile, but still not too shabby. I should get out now. Make a little money. Don't be greedy. But, I think I am going to hold til Vista comes out.
Mistake #5?
