Learning to Not Lose Money

Hey, I think I'm starting to get it. Yesterday I traded more than at any time up till now, and - for the most part - traded right. Not that I hit all winners, but I executed correctly and limited my risk correctly.

One exception: when I left town on Thursday, I had one open position on a swing trade I had put on Thursday. When I got back yesterday, I checked my position and discovered that my stop had expired. Yep, I had put in my stop as a "Day" rather than a "GTC". That cost me almost one full R. Lesson learned!

Anyway, here's yesterday's results:

HAL on a Gap & Go: I made .4R but realized in my debrief that I had set my stops too tight for such a volatile stock. With wider stops, I'd have made more. The lesson is to make certain that the width of my stop matches the volatility of the stock; not too big for smaller volatility, not too small for bigger.

COP on a continuation flag: This was my big winner, 4.5R. Strangely, I also realized my stop on this one was too small for the volatility. I left some money on the table, but at 4.5R, I'm not unhappy.

ERTS on a continuation flag: I lost 1R, but I played it right and limited my risk correctly.

Overall, it was a 3.5R day. I can make a terrific living with days like that!