Terrific Tuesday

In the spirit of Karl Denninger, here's how today went:

I shorted SOHU twice today, the first time at the open on a Gap & Trap and the second time on a nicely formed continuation flag for a total of 2.5R. The first trade lasted a grand total of 57 seconds before my trailing stop was hit for a 1.5R gain. I took that one because the stock was up waaaaay too high for two-day-old news, particularly in a market that was showing down to start the day. I was right. The second time I saw a good continuation pattern and caught it in time to make 1R in a little less than 4 minutes.

Let's see - that's 2.5 R in a little under 5 minutes. If I could do that 8 hours a day, 200 days a year.... Uhm, not likely.

Anyway, that's the good news.

I gave the ole' RBMP a try again - three times - with ANPI, PIEX and QI, for a net loss of 1R. I broke even on one, lost .1R on a second and .9R on the third. Did I do anything wrong? You betcha:

ANPI had a humongous gap less than two weeks ago. I just plain ignored it. Stupid, stupid, stupid. (That's the one I broke even on.)

PEIX actually had a decent setup. It printed solidly up during the first five minutes, but then fell out from under me. My stop loss got hit on the way down for a .9R loss.

QI was a little different. The pre-market setup was good, but it printed a spinning top on the the first five minute bar, then followed that up with a down bar, which is where I chose to get in. I didn't violate any of the entry rules, but in retrospect, that spinning top shoulda been a warning flag to me that the market wasn't sure which way to go. Had I waited on some confirmation of the actual directional momentum, I would not have taken this trade. Although the stock actually traded higher in the first five minutes, a little more patience on my part would have rewarded me by keeping me OUT of the trade.

As I analyze my trades this month, I am significantly more profitable when I play short than when I play long. I've succeeded playing short in a rising market as well as in a falling market. But I am no better than 50/50 playing long in ANY market.

Lots to think about.

I am determined to crack the nut on this RBMP.