Sunday, May 07, 2006

Treading water

Day 23 - Friday
Total Account Value: $5253
Available Equity: $2866
Positions Opened: 5
Positions Closed: 7

Friday's update is a bit late because I've had a very busy last few days. Hopefully this has helped to clear my head a little. The daily commitment I've been putting into trading is beginning to grow a little dry - simply setting price alerts at predetermined possible entry points has not been enough. Prices are so volatile that I find myself watching the price depth screen for much longer than I should be.

Today I made a few mistakes, so instead of waiting it out I closed the positions out prematurely before more damage could be done. This is still costing me brokerage though which is a particular sore point. I feel like I'm stuck in no mans land between two strategies - day trading and end-of-day trading (holding positions for a few days) - and this is causing me to overtrade and make mistakes. Most of the stocks on my watchlist show daily charts that are all over the place, with the exception of MIG which has not had a positive day for nearly a month. So despite making a decent number of smart trades I have allowed too much rubbish to slip through the gaps. When the market is uncertain, I'm uncertain!

Rinker (RIN) remains a positive in my current portfolio, continuing to steadily fall after reaching an all-time high about 10 days ago. Babcock and Brown (BNB) is beginning to show the bullishness which has been brewing in the charts recently, so I've added to the position to make the most of it. Breakouts such as this (following 'boring' price action) have been far and away my best moneyearner so far. Jubilee Mines (JBM) is another that seemed set for a recovery on Thursday - the gap open this morning allowed me to trail my stop loss to lock in profits. The weekly chart (which I will analyse thoroughly for all "watchlisted" stocks before Monday) for JBM looks very promising so I'm keen to hold for the time being.

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