When I see mentees working hard and showing promise I ask them to send me a daily recap. Below is an excerpt from one such review:

Overall I had an alright day, it could have been a lot better. I traded a few stocks very well and a few stocks a should not have been in at all, I was up 100 more than I closed out and I got slipped 20 cents with 500 shares trying to get big in front of a 18.00 buyer in fmcn, a trade that would have possibly given me my best day, I was really pushing it and I got burned as a consequence. I need to realize stocks to just not be in, that costs be at least 50 every day, DLTR I should have just not traded, at least I didn’t push it and try to get back in, after one trade I was done with it—an improvement but still not great. I had an ok day but I still feel really disappointed in myself, I should have traded fewer shares and I should have been more conservative with my size until confirmation.

Besides the fact that this trainee needs to work on his spelling 🙂 the issue of understanding what stocks to trade is a challenge for most new traders. The past few trading days GILD and FMCN have offered a great month’s worth of opportunity.

I responded to this trainee above with some suggestions.

Spend some time thinking about FMCN and GILD after the close. What set ups were A+ patterns for you?
This mental exercise brands in your mind the set ups that are worth your attention. Next time you see these set ups you will not go anywhere, mistakenly look for other plays and waste mental capital. It’s important to understand where the money can come from, just stay in those stocks and not make trading too hard. You do this by replaying in your head those best set ups from the intraday after the trading close.

Bella
One Good Trade

disclosure: no relevant positions