We teach our day trading desk, SMB Capital, in New York City to check to see which stocks they are making money in.  I supposed a new prop trader reading this might say, “How could I not know that? Or that seems like a complete waste of time.”  You would be surprised.  The human mind is a funny thing.  It does not always process information accurately about one’s experiences.  And often your perception is different than reality, especially with your trading results.

 For example, you may remember the last rip you took in a VLO and overvalue that trade (re-balancing recently-ripper).  You may conclude that VLO is a bad trading stock for you because of the last rip.  But it is entirely possible when you check your numbers that you made a ton of money in VLO.  It is just that you are obsessing about that last rip.  Further you may think you are killing AGU, check the numbers, and find out that the best you do is break even.  If you do not make money consistently in a stock why continue trading it? 

I traded CHK today.  And my thoughts before the Open were that I do not trade this stock well.  This is probably because I was overvaluing the rip that I took after the Close in CHK, which I blogged about yesterday.  I traded CHK very well this AM and am sitting in my office writing this blog up (though people keep knocking on my door) a significant amount of money.  And I just checked my numbers over the past few weeks and I learned that I am consistently profitable in CHK.  Chop!  I should trade CHK with more size.  I should not have been hesitant to trade CHK on the Open. 

It’s the little things that make all the difference in your trading.  This is just another little thing that you should be doing.  Check your numbers.  See which stocks you are making money in.  Stick with them.  Eliminate the stocks with which you consistently struggle.  If you do your results will improve.

Best of luck with the rest of your trading today!