RTT Trend Trading practice thread.

Well, another day with no signals. As such, I am reviewing the existing trends that have already triggered. I decided to pick up DECK calls. I will have to do the accounting a little later.

DECK Sep 70C for 8.65

Will write out the rest later...

Wrote up the numbers on DECK. I am being more aggressive about moving stops up, so I am moving my stop from the 7.40 up to 7.75. I will continue to move the stop up 5% every day the trade is open. I am hoping this will eliminate trades that linger until they stop out. DECK is up a little today, so we'll see if it can stay ahead of my stop raising...

No new triggers. So there is nothing else to do today.


DECK 2 x Sep 70C @ 8.65 = 1,730
Stop: 7.75
Limit: 11.20
Now: 9.05

Sorry for no update yesterday.

DECK is powering in my direction, but the price on my option is not moving at all. The spread has widened to 2.00 on my option, but no movement yet. I'm going to keep moving the stop up on it, but I expect it will update the price soon and be a lot higher than it is listing at now (DECK is up 2% today, way over where I bought this option).

In addition, we had quite a few triggers on stocks yesterday. Today, I'm choosing CAT to enter...


DECK 2 x Sep 70C @ 8.65 = 1,730
Stop: 8.20
Limit: 11.20
Now: 9.05

CAT 4 x Nov 80C @ 5.00 = 2,000
Stop: 4.25
Limit: 6.50

Going back a day to work on the BIDU trigger that came up. Going to add that one today. My DECK finally moved swiftly in my direction, so I'm going to move the stop up dramatically on that one. That'll put it in 10% profit for sure. The CAT play is moving nicely, so it will remain in front of the stop, but I will continue to move it up. And finally, I'm adding BIDU today...

DECK 2 x Sep 70C @ 8.65 = 1,730
Stop: 9.50
Limit: 11.20
Now: 10.20

CAT 4 x Nov 80C @ 5.00 = 2,000
Stop: 4.50
Limit: 6.50
Now: 5.15

BIDU 1 x Sep 210C @16.75 = 1,675
Stop: 14.30
Limit: 21.70

Got punched in the face by BIDU today... I made an amateur mistake and put a day order in for my stops instead of a GTC. I opened it this morning to see that it was down a ton, and I was not stopped out. I closed it as soon as I could, but I am going to take more of a loss than I would like. On the flip side, the gap might have sold just as badly. I'll not know... I sold 14.00 when I wanted to stop out at 14.30... I can chalk that up to a gap loss.

I also got kicked out of DECK this morning, before the ramp... This is where being more aggressive with my stops is a double edge sword. There are two things I considered when I thought about how I would handle this. First, I was very aggressive with moving my stop. I moved it all the way to 10% up. Which is where it kicked me out this morning. On one hand, I thought maybe I shouldn't have moved it at all (that would be the old way I was operating). That would have allowed me to take advantage of this big up move today. However, I do want to keep my stop movement in place. So the other option I considered was to be more aggressive than before, but less aggressive that I was here.

To explain that. I was moving my stop up at 5% a day. Friday's move up should have been to even (I had moved from 15% down to 10% down to 5% down, so Friday should have been 0%...) Instead, because I had a nice profit, I moved to 10% up instead of 0%... If I would have stuck to moving 5% a day, I would have retained the position through the dip this morning and been able to take advantage of the larger move up.

So this is what I'm going to implement into the strategy. Every day a position is open, I will move my stop up 5%. Even if the profit has become distinct (as is currently the case with CAT).

I will continue to retain my top side 30% sell order. But I will also continue the option of simply taking the profit as well.

All that to say that I took a big loss in BIDU because of the gap down today. And I took some profit out of DECK... And CAT is doing quite well. And there are no new triggers in RTT today.

Updates:

DECK 2 x Sep 70C @ 8.65 = 1,730
Stop: 9.50
Limit: 11.20
Sold 4/6 @9.50 = 1,900
+170

CAT 4 x Nov 80C @ 5.00 = 2,000
Stop: 5.00
Limit: 6.50
Now: 5.70


BIDU 1 x Sep 210C @16.75 = 1,675
Stop: 14.30
Limit: 21.70
Sold 4/6 @ 14.00
-275


Account Total: $10,771

I believe my posts are going to come in out of order. I forgot to hit submit on my post from yesterday. I did not have time to review at all today. I am going to wait for yesterday's post to get approved. I believe it goes into a queue when I hit submit after being idle for a long session. Sorry about the confusion.

I did not get to do anything today, but I would like to pick up some in CAT as it has triggered again today. I will look at possibly buying close to the open tomorrow if CAT doesn't shoot off. I hate to have things happening out of real time, so I may just hold off on it.

Sorry my updates have been erratic. I haven't done anything except for getting stopped out of CAT yesterday. I am tempted to get back into CAT because it showed up again (noted in earlier posts). But I don't want to add more than one a day. And today, I'm going to be adding V on a recent trigger.

CAT stopped out and then moved back up again. Going to move on to the next position.


CAT 4 x Nov 80C @ 5.00 = 2,000
Stop: 5.00
Limit: 6.50
Sold 4/8 @ 5.00 = 2,000
0

V 4 x Sep 65C @ 4.30 = 1,720
Stop: 3.65
Limit: 5.50



Account Total: $10,771

Wishing I would have picked CAT back up now. Heh. Oh well. Looking over the list, I am going to pop into AAPL today. It's under an earnings trend, and it has room to move.

V is just sitting, so I'll just move my stop up and hang on tight...

V 4 x Sep 65C @ 4.30 = 1,720
Stop: 3.90
Limit: 5.50
Now: 4.25

AAPL 2 x Oct 130C @ 8.00 = 1,600
Stop : 6.80
Limit: 10.50

V Stopped out yesterday. I didn't get a chance to move my stop up either, so it's a 10% loss. I had been avoiding updates during market closed hours, but I am finding that I can't get to a computer some days. Had I moved up my stop on that, I would be taking a much more manageable loss on V. It's in-line, but I would have liked better.

I am getting no triggers on RTT. None since 4/10.. There are trends in play, but I don't want to chase anything. Going to hang back and see how AAPL plays out. I will be doing updates when the market is closed if there is nothing to buy and I'm just moving stops...



V 4 x Sep 65C @ 4.30 = 1,720
Stop: 3.90
Limit: 5.50
Sold 4/13 @ 3.90 = 1,560
-160


AAPL 2 x Oct 130C @ 8.00 = 1,600
Stop : 7.20
Limit: 10.50
Now 8.00


Account Total: $10,611

Got a trigger on CREE puts, so I"m going into that. My AAPL has stopped out on time, so I'm closing it today.


AAPL 2 x Oct 130C @ 8.00 = 1,600
Stop : 7.20
Limit: 10.50
Sold 4/15 @7.70 = 1,540
-60

CREE 5 x Sep 35P @ 3.60 = 1,800
Stop: 3.05
Limit: 4.70


Account Total: $10,551

No update yesterday. I was stopped out of CREE before the end of the day. And there were no new triggers, so I did not post.

Accounting for the CREE loss, and entering AKAM on the signal.

CREE 5 x Sep 35P @ 3.60 = 1,800
Stop: 3.05
Limit: 4.70
Sold 4/15 @ 3.05 = 1,525
-275

AKAM 3 x Nov 72.50C @ 6.15 = 1,845
Stop 5.25
Limit: 8.00

Account Total: $10,276

I don't have another trigger today. And seeing as how AKAM has rocket'd up to its previous high, I'm going to go ahead and take the profit in this one.

AKAM 3 x Nov 72.50C @ 6.15 = 1,845
Stop 5.25
Limit: 8.00
Sold 4/20 @ 7.00 = 2,100
+255


Account Total: $10,531

Got a new trigger today on CRUS as an earnings trend. Going to pick it up.

CRUS 6 x Sep 25C @ 3.05 = 1,830
Stop: 2.60
Limit 3.95

Got a new trigger today. Going into bidu. Going to raise stop on CRUS. But not as aggressively as before. Going to 2.70 on the stop.

Not at a keyboard. So I can't write it all up.

But...

CRUS stop moving to 2.70

BIDU Sep 210c at 18.30

Stopped out of CRUS today. Sucks... BIDU is at profit now... Some triggers from yesterday. SBUX, but earnings is today. DECK, MA, V all triggered, but they also all had massive moves. MA and V are pulling back.

After these massive moves, I'm going to do something I haven't done yet, which is to wait for a pullback. DECK has the longest time until earnings, so that will be my focus. I just can't buy it while it's up 2.8% already today. I want a pullback to the 73.50 area or so. I will get in then...

The rest is just accounting..

CRUS 6 x Sep 25C @ 3.05 = 1,830
Stop: 2.60
Limit 3.95
Sold 4/23 @ 2.65 = 1,590
-240

BIDU 1 x Sep 210C @ 18.30 = 1,830
Stop :16.30
Limit: 23.50
Now: 18.30

Watching for DECK entry.

Account Total: $10,291

DECK hasn't quite hit where I want it. So I am going to hold off one more day.

BIDU, however, has made a very nice move in my direction. I will move my stop up on that one and hold on. I got a trigger on PNRA to go down, but earnings is too close, so I'm going to pass on it. Day after tomorrow, it looks like.

BIDU 1 x Sep 210C @ 18.30 = 1,830
Stop :17.30
Limit: 23.50
Now: 20.15

Nice to finally have a top side sell out. BIDU sold on the top side, filled higher than the limit. A welcome gap.

I have no new triggers, but I am still eyeballing DECK. It never came down to what I wanted, and now it's nice and diverged.. So I'm going to keep watching for a good entry.

Nothing to do today but accounting and waiting.

BIDU 1 x Sep 210C @ 18.30 = 1,830
Stop :17.30
Limit: 23.50
Sold 4/27 @ 23.55 = 2,355
+525

Account Total: $10,816

There are no new triggers today either, but I see DECK kissed the level I was looking for. Maybe I should have had a buy order in.

I'm going to go ahead and get into DECK after the 73.50 area test...

DECK 2 x Dec 72.50C @9.50 = 1,900
Stop 8.10
Limit: 12.35

TOS is being funny about filling my paper order again... Interesting...

With the paper trades. Be sure to check the volume on the option you are trading. If the volume is 0 on the particular option you are about to paper trade, the order will never fill.

If it isn't trading AT ALL on the real money side it will not move or trade on the paper money side. At least that is how it was explained to me.

Got a trigger today on CRUS, but the end of the trend is today. Not going to act on that one. Deck is lingering. Going to move my stop up. Perhaps a little FOMC will do the trick for DECK...

DECK 2 x Dec 72.50C @9.50 = 1,900
Stop 8.50
Limit: 12.35
Now: 9.10

By the way, I think Rick is right about the fills in TOS. I think that option just didn't trade all day...

A bit of confusion today as I got a trigger on DECK puts from RTT. There seem to be conflicting trends in play at the same time. I haven't seen this happen before. There is a 4 week trend for DECK to go down that started on 4/27, but there is an earnings trend for DECK to go up until 5/28...

I don't really understand how that happens, but I am going to stick with the position. Being the first of the month on a down trading market, I'm going to go ahead and sit on the position until at least tomorrow. Not moving stops at all.

I had triggers on both X and WYNN, but they just released earnings yesterday, and I don't like to buy immediately after a big move. I want to give it another day to play out. I will put them both on the list to watch for tomorrow.

DECK 2 x Dec 72.50C @9.50 = 1,900
Stop 8.50
Limit: 12.35
Now: 9.30

I have decided that I would like to take a shot at X, but it is hovering and not really pulling back. I am going to keep it on the watch list for Monday.

DECK is shaping up nicely. The move today has put the position up, and I'm going to go ahead and move the stop up to a small loss on it. The target area for this trade is 78...


DECK 2 x Dec 72.50C @9.50 = 1,900
Stop 9.25
Limit: 12.35
Now: 9.80

I am going to hold off on opening X just yet. Have a good weekend!

No new triggers today. DECK is managing to stay above the line so far. I am going to keep the stop the same, since I'm showing the price at 9.45. Tomorrow though, I will be moving that stop up.

I really want to enter X puts today, but I don't like it so far down and coming off the bottom BB... I can see this just looking at the RTT chart. I'm going to just hold off on it. I'd like to see the signal fade and then come back again. Just hard to buy a trend that has gone so far already...

DECK 2 x Dec 72.50C @9.50 = 1,900
Stop 9.25
Limit: 12.35
Now: 9.45

Just going to sit tight today. Doing nothing.

DECK went on down to hit my stop, so I'm logging that one today. I still don't love the set up on X for going down, and I see a HRFP to go up on the 4-hr for X now. Going to steer clear for the time being. I did get a trigger on WMT to go up, and I'm going to play that one.

DECK 2 x Dec 72.50C @9.50 = 1,900
Stop 9.25
Limit: 12.35
Sold 5/5 @ 9.25 = 1850
-50

WMT 5 x Dec 77.50C @ 4.20 = 2,100
Stop: 3.60
Limit: 5.50

Account Total: $10,766

X is powering upwards. Don't trade again the HRFP! Heh...

WMT is managing to stay afloat during today's sell off.. Almost no movement. I will move up stop on it, but otherwise, I'm sitting tight. I got a trigger on HAS to go down, but the spread on the option is 80 cents. Man, that's pretty wide. I'm going to watch it, but let it pass me by..

WMT 5 x Dec 77.50C @ 4.20 = 2,100
Stop: 3.75
Limit: 5.50
Now: 4.05

WMT making a nice move up today. I'm going to go ahead and lock in a profit on it. Just enough to pay commissions. If I see the 79 area on WMT, I'm going to pull the plug on it.

I also got a trigger on CAT today for puts, so I'm going to shoot at that one also.

WMT 5 x Dec 77.50C @ 4.20 = 2,100
Stop: 4.25
Limit: 5.50
Now: 4.45

CAT 3 x Nov 87.50P @ 6.85 = 2,055
Stop: 5.85
Limit: 8.90

No new triggers today.

WMT is sitting at 78.92, which is going to be close enough to 79 for me to go ahead and take it.

Closing that one out. The CAT play is hurting... It's sitting right at the sell point if I move my stop up. I'm going to move the stop up, but give it a little wiggle room today.

WMT 5 x Dec 77.50C @ 4.20 = 2,100
Stop: 4.25
Limit: 5.50
Sold 5/8 @ 4.80 = 2,400
+300

CAT 3 x Nov 87.50P @ 6.85 = 2,055
Stop: 6.00
Limit: 8.90
Now: 6.15

Account Total: $11,066

Wow. Nothing to do at all.

No new triggers. At play triggers are busting.. Speaking of which, my put in CAT stopped out at a gap this morning unfortunately. So no new entries. Just account the loss.

CAT 3 x Nov 87.50P @ 6.85 = 2,055
Stop: 6.00
Limit: 8.90
Sold 5/11 @ 5.50 = 1650
-405

Wow, what a freaking gap...

Account Total: $10,661

This is supposed to be the tougher time of the year. And I am putting it on the table that this time of the year get ignored...

Totally missed yesterday. Entry on CAT popped for going up. 4 week trend.

I'm going to go ahead and pop into it today. It looks decent. I wish I would have gotten in yesterday.

CAT 5 x Nov 90C @ 4.30 = 2,150
Stop: 3.70
Limit: 5.65