Trade Reviews: GENZ, CYCC, VVUS

My trades from yesterday and all of this week so far has put my YTD gains at over 10%. Yesterday was the best day of the year so far, despite my absence. I am trading, but I am sitting in a small advanced sociology winter class at the same time between 9am-12pm. To make up for the lack of real-time trades, I decided to continually post screenshots of all of my trades. I’d like to see more people do that since there’s so much bullshit flying around on the internets.

Before I continue, don’t forget to vote for me in the ShortAwards (Finance category) here: http://shortyawards.com/WeeklyTA. Help me beat out #9’s Suze Orman and others and take a top 5 spot for iBankCoin. I greatly appreciate it.

GENZ was a cool momentum pattern. It is an example of being patient for a stock that has spiked intra-day AND sustained/based itself. We wait for the secondary breakout, which I did. I first caught GENZ at $50.88-90 and my final exit trades were at $52.30-31.

Who would have known that CYCC was going to be up +152% for the day? I didn’t, but I kept playing it multiple times and as far as I could. Since there’s really no way to predict a 100% gainer, you just have to roll with it and focus on each setup as they come. Never ditch a stock on your watchlist because it’s “up too much”. I first caught CYCC at $1.5199 with my last trades ending at $1.91-92 before leaving to run some errands.

VVUS was a pre-market volume mover and opening breakout play. The execution was near perfect and I made two solid profitable trades in it ending around 11AM with both adding around 1-1.5% each.

Lesson: Don’t ignore the secondary breakouts.

The upload speed on the show was too slow due to internet connectivity issues. I am getting that resolved. I posted charting requests on Chart.ly and answered the Q&A questions on my twitter.

The indices are, again, at different stages of development. For example, the SPX is forming the apex of a another more steep rising wedge. The DJIA is in a tight ascending channel. The COMP is the best performer with a solid b/o in Dec, needs follow-through action to carry the other indices. I am impressed with the RUT as it pushed passed the weakness at the end of last year and broke to a new daily high. Keep an eye on these four indices and any changes that they may exhibit.

Here is a half-day chart of STEC. I traded it in the morning, but couldn’t post it. I provided the buys/sells below as well. As liquidity improves, I will go back to increasing my position sizes to my standard size. The entry was at the breakout of the opening’s high. Another entry would have been the pullback from the breakout. My first exit with a 75% position sell was at $19.60 and my second exit with a 25% position sell was at $19.88.

I used the daily chart as my targets to exit and to scale out. The entry was determined by the intra-day breakout.

That’s pretty much it. Have a great trading day folks.

I played too much crap last year. There’s no way I can compile everything and I just said “F it” after analyzing a few months. Then, I realized that I should make all of y’all go through my archives and I can go travel around the Mid-Atlantic. If you followed me for a while, there is no way you should forget my plays. Yes, 2009 was truly an epic year.

I remember that from January till March, I focused more on macro direction plays and heavily used breadth alongside my usual charts. I also saw how much I cussed in the first half of the year so I made an effort to clean that up. I also saw that the first half of the year was full of haters, and my results for the entire year shut them up completely. Here are a few of the haters back then in January alone (quite amusing):

April 11th was when I first started sharing one of my portfolios (when I went to Cancun). I had stuff like FEED, SIRI, and solars. I made over 8% when I got back from vacation. April 13th was when J0sh1ngUbecame the first persistent hater. That quickly ended with him burning in flames:

Now, April 22nd when the first time I actually made a live, real-time trade (which was in CAR). I made 20% the next day. This started everything, and shortly after, the dollar stock circus lasted for the next 4-5 months and everything else is history. After that, I focused on more liquid, higher priced stocks. A part of trading is realizing when to abandon a strategy and to go with another one.

I realized that I had no desire to look into the past. I am looking forward, here in 2010, ready to do some more damage. I stated that my goal in 2010 was to make 400% and I have already planned it out. Have you?

I am still unsure of what the intermediate-term holds, therefore, I will stick with the higher priced, more liquid stocks, the pre-market gaps, parabolic movers, long/short exhaustion plays, etc. (the ‘specialized’ trades). I am not interested in the general movement of the market unless volatility comes back in full force.

My goal in January is to lock in a double-digit portfolio gain for the first month, and then build up on it. Nothing is worse than having a crappy first month, so I encourage everyone to do their very best this month. This way, you have a buffer against any future potential drawdowns. It’s important to have this buffer, due to unforeseen circumstances.

My show, “Charts Gone Wild“, is becoming more and more popular and if you read my blog, then you should tune into Stocktwits.tv every Tuesday nights at 10PM EST. The folks over at Stocktwits really made me happy with the new upgrades and I can assure you that you will not be disappointed.

There is a statue in Ft. Benning called “Follow Me“, the location of the Army’s infantry school. It is the motto of the U.S. Army Infantry. Stay with me and I will continue to lead you into 2010.

If you didn’t make money in 2009, then that’s too bad cause it’s pretty much over now. Better make your plan for 2010 real soon. It’s time to wind down and preserve your gains for the year. Don’t be the idiot that loses it all at the end of the year because you want to “boost your YTD returns”. Sorry bud, better luck next year. My position sizing usually reduces to 5% standard during Decembers simply because I don’t feel like screwing up. An end-of-the- year killing would be great, but mentally, I am already thinking about 2010 and what I can hit in January. I like to think ahead like that.

We had a doji day yesterday and I expect more of that action. Doji days are great for initiating swing positions, but terrible for day trading, especially during the holiday season. The volume simply isn’t there, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t try out and test out trades. You never know what will come to you. I see a mix of small cap dollar stocks and higher priced volatile stocks still in play, but again, be cautious of the illiquidity.

I am reviewing all of my posts for the entire year (there are 254 in total) so it’ll take me a while to compile a year-end review. For now though, feel free to leave a comment on what you would like to see more from me, what I could have changed and made things better, and anything else you want to write. I read everyone’s comments, even though I may not be able to reply to them all, so leave your thoughts (and trades, of course). Thanks.

Hey traders! Hope the early morning Christmas festivities are going as planned. I actually couldn’t find my cork screw so I thought of a creative way to open up a wine bottle. You need a screwdriver and a hammer. Position the screwdriver on top of the cork and repeatedly hit it with a hammer until the cork is inside the bottle (some splashing may follow). When you pour the wine, the cork floats to the top, leaving the wine to freely flow into your glass.Cool, huh?

Anyways, we have only one week left to make money in 2009 and I am determined to make it my last profitable week. If you know me, then you know I’m serious about it. I don’t do “tax losses”. That’s bullshit. Just keep making money. Who cares about paying more taxes? Warren Buffett  stated that he enjoyed paying more taxes because that meant that he was making more money. Therefore I say to you, keep banking that coin hard.

I hope that my services here have helped you guys tremendously and made you into better traders. Although I don’t monetarily benefit from posting trades or giving out educational articles, I do get the benefit of knowing that I have helped hundreds and hundreds of people. I made money and you made money – nothing better than that.

2009 was a great year for me in terms of expanding on the internets. I was fortunate enough to make many friends, even if I may have not met you personally. We all have the same goal, therefore, we can get along. I got heavily involved in Stocktwits, running the “Charts Gone Wild” show on Tuesdays. I found it to be the best way to be personal and to connect with you, my readers. The show is only 1 hr long, but it takes me about 3 hrs to prepare for it. I have no problem spending my time for you guys.

I also had the pleasure of personally training my students who are with me each and every day, live. It’s a great feeling when you have a great and qualified team whose members help each other out on a daily basis. I temporarily ceased my travels to spend more time with myself, family, friends, and a new girlfriend. However, I will start up the private coaching program again, starting in January. I look forward to helping you guys in the best way that I can.

I am appreciative of all the regular readers on my blog that contribute. You know who you are. I also love the fact that you have the balls to post your trades. You and I are in the minority. I post my trades not so that people can follow me, but for my own record keeping and reference. The blog is my trading journal. Here’s an idea: if you want to become a better trader, post your trades. You are less likely to make stupid decisions, especially when the whole world is watching.

2009, so far, has been an epic year for me. It is my best year ever. It is also my 5th straight year of triple-digit gains. I hope that you guys also scored big, especially in the summer. I’d say that my trading in 2009 really took off starting in late March. If you’ve been with me during that time, then you know why. We absolutely crushed it.

I chose to be with iBankCoin because I believe that it will actually be the #1 destination for serious people that want to make money. This isn’t some conventional site with the same bullshit that 99% of other sites have. We have unique contributors and exceptional content on this site. Of course, if you disagree, then I’d have to ban you forever (just kidding, sort of). Appreciate what the writers here are presenting because after all, they don’t have to do anything. They are offering a public service and offering their knowledge and expertise. Don’t take this for granted.

I am in the process of creating an epic post. It will highlight my greatest trades for the year and also my failures. It will be the ultimate “trade review” post. I know that I can learn from what I did right and wrong, and so can you. Look forward to it in a few days. If you have any trades in mind that are memorable, let me know.

I’d just like to say thanks to Fly for bringing me on board last year. I somehow found iBC and randomly starting posting in the Peanut Gallery. Then I got my tab and everything else is history. If you have trades or knowledge to share, I encourage you to post in the Peanut Gallery. Who knows, we might pick you up from there.

Finally, enjoy your Christmas with your family and friends. I have clients that are worth hundreds of millions, but have broken families. They do not celebrate Christmas, such a shame. Know what’s most important to you and never compromise it. With that said, I wish everyone a safe and wonderful Merry Christmas!!!

I banked some serious coin yesterday in ATHX, eventually amassing 12,000 shares before it hit $3.85. This is a particularly rare setup that I see once every few months or so. Here’s how it works:

1) The stock gaps up HUGE, typically a 100% 1-day gainer.
2) Stock fades throughout the day and closes much lower than the open, but still way above the previous day’s close.
3) The next day starts with a large gap up within the previous day’s range and must always be followed by significant pre-market volume.
4) Buy when the current and previous day’s highs are breached on heavy volume.
5) Enjoy the ride. Take what the stock gives you, but don’t get greedy.

This stock was the day’s example of pure emotional madness. Make sure you’re on the right side and never, ever get caught up and trapped in the mania.

Many folks on twitter followed me in and made bank. Congrats to you: