Category: Pre-Leader Longs

August 18th trade recap: Blah, day 2

It probably wouldn’t have been so blah if my quotes at IB had been working in the premarket. I missed huge gains in RTK and AXL. Instead I made $14.01 by buying RDN and AFN. Both AFN and RDN were pre-leader longs. I played them both well; they just did not continue to go up.

+    BOT    1,500    AFN    false    Stock    .920    USD    NYSE    09:33:55        7.50
+    SLD    1,500    AFN    false    Stock    .930    USD    DRCTEDGE    09:39:32        7.50
+    BOT    200    RDN    false    Stock    8.040    USD    SMART    10:42:49        1.00
+    SLD    200    RDN    false    Stock    8.120    USD    SMART    10:52:49        1.00
+$14.01

I also bought my 249 shares of ZRBA.

BOT    249    ZRBA    false    Stock (SCM)    3.75    USD    ISLAND    11:36:43        1.24

AXL I bought late in the day as it hit a new high. I played it too big considering how poor I am at these. If I had played it smaller I would have probably held overnight for a likely gap-up.

+    BOT    1,000    AXL    false    Stock    5.700    USD    SMART    15:35:32        5.00
+    SLD    1,000    AXL    false    Stock    5.750    USD    NYSE    15:37:33        5.00
+$40.08

MERC another fat-fingered short, far from ideal. I covered literally 10 seconds before it plunged 20 cents. Oh well.

+    SLD    3,000    MERC    false    Stock (NMS)    1.500    USD    SMART    15:50:08        15.00
+    BOT    1,500    MERC    false    Stock (NMS)    1.460    USD    DRCTEDGE    15:53:47        7.50
+    BOT    1,500    MERC    false    Stock (NMS)    1.500    USD    ISLAND    15:55:06        7.50
+$30

Today’s Profit: $84.09

Disclosure: Long 249 ZRBA. I have a disclosure policy.

August 14th trade recap: Nailed Newcastle Investment Corp (NCT)

Yesterday I wrote about Newcastle Investment Corp (NYSE: NCT), saying “Nice move today and after hours it broke multi-month resistance at $1.25. A buy if it breaks $1.25 during regular trading although if it gaps up it will be much riskier.” It opened at $1.23 and quickly broke above $1.25. I hit the ask at $1.30 to buy 1200 shares and soon enough it spiked above $1.50. I sold as it fell off that spike for a not very good exit of $1.43. Overall, a nice 9% profit ($144.00) on an easy trade. A better trader could have profited over 20 cents. I alerted NCT as I traded it on Twitter.

+    BOT    1,200    NCT    false    Stock    1.300    USD    SMART    09:32:13        6.00
+    SLD    1,200    NCT    false    Stock    1.430    USD    NYSE    09:37:10        6.00

My only two other trades today were CHINA and ZAGG, both of which were scalps off of TimAlerts. +$65 on the pair.

+    BOT    2,400    CHINA    false    Stock (NMS)    2.648    USD    BATS    09:56:45        12.00
+    SLD    2,400    CHINA    false    Stock (NMS)    2.660    USD    ISLAND    10:00:18        12.00
BOT    1,000    ZAGG    false    Stock (OTCBB)    6.1900    USD    SMART    10:31:47        5.00
BOT    2,000    ZAGG    false    Stock (OTCBB)    6.1900    USD    SMART    10:31:49        10.00
SLD    1,500    ZAGG    false    Stock (OTCBB)    6.2000    USD    SMART    10:36:01        7.50
SLD    1,500    ZAGG    false    Stock (OTCBB)    6.2400    USD    SMART    10:36:26        7.50

After I first published this post I made the following attempt at a fat-fingered short on MTXX, forgetting that MTXX has faked me out before. It is a little too high in volume to be good for this:

+    SLD    1,000    MTXX    false    Stock (NMS)    5.510    USD    SMART    15:30:46        5.00
+    SLD    500    MTXX    false    Stock (NMS)    5.600    USD    ARCA    15:32:49    BookTrader    2.50
+    SLD    500    MTXX    false    Stock (NMS)    5.600    USD    SMART    15:33:02    BookTrader    2.50
+    SLD    500    MTXX    false    Stock (NMS)    5.620    USD    SMART    15:35:34    BookTrader    2.50
+    BOT    2,500    MTXX    false    Stock (NMS)    5.604    USD    ISLAND    15:47:21        12.50

($115.66)

Today’s Profit: $93.34

Weekly Profit: $573.93

I am holding DNE over the weekend, although that is looking less and less attractive to me.

Disclosure: Long 10,000 shares of DNE. I have a disclosure policy.

Trade recap for August 13th

Video trade recap today. I will offer little written explanation.

TPI and PUK were two pre-leader longs

BOT 400 TPI false Stock 4.07 USD ARCA 09:31:15 2.00
SLD 200 TPI false Stock 3.95 USD ISLAND 09:43:17 1.00
+ SLD 200 TPI false Stock 3.910 USD ARCA 09:44:18 1.00
+ BOT 200 PUK false Stock 18.005 USD SMART 09:34:14 1.00
+ SLD 200 PUK false Stock 17.680 USD SMART 09:37:23 1.00

DNE I am long overnight. This is not a normal trade for me.

+ BOT 10,000 DNE false Stock .140 USD ISLAND 10:03:57 9.60

Emmis Communications Corp. (EMMS) was from last night’s watchlist.

+ SLD 7,650 EMMS false Stock .869 USD ARCA 10:06:12 37.88
+ SLD 2,350 EMMS false Stock .890 USD ISLAND 10:09:31 10.46
+ SLD 300 EMMS false Stock .930 USD ISLAND 10:09:54 1.40
+ SLD 500 EMMS false Stock .900 USD SMART 10:10:49 2.50
+ SLD 700 EMMS false Stock .900 USD DRCTEDGE 10:11:00 3.50
SLD 800 EMMS false Stock 0.90 USD DRCTEDGE 10:12:15 4.00
+ BOT 1,300 EMMS false Stock .808 USD ISLAND 10:46:01 6.30
+ BOT 3,200 EMMS false Stock .850 USD EDGEA 10:56:10 16.00
+ BOT 7,800 EMMS false Stock .860 USD EDGEA 11:08:25 36.99

ZAGG Incorporated (ZAGG.OB) I played twice. Once anticipating a TimAlert, the second time scalping off of one.

+ SLD 1,000 ZAGG false Stock 6.900 USD SMART 12:39:13 5.00
+ BOT 1,000 ZAGG false Stock 6.755 USD SMART 12:44:35 5.00
+ SLD 1,929 ZAGG false Stock 6.300 USD ARCAEDGE 14:21:43 9.64
SLD 368 ZAGG false Stock 6.3000 USD SMART 14:22:55 1.84
+ BOT 2,297 ZAGG false Stock 6.208 USD SMART 14:28:01 11.48

Today’s profit: $416.78

Disclosure: Long 10,000 shares of DNE. I have a disclosure policy.

August 12th trading recap

BOT    200    WX    false    Stock    12.149    USD    SMART    09:48:18        1.00
SLD    200    WX    false    Stock    11.99    USD    SMART    09:53:25        1.00
($33.88)

WX was a pre-leader; I tried going long (got a horrible fill) on the $12 cross and got whipsawed out. It later hit a high of $13.49. A looser stop or a willingness to get back in when it went back over $12 would have led to nice profits. ADCT was another pre-leader today that ran well; I missed playing it.
BOT    500    DRL    false    Stock    4.060    USD    SMART    10:19:05        2.50
SLD    500    DRL    false    Stock    3.980    USD    ARCA    10:23:08        2.50
($45.00)

DRL has run in the past; in retrospect trying this on the break of $4 was not a good idea (especially considering its multi-day chart).

Daily Profit: ($78.88)

Disclosure: No positions. I have a disclosure policy.

August 10th trading recap: 3 wins, 1 loss, +$80

SPDE was a nice short on the morning panic. It would have been easy to play it profitably for 40 cents as it went red, just like I said on yesterday’s watchlist. OPXA did almost nothing. Rather than trade SPDE, I saw Rentech (RTK) up big in pre-market trading on a great earnings release. It hit a high in pre-market trading of $1 and then opened around $0.88. Buying it was a good idea:

+ BOT 2,000 RTK false Stock .910 USD SMART 09:30:46 9.10
+ SLD 2,000 RTK false Stock 1.000 USD SMART 09:37:31 10.00
+$160 (8.74%)

Pre-leaders that have strong news but open significantly below their highs in pre-market trading are often great longs. Another good trigger for going long pre-leaders (or any volatile stock) is when it crosses an even-dollar amount.

BOT 1,000 YMI false Stock 1.03 USD ARCA 09:33:35 5.00
SLD 1,000 YMI false Stock 1.10 USD AMEX 09:40:35 5.00
+$60 (5.80%)

YMI was another pre-leader with news (drug news that was not that great in my opinion). I bought it as it crossed $1 (when it was alerted by Muddy in the Investors Underground chat) and I sold it after it backed off of its high of $1.20.

My lone loss of the day was a TimAlerts scalp play that I should never have traded. It was my watchlist stock SPDE that he shorted, but by the time I got the alert it was way off the price he traded it. Some may ask why I scalp stocks that Sykes trades. I do it because it is easy money (as long as I am quicker than most of his subscribers). Rarely does one come across a situation where one can predict exactly when a bunch of buying or selling pressure will occur. It is imperative to derive profit from such circumstances. This does not mean that I do not also often trade alongside Sykes on his alerts: I do. It just means that this is one other little niche for me to profit from. (For those searching for easy profits from mindlessly following Sykes’ trades, be aware that I have made almost twice as much money by making trades in the style of Tim Sykes than by following the trades of Tim Sykes.)

+ SLD 2,000 SPDE false Stock (SCM) 2.630 USD DRCTEDGE 09:41:03 10.00
+ BOT 2,000 SPDE false Stock (SCM) 2.743 USD ISLAND 09:48:00 10.00
($246.00) (4.69%)

My last trade of the day was a traditional Tim Sykes-type trade. I bought a steady runner that was finishing the day strongly, in anticipation of a gap up tomorrow. That stock was of course RTK; I sold it in after-hours trading while dealing with my website troubles. If I had not had to work on my blog I would not have followed it after hours and I would have planned to sell the next morning.

+ BOT 1,000 RTK false Stock 1.270 USD SMART 15:47:57 5.00
SLD 500 RTK false Stock 1.3900 USD DRCTEDGE 17:52:13 BookTrader 2.50
+ SLD 500 RTK false Stock 1.382 USD DRCTEDGE 17:52:15 BookTrader 2.50
+$106.08 (8.32%)

Today’s profit: $80.98

Disclosure: No positions. I have a disclosure policy.

How to scan for pre-market gainers with Interactive Brokers

I often talk about pre-leaders or pre-market gainers. These are stocks that are up in pre-market trading. They often make for good trades. This video shows how to scan for them yourself. As to trading them, I will write about that in the future; I suggest checking out Muddy’s post about pre-leaders in the meantime.

Disclosure: No positions. I have a disclosure policy.

August 4th recap and watchlist for August 5th

I received some positive comments on yesterday’s video. In the future I will post trade recaps and watchlists in either video or text, whichever seems most appropriate for the job at hand.

Today was an all GGC day. I messed up my first trades, going long GGC (as I suggested in my watchlist from last night) on its cross of $27 (breaking yesterday’s highs). Besides messing up by having too tight of a stop (about 50 cents for my mental stop), I was unlucky.

BOT    200    GGC    false    Stock    27.3300    USD    SMART    09:31:35        1.00
+    SLD    200    GGC    false    Stock    26.870    USD    SMART    09:32:22        1.00

After my first attempt at buying I got back in and was stopped out again a mere 12 cents above the day’s low. Luck plays a critical role in trading.

BOT    200    GGC    false    Stock    27.1600    USD    NYSE    09:34:17        1.00
+    SLD    200    GGC    false    Stock    26.615    USD    ARCA    09:34:57        1.00

But no matter, that was only a $205 loss on the pair of trades. When GGC spiked to $47.19 (up almost 100%) I looked to short as it faded. While Interactive Brokers had no shares, Penson did:

GGC 200 shares shorted 39.8189 covered 35.81

I got almost exactly $4 per share on 200 shares, netting +$801.77. Overall, not a great day but not bad either.

+$596.77 for the day.

While I missed playing it, NLS from last night’s watchlist behaved nicely and would’ve made a nice short. VHC was down a little more. FRNTQ was up big.

Watchlist

GGC – Could be a nice short on green/red action.

FRNTQ.pk – Will be a good short on green/red action someday soon. Currently there are shares at IB.

WUHN – Up 60% on no news with huge volume? This thing will very likely be up big tomorrow too. Buying it when it breaks today’s high of $3.51 would probably work. Short on breaking below today’s close (but it is unlikely to do so).

Disclosure: No positions. I have a disclosure policy.

Trade recap for August 3rd & watchlist for August 4th

Today’s trade recap is in video format! Please take a look at it on Screencast.com to see it in high-definition.

Trades:

+ BOT 200 TSPT false Stock (NMS) 9.080 USD ISLAND 09:34:01 1.00
+ SLD 200 TSPT false Stock (NMS) 9.072 USD SMART 09:43:38 1.00

+ SLD 6,000 VHC false Stock 2.960 USD BATS 13:50:58 30.00
+ BOT 500 VHC false Stock 2.770 USD SMART 14:02:59 BookTrader 2.50
BOT 500 VHC false Stock 2.75 USD ISLAND 14:03:21 BookTrader 2.50
+ BOT 5,000 VHC false Stock 2.960 USD SMART 14:21:11 25.00

+$134.40 on the day.

Watchlist

This is a bit abbreviated tonight.

NLS – big move from $1.12 to $2.90 in eight days with no red candles. No news, short watch.

GGC – still on watch until it stops moving. I am long-biased. When this tanks it may tank quickly, but any strong move above today’s high of about $27 might make a good buy.

VHC – a bit choppy but still finished red without me in it. We should see more downside; I probably won’t play it but there is good risk / reward on the short when it goes red tomorrow. A tight (mental) stop would be a good idea.

FRNTQ.pk – up big on news it will get bought out of bankruptcy, likely by LUV. The equity is still probably worthless. Shares to short will be impossible to find though.

Disclosure: No positions. I am a customer of Tim Sykes and InvestorsUnderground and an affiliate of both of them. I have a disclosure policy that gives details on those relationships.

July 31st trading recap

As I wrote last night, I have some house-guests, so this is a short post.

Here are today’s trades, with little comment:

  • +    BOT    200    GGC    false    Stock    16.410    USD    SMART    09:31:38        1.00
    +    SLD    200    GGC    false    Stock    17.610    USD    SMART    09:41:51        1.00

GGC was negative in pre-market. I bought it just a minute after open after it jumped green. I had incredible patience for me, selling 10 minutes later after it twice failed to take out big offers at $18.10. This turned out just like I thought it would.

  • +    BOT    800    IBNK    false    Stock (NMS)    1.829    USD    BATS    10:01:47        4.00
    +    SLD    800    IBNK    false    Stock (NMS)    1.760    USD    SMART    10:16:04        4.00

Pre-leader long on breakout to new high. Small trade. My winning ratio on this type of trade is poor and I net about breakeven overall.

  • BOT    200    GERN    false    Stock (NMS)    8.8397    USD    SMART    11:12:34        1.00
    +    SLD    200    GERN    false    Stock (NMS)    8.970    USD    ARCA    11:13:50        1.00

Bought on red/green (a bit slow). Halfway decent trade.

  • BOT    500    INO    false    Stock    2.01    USD    BATS    11:21:02    BookTrader    2.50
    +    SLD    500    INO    false    Stock    2.040    USD    ISLAND    11:22:18    BookTrader    2.50

Pre-leader long. If I had given it more room to run I wold’ve had an easy 30 cent profit.

  • BOT    500    VHC    false    Stock    4.38    USD    SMART    14:26:39        2.50
    +    SLD    500    VHC    false    Stock    3.898    USD    AMEX    14:27:50        2.50

Dumb play on VHC, I had the right idea but I was slow to sell and buy. I am generally bad at quick-moving plays like this that can go either way.

  • +    SLD    3,000    PAL    false    Stock    3.110    USD    SMART    14:25:52        15.00
    +    SLD    3,000    PAL    false    Stock    3.088    USD    ISLAND    14:28:29        15.00
    +    BOT    3,000    PAL    false    Stock    3.020    USD    ARCA    14:59:31        15.00
    +    BOT    3,000    PAL    false    Stock    3.030    USD    SMART    14:59:48        15.00

PAL was what I call a fat-fingered short. I don’t mind going reasonably large in these; risk/reward is good although this strategy leads to occasional big losses. In this case it was CNBC pumping it. 40 cents (18%) vertical moves in 30 seconds are in general good shorts unless there is real news. It didn’t turn out as I predicted but I still had a halfway-decent profit.

For your reference, here are my year-to-date profits for the above-mentioned trading strategies:

Fat-fingered shorts:

Total Profit $2,889.99
Avg Profit % 0.55%
Wtd Avg Profit 0.86%

Pre-leaders longs:

Total Profit $67.89
Avg Profit % 0.66%
Wtd Avg Profit 0.26%

Today I netted +$348.39.

Disclosure: No positions.