My problem was what to do in AH when it slices through the
stop. Dump in AH? Or wait for the open the next
day? I got rid of it in AH. But this has never happened
to me. So I didn't know what to do. I was looking for
guidance from other members about this. I'm sure with all the
experience on this board many people have dealt with it and can
offer some perspective. At least I am hoping that is the
case.
Posted by junkmaylbox on 9th of Jun 2009 at 06:29 pm
I would not wait till after hours to exit a trade: one cannot
get a market price then. You should have been out of the trade much
earlier than today AH. I told you a couple of indicators to watch
for warning signs. I know if feels different while under the
pressure of mounting losses. You should have asked a question about
it on the blog when you were concerned about your losses, and
someone objective like myself would have answered you. Also, set a
stop before you enter the trade unless you know what you are doing
(I tend to move my stops while in a trade hoping for a miracle.
About 80% of the time I would lose more this way then with a stop
before the trade).
I didn't have losses until AH - that's when it tanked. My
stop was set appropriately. To reiterate my question - what
to do when it tanks after hours?? It closed at around 1.20
and is now trading around 0.80 or so. So this was not an
issue before AH today.
Posted by junkmaylbox on 9th of Jun 2009 at 06:55 pm
Lucy, If something happens after hours, you could not do much.
You did the right thing: get out as soon as you could. I was saying
that there were signs of weakness before today, on the chart.
Recognizing them is an art, which comes with experience.
Posted by junkmaylbox on 9th of Jun 2009 at 06:47 pm
I understand. On one hand, you could not have predicted this
tanking tonight: it's an act of God, so to speak, which is not
found anywhere on the charts. On the other hand, it was not moving
up like it should have been _before_ today. The daily chart shows
signs of distribution... If this were a gold stock, I'd re-enter it
after its price dropped more tomorrow. Because it's a banking
stock, I would take my loss and move on. I hope my critical
comments help. Good luck!
Sorry to hear about your loss. That's painful. One bit of info
to throw in with your other thinking about this -- if you only
trade ETFs you're less likely to have such a catastropic move
because usually those are company specific. Of course when Matt
nails a move it's a beautiful thing so you'd be giving that up. A
trade-off as usual.
Posted by philosoraptor on 9th of Jun 2009 at 06:37 pm
I have no idea what happened with CNB during the course of your
trade [i.e. whether you were in profit at any stage], but remember
Matt's mantra that he often repeats in his newsletters:
"after an inital good move, take half off the table and move
your stop up to the entry/breakeven price, thus guaranteeing
profits" (or words to that effect)
Of course, whenever you keep a trade open overnight, there is no
such thing as a 'guaranteed' stop loss. However, by locking in
profit on half of one's position during the trading day, any
alarming price movement overnight only affects the remaining half
and by definition mitigates any losses.
Thanks guys. It was a normal position size for me, with
not a lot of risk at my stop price. However, that was about
$0.40 higher than I sold for! Which is what makes it so
painful. I normally trade the ETFs but there hasn't been much
action there lately so I've taken to individual stocks. This
is precisely why i don't like to trade them! I'm not a very
good stock picker either so I'm usually better off with the
ETFs. This isn't a huge set back, I will recover, just want
to learn from these experiences.
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Posted by lucy on 9th of Jun 2009 at 06:15 pm
My problem was what to do in AH when it slices through the stop. Dump in AH? Or wait for the open the next day? I got rid of it in AH. But this has never happened to me. So I didn't know what to do. I was looking for guidance from other members about this. I'm sure with all the experience on this board many people have dealt with it and can offer some perspective. At least I am hoping that is the case.
I would not wait till
Posted by junkmaylbox on 9th of Jun 2009 at 06:29 pm
I would not wait till after hours to exit a trade: one cannot get a market price then. You should have been out of the trade much earlier than today AH. I told you a couple of indicators to watch for warning signs. I know if feels different while under the pressure of mounting losses. You should have asked a question about it on the blog when you were concerned about your losses, and someone objective like myself would have answered you. Also, set a stop before you enter the trade unless you know what you are doing (I tend to move my stops while in a trade hoping for a miracle. About 80% of the time I would lose more this way then with a stop before the trade).
I didn't have losses until
Posted by lucy on 9th of Jun 2009 at 06:35 pm
I didn't have losses until AH - that's when it tanked. My stop was set appropriately. To reiterate my question - what to do when it tanks after hours?? It closed at around 1.20 and is now trading around 0.80 or so. So this was not an issue before AH today.
Lucy, If something happens after
Posted by junkmaylbox on 9th of Jun 2009 at 06:55 pm
Lucy, If something happens after hours, you could not do much. You did the right thing: get out as soon as you could. I was saying that there were signs of weakness before today, on the chart. Recognizing them is an art, which comes with experience.
I understand. On one hand,
Posted by junkmaylbox on 9th of Jun 2009 at 06:47 pm
I understand. On one hand, you could not have predicted this tanking tonight: it's an act of God, so to speak, which is not found anywhere on the charts. On the other hand, it was not moving up like it should have been _before_ today. The daily chart shows signs of distribution... If this were a gold stock, I'd re-enter it after its price dropped more tomorrow. Because it's a banking stock, I would take my loss and move on. I hope my critical comments help. Good luck!
Sorry to hear about your
Posted by bkout3 on 9th of Jun 2009 at 06:27 pm
Sorry to hear about your loss. That's painful. One bit of info to throw in with your other thinking about this -- if you only trade ETFs you're less likely to have such a catastropic move because usually those are company specific. Of course when Matt nails a move it's a beautiful thing so you'd be giving that up. A trade-off as usual.
I have no idea what
Posted by philosoraptor on 9th of Jun 2009 at 06:37 pm
I have no idea what happened with CNB during the course of your trade [i.e. whether you were in profit at any stage], but remember Matt's mantra that he often repeats in his newsletters:
"after an inital good move, take half off the table and move your stop up to the entry/breakeven price, thus guaranteeing profits" (or words to that effect)
Of course, whenever you keep a trade open overnight, there is no such thing as a 'guaranteed' stop loss. However, by locking in profit on half of one's position during the trading day, any alarming price movement overnight only affects the remaining half and by definition mitigates any losses.
Thanks guys. It was a
Posted by lucy on 9th of Jun 2009 at 06:34 pm
Thanks guys. It was a normal position size for me, with not a lot of risk at my stop price. However, that was about $0.40 higher than I sold for! Which is what makes it so painful. I normally trade the ETFs but there hasn't been much action there lately so I've taken to individual stocks. This is precisely why i don't like to trade them! I'm not a very good stock picker either so I'm usually better off with the ETFs. This isn't a huge set back, I will recover, just want to learn from these experiences.