Day Four: +$1,750. And why I am writing about day trading.

I started day trading stocks again this past June. I say "again" because ten years ago, in the summer of 1999, I took $5,000 I couldn't afford to lose and, well, lost it day trading over three weeks. I've been fascinated with the subject ever since. Day traders, as defined by the SEC, "rapidly buy and sell stocks throughout the day in the hope (note that I added the italics) that their stocks will continue climbing or falling in value for the seconds to minutes they own the stock, allowing them to lock in quick profits". That is true. The SEC also says "be prepared to suffer severe financial losses", "day trading is an extremely stressful and expensive full-time job", and "don't believe claims of easy profits." All also true. I've read way too many books that, while providing the basic tools to learn how to day trade, basically say the same thing. My early experience ten years ago confirmed these statements.

But I can't let the idea go, and now that I am taking a year off from work to obtain my Master's Degree, I have the time to try again. And I'm going to write about it, right here, every day that I trade. Not because I want to boast about how much money I make (actually, I've lost $5,000 since July in a rising market - go figure), but rather because I think that someone might benefit from my mistakes or be inspired by my triumphs. I am still convinced that day trading might be the greatest job in the world, electronically participating in the purest form of capitalism, buying and selling stocks like the largest fund managers, right from home. I guess we'll see.

So, today was a good day. I currently focus on the casino stocks (mostly Las Vegas Sands and MGM) because of their high volatility, and I was fortunate enough to catch both in three positive trades. I picked up 2,500 shares of MGM at 8:19 (premarket) at $13.04, and unloaded those at 10:42 for $13.44, or a $1,000 gain. Upward momentum was gone, so I shorted the same 2,500 shares five minutes later at $13.49, and covered at $13.29 at 11:33 for a $500 gain. Unfortunately I covered way too early, as the stock dropped another 50 cents thereafter. That extra $1,250 would have been really nice. I later (12:06 PM) took a long position of 1,000 shares in LVS at $18.70, and finally sold those near the market close at 3:51 for $18.95, or +$250. This was my best day to date, so it was a great way to start this blog. Unfortunately, I have lost way more than $1,750 in a single day (two months ago), and I'll write about that experience soon.

One more thing: I am working on a charting format that I hope to use to visually depict trades, and I will try to post them with next week's transactions.