You Can't Catch Them All

The two names that I traded intraday today (May 6, 2014) were TWTR & DATA. Both had fresh news and were In Play. First up, TWTR finally had their lockup expiration today aka "the worst kept secret." This was an event that everybody and their dog knew about, so I was looking for some type of flush right on the open to get long for a potential bounce. The stock opened lower, held below VWAP & $35 level (offered a nice short entry too) so I waited for my "flush." Around 11:30am, the stock saw some buying at $34 and it appeared to be breaking its downtrend from the pre-market, so I got long, scalped some for about 50 cents and was later stopped out for a minor loss. We never really got that flush; instead, the stock just bled all day long and finished on the lows. Oh yeah, and I never got short!

TWTR intraday 5min chart

The next stock that I traded more than made up for the minor loss I suffered trying to play the long side in TWTR (although it's questionable on the lost opportunity of missing the short in TWTR). Anyways, DATA was gaping up pre-market into some potential overhead resistance. I knew this stock can be "whippy & wicky" so I had to trade with relatively small size and wider stops and had to pick my spots carefully. My short zone was $62-$63 due to recent resistance levels and the pre-market top. So my plan was to look to put on a small short as close to $63 as possible. Price confirmation for me would see the stock quickly back below $62 and holding below. 

DATA daily chart

DATA 5min chart showing pre-market resistance 

The stock saw a quick dropout on the open down to $58 before rebounding back up to $62.95. After seeing the initial failure at $63 I shorted the stock at $62.30 with a stop for about 90% of my position above $63.10. I took covers down in the $58.80s and got flat at $57.20. 

DATA 5min trade management 

The point of this post isn't meant to act as an outlet for me to showcase to you my inflated sense of myself for being able to capture 5 points intraday (though that is debatable). I lose all the time. I know you've all probably heard the saying "let your winners ride & cut or losers" or something along those cliche lines. Despite its cliche nature, it's a very simple yet powerful rule to trade by, no matter your time frame, trading style, or trading product.