I picked 3 stocks on yesterday’s open for day trading because of them opening at new highs. Guess what; I lost money on all of them, since most of the gaps were filled during the day! Stock trading on market’s open is considered quite risky, as volatility is significantly increased and day traders need to make quick decisions. I tried to take advantage of the momentum in day trading, but the momentum quickly dried up and uptrends reversed a couple of minutes after I bought the stocks. Normally I wouldn’t visit the charts of those stocks again, but I found out that by analyzing your past trades, your trading is improved.
Day trading APKT stock
By the time I spotted the APKT’s gap up, the stock was already up 6%. However I still went long and set the stop loss right below the most recent support level, since I highly respect support and resistance levels in day trading. My exit strategy would force me to trade out when a new 10-minute low was printed, unless I’m at breakeven point. That is what happened with APKT stock and my stop loss was hit 25 minutes since I entered long. Fortunately that turned out to be a money-saving decision, as the stock filled the gap surrendering all gain.
Day trading GPOR stock
Buying GPOR stock was another late entry for day trading. I bought during a strong trend but it turned out that I actually bought at almost the high of the day! Again, my stop loss saved me money while GPOR shares dropped 2 dollars. By the time the closing bell was heard, GPOR stock price had returned to the support and resistance level I had traded out.
Day Trading CIEN stock
While I didn’t make money by day trading CIEN stock yesterday, the chart shows that I should have traded out at $14.60 as my day trading rules state. The moment that orange candlestick printed new 10-minute lows, my finger should have been clicking “sell”. Instead I let my trading capital take another 1% loss, when my position was closed on the support’s failure. The stock might not have filled the gap, but the uptrend didn’t resume either.
Analyzing my past trades reveals that making money by day trading online, when a gap up is printed on the 5-min chart, isn’t always that easy. The risk of buying at the daily highs is quite large, no matter the strength of the momentum. Perhaps I have been unlucky, but my previous day trading performance doesn’t really make me that confident!
