So it’s been one month (well 5 weeks actually) since I started the #NoBlowUpChallenge and I wanted to analyze what’s been going on since then to keep myself accountable. Looking at the results, despite some setbacks, things have actually been looking pretty good.

As you can see overall, since I started the challenge I’m actually up +$56,736, which isn’t bad considering that I’ve been keeping my account balance between $30,000-$50,000.  Although obviously, there are clearly some kinks that need to be ironed out.

Summer action is now in full force, so although there are lots of seemingly good plays, many times they’re actually very deceptive as the volume in many instances are just simply wash sales (market makers trading with each other back and forth) which create the illusion of volume.  In the summer, the “real” volume is often lower simply due to the fact that there are less traders trading and we have to account for this.  This is why manipulative tactics such as bid props and ask walls are much more prevalent and effective during this time.  As a result it is crucial that we recognize when this going on and take our profits and run before we end up making an unintentional donation to market makers.

Out of the 25 days since I started the challenge, I’ve had 21 green days and 4 red days.  Out of those 4 red days, I was green at some point in time on 3 of them which means I threw away profits from over trading into lull or chop fests.  The other red day, I got the infinite dump at the open on GBR for a bad loss.   However, overall the red days account for -$32,000 in losses which is not acceptable as that is a very substantial part of my profits.

Let’s go ahead and take a closer look at each of the red days to see what went wrong.

6/25/18 – This was simply pushing my luck after being up after the open and getting dumped on a random midday scanner play in $YECO which ruined the day.  File this one under “Lull Trading“.

6/29/18 – Was up nicely after the open again on $GEMP but then pushed my luck on a late day breakout attempt on $GBR and got the infinite dump again where the bids all dropped before I could stop out in time.  File this one under “Afternoon Trading“.

7/3/18 – Got dumped on right away, infinite dump yet again on $GBR right at the open.  This one was a little more difficult to avoid, but probably just got to work on learning how to recognize these a little better to avoid it.

7/9/18 – Was up 3.3K on the day and once again pushed my luck in the afternoon.  #TraderNap ran long and I missed out on $STAF short which probably caused some FOMO as everyone else was banking so I decided to long the break out dip on $ISR which resulted in, you guessed it, another infinite dump.  I, then, decided to short the next pop on $ISR (probably revenge trade) and get the grind back of death for more losses.  File this one under “Afternoon Trading” yet again.

As you can see, at a glance, simply skipping “lull” or “afternoon” trading alone would have eliminated 3 of the 4 red days, totaling -$12,695 in losses.  Given the fact that I was actually up decently, about $3,000-$4,000 on each of those days, that number is actually a lot more like -$23,000 in total losses including profits that were pissed away, meaning that had I just skipped “lull” and “afternoon” trading altogether, instead of being up just +$56,736 during this stretch, I’d actually be up closer to +$80,000 in just the same 5 weeks, which is crazy if you really think about it!  It just goes to show you that these little bad habits really compound over time, so that’s food for thought for you.  #LessIsMore

Today, I skipped afternoon and kept my $3,200 bucks, left to watch the #worldcup and it felt great.

As for the infinite dumper at the open, I’m still looking at ways to avoid that or at least stop out faster before it gets really bad.  Probably avoiding attempting longs on ugly premarket charts is a good starting point.

I will revisit everything again in a month after making these adjustments and see where things stand then!